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So most of my army is painted and now, I dont want to, but know I need to finish the bases.

I have asked before, and got good advice on how to do them, but things have changed. Can anyone answer some questions?

1. What material/color for the bases go with my color scheme? I want the bases to be minimal work, not really detailed. Simple and uniform.

2. Some of the bases are primed, some are not. Is this going to be an issue?

3. I have a bag of sand, some tiny rocks, old sprue clippings, and more misc items. So just PVA glue and paint/wash over the sand will be ok?

4. I CAN pick up some of the new Citadel texture paint if that is simpler. Will it "stick" to un-primed bases?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Here is a pic of the army

I know the feeling, except for a few cases I'm really not into basing.

As for simple, easy basing, you have a few options. First off is urban concrete, just use grey primer on the base, apply any road markings you might want, then wash with Nuln Oil.

Second most simple is burnt/barren dirt. Apply glue to the base, put sand/dirt/rocks on, blow off excess, than spray paint brown. Highlight with light brown/green and if you feel like it, wash with Nuln Oil for a darker effect.

Also in regards to dirt/ground debris, one money saving tip: Literally just use the dirt off your basement floor. As long as it's dry before application you're good.

This is one of the fancier bases I have done, but the flat areas are a good example of simple "urban concrete":

Awesome....but how should I apply a spray paint to the bases if the model is painted and glued on already? No air gun here!

I'll admit, personally I remove the models from their bases, then proceed with painting the bases. Once done, I scrap off the areas on the base where the models feet will be then re-attach the model.

For ease, just remove the models. It seems like false economy, but you'll find it far easier removing and reattaching models than you will trying to glue/paint around the models whilst still on the base.

As for basing advice, I'd go simple:

Pva
Sand
Undercoat
Brown drybrush
Wash
Lighter brown drybrush

Then maybe some tufts if you're feeling fancy.

Do them en masse and it will probably take less than an hour to smash them out (excluding drying time).

Hmmm....ok then.

So just cut the models off? I mean, I glued them with plastic glue pretty well.

Then use either a brushon primer or do one of my favorite tricks and just some pva glue (watered and brushed) Sand.(play type from the hardwarte store its cheaper) .allow dry then more watery pva glue and some flock .allow to dry shake off excess and spay coat the entire model with matte varnish (testors dull coat)..call it a day ..no need to prime then

Depends on what you want it to look like.

Sand will always look like sand and super rocky at that scale.

If you want mud its actually stupid easy to make.

and if you want everything uniform then it might be the way to go, by making a bunch and getting them all on at the same time.

The basic recipe is wall filler or grout, acrylic paint, random dirt and grit mixed so nothing homogeneous, roots or static grass if you want, water and pva.

mix it all together till you get a consistency you want, then slather it on the base.
best part is, you can get most of that super cheap. might cost you like 10-15 dollars max for at least 4 armies worth.
as to it not being primed. they make brushable primers. GW has some but so does valljeo and AK interactive.

also i think geso can work just as well.

Good advice guys, thanks much. I still have some brush on primer, somewhere. But I like that better than removing, and gluing the models back on.

Thanks!

The reality is that the easiest way to base your figures is to do it prior to priming or painting (unless you paint on corks). My figures are based with material prior to priming. When it comes time to finish the figure it's some watered down brown, some dryrbrushing and a few tufts of grass, or grey w/ various level highlights, etc.

Doing it after the fact will make it a bit more time consuming and challenging. The very easiest way would probably be using some of that fancy technical paint from GW to do cracked earth or whatever.

A new razor saw will do a good job of removing the minis quickly without damage ,and you can base in no time , at the moment i just blu tack my models to the base

I honestly wouldn't bother to cut guys off their base. considering if you are doing mud base then its better that they are slightly sunken in anyway.

at least thats how im doing all of my rats.

Sand is a little different though i hate sand bases :/

I've been going through and basing my army, and I'm really liking the GW technical paints, mostly the astrogranite one.

And I would be a little wary of cutting my minis off the base, especially if they're glued on pretty good. Seems whenever I try it's either catastrophic for either the model or the base, even with a nice razor saw. And you don't need to with the technical paints.

Nice looking army you have there.

While I would recommend basing before painting, I would recommend against cutting the minis off the base if you're adding sand. Your models will be attached to the plastic base via a layer of sand and PVA glue. It can break off quite easily (and take your basing with it). This makes it hard to maintain over the years.

1. For bases, I would suggest using a darker, lower saturation version of an existing color used in the palette. For yours, this could be a grey, or a brown.

2. Priming should be good. There shouldn't be any flakiness from it.

3. Yup! Some people will water down the glue. This helps to paint it on.

4. I've had bad experiences with texture paints. None of them stick properly; tried almost all of them, with multiple pots. It was more effort than doing it manually.

Oh right color theory forgot.

Your army is predominantly black and dark. with a secondary of red.

Id honestly go for a light brown/brownish ocher (yellow) kinda color to complement what you got going on.

Kap'n Krump wrote:I've been going through and basing my army, and I'm really liking the GW technical paints, mostly the astrogranite one.

And I would be a little wary of cutting my minis off the base, especially if they're glued on pretty good. Seems whenever I try it's either catastrophic for either the model or the base, even with a nice razor saw. And you don't need to with the technical paints.

Thats what I am afraid of! I picked up a texture paint today, because of that exact reason.

Snuggles wrote:Nice looking army you have there.

While I would recommend basing before painting, I would recommend against cutting the minis off the base if you're adding sand. Your models will be attached to the plastic base via a layer of sand and PVA glue. It can break off quite easily (and take your basing with it). This makes it hard to maintain over the years.

1. For bases, I would suggest using a darker, lower saturation version of an existing color used in the palette. For yours, this could be a grey, or a brown.

2. Priming should be good. There shouldn't be any flakiness from it.

3. Yup! Some people will water down the glue. This helps to paint it on.

4. I've had bad experiences with texture paints. None of them stick properly; tried almost all of them, with multiple pots. It was more effort than doing it manually.

Hmmm. I asked if they go over unprimed bases OK and was told yes. I was also told if I am worried it wont stick, then "rough up" the bases a bit with a scraper or sand paper before I apply the texture paint. I hope that works!

Desubot wrote:Oh right color theory forgot.

Your army is predominantly black and dark. with a secondary of red.

Id honestly go for a light brown/brownish ocher (yellow) kinda color to complement what you got going on.

Well its actually Black/Gray and Orange!

I picked up Armageddon Dunes (ocherish/yellowish) texture paint. I am thinking of using that and Seraphim Sepia (lighter version of Agrax) shade, and then drybrush it with Ushabti Bone (off white). I am thinking it should look ok. But we shall see

Again, I really do love the feedback and ideas when I post questions here. It has helped a lot!