BLOOD FX – AK BASING BITS

A detail that gives a scene gravity

Historical and fantastic scenes often end in fighting and its consequences. The item on offer deals with precisely this motif: it holds shaped traces with which a spatter, a trickle or a pool under a fallen figure can be suggested. Used with measure, it turns an unremarkable base into a scene a viewer stops at and looks for what exactly happened.

What to watch out for

• less tends to be more, as an exaggerated quantity looks comic
• the shape has to respect the slope of the base, as liquid runs downward
• the edge of a trace belongs darkened, with the center left glossy
• on porous soil a trace soaks in, on paving it stays on the surface

The finish usually consists of a dark red base, into which a brown hint is added, and of a gloss varnish applied only in the middle. The contrast between a matte edge and a glossy core is what tells the eye that it is a fresh trace. With older traces the gloss is left out altogether.

Where it belongs in the line

The item belongs to the group of accessories for building bases, where motifs such as bones, skulls or gravestones accompany it. Together they form a modular system from which a whole story can be put together on an area of a few centimeters. The size is chosen for figures of the standard military size.

When to leave the motif out

Not every scene will carry it. In a display case intended for children or on a model meant to come across technically, it tends to be better to reach for another element of the same line. Anyone who decides on it should keep to one source and one path, because incongruous traces from several directions look careless.