Product review: Vallejo Grey Pumice paste

Hi guys and girls,

Sorry for the lack of content lately but I have a valid excuse:

Small fracture in my left radius

Luckily for me no cast was required but it hurts and I am required to carry my arm in a sling. I am slowly getting my mobility back so typing is less hurtful and I can rest my arm on a desk now.

Okay, on with the subject of this article.

Vallejo basing pastes. Not a lot of people use these but I found that they are a great addition to a modelers arsenal. I have two variants, the Dark Earth #26.218 and the Grey Pumice #26.213. If you buy a pot you will get a 200ml. pot filled with a sandy or stony paste consisting pigments, resin and a texture like sand or an other material.

200ml. pot of basing paste

Depending on what you use it for this pot can last you a good while! I can imagine that if you are using this to base an army of gaming models that one pot will last you through the entire army.

Beneath the lid

Applying it can be done with either an old brush or a painting knife/sculpting tool. What I really like about this product is that you can really sculpt texture onto your base. Be sure to keep your good brushes away from this stuff as it will ruin them beyond repair! I personally use some very cheap, slightly bigger brushes with very stiff bristles. They are also sometimes used to apply woodglue to surfaces. They can scoop up a good amount of paste and its pretty easy using it to apply it to a base. You can really build up and sculpt your texture to a base.

A brush full of basing paste.

Be sure to cover the entire area you want to be covered with this texture. There is a little bit of shrinkage so you will have to keep that in mind. You can build it up quite thick but that will have a direct result in longer drying times, which are between 45 minutes to even days.

Dried basing paste

This is the result after about 10 hours of drying time. It is dry to touch and you can continue by painting it. While it will remain a little soft for a day or two it is dry enough to hold paint, receive a drybrush and being exposed to washes and pigments.

I really hope you guys liked this article and that it helps you improve your bases. If you have any questions or remarks please leave them in the comments!

Happy modeling and painting my friends!