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I'm after some more resin bases. Pretty much just a simple slate theme rather than more complex stuff with fine sculpted detail and whatnot, but I'm after 40mm square, 50mm square and also some 100x50mm rectangle/square edges. Basically, large monster type stuff. Also 100mm x 100mm if anyone makes one. However, a lot of these seem to be a tad expensive/overpriced, so I'm looking for options that don't expect $8 for one chariot base. And yes, one option I'm looking into is getting my own damn slate and making my own - maybe even casting my own. But in the meantime, does anyone know of any out there that fit this description?

Resin bases tend to be expensive. Your best bet is to just look around eBay if none of the traditional sites (Micro Art Studio, Secret Weapon, Dragon Forge, etc.) are cheap enough for you.

How cheap do you need 'em to be?

Daemonscape in the UK do some inexpensive bases and they have a sale on at the mo

http://www.daemonscape.com/contents/en-uk/d2.html

You're right there, Bob. And if it were just an occasionally model it wouldn't worry me so much. There just seems to be a bit of an inordinate jump from the prices of 40mm square or 60mm rounds when we hit the larger square bases. Given the amount of stuff I want to get painted (a ton of cool Bones monsters, for example) I'll be paying almost as much for some of the resin bases as I did for the models, and then doing it way too many times!

Thanks for the link. VikingChild - I like their prices, (regular as well as the sale ones!) but their larger/chariot bases have quite a bit more "dirt" on them than I'd prefer - as I'm after a lot more rocky/slate. I'm strongly starting to lean towards casting up my own using slate and such, though I've no skill at casting at this stage.

 Azazelx wrote:
You're right there, Bob. And if it were just an occasionally model it wouldn't worry me so much. There just seems to be a bit of an inordinate jump from the prices of 40mm square or 60mm rounds when we hit the larger square bases. Given the amount of stuff I want to get painted (a ton of cool Bones monsters, for example) I'll be paying almost as much for some of the resin bases as I did for the models, and then doing it way too many times!

Thanks for the link. VikingChild - I like their prices, (regular as well as the sale ones!) but their larger/chariot bases have quite a bit more "dirt" on them than I'd prefer - as I'm after a lot more rocky/slate. I'm strongly starting to lean towards casting up my own using slate and such, though I've no skill at casting at this stage.

Casting comes at its own cost and challenges.. Sometimes far out weighting what you could get for less commercially.. Silicone and resin are not cheap to get and has a steep learning curve to use effectively.. Plus you still would have to get all the slate and bases to do the masters.. Make the masters and then do molds.. Then pour said molds.. If you only made one base for each size it would be a daunting task to cast the number you need.. To help speed up the process, make 10 bases of the sizes you need from 20mm sq up to 50mm square, then one or two for the larger sizes.. I am not against pouring your own bases, just seems the older I get.. I have less of a problem paying someone for their time, when mine can be better spent elsewhere.. Just something to think about..

 ruff wrote:

 Azazelx wrote:
You're right there, Bob. And if it were just an occasionally model it wouldn't worry me so much. There just seems to be a bit of an inordinate jump from the prices of 40mm square or 60mm rounds when we hit the larger square bases. Given the amount of stuff I want to get painted (a ton of cool Bones monsters, for example) I'll be paying almost as much for some of the resin bases as I did for the models, and then doing it way too many times!

Thanks for the link. VikingChild - I like their prices, (regular as well as the sale ones!) but their larger/chariot bases have quite a bit more "dirt" on them than I'd prefer - as I'm after a lot more rocky/slate. I'm strongly starting to lean towards casting up my own using slate and such, though I've no skill at casting at this stage.

Casting comes at its own cost and challenges.. Sometimes far out weighting what you could get for less commercially.. Silicone and resin are not cheap to get and has a steep learning curve to use effectively.. Plus you still would have to get all the slate and bases to do the masters.. Make the masters and then do molds.. Then pour said molds.. If you only made one base for each size it would be a daunting task to cast the number you need.. To help speed up the process, make 10 bases of the sizes you need from 20mm sq up to 50mm square, then one or two for the larger sizes.. I am not against pouring your own bases, just seems the older I get.. I have less of a problem paying someone for their time, when mine can be better spent elsewhere.. Just something to think about..

