75th Anniversary of Battle of Monte Cassino and Northern Italy (Army Build)

With all the painting done across the infantry, pioneer and heavy weapons platoons, it’s now time to base them all up. This won’t be quick but here’s how I base my FoW minis.

I use polyfilla for my basing for a number of reasons. It adds extra weight to the mini, is semi-sculptable so you can create mounds etc, really sticks the mini to the base and allows you to make the mini look as if it is ‘in the terrain’ rather than ‘on the terrain’ (if that makes any sense!).

I’d also point out that this approach needs to be done one base at a time, otherwise the polyfilla starts to dry and becomes unworkable.

Starting with the standard FoW base, I need to score the surface with a sharp knife. You need to be careful here as, like an idiot, I’ve cut myself several times!

Next smear on some polyfilla. I try to put around 2 to 3mm depth in the middle and shape it so that it contours down toward the edge of the base.

Now shove your FoW minis into the polyfilla in a suitable formation. I try to make each base look slightly different to break up the uniformity by changing positions of the models, putting more on one side of the base, sculpting mounds etc.

Now for the careful and time consuming bit. With a cocktail stick, some little extra bits of polyfilla and water, you can begin encouraging the polyfilla over the circular bases and up to the boots of the models. This takes time and care.

You can also sculpt extra features at this stage as well. For example, for the MG42 teams, I’ve created small fox holes for the models to be positioned in.

Finally, once the polyfilla has been manipulated into position and any excess removed, I sprinkle some sand over the top for added texture. This all then gets left to dry for a good 24 hours.