Making a scenic base
Miniature: Lich for Village Attacks board game by Grimlord Games, painted by Jure Cukar
The initial idea was for my Lich to be on some elevated surface below which layers of earth with roots would be seen. I wanted it not to be a classic vertical composition but to decompose the model a little out of the base and play with the base as a frame, ie to get out of that imaginary frame that somehow imposes the base on us. That way, I could throw the figure out and make a slightly better sense of the depth of the earth and one of these guiding threads, a skeleton found in the earth influenced by the Lich incantation.
I first made a structure out of balsa. At this stage I want to achieve the desired height and position. I still don't know if the model will be frontal to the base or slightly curved. I suspect I'll twist it a bit, but it's not important to decide at this stage.
The structure is then molded in several layers with clay, and on top I put a few pieces of FLAG STONES shaped with a roller by GSW. In the front right corner of the base, I made clay with a relatively regular shape that would play a continuation of the base across the terrain, which I would later paint in black. DAS air-drying clay proved to be a good choice for this phase because it took a lot of patching, and it is cheap so I was not sorry to tear and toss.
As I assumed, the model will work better if it is slightly turned to the front left corner of the base. This is how the whole base works, not just from the center to the right. Certainly, in my composition, a gap in the depth left opens up, and I think that in the next steps I will put something that will slightly domesticate that gap.
In the meantime, I paint the miniature as the base dries. For the texture of the base, I made a mixture of the finest sand with cork crumbs, slightly larger flock and static grass.
With diluted PVA glue, I coat everything and place larger stones in strategic places with a slightly smaller flock around them, and a mixture of the rest.
In Tedi I bought two flocks for 14 kn each.
It would probably be best to make the roots from real plants, but since the state of emergency had already occurred, I was unable to dig through the parks, so I decided to make them of wire. I made small simple rootlets from the thin wire found in the plastic cord clamps. I branched two or three of these strings and twisted them. I glued the joints with superglue and subsequently molded the greenstuff to get an organic shape.
The idea for the skeleton was not to be too noticeable, but to see that it was already on the move and getting out of the ground. His right hand was with a spear. I removed some of that spear and put a piece of wire into the extension to look like some of the stronger roots that pull it out. The rough processing of green stuff made the transition from thicker to thinner. I put my chest and head in a position that suited me. For my left hand, I knew that it would be buried for the most part and that only the shoulder would be visible. With Green stuff, I repaired the skeleton joints and filled the larger gaps around the skeleton.
In the next phase, I bury the skeleton. Again, I use a combination of superglue and DAS air-drying clay.
I cover everything with a flock on the same principle as before. In the gap in the picture to the right, I add a piece that represents a piece of beam jutting out of the ground.
In the painting phase, it turned out that I had made a rather weak and uninteresting texture on the front that I had to save with colors, brightness and turfs so that it would not be boring. The texture part that goes down the front left corner of the base dynamizes that part a little and saves that combination, but I think it's still the weakest part of the model. The focus has to reach the figure across the base, but I think there may have been more elements of the story and that I left that part quite incomplete.
Conclusion:
For a heightened sense of the subterranean and the subterranean, he only needed to make the paved surface on which Lich stands so that he emanates even more emphatically from the sides of the elevated part of the earth. I needed to spend more time at the front of the base, uphill. Put some more twigs, different pebbles, etc.
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Pigmentation principles: why powdered pigment doesn't work
- • Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) — IR around 2.7 → excellent coverage, strongest white pigment
- • Zinc oxide (ZnO) — IR around 2.0 → good coverage
- • Calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) — IR around 1.59 → poor coverage, filler
- • Calcium sulfate / gypsum (CaSO₄) — IR around 1.52 → almost transparent in a binder, filler
This means that gypsum and chalk, although white as a powder, become almost transparent in the formulation of a coating or mass. They do not compete with the pigment — they are subordinate to it. That's why a small amount of pigment easily and evenly colors a gypsum or chalk-based mass, while the same amount of pigment in a mass containing TiO₂ would be barely visible.