Luckily casting bases is one of the easiest things to do - and it require minimal materials for the molds and casting.

I use 7x7 sheets of plate glass (1/4"). I can get somewhere around 30 - 25mm bases on each sheet. The "mold boxes" are a couple of laser cut acrylic pieces that I had cut to the same size as the glass. The inside is cutout though leaving a 3/8" ring. I've got three different rings, 1/4" thick, 3/8" thick and 1/2" thick. I tack my masters onto one sheet of glass, tack the ring on, mix the silicon and pour. I use a ring to cover my masters by about 1/8". I pour so it sits a little high and after I have degassed it (vacuum chamber - but previously I just painted it on the masters to start with and poured over that with minimal bubble issues) I place the second sheet of glass on top after coating it with release agent (silicone sticks to glass pretty well - so you will want to use a release agent). This flattens out the "bottom" of the mold so it is smooth and even later on. Let that sit for a bit. After the silicone has cured, pop the top pane of glass off, remove the ring, peel off the new mold.

To cast, sit the mold with the cavities facing up on one of the sheets of glass (nice flat stiff surface). Mix your resin and pour overfilling all of the cavities by a small amount. Don't worry about degassing with pressure or vacuum - use a heat gut (or propane torch...). Careful not to burn anything. The heat causes the resin to flow a bit better, the gases to expand and rise to the top of the surface. Same technique is used for clear resin bar tops and resin water features. After you have gotten all the bubbles out - grab a bit of wax paper and your other sheet of glass. Lay the wax paper on the glass and the glass over the mold. The glass provides a perfectly flat bottom for your bases. Let that sit for a bit.

When you go to demold, remove the pane of glass and then carefully lift the wax paper up. Most the resin bases should come out of the mold with the wax paper and remain stuck to it. This makes storage pretty easy - they are sort of like those candy dots.

Costs involved for the materials normally ends up being around $5 or so for the mold and then maybe another $2 work of resin for each set. Working one mold, I can make 100+ casts per hour with my resin of choice (demold times will vary) though generally when I make bases I will have three or four molds going at the same time and I just rotate through them. Last fall I made 4000 bases in a single day of casting.

http://www.dragonforge.com/Painting%20service/for%20sale/base_sets/fantasy/slate_wastes.htm
http://www.foundationsofwar.co.uk/catalogue/0021-bricks-cobbles-n-stone-bases.html
http://www.evilmushroomgames.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6_9

 ruff wrote:

 Azazelx wrote:
You're right there, Bob. And if it were just an occasionally model it wouldn't worry me so much. There just seems to be a bit of an inordinate jump from the prices of 40mm square or 60mm rounds when we hit the larger square bases. Given the amount of stuff I want to get painted (a ton of cool Bones monsters, for example) I'll be paying almost as much for some of the resin bases as I did for the models, and then doing it way too many times!

Thanks for the link. VikingChild - I like their prices, (regular as well as the sale ones!) but their larger/chariot bases have quite a bit more "dirt" on them than I'd prefer - as I'm after a lot more rocky/slate. I'm strongly starting to lean towards casting up my own using slate and such, though I've no skill at casting at this stage.

Casting comes at its own cost and challenges.. Sometimes far out weighting what you could get for less commercially.. Silicone and resin are not cheap to get and has a steep learning curve to use effectively.. Plus you still would have to get all the slate and bases to do the masters.. Make the masters and then do molds.. Then pour said molds.. If you only made one base for each size it would be a daunting task to cast the number you need.. To help speed up the process, make 10 bases of the sizes you need from 20mm sq up to 50mm square, then one or two for the larger sizes.. I am not against pouring your own bases, just seems the older I get.. I have less of a problem paying someone for their time, when mine can be better spent elsewhere.. Just something to think about..

