Pokorny Paint Base Wood: Terrain Painting Tips
By Dwarven Forge - Miniature Terrain for the gaming community | Published: 2026-10-25
Category: Tips & Care
Learn how to use Pokorny Paint Base Wood to create realistic wood textures on Dwarvenite terrain. Step-by-step tips for miniature painting without priming.
Quick answer
Pokorny Paint Base Wood is a water-based acrylic formulated for Dwarvenite terrain. It needs no thinning or priming, so you can paint realistic wood textures directly onto your pieces.
Why Pokorny Paint Base Wood works for terrain
Dwarvenite is a flexible, non-porous material that standard hobby paints often struggle to adhere to without a primer. Pokorny Paint Base Wood was developed by Dwarven Forge founder Stefan Pokorny specifically to bond with Dwarvenite. The viscosity is calibrated so you don't need to thin the paint, which keeps pigment concentration high for opaque coverage.
The Base Wood color is a medium brown with warm undertones, designed to mimic aged or unfinished wood. It works well as a base coat for dungeon floors, tavern tables, barrels, and wooden bridges. You can layer or drybrush lighter colors over it to add grain and highlights.
Trade-off: limited color range
Pokorny Paint Base Wood is a single shade. If you need a darker or more weathered wood, you'll need to mix in other Pokorny Paint colors or apply washes. The paint is not pre-mixed for every wood tone, but its opacity makes it a reliable starting point for custom blends.
Step-by-step: painting wood textures with Base Wood
- Shake the bottle thoroughly: Pokorny Paint can settle during storage. Shake the 4 oz bottle for at least 30 seconds until the paint is uniformly mixed. Skipping this step can result in streaky, uneven coverage. A common mistake is painting with unshaken paint, which leaves pigment streaks.
- Apply the base coat directly to Dwarvenite: Use a flat brush or a large drybrush to apply Base Wood straight from the bottle. No primer or thinning needed. Cover the surface evenly, working the paint into recesses. One coat usually provides good opacity, but a second coat may be needed for deep crevices. Check that the paint flows into corners without pooling. If it beads up, the surface may have mold release residue — wipe with a damp cloth first.
- Add wood grain with a drybrush: Once the base coat is dry (about 15–20 minutes), load a stiff drybrush with a lighter brown or tan paint. Wipe most of it off on a paper towel, then lightly drag the brush across the surface in long, straight strokes. This creates subtle grain lines that mimic natural wood. Don't overload the brush — too much paint will obscure the grain effect. Less is more.
- Seal with a matte varnish (optional): For high-use terrain pieces, apply a matte spray or brush-on varnish after the paint is fully cured (24 hours). This protects the paint from chipping during handling and storage. Avoid gloss varnish on wood textures — it makes the surface look plastic rather than natural.
Product fact
- Pokorny Paint - Base Wood: Pokorny Paint Colours are water-based acrylics formulated by Stefan Pokorny for optimal viscosity on Dwarvenite terrain. They don't need dilution and require no primer. Each bottle is 4 oz. You can apply Base Wood directly to unpainted Dwarvenite pieces without extra steps, saving time and preserving the paint's pigmentation.
Pokorny Paint - Base Wood