3. Agglomeration — the enemy of even color
Pigment powders do not exist as perfectly separate particles. Due to electrostatic attractive forces and surface tension, the particles spontaneously group into clusters called agglomerates or aggregates. Agglomeration is particularly pronounced in: fine particles (the smaller the particle, the higher the surface area to volume ratio, so the attractive forces are relatively stronger) pigments with a high specific surface area, such as carbon black high temperature or humidity conditions When pigment powder is mixed with filler or binder powder, the agglomerates do not break down—they remain as compact clusters. The visual result is an uneven color: dark spots where pigment particles have accumulated, and pale areas where they are absent. The user then concludes that "more pigment is needed"—but this is not true. The problem is not a lack of pigment, but its poor distribution.
4. Dispersion — meaning properly dispersed pigment
Dispersion is the process of breaking up agglomerates and evenly distributing individual pigment particles throughout a medium (water, oil, binder). A well-dispersed pigment means that the particles are as evenly distributed as possible — each filler or binder particle "sees" the pigment, not just the neighborhood of the agglomerate. Dispersion is achieved by mechanical and chemical means:
- • Mechanical: mixing with high shear forces (mixers, mill aggregates, ultrasound). Mixing with a spoon or spatula is not sufficient to break up agglomerates.
- • Chemical: the use of dispersants and surfactants that adsorb to the surface of the particle and prevent it from re-adhering to neighboring particles.
5. Why liquid colorant works better than powdered pigment
Liquid colorants are not just pigment dissolved in water. They are ready-made systems that contain: Pigment — already dispersed to the level of individual particles or very small clusters Dispersants and surfactants — which keep the particles separated and prevent re-agglomeration Liquid medium — which allows the pigment to be evenly distributed throughout the material being colored before that material begins to set or dry When a liquid colorant is added to the mixing water (e.g. in gypsum, concrete, mortar), the pigment is already in an ideal state of dispersion. The same amount of pigment is evenly delivered to each part of the mixture. The color effect is therefore much more intense than with dry-mixed pigment — with a significantly lower total amount of pigment. The same logic applies to paints and varnishes: pigment pastes and dispersed pigments provide better coverage and color uniformity than pigments that have not undergone the dispersion process.
6. Practical application — gypsum example
Gypsum is a good example because it illustrates all the above principles at once. Because it has a low refractive index (~1.52), it is not a true white pigment — it does not resist staining when mixed with a binder. This means that a small amount of black pigment can easily and evenly color the gypsum mass. Why then does it happen to many people that they have to add a large proportion of pigment in relation to the mass of plaster? Because they mix the pigment in powder form directly into the gypsum powder. Pigment agglomerates (especially Fe₃O₄ or carbon black) remain intact, the distribution is uneven, and the result is disappointing. The conclusion "we need more" is wrong — we need better.
Correct procedure:
Add the colorant (or pigment dispersed in water) to the mixing water Mix the water with the colorant well Only then add the gypsum and mix until a homogeneous mixture This way, the pigment is distributed throughout the entire mass before the gypsum begins to set. The result is an even, intense color with a much smaller amount of pigment than with dry mixing. For those who do not have access to professional colorants, a good alternative are liquid pigment additives available in building paint stores — usually in the form of small bottles intended for tinting wall paints. It is the same principle: the pigment is already dispersed in a liquid medium with additives that prevent agglomeration. Added to the mixing water, they give a more even result than powdered pigment with a significantly smaller amount.
Conclusion
The intensity and uniformity of color in a mass depend not only on the amount of pigment — they depend on how well the pigment is dispersed. A pigment powder mixed with a powder of another material almost always gives worse results than a pigment that has been previously dispersed in a liquid medium, in the presence of dispersants. When you encounter the problem of "the pigment does not color enough," it is worth asking yourself: is the problem not in the way it was added — and not in the amount.
" ["content_hrv"]=> string(9431) "Ovaj tekst nastao je nakon druženja srijedom na kojem se razvila rasprava o pigmentaciji gipsa. Kako nisam uspjela sve objasniti na licu mjesta, odlučila sam to složiti na papir — a principi o kojima je riječ ionako vrijede šire od samog gipsa.
