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I used to just toss some sand on my bases and add a little paint and call it a day, but recently realized just how fun making your own custom base can be.

Watched a few tutorials online and decided I wanted a bubby green sludge base for my Tallyman.

It was fun making it, definitely gonna try and do better next time.

Do you guys like to attach your unpainted dude to the base and mask it or paint the dude and attach him later?

That looks great. Basing can definitely be fun.

Personally I paint the figure and the base separately and attach after both are done. Sometimes needs pinning to avoid too much force going through a couple of layers of paint alone.

Faces and bases. Bases are where I let loose. Drybrushing, oils slopped all over the shop, powders and pigments, chuck some foliage over it . You can be messy as you like and still make something that looks good.


I often get compliments on my lotr bases, but most of them are just stones or cork bark, various foliages and flowers stuck on at random and some powders to make it look more natural.

I often go back and forth between the model and the base, and sometimes attach it prior to full completion, which allows me to tie the model into the environment which his base represents. You can see how colours and contrasts work. I often find this better than painting the model, making a base then sticking the model to it. It feels more organic to build up the base and the model together to me.

Flinty wrote:That looks great. Basing can definitely be fun.

Personally I paint the figure and the base separately and attach after both are done. Sometimes needs pinning to avoid too much force going through a couple of layers of paint alone.

Thanks a bunch I really appreciate the compliment and advice

queen_annes_revenge wrote:Faces and bases. Bases are where I let loose. Drybrushing, oils slopped all over the shop, powders and pigments, chuck some foliage over it . You can be messy as you like and still make something that looks good.


I often get compliments on my lotr bases, but most of them are just stones or cork bark, various foliages and flowers stuck on at random and some powders to make it look more natural.

I often go back and forth between the model and the base, and sometimes attach it prior to full completion, which allows me to tie the model into the environment which his base represents. You can see how colours and contrasts work. I often find this better than painting the model, making a base then sticking the model to it. It feels more organic to build up the base and the model together to me.

Yeah I love how basing can kind of always be turned to 11, even after being turned to 11 it's like okay that's just the new 10, we can still go to 11. On and on.

This all kind of started when I was checking out my LGS and there was an assembled LoC on consignment sale for 35 bucks and I was thinking about it but was hesitant to spend top dollar for him, but that day he was decently painted and put on a sloppy base made of a couple layers of cork and some earth texture slapped on callously. It was obviously cork and I think that was to my advantage because I sort of just realized I could've done better with minimal effort and have fun doing it while realizing that even this was better than any of the bases I've done so far.

Thus began my road down making my own cool bases

I definitely agree with faces and bases. Over the last 15 years, I've put a lot of work into re-basing all of my fantasy-themed miniatures with cobblestones. And I'm loving the end results:



It really helps with models I use a darker color scheme on (like my Chaos undivided above). I like how it ties together all the models I used for AD&D or when I run my homebrew dungeon crawl.

More examples:

It depends a bit. My standard dudes either come on "desert" or "jungle" bases. The desert guys are glued before painting and when I'm done I add sand or texture. The jungle guys are mostly on resin bases from Microartstudio. There I find it easier to paint them seperately and then glue them together.

Minis that are more special go on special bases that are usually also painted separately.


Back on topic: your base in the first post looks really nice. Always enjoyable to see someone enjoying himself in the hobby.

 Pyroalchi wrote:
It depends a bit. My standard dudes either come on "desert" or "jungle" bases. The desert guys are glued before painting and when I'm done I add sand or texture. The jungle guys are mostly on resin bases from Microartstudio. There I find it easier to paint them seperately and then glue them together.

Minis that are more special go on special bases that are usually also painted separately.


Back on topic: your base in the first post looks really nice. Always enjoyable to see someone enjoying himself in the hobby.

Thank you for the compliment and I'm glad you share in my joy that was something I hoped to do with this topic.

I agree with you about your troops and basic dudes, it's kind of unreasonable to give them all badass bases when you want your HQ and character models to stand out, most of time literally above the rest. I think for stuff like Termies and Elite choices things can be made nicer, scaling up to full blown bases with some layers to it.

How do you do your desert and jungle bases?

@ Darkmatter: this will be pic heavy, therefore I'll put it in spoilers:

so for desert I initially used one of GWs texture paints (I don't remember exactly which one), but added Zamesi Desert, Agrax Earth shade and drybrushed with Zamesi desert + some lighter color



later I switched to using natural sand glued on with white glue. I use very fine and bright sand from the baltic sea. Sometimes when I feel like it I add a darker wash like Seraphim Sepia or Agrax Earth shade. I also always add some tufts:


For a more "badlands" feeling I use another Texture paint (I think it is Agrellan Earth)




Now for my jungle dudes, as I said I heavily rely on Microartstudio bases. Usually the jungle line


but I also have some of their forest line

and their swamp line

all three are... lets say not cheap to staff out your standard dudes with, but well worth it for me as a collector.

