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One of the things I have struggled with a bit since I came back to the hobby is the weight of plastic figures (or lack of it!). I was very much used to the heft if a lead figure, and the light models feel weird to me. To counter this, I have been gluing lead shot into the void of the base... but of course this leads to lead shot not always sticking fully and leaving trails of lead around the house. So my latest tremor to seal them in involves a 50/50 pva glue and sand mix, which actually seems to work pretty well, and keeps the centre of gravity low so they stand up better.
I’ve also embedded magnets into the bottom of the bases to help transport the figures using a magnetic mat inside really useful boxes.

I was going to finish everything with a felt base, but the felt I have is too thick for the magnet strength. So I have 2 questions.

1- does all this make me a weirdo? Does anyone else do anything like this?

2- instead of felt I wondered if anyone can recommend a paint-on rubber or something that will improve tabletop grip but not nerf my magnets?

1) no. Its a tactile hobby. how it feels is important.

2) you dont really want anything thicker than a sheet of paper or you will lose strength.

Honestly if plan on going ham on weighting down all your models you could back fill those bases with resin.

might be way sturdier. just need to make a small jig with two sticks and do a bunch at the same time. as for grip instead of using rare earth magnets you could consider vinyl sheet magnets used for cars. they are cheap, and very thin. its not very strong but they hold ok if kept upright in a case.

I magnetize the other way around: I put steel washers under the bases, and magnetic sheet on my transport cases. Works very well, and adds a lot of weight to the models. It's also cheaper.

I disagree.. It seems like a lot of pointless effort to me.. I'd just adjust to the new weight. But you do you man, if it feels good then do it.

Green stuff.

I use little blobs of Greenstuff and sink the rare earth magnets into the GS. I press it down on a flat surface to ensure its flush, but dry on its side otherwise the GS sticks to surface.

GS seems to have a much lower failure rate than superglue for attatching magnets. The extra weight is a nice bonus.

You’re in the uk. A 2p fits under both the 32mm and 40mm bases (you just have to remove a few of the nubs on the 40mm) and pennies fit under 25mm.

 Grimtuff wrote:
You’re in the uk. A 2p fits under both the 32mm and 40mm bases (you just have to remove a few of the nubs on the 40mm) and pennies fit under 25mm.

I think he is looking for both magnets and grip (felt or rubber) rather than just weight.

Grim tiff- I actually mounted all my epic vehicles on 2p prices back in the day!
Fresus- The washers would have been the way to do it, but I’m well down my lead shot path now!!
And you’re right Desubot- It’s the finish for the underside that I’m really looking for now, a rubberised layer would be great, or I may just go with felt and increase the strength of the magnets in the box.

Oh, and Facebook junkie- that’s exactly how I mounted the magnets- Then filled in the space with the pva /sand/shot mix.

I use ready-mix filler sometimes. I've also used pennies (UK) but now that gw bases has that little bump in them, this is more of a PITA to do :(

1) Absolutely not insane that you prefer the weight of a weighted-mini. Nothing wrong there. I subconsciously prefer my metal minis for the same reason.

2) I think the all-in-on solution is a bit too late. Clip out the base studs...use metal washers (not coins, they're not magnetic) and use sheet magnets (the kind you can get for putting on cars) in your tray instead - as mentioned above. This would have actually given you the combined weight and cheap magnetization you wanted. Maybe something to consider in the future.

I buy a ton of second hand minis and plenty of them have been weighted with shot, sand, glue, resin, etc. It's not uncommon (even moreso back when some topple-prone minis were made of white metal.

 Elbows wrote:
Clip out the base studs...use metal washers (not coins, they're not magnetic)

New coins in the UK at least, actually are magnetic. They are made of mostly steel alloy. I use a stack of pennies and magnets as my small flight stands.

Ahhh, well that makes sense. In that case, if they're magnetic enough and easy enough, go with that (should be cheaper perhaps?)