1. Što je pigment — i što nije
Pigment je tvar koja daje boju tako što selektivno apsorbira određene valne duljine vidljivog svjetla i reflektira ostale. Crni pigment apsorbira gotovo sve valne duljine; crveni apsorbira plavu i zelenu, a reflektira crvenu. Važno je razlikovati pigment od punila. Punila su bijele ili neutralne tvari koje se dodaju u boje, premaze i mase kako bi povećala volumen, poboljšala teksturu ili snizila cijenu — ali same po sebi ne daju snažnu boju ni dobru pokrivnost. Tipična punila su kalcijev karbonat (kreda, CaCO₃), kalcijev sulfat (gips, CaSO₄), barijev sulfat i slični materijali. Razlika između pravog pigmenta i punila nije samo u boji — leži u fizikalnom svojstvu koje se zove indeks refrakcije.
2. Indeks refrakcije i pokrivnost
Indeks refrakcije (IR) opisuje koliko se svjetlost lomi i raspršuje kada prolazi kroz neku tvar ili nailazi na njezinu površinu. Što je veći, to čestica jače raspršuje svjetlost — i time djeluje neprozirnije, "pokrivnije". Nekoliko usporednih vrijednosti:
- • Titanijev dioksid (TiO₂) — IR oko 2,7 → izvanredna pokrivnost, najjači bijeli pigment
- • Cinkov oksid (ZnO) — IR oko 2,0 → dobra pokrivnost
- • Kalcijev karbonat (CaCO₃) — IR oko 1,59 → slaba pokrivnost, punilo
- • Kalcijev sulfat / gips (CaSO₄) — IR oko 1,52 → gotovo transparentno u vezivu, punilo
Ovo znači da gips i kreda, premda su bijeli kao prah, u formulaciji premaza ili mase postaju gotovo prozirni. Ne natječu se s pigmentom — podređuju mu se. Zato mala količina pigmenta lako i ravnomjerno oboji masu na bazi gipsa ili krede, dok bi ista količina pigmenta u masi koja sadrži TiO₂ jedva bila vidljiva.
3. Aglomeracija — neprijatelj ravnomjerne boje
Pigmenti u prahu ne postoje kao savršeno odvojene čestice. Zbog elektrostatičkih privlačnih sila i površinske napetosti, čestice se spontano grupiraju u nakupine koje se zovu aglomerati ili agregati. Aglomeracija je posebno izražena kod: sitnih čestica (što je čestica manja, veći je omjer površine i volumena, pa su privlačne sile relativno jače) pigmenata visoke specifične površine, poput carbon blacka (čađe) uvjeta visokih temperatura ili vlage Kada se prah pigmenta umiješa u prah punila ili veziva, aglomerati se ne raspadaju — ostaju kao kompaktne nakupine. Vizualni rezultat je neujednačena boja: tamne mrlje tamo gdje su se nakupile čestice pigmenta, i blijeda područja tamo gdje ih nema. Korisnik tada zaključuje da "treba više pigmenta" — ali to nije točno. Problem nije nedostatak pigmenta, nego njegova loša raspodjela.
4. Disperzija — što znači pravilno dispergiran pigment
Disperzija je proces razbijanja aglomerata i ravnomjernog raspoređivanja pojedinačnih čestica pigmenta kroz medij (vodu, ulje, vezivo). Dobro dispergiran pigment znači da su čestice što ravnomjernije raspoređene — svaka čestica punila ili veziva "vidi" pigment, a ne samo susjedstvo aglomerata. Disperzija se postiže mehaničkim i kemijskim putem:
- • Mehanički: miješanje s visokim smičnim silama (mikseri, mlinski agregati, ultrazuk). Miješanje žlicom ili lopaticom nije dovoljno za razbijanje aglomerata.
- • Kemijski: upotreba dispergirnih sredstava (dispergatora) i surfaktanata koji se adsorbiraju na površinu čestice i sprječavaju njezino ponovno lijepljenje za susjedne čestice.