Alternatively I worked with usuing a mix of tufts, static grass and leaflitter, together with basing "ruins" from Greenstuff World and other companies:


Or I went for a more "temperate climate forest" with a different mix of leaflitter




Another thing I can wholeheartedly recommend are Greenstuff world textured rolling pins that are just great for creating cheap but characterful bases. I have three:
Egypt

Aztec

and Mandala




And last but not least some "specials" I did for characters etc.
searose/crystal/treestump

lava

Skulls

Totem head

Inquisition/more Crystals

Junkyard (again Microartstudio)

Or beach (also Microarstudio)

Only just started basing as well, cant believe i used to plastic glue to bare black bases omg.

Still figuring out the contrast issue, but i'll just tabletop this set and move on.

Snail22 wrote:Only just started basing as well, cant believe i used to plastic glue to bare black bases omg.

Still figuring out the contrast issue, but i'll just tabletop this set and move on.

You could dry brush a lil bit of a lighter grey/brown over the earth texture to give it some contrast/highlights

Pyroalchi wrote:@ Darkmatter: this will be pic heavy, therefore I'll put it in spoilers:

so for desert I initially used one of GWs texture paints (I don't remember exactly which one), but added Zamesi Desert, Agrax Earth shade and drybrushed with Zamesi desert + some lighter color

Spoiler:

later I switched to using natural sand glued on with white glue. I use very fine and bright sand from the baltic sea. Sometimes when I feel like it I add a darker wash like Seraphim Sepia or Agrax Earth shade. I also always add some tufts:

Spoiler:

For a more "badlands" feeling I use another Texture paint (I think it is Agrellan Earth)

Spoiler:

Now for my jungle dudes, as I said I heavily rely on Microartstudio bases. Usually the jungle line

Spoiler:

but I also have some of their forest line

Spoiler:

and their swamp line

Spoiler:

all three are... lets say not cheap to staff out your standard dudes with, but well worth it for me as a collector.

Alternatively I worked with usuing a mix of tufts, static grass and leaflitter, together with basing "ruins" from Greenstuff World and other companies:

Spoiler:

Or I went for a more "temperate climate forest" with a different mix of leaflitter

Spoiler:

Another thing I can wholeheartedly recommend are Greenstuff world textured rolling pins that are just great for creating cheap but characterful bases. I have three:
Egypt

Spoiler:

Aztec

Spoiler:

and Mandala

Spoiler:

And last but not least some "specials" I did for characters etc.
searose/crystal/treestump

Spoiler:

lava

Spoiler:

Skulls

Spoiler:

Totem head

Spoiler:

Inquisition/more Crystals

Spoiler:

Junkyard (again Microartstudio)

Spoiler:

Or beach (also Microarstudio)

Spoiler:

Wow those are beauts nice work, I might have to get me some of those coveted army painter tufts.

I was so boo hoo that i missed OP's question.
D'oh

Im keeping bases and models separate.
I use the smallest or second smallest bits that come with the jewller's drill kits off ebay.
Pushing a small hole through doesnt damage the milliput flagstones or the pva sand, then the same hole in a foot, secured with a paperclip.

Basically following a Marco Frissoni tutorial.

You could probably fix the overflow with some sanding sticks to avoid accidental thumb damage going around a whole DG List, or the whole list just being Goo Mans ...

 Snail22 wrote:
I was so boo hoo that i missed OP's question.
D'oh

Im keeping bases and models separate.
I use the smallest or second smallest bits that come with the jewller's drill kits off ebay.
Pushing a small hole through doesnt damage the milliput flagstones or the pva sand, then the same hole in a foot, secured with a paperclip.

Basically following a Marco Frissoni tutorial.

You could probably fix the overflow with some sanding sticks to avoid accidental thumb damage going around a whole DG List, or the whole list just being Goo Mans ...

Oh wow really cool idea, it's amazing how bases have become more intricate over the years

People realised that noone fights on neatly trimmed tennis lawns, especially medieval fantasy or gothic sci fi battles. It's amazing it took so long.

Update on the final mini

Powerful melting goo, slurp slurp, looking kinda like cleavage
what the...

just me for the pretty mid feeling imperials with calibrated cracked bases, haha.

expanded all the unexpanded spoilers from @Kid and @Pyro, did you know everyone being well done with the bases, i'm focused on this right now haha.
sounds like I'll read everything fully next time though as long as i'm not jetlagged or something.

base satisfaction yes, paint job went too far, I'm going to buy a new laptop once my desk is perfectly balanced. I didnt reeally need to make you read all of that though

nice bases though actually!

Now I need to make a base for my Foul Blightspawn, any inspirational ideas are appreciated!

EDIT

Here's what I'm gonna try and do

Check out my version of the toxic sludge pipe Foul Blightspawn!

Good heavens, I say.
Rotting and rolling around in its own concoction.

Required amateur styling comment for being in this polluted clean up thread!

Check out some more bases I did for some Blightlords

How they manage to advance over such a goo-sea

Looks good