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Like the question says. Does good basing make average paint jobs seem much better, or does nothing distract you from just-ok paintjobs?

This question stems from when…
...I was looking at my KoW army the other day and was reminded as always of just how average (maybe slightly below average in some areas) my painting is. My block painting, dipping and a bit of drybrush is solidly at the mid/low-end of "tabletop quality" but viewed en-masse, they look pretty good and I think it has something to do with the basing. It's just premixed concrete patch and pieces of bark painted like rocks, but I think it gives a nice unified look to the figs and is a bit more dramatic than the sand basing I've used on so many other figures in the past. The end result (to me at least) is greater than the sum of it's parts.

Two examples of what I mean.


Not bad at all, just average, but the basing is what (to my eye) brings it up a notch.

This has got me thinking about rebasing whole armies and units that were finished years ago, but just don't look quite as nice as I'd like. Improving the basing would be alot easier than a full repaint.

You should also consider that minis like this tend to look good en masse rather than individually.

Looking at your painting, I think you are far harder on your painting skills than you should be. There's nothing wrong with your paint jobs a little matte varnish won't solve.

That's several steps above basic,

and in units on a table will look really good

the basing certainly helps pull the force together too

I've always been of the opinion that an a model will look a lot better based, but basing won't fix a badly painted model.

Basically an unbased model looks unfinished, but a based model won't necessarily look good.

I think basing helps a ton, so long as its not overboard, like those insane 3 inches of cork rock spires you sometimes see. I also think you're too hard on your painting. All those guys need is some eyes (I'm totally lazy about that too though lol).

Another thing which I think raises a finished job a notch or two is grass tufts. Silflro makes some good ones you can glue down with next to no effort (6.99 for a 2" x 12" strip). The army painter sells the same thing, but for 2-3x the price.

http://www.sceneryexpress.com/Prairie_Flowering-Tufts/products/1056/

I speak only for myself, but I find elaborate basing to detract from the appearance of a unit in a game. It looks like every member of the unit has his or her own favorite tree stump, rock or pile of skulls that they can't bear to leave behind when they go to battle. Display pieces are a different creature, but for gaming I prefer simple bases that don't clash with the gaming surface.

NSFW tag would of been nice.

I think a good base can mitigate a less then fabulous paint job to some degree. There might not be a whole lot of lee-way in what a base can do for a model, but I think there is at least some.

 Sammoth wrote:
NSFW tag would of been nice.

What? What's in this thread that is unsafe for work?

 Snrub wrote:
I think a good base can mitigate a less then fabulous paint job to some degree. There might not be a whole lot of lee-way in what a base can do for a model, but I think there is at least some.

 Sammoth wrote:
NSFW tag would of been nice.

What? What's in this thread that is unsafe for work?

Really do I have to highlight it ?

Please do. I really can't see what you might be talking about.

 Sammoth wrote:

 Snrub wrote:
I think a good base can mitigate a less then fabulous paint job to some degree. There might not be a whole lot of lee-way in what a base can do for a model, but I think there is at least some.

 Sammoth wrote:
NSFW tag would of been nice.

What? What's in this thread that is unsafe for work?

Really do I have to highlight it ?

It took me a while but I was determined to find out what was nsfw. One of those barbarians has particularly long nipples and may be a woman, but I'm personally of the conviction they are just moobs, because that is not a pageant winning face.

Actually, I'm a bit obsessed with bases too - we have one oppo that does lovely paint jobs, but paints bases a plain blue or green and it really disturbs me.

A good paint job with a good base works better than a great paint job with a bad base.

 Bolg da Goff wrote:
It took me a while but I was determined to find out what was nsfw. One of those barbarians has particularly long nipples and may be a woman, but I'm personally of the conviction they are just moobs, because that is not a pageant winning face.

Oh yeah.... I'm honestly not surprised I missed that.

Good responses all around.

Sammoth wrote:NSFW tag would of been nice.

Oops I forgot that the Erin (Fae celtic mythological folk) show a bit.

Vulcan wrote:Looking at your painting, I think you are far harder on your painting skills than you should be. There's nothing wrong with your paint jobs a little matte varnish won't solve.

I appreciate the kind words just to be clear. I'm not displeased with my paintjobs, I just think they're pretty average. As for varnish, you're right. They're all matte varnished, but it's easy to tell which figs were spray can varnished on a humid day (shiny) and which were brush-on varnished indoors (nearly flat).

JoshInJapan wrote:I speak only for myself, but I find elaborate basing to detract from the appearance of a unit in a game. It looks like every member of the unit has his or her own favorite tree stump, rock or pile of skulls that they can't bear to leave behind when they go to battle. Display pieces are a different creature, but for gaming I prefer simple bases that don't clash with the gaming surface.

