Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I feel foolish for asking this, but I really have no idea, so I might as well learn...

When do you work on the base of a model? Do you first glue the model onto the base and then work around it, or work on the base first and then glue the model on top of that?

If you're just starting which it sounds like you are I wouldn't worry about it too much. Put your guys together and paint them to a tabletop standard and practice with your painting techniques. If you want to get serious right off the bat then I would watch some youtube painting tutorials and watch how they approach their projects. They usually put things together until it would interfere with the painting. Paint in small batches. Bases as per your question are usually done last and apart from the model. It is so much easier to work on a base when it is not attached to the model.

Do the base completely separate from the model, then pin the finished model to the finished base.

As a fellow beginner I complete the model first then glue it to the bare base. I then brush PVA glue into the base and add small stones mixed with sand from the citadel basing kit. Once the glue is dry I ink it with nuln oil and then drybrushing it with white paint. It's pretty basic but it does the job. On larger models I'll often add a little highlight from the basing kit such as some resin skulls or shell casings.

As a slow painter, I do it last. I'd rather finish up the army with a brown coat for the bases. Then when it's mostly done, I start on the bases and do up the bells and whistles. This way I get a fully painted army faster.

The same technique as The_Alien but I use Seraphim Sepia and Bleached bone (Can't remember the new name)

If you want to play with unpainted minis, then paint them later, you kind of need to glue the base on. That's how I do it with most of my line troops. Characters get separate bases glued on when they are finished.

I'd recommend doing the base pretty early. I usually put the undercoat on, do all the metallic drybrushing, then paint the base. The base is done mostly with drybrushing, so it's a lot easier to deal with when you don't have to worry too much about the rest of the mini getting a little paint on it.

I end up doing my mini and base at roughly the same time, but seperate from each other.Assemble the mini as far as I need for painting, apply sand/rocks/dirt to the base and then use the miniatures feet to create imprints for sticking him on later. That way he doesnt look like he's precariously balanced onto of a tiny bit of sand when done, but not in the way when I'm painting the base.

The exception to this is when the miniature is so integrated into the base so that they cant be done seperately. I.e. heavy weapon team dug right in:


The base and miniatures for these will be done at the same time.

For basic models I just put it on the base. However for more scenic models I actually do the base first and then fit the models to the base.

The very basic job that I do is paint the model on the base. Then I put some Elmer's on the base with a brush and dip the whole base in crushed cork, you can find it at model train stores. Let it dry overnight. Then I have a mixture of water black paint and Elmer's that I have mixed together and I ink the base. This keeps your cork from flaking off. After letting that dry overnight I dry brush the base with a grey paint. I do it in large batches usually after having finished a whole squad.

I apply sand to my bases after I'm done putting the model together, then prime the whole model and paint. I normally paint the base last, as I'm always grabbing some part of it while painting. I give my bases a coat of mournfang brown, a wash with agrax earthshade, then drybrush with bleached bone (can't remember the new name), and then apply static grass once all the paint has dried. Works well for me.

I put sand on my bases with the assembly of the model, and then when I spray prime the models it seals it all in place. I sometimes paint it last, unless it's going to be the same brown as the model's boots, in which case I'll just do it whenever I do those.

I do mine a bit weird. I fully paint the model. Pva glue sand to the base. Then when its dry I paint the sand thamar black, then drybrush it greatcoat grey followed by a lighter drybrush of menoth white highlight. I use formula p3 paints (I'm a recent convert to them!!)

I do bases last. It's easy to get distracted by the final stage, because it really brings the model together, but doing it last is usually the best thing, I find.

Depends on the complexity of both the intended basing and the model.

For open sculpts and simple basing (e.g. Ork slugga boys on coarse sand "gravel"), I'll attach the mini to the base, add my grit, and prime/paint the whole lot, together.

As bases get more complex (projections that would limit access to the model's lower surfaces, necessity of sculpting work, etc.) or models become more awkward to attach (limited points of contact, metal, etc.), I do the two separately, then pin.