Goblin Green basing

(credit: xkcd) 

I entered Olden Demon (https://oldendemon.com/painting-competition/) this year. It's one of the rare online competitions I have the best of intentions to enter every year and somehow miss the deadline every time.

When it comes to retro/oldschool miniature painting, there's a surprising number of tutorials for replicating the "magic" of Goblin Green. From the few I found, none quite did what I wanted so ... let the tutorials proliferate! Really I'm recording it for my own benefit as a reference in the future, but if it helps you too, then fantastic.

Here's the paints used: Vallejo Intermediate Green, Citadel Shade Biel-Tan Green, Citadel Moot Green & Vallejo Flat Yellow.

The result will be this:

You don't need step-by-step pictures because that would be insane, but I'll explain the steps.

• A layer of PVA applied to the base, covered in fine sand, andy left it to dry before removing excess sand to ensure good coverage.
• Tap off the excess and apply either a "wash" of thinned down PVA, or ballast fixer, to secure and harden the sand so it's more receptive to paint. Don't brush it on, tap with a generous amount on the brush and let capilliary action do the work, or you risk it being pulled off the base.
• Intermediate Green as (ahem) an intermediate green to act as a base and give uniformity of cover. Painting over black is an unpleasant experience when you want good coverage and this is a nice midpoint before going brighter.
• Biel-Tan Green wash to darken and ensure the recesses are addressed and just darken the Intermediate Green so it offers greater contrast to the next colours going on top.
• Citadel Moot Green is a great colour and if I was painting a whole army with basing, this is what I'd use without any mixing, but for a single model we can get a little closer by adding Flat Yellow to Moot Green. That's applied to the rim as a few even coats, and then as a gentle drybrush across the sand.
• Add more Flat Yellow to the mix, and repeat the gentle drybrush onto the sand. Then repeat again until you feel good about it.