Black Lava by Vallejo

On my adventure to a new gaming store this weekend I was introduced to a new hobby product, Acrylicos Vallejo’s Black Lava.  Black Lava is a thick black  paste that contains small stone fragments and can be used for all sorts of rough textures. 

I bought it up thinking it would be superb for doing terrain.  While I was right, I got to brain storming of all the different things this amazing product could be used for.  Eureka!  Black Lava is the miracle product perfect for mud on tank tracks and model bases.

To the right is a picture of Black Lava painted onto a base.  This was a slot base so I filled it with green stuff first and then used a large flat brush to coat the surface with the Black Lava. 

After letting it dry for a good period of time. I moved on to painting.  Vallejo suggest 45 minutes to several hours of drying time depending on thickness.

 

Here we have the final product.  I actually like using the Black Lava a lot better than using traditional PVA glue and basing sand.  Black Lava is quicker, easier and I think results in a much better base.  Although, I bet that a combination of the two would make for some outstanding results.

In case you’re wondering how I painted the base: Paint Scorched Brown > Heavy dry brush Dark Flesh > Dry brush Bestial Brown sparingly to create unevenness > Dry brush Bubonic Brown > Dry brush Bleached Bone concentrating on only the highest points.

I highly recommend this product and I’m sure there are hundreds of uses for it.  If I come up with anything else I’ll be sure to post.  Thanks for reading.