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Hi, all.

Out of interest, what is your opinion on black rims? Some people seems to think they make a model look unfinished, some seems to like ‘em.

The reasoning for this thought was, all of my Guardsmen are based as per the below pic; it’s a bog-standard Guardsman who was about 90% finished when I took the pic.



The newest additions to the army, are based like the below pic. Instead of gluing on sand, then painting it, then adding flock and paper leaves, which is how all of the Guardsmen are based, these models have simply had model “Forest Floor” glued to the base (as well as some additional "bark" rocks).





I’m contemplating redoing my entire army like the Sentinels.

Thanks for lookin'

Depends on the basing. Most of my models are on desert bases so they have brown rims (oh er ). Some models are on urban bases so have black rims.

If I had ice bases I would probably use blue or white rims.

So no, black is not automatically "unfinished", unless it is black splotched with other colours from painting the top of the base.

In your circumstance, I much prefer the black rims.

But I am with Silver, coloured rims to match the theme!

I like black rims on all bases, I think it frames the model very well, and I think the coloured rim option can sometimes like quite 'childish' or a bit 90's if not handled with care.

I always do black base rims as IMO it really makes the bases pop.

I'm a fan of black base rims. Painted ones look tacky compared to nice clean black but to each their own.

Painted bases:


Black rims:


Or painted rims on the same army:

Black rims FTW.

I use black rims. Always.
Looks definitely better imho.

More generally, I like when the rim is a different color from the top of the base. I really dislike bases with the rim painted the same color as the sand.

I have black rims on my bases, it makes the actual basing stand out better.
I think it improves the look of the model.

It really depends on the color of the top of the base. All of my guardsmen are on grey bases, so the sides a brown for contrast.

All my armies are snow based and I do the rims black. Tried white and they just don't look good.

The black rims, in my opinion, make the model pop and look the most professional.

Black rims that have been cleaned up to look as nice as possible are a fantastic thing.

The problem that comes up sometimes is that people do not actually take the time to ensure that the rim is devoid of excess paint or glue or flock. Just make sure that you do and there is no room for complaints.

I have been experimenting with adding a gloss varnish to my black rims as well, anyone any experience with that?

Personally i prefer black rims, it only takes a minute to paint them once everything else is finished, and makes the model look more professional. As mentioned earlier, its only when there is excess paint on the rims that it looks unfinished.

Black is good, helps fade the base job to the tabletop so it seems more natural. Less you have a base that matches the color scheme of the tabletop its on.

Clean, black rims make the models look more "refined" in my opinion. Lots of my early work used sand-colored rims, but as I have matured as a painter I've gravitated to black rims. It just makes the model look sharp, which is, interestingly enough, the reason I have black rims on my car as well.

I like the rims painted to roughly match the base itself. For example I paint the whole base, rims and all, brown, then I glue some darker sand on, and then flock/add fx. I think it pulls together nicely.

I just think the rims being painted makes the models blend to the table better

Goblin Green tops with Bestial Brown rims

As God (GW) intended...

It depends on the type of base, for a regular straight edge base it always looks a little nicer to be painted in line with with scheme, it looks unfinished otherwise.

That said a beveled base a lá Privateer Press bases tend to look cleaner with a black edge.
My own two pence at least:-)

Cool.

Cheers for the replies, guys.

I like the edges painted to match the basing material. To me the whole idea of basing is to make the model look more real and stand out. Having a black rim on the base just pulls me right out of that and makes it look like the model is standing on a platform covered with something. I like the painted edge because then the base itself blends into the basing materials chosen.

As I've grown more sophisticated in my basing, my opinion on it has changed.

My Skaven used a plain green flocking and black rims. Looks kinda like they're overrunning a pool table, bit what the heck, they were my first army. (And there's WAAAAYYYYY too many of them to consider rebasing...)

The Bretonnians got the GF9 summer blend flock and static grass mix, again with black rims. Adds a bit of interest without distracting from the heraldry.

My Dark Elves got a late winter theme, with mud and snow on the bases, and a muddy brown for the rim. Since the movement trays have also been edged with 'mud and snow', the brown rims blend in better than black would.

Which is why my Dwarves, with their gravel and rock basing theme, are getting a medium grey rim, and the Lizardmen (when I get that far) will probably get a dark brown rim, for a 'jungle floor' theme.

Of course, all of this is to personal taste. If it looks good to you, then go for it. They're your minis, after all!

This was actually something I thought a out a lot when starting my daemons.

I even started a thread with a poll, and the opinion on coloured/black was nearly 50/50. In the end, I went with black edges, as I went with a scrub theme for them (desert with some greenery, larger rocks and small amounts of water, to allow for some textural and colour variety for contrast) and when I play at our local club, it can be on anything from a GW battle mat to a vinyl grey textured mat to vinyl flooring cut to size.

With a black rim, this divorces the base from the surface slightly, and is less jarring to my eye, if I had say, a brown rim on a green mat, I'd find it much more obvious that their basing scheme didn't match the playing surface.

I don't really care.

I don't see much point in trying to blend a base into the tabletop, considering how infrequently a model will be standing on the proper terrain (socketed display boards notwithstanding). Likewise, a base's rim (whether beveled or round-lipped) is generally an unnatural feature - painting it in the base's colors doesn't make it any less so.

Since I can't make it disappear, I prefer to treat it artistically. For me, that means thinking of it like I was framing artwork - the base rim is the beveled edge or narrow reveal in matting, providing stark (but small and/or unimportant enough not to be jarring) visual separation between the art (i.e.model and basing) and the frame (i.e. tabletop). Without clean separation, basing gets muddied as it clumsily "blends" into a similar tabletop or ends up with an even more jarring transition, as with grass bases in a desert or crumbling asphalt in a snow field.

I do make exceptions when the game calls for it, though. If the models might be used in a system where facing matters, split colors may end up looking cleaner than bisecting lines on a black base. I'm still actually on the fence on that one, but there's no need to revisit it until I paint more of my Infinity models.

 SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
I don't really care.

Hard day under the bridge?

As others have said, depends on the basing/army theme. My winter wood elves are all going to have black rims. I just think it makes a starker contrast with the snow and ice, and makes it look colder. Go with whatever you like, if someone tells you the bases make the army look unfinished, oh well, you know they're not.

I paint my rims based on squad colours, makes it a lot easier for everyone when you can tell identical units apart when they start getting mixed up.

 Madcat87 wrote:
I paint my rims based on squad colours, makes it a lot easier for everyone when you can tell identical units apart when they start getting mixed up.

That's not a bad idea, especially for foot-heavy armies.

Also take into consideration the tables they will be played on. Assuming you won't be playing the same table every time - if you're snow based with white/blue rimmed bases and play on a green/grassland board it might take away from the visual effect.

Imho, having black rims separate the board from the model so the models stand out as kind of their own subject matter, so to speak.