I'm also getting to the older side of this part of the hobby's ages, but then, I've already got jugs of pinkysil and easycast in the shed that I haven't used in a couple of years (due to not being set up until recently). I also have a slate tile to smash up for bases somewhere - I cleaned up about 4 weeks ago, and now it's missing, and I have unadorned bases of every size, ready to act as the bases. Casting stuff up was (and still is) a new skill I'm interested in learning, just as I've been learning to use oil washes, pigments, etc in the last year. I've actually just airbrushed my first model today, and made some.. well not quite mistakes, but things I'd have done differently. Making 2 or 4 different chariot-sized bases, then casting up 2 or 4 of each is going to be harder than just spending $100 to buy a bunch at $8 each(!) but I'd rather learn a new skill and use the $100 on other things. I have on issue in spending a bit on a pile of 40mm bases, and I've got a huge number of 25mm bases I've written off as unsuitable or over the top for most figures, but once you hit 50mm and up, I figure I may as well see if I can do it myself, since I've got all of the materials.

Thanks for the links, Kroot - the Dragonforge ones look perfect, just as the Back-to-base-ix ones are, but they're unfortunately about the same price, which is more than I want to pay. I could see getting some from Evil Mushroom, but their lack of range and postage costs is a bit of a detriment. They seem to have some scenery there, so I'll check them out in more detail.

Sean - your technique sounds really interesting, and a lot of it makes a lot of sense... Do you have any pictures? I'm not quite visualising every step fully - or how you use the heat gun. You should come over here for an afternoon and school me.

Will this do the job?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=repX5lKQQpU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri4flPLNLFQ

It is how I started basing, I am too tight to be able to bring myself to spend on bases when I could buy more minis.

 Azazelx wrote:
Sean - your technique sounds really interesting, and a lot of it makes a lot of sense... Do you have any pictures? I'm not quite visualising every step fully - or how you use the heat gun. You should come over here for an afternoon and school me.

Was near Darwin a bit before Christmas...should have let me know when I was in the neighborhood.

We are working on the final details on the next army for our local group, and I normally do custom bases for each army as well. I think this one will be able to be photographed in its entirety - so I am planning on doing progress photos and tutorials along the way for the different parts like sculpting, molding, casting and the like. A lot of my work falls into a grey area where I am technically doing work for hire for myself and the rest of my gaming group (as an organized corporation...gets complicated when this much money is involved, even among friends). As such, I can't freely take and post pictures of a lot of it without prior approval.

Darwin? I'm down in Melbourne.

thanks for the links kb - I'll take a look when I get home from work tonight.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I think Insaniak might be in Darwin? Must be the Aussies with Cat avatars confusion!

 Azazelx wrote:

thanks for the links kb - I'll take a look when I get home from work tonight.

Just a spoiler on the vids then, 3mm cork sheeting snapped and shaped on a base, black primer, grey dry brush, dark earth pigment optional.

Without the pigment it looks like slate, cost is bugger all. Bunnings have 6mm cork sheet (it is flooring) some bird on eBay has 3mm sheets for like $8 delivered A4 size (which is ridiculously overpriced, but will do 50? Models)

 Azazelx wrote:
Darwin? I'm down in Melbourne.

thanks for the links kb - I'll take a look when I get home from work tonight.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I think Insaniak might be in Darwin? Must be the Aussies with Cat avatars confusion!

Nah - just once you are in the same hemisphere...

If you are open to alternatives to resin while still keeping the slate look and being easier to work with than slate...consider pine bark nuggets:



May well have a different term down there - but they are readily available up here. The "nuggets" have a grain to them which is comparable to slate and other stones which build up in layers (limestone, sandstones...). You can split them into smaller pieces, use a wire brush to erode them, drill through them for pinning, sand them flat to mount to your bases... I actually prefer the look to that of machined cork (raw cork bark is handy...but different). The nuggets range in size in the bags - but usually range from about 1-3" long and 1-2" wide and about an inch thick.

You do want the nuggets though and not the shredded bark or other fibrous forms of mulch. Easy to find here in the US - might be worth looking for.