Tutorial - How to create moss

How to create moss - different ways

This article brings you different ways on how you can make some moss.
First it is always important to have some inspiration... so here we go via tale-of-the-bananawhale:

I guess that is enough so far - if you keep your eyes sharp when being around your environment you will easily find some more inspiration.

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The cheapest way - foam moss/dosh
Everybody has some foam at home. At least you'll get it by buying a miniature. Most of the companies out there use this foam for keeping their models safe. I saw this technique first on Jeremie's Painting DVD and it is really pretty cool and best, pretty cheap.

You need your model, some foam, some super glue and some colours. The result will look like this, model is from Pulp City:

2 time schedules on how you can add your foam: After you have painted the base and before you paint the base. You choose what is best for you, but i will tell you more about it during your read. First, i'll show you how it is done, not very complicated.

Take your painted base and put some superglue on the places where you want to add some dosh. You can better place your superglue by doing it somewhere else and pick it up with a toothbrush. After your superglue is in place ripp off some foam and place it on the superglue - put a little pressure on it, for example with a pen to make the superglue really get sucked in by the foam:

Next step is to wait a moment until the superglue is dry - better give it more time than needed before you destroy something. After it is dry gently ripp of the main foam - there will be some small places left which now will become your dosh. Additional you can use a forceps to go into detail ripping and giving your dosh the best seize you wish for.

Final step will be painting your dosh areas - you can easily use some glazes or a wash on it and drybrush it afterwards - it's all up to you, i just would not take some inks as they shine most of the time after they have dried out. Here is a shot after the first wet colour on it - for sure take care not to mess up your painted base.

After this was dry gently drybrushed my dosh with a brighter colour, very gentle, very easy, done at an already painted base, but for sure you can work again on it after your foam is on it. If you want to do it before you paint up your base simply do it, prime it and paint your foam during the complete process. I also got to tell that i don't have a work order i always use. Sometimes i do it like this and then i do it like that, just how it fits to the model and my work so far. Here again the final result of this simple but effective method:

In my eyes this technique is perfect to add masses of dosh to your models, gaming or display, whatever you like.

You even can use this technique to add beard to a bust if you are brave enough - done here!
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Advanced way - Fine Turf

This technique shows you another variant on how to have a go on dosh. It is a bit more expensive as the foam dosh but it does look better in the end. You'll need...

Some...

Now take a can or whatever you can find to mix some amount of it together. Also add a bit of casual water. There is no actual perfect number of percent on how you got to mix it, it helps to try to find some kind of a still sticky paste. Make sure that there is not too less matt varnish in it - it won't dry in the end and will easily breake off - keep in mind, more varnish the better :) - using a toothpick to interfuse your mass...

I would recommand that you use the same toothpick or a fresh one to bring this mass upon the places you wish your dosh to grow on your base and its nature. Do this without too much thinking and planning and sketching, c'mon it is just dosh.

You can also do this at small spaces, just take a bit more care...

Soon (~60 minutes, depends on your mixture) your matt varnish will dry out and it will look great. Still simple work to do but you can reach a great effect with it. This is how it looks when it is dry:

You now can still work with some glazes to bring some different greens and browns into your dosh, maybe also some darker and brighter areas or even a light situation.

This method was also used in this article about how you can create a jungle athmosphere on a base - follow this link! 

I won't recommand this technique on gaming miniatures as their bases are smaller and touched more often during playing. It can happen that you damage your dosh. Indeed it is a beautiful way to make your display pieces look much more stunning.

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MiniNatur moss
This is just a little trip or addition. I did explain on how to use MiniNatur products in another article. They offer also dosh and they are the same to use. Here you can find an example on how they can look in the end.

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Final Thoughts
For sure there are million other ways on how you can create your dosh on your base. These are just examples and both are not really unknown in the hobby scene. We also learned these techniques from the look on other painters work and guidance. Always keep in mind that you don't have to do things the way someone tells you - it is always an idea behind it and you can fit this idea to your way of working. Don't you worry, just  do :)

There are so many things to add to your doshy forest base, like a waterfall or leaves!

So far, i hope you liked reading this article...

Keep on happy painting!
Best Regards
Roman