Hello friends of old and new; it's been a hot minute or two...or three. But here I am back with you all to take a little look at a wonderful company called Krautcover Scenics.
I came across this company after being on the hunt for some cool terrain and miniature scenic building products. Their flock and scatters looked so cool, with a wide variety of different products to fit any theme or style. It was even a joy to see one of my favourite painters at producing a gritty and dark style through their work, @a.tale.of.grimdark, become an official partner of @krautcover. He was then able to show how you can use Krautcover's scatters to create awesomely dark and gritty basing and terrains schemes. He even worked directly with them to create one of the coolest scatters I've ever seen, though I haven't been so lucky to get a hold of it yet. So it got my cold little heart pumping with all the good stuff when Krautcover gave me the privilege of sending a few of their scatters to try out and share with you all. Let's jump right in!
Snowy Highland Pass
The first of the three scatters Krautcover were kind enough to send me is aptly titled Snowy Highland Pass. this, as you might guess, is designed to replicate a snowy mountainous terrain. I've always had an issue with many of the snowy products out there for us miniature artists, finding almost all of them look fake and unrealistic. I'm still yet to think Citadel's Valhallan Blizzard has any place on the base of any model I ever paint up.
So imagine my joy when this scatter seems to have answered that void I've been feeling when it comes to cold and snowy basing schemes. I'm not sure of the material used here to simulate snow, but my goodness it looks great. It's certainly subtle, with the emphasis on this scatter being the rugged landscape, as opposed to snow; but it's the best snowy basing material I've personally come across thus far. So much so that I think Krautcover could do with putting a bit more of that material inside this scatter, because there's no need to shy away from such a fantastic material.
In terms of the application of this scatter, and indeed the other two, I decided to pour some of it out of the tub and into my own tub. This allowed me sift through the great variety of different materials within the scatter, and pick out how I wanted the base to look best. This scatter definitely benefits from this treatment, in order to get all of the snowy good stuff on your base, and not just rocks. I decided to put some texture paint down on the base, and then dip it into the scatter immediately. this is something I've been doping recently, rather than letting it dry and then using glue, as I've found it to save time and look just as good.
Kodama Woods
The second of the three scatters is called Kodama Woods, and is a beautifully earthy mix to represent a forest floor. Too many times with scatters like these, you find pieces of bark and materials that feel out of proportion with miniatures, which then end up looking a little silly when based beneath it's feet. This scatter ensures not to make the same mistake, featuring a huge variety of different shapes and pieces that represent twigs, sticks, fallen leaves and general earthy goodness.
Whilst there's certainly an emphasis on the colour brown here, there are little pockets of different tones of green, that help emulate the look of a thick forest floor. Krautcover are a German company, and so the kinds of European forests I'm used to look very close to the scatter on offer here. Obviously the term 'forest' will mean a few different things depending on what part of the world you reside in, the same way this would in no way represent a jungle floor. But this scatter represents the forest floor of the woods I would explore as a child, and that sense of nostalgia I received upon opening this scatter is how I know this has been crafted with due care and love.
Once again, I tipped some of the scatter into my own container so I could somewhat mould how I wanted the base to look, as opposed to blindly dipping it in (which of course would no doubt look wonderful too). It was clear to see after sifting through the mixture a little more, that these scatters have the ability to be used on bigger and more ambitious terrain building, than the humble little 25mm base. There's such a variety of shapes and sizes contained within them, that any forest floor you ended up building yourself would look as beautifully random as real life nature is. That's a wonderful feat, and one that not a lot of miniature basing products are able to achieve.
Ruins of Persistence
Now we find our way to the final of the three scatters that Krautcover sent over to me. This one is called Ruins of Persistence, and certainly fulfils that need for a basing material that represents destruction. I think these sorts of scatters are quite common within the miniature basing world, probably due to how useful they are (especially for systems such as 40K), and as such, it's hard to know which one to go for. Geek Gaming Scenics for example have some wonderful ruin like scatters.
Krautcover's version is equally as fantastic. You've got the typical mix of incredibly fine grains alongside different shapes and sizes of rocks. Normally that's where the scatters stop. However, this particular one has a load more interesting materials within it to really drive home that 'ruined' feeling. There are little miniature bricks, next to what looks like uprooted bits of tree and wood. I'm sure there's even a few more secrets to be found within these ruins if you sifted through all of it. But it's that real eclectic range of materials within this scatter that make it look so gritty and realistic.
I only discovered these different pieces after tipping it into my own container and mixing it around a bit, which further confirms that's the way to go with these scatters. Given the sheer randomness of scale with the pieces within this scatter, I reckon this would be best used across a much larger diorama, to really emphasise the ruins you're trying to create. Otherwise, using them on small bases just requires a little more attention to detail, to make sure you're getting the right look in proportion with the miniatures who are standing over the devastation. I have been after a cool ruin like scatter for some time, and I think this one might answer the basing woes I've been having for the Skaven I'm currently painting up...
And that's a little look into a few of the basing products that Krautcover offer. I have only ever found Geek Gaming Scenics to be worthy of my scatter requirements before, but I think Krautcover Scenics perfectly rivals them. You honestly wouldn't be able to go wrong with having a few products from both of them.
But Krautcover have a few really cool scatters that give them their own identity. Especially the collaborations they have with different miniature artists, bringing some awesome looking scatters for the rest of us peasants to enjoy. Especially their scatter named 'a.tale.of.grimdark'; I would do a few nefarious things to get my hands on that...it is possibly the coolest looking scatter I have ever seen.
But in the meantime, as you can see from how awesome these bases look, these scatters will serve me just fine. This is obviously a very small snapshot into the potential that can be achieved with these, and I reckon some of these scatters have more of a place on grander and more ambitious dioramas than they do tiny little bases. Either way, I'ms so glad I have come across this company and I'm looking forward to seeing what other products they have and what they continue to create in the years to come.
A huge, massive thanks to Krautcover Scenics for sending these my way to try out. I'm so grateful for these companies who continuously show they care about the miniature painting community more than anything else. Having that at the heart of their business means they will continue to create amazing products for us all to enjoy.
Thanks for reading and make sure you go over to @krautcover to keep up to date with them, and find your nearest retailer who stocks their wonderful products!
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