5. Zašto tekući kolorant radi bolje od pigmenta u prahu
Tekući koloranti nisu samo pigment otopljen u vodi. To su gotovi sustavi koji sadrže: Pigment — već dispergiran do razine pojedinačnih čestica ili vrlo malih klastera Dispergatore i surfaktante — koji drže čestice razdvojenima i sprječavaju ponovnu aglomeraciju Tekući medij — koji omogućuje da se pigment ravnomjerno rasporedi kroz materijal koji se boji još prije nego što taj materijal počne vezati ili sušiti Kada se tekući kolorant doda u vodu za miješanje (npr. kod gipsa, betona, žbuke), pigment je već u idealnom stanju disperzije. Svakom dijelu smjese ravnomjerno se isporučuje ista količina pigmenta. Efekt boje je stoga mnogo intenzivniji nego kod suho miješanog pigmenta — uz znatno manju ukupnu količinu pigmenta. Ista logika vrijedi za boje i lakove: pigmentne paste i disperzirani pigmenti daju bolju pokrivnost i ravnomjernost boje od pigmenata koji nisu prošli proces disperzije.
6. Praktična primjena — primjer gipsa
Gips je zahvalan primjer jer ilustrira sve navedene principe odjednom. Budući da ima nizak indeks refrakcije (~1,52), nije pravi bijeli pigment — u smjesi s vezivom ne pruža otpor bojanju. To znači da mala količina crnog pigmenta može lako i ravnomjerno obojiti gipsanu masu. Zašto se onda mnogima događa da moraju dodati veliki udio pigmenta u odnosu na masu gipsa? Jer pigment miješaju u obliku praha direktno u prah gipsa. Aglomerati pigmenta (posebno Fe₃O₄ ili carbon black) ostaju netaknuti, raspodjela je neujednačena, i rezultat je razočaravajući. Zaključak "treba više" je pogrešan — treba bolje.
Ispravni postupak:
Kolorant (ili pigment dispergiran u vodi) dodati u vodu za miješanje Dobro promiješati vodu s kolorantom Tek tada dodati gips i miješati do homogene smjese Na taj način pigment bude raspoređen kroz cijelu masu još prije nego gips počne vezati. Rezultat je ravnomjerna, intenzivna boja uz višestruko manju količinu pigmenta nego pri suhom miješanju. Za one koji nemaju pristup profesionalnim kolorantima, dobra alternativa su tekući pigmentni dodaci dostupni u trgovinama građevinskih boja — najčešće u obliku malih bočica namijenjenih nijansiranju zidnih boja. Radi se o istom principu: pigment je već dispergiran u tekućem mediju s aditivima koji sprječavaju aglomeraciju. Dodani u vodu za miješanje, daju ravnomjerniji rezultat od pigmenta u prahu uz znatno manju količinu.
Zaključak
Intenzitet i ravnomjernost boje u nekoj masi ne ovise samo o količini pigmenta — ovise o tome koliko je taj pigment dobro dispergiran. Prah pigmenta miješan u prah drugog materijala gotovo uvijek daje lošije rezultate od pigmenta koji je prethodno dispergiran u tekućem mediju, uz prisustvo dispergirnih sredstava. Kada se susretnete s problemom "pigment ne boji dovoljno", vrijedi si postaviti pitanje: nije li problem u načinu na koji je dodan — a ne u količini.
" ["created"]=> string(19) "2026-05-04 12:54:47" ["modified"]=> string(19) "2026-05-04 20:10:17" } ["Member"]=> array(10) { ["id"]=> string(3) "108" ["group_id"]=> string(1) "2" ["first_name"]=> string(5) "Dunja" ["last_name"]=> string(6) "Singer" ["first_name_mask"]=> string(5) "dunja" ["last_name_mask"]=> string(6) "singer" ["username"]=> string(5) "Dunja" ["password"]=> string(40) "772414a5d6b32309f32f46e9009f1e550809c62d" ["born"]=> string(19) "2006-01-01 00:00:00" ["created"]=> NULL } } Dunja Singer, 4th May 2026 - We visited: Warhammer World – pt.3 Ivan Vedak, 4th May 2026
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