Western Desert Italians 10mm Basing

From the coffee stirrers to the 40mm wooden bases (see below, as previously mentioned I had picked the circular bits of wood up from the The Works and annoyingly since that time I have not seen them in the shop again):

The bases get a matte undercoat of Anita's Acrylic Coffee Brown (see below, at this point the magic of basing seems to be almost detracting from the paint job):

The (literal) sand-box (or rather box of sand) and watered-down PVA craft glue stage. The PVA is watered down to improve its spread-ability and the sand-box is there for an unsophisticated "dunking and shake around" (see below, a nice passable effect - note, sometimes several PVA applications and dunks were needed, it was left to dry overnight): 

Then a watered down solution of Anita's Acrylic Coffee Brown (almost a wash) was applied to the base and soaked up by the sand (see below, again left to dry overnight or at least for a few hours, letting the base solidify for the wet/dry brushing stage):

A bit of experimentation was required. I didn't want to waste the more expensive Vallejo paints n the basing (call me a snob but I reserve then for plastic and metal work) so a little bit of mixing was required as I brought out a range of Anita Acrylics 'yellows' (see below, the basic sand colour was achieved by mixing Golden Yellow with Lemon Yellow in a 40:60 percentage):

Lightening the base layer up with highlights ... experimenting with increasing dosages of Anita Acrylics Lemon Yellow and Antique White (see below, a mixture of "wet brushing", "dabbing" to a pretty much dry brush"):

Examining the result ... from the reverse angle (see below, passing inspection to my eyes):

Does it work though ... (see below, I think so, and after all it is 10mm to be viewed from at least four foot away):

The three settled production stages ... undercoat (shade) brown .. yellow/white (base) mix and highlight bleached yellow (see below, the progression to the end): 

A final dry brush of white ... that is using Anita Acrylics Antique White (see below, applied sparingly where "less is more"):

The final product (see below, a very bright bleached white for the Western Desert, a nice parched feel to it for those going "Up The Blue" - battalion or company [depending on the rules you use] Italian Western Desert Infantry Force):

With the basic Infantry done, it is time to move onto the support weapons (MG, Mtr, ATG) and vehicles (tanks, AC and lorry).