Do you have in pics of your frog setups? Esp in series from beginning to end?
I have never done one but I have seen them done. All you have to do is get an inch thick piece of styro and use that as your palette. Then just cut it to the size that you need and build onto it. Or you could get a couple larger styro blocks and then just carve out the background to what you want. After that paint it or cover it in coco fiber and your done. If you do a search on Google you can get a ton of ideas and there are even a few youtube videos that were halfway decent.
they're quick, easy, non-toxic, cheap and very good looking compared to the effort to make them.
I don't have many. The computer that had the pics on it is dead and I didn't upload many. Again, all my frog tanks had clay backgrounds, but they're amaaaazing. I can look around and PM you some if I find any.
I use a cheap dutch brand for my basecoats (black and brown) and white (when mixing) called Van Eyck. It has an irritating sheen though, which is why I use some fine sand to break up the light reflecting of it. And I use better paint on top of that
Those are really cool looking, thanks. I'm curious isn't polystrene a bit porous though? I ask because I'm wondering how much paint you have to use on it the first time as the paint would have to sink into the backing? Second, was that 3-6 layers of paint per layer you wrote? Those look really nice. The sand is a good idea, I hadn't thought of that.wanted to share how I do most of my backdrops
- I take a piece of polystyreen insulation board and cut it to the appropriate size for the background.
- I then take a knife and start carving a rocky or bark like texture in it. It is actually quite easy to get a nice looking texture without much effort or skill.
- Once the texture is done we can start painting. I usually start with a black or dark grey/brown undercoat and work my way up from there using lighter colours with each layer (usually between 3-6). This is also much easier than it looks at first glance and does not require any skill. Just look up the term "dry brushing paint" on google and you'll immediatly find lots and lots of tutorials on how to do this. It's super easy and very effective.
- I often add a little bit of very fine sand to my paint to make the texture slightly more rough for better grip and to make it less shiny (some brands of acrylic paint tend to be more shiny than others)
- optionally you can cover it in a couple of layers of non-toxic varnish. This is another step you could add some fine sand for the same reasons as mentioned above. This may help if you're building a more humid envirnment but will increase time dramatically because of drying time.
- optionally you could also add some moss, fake plants etc.
If you use water based, quick drying, acrylic paint you could make one in a couple of hours. Don't forget to let it dry out for a few days if you chose to add a layer of varnish.
I have thought about using my citadel paints but they are way too expensive and I usually have large areas to cover. Besides my Ogre army would never get painted if I used it all lol.I use a cheap dutch brand for my basecoats (black and brown) and white (when mixing) called Van Eyck. It has an irritating sheen though, which is why I use some fine sand to break up the light reflecting of it. And I use better paint on top of that
The rest of the colours I use come from my Citadel paint range. These are extremely expensive though (currently €3,20 for 12ml. But I only need a tiny little bit though) which I usually use for painting miniatures.
I'm using extruded polystyreen. This has a larger density than expanded polystyreen (the one with the large "grains") and is not very porous at all. Never felt like it was a problem (I even think normal polystyreen wouldn't be too much of a problem). My Basecoat may take 2 or 3 layers to cover but that's quite normal for most surfaces. After that I usually only need one layer per colour (it will also depend on the amount of pigment in the paint ofcourse).
I use cheaper paint for the basecoats and layers that need a lot of paint. That's usually just the basecoat and maybe one more layer. After that I hardly need any paint to do the rest. You'll need less and less paint with every layer and I don't think I normally use more than half a ml per colour for a full background. A little goes a long way, especially when thinned. lol I still have pots of citadel paint which are over 12 years old and still only half empty. I just use them because I have lots of colours to chose from and only 3 basic colours from my cheap paints
also they dry so much quicker and don't have an ugly sheen like the cheap paint.Good luck with that! It really isn't that hard
you can always try and practice on a small piece of leftover polystyreen first when in doubt too I do that when trying new techniques so I don't waste too much time and effort.