This can be a fine line to walk. The balance between bases that add to the miniatured, but don't distract from the miniature or draw too much attention.

Hivefleet Oblivion wrote:Actually, I'm a bit obsessed with bases too - we have one oppo that does lovely paint jobs, but paints bases a plain blue or green and it really disturbs me.
A good paint job with a good base works better than a great paint job with a bad base.

That's pretty much what I've come too. I've got a friend who'se painting has evolved alot. He's probably as good or better a painter than myself, but he still bases his figures (even his Knight) on plain grey painted bases. It's visually jarring.

 Snrub wrote:

 Bolg da Goff wrote:
It took me a while but I was determined to find out what was nsfw. One of those barbarians has particularly long nipples and may be a woman, but I'm personally of the conviction they are just moobs, because that is not a pageant winning face.

Oh yeah.... I'm honestly not surprised I missed that.

How is that less "safe for work" than piles of corpses and reanimated bodies and just about everything else we post here? There's nothing sexually graphic in these pics.

OP!!!! I think the paintjob is pretty good, but the basing is much better. I hate basing, so I try to be all "extra good" with my brushwork. The two complement each other, but when it comes to units, even BAD basing can tie them all together well.

This has me wondering if I give a higher vote on dakka and CMON to based models...

It's like putting a nice frame on a picture. It's a handy improvement but it won't make the model itself look good if it's a bad paintjob to begin with.

I'm kind of odd in the way that i tend to pick a basing style and theme before the actual army.

I've built a few different armies now for KoW, my first was Goblins, which i decided on a snowy theme. These were my first foray into miniatures and wargaming and while the painting isn't great i had some good feedback on the basing.



Since then i've completed a few armies, my favorite being my Abyssal Dwarves which were built, painted and based in a few weeks. (Lazy spray can painting techniques.) The bases them selves took longer to make and paint than the models but they really tie the army together. It was also great to field them at Firestorm games earlier this year where they have an awesome lava table .

 melkorthetonedeaf wrote:

 Snrub wrote:

 Bolg da Goff wrote:
It took me a while but I was determined to find out what was nsfw. One of those barbarians has particularly long nipples and may be a woman, but I'm personally of the conviction they are just moobs, because that is not a pageant winning face.

Oh yeah.... I'm honestly not surprised I missed that.

How is that less "safe for work" than piles of corpses and reanimated bodies and just about everything else we post here? There's nothing sexually graphic in these pics.

OP!!!! I think the paintjob is pretty good, but the basing is much better. I hate basing, so I try to be all "extra good" with my brushwork. The two complement each other, but when it comes to units, even BAD basing can tie them all together well.

This has me wondering if I give a higher vote on dakka and CMON to based models...

NSFW is not just about violence. It's about pictures that contain anything that could be offensive being looked at work. It's just simple internet etiquette and requires very little from posters to add that to a tag. Most jobs don't care about the violence as much as they do nudity. If the Warrior/Viking is a male it sure doesn't seem like he/she is.

Thank You Eilif
I even had to give it a 2nd thought if it was a female. LOL Old minis had such a bad way at representing female anatomy.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_safe_for_work

LordOfSmurfs wrote:I'm kind of odd in the way that i tend to pick a basing style and theme before the actual army.

I've built a few different armies now for KoW, my first was Goblins, which i decided on a snowy theme. These were my first foray into miniatures and wargaming and while the painting isn't great i had some good feedback on the basing.

Spoiler:

Since then i've completed a few armies, my favorite being my Abyssal Dwarves which were built, painted and based in a few weeks. (Lazy spray can painting techniques.) The bases them selves took longer to make and paint than the models but they really tie the army together. It was also great to field them at Firestorm games earlier this year where they have an awesome lava table
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/ueagHiMh.jpg" border="0" />
[/img]

Really nice examples of basing taking it to a whole new level. I particularly like the lava basing with non-beveled sides. The way they all meet up gives an almost diorama look to the army. I realize it could clash with a given battlefield, but I still prefer it to plain basing or no basing.

Sammoth wrote:
Thank You Eilif
I even had to give it a 2nd thought if it was a female. LOL Old minis had such a bad way at representing female anatomy.

Yeah, they're a bit odd looking and very 90's. However, to be fair to the sculptors it isn't a human model (some sort of elf/faerie/thing) and I've seen more than a few females with faces that severe. Maybe part of it is that we're just used to seeing comic book beauty queen female shapes in minis?...

I also think it's about balancing between good painting and fine basing. The base is a booster as long as it is not attracting more attention than the model. But a great painted model also needs a finely crafted diorama base to support the theme or environment the model is walking through.

Oh PS. That "female" galic warrior is a gnarly looking one.

And about big 3" high "corky" bases:

I did not catch either that there was even a girl in that picture


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And i am a girl lol

jewels wrote:
I did not catch either that there was even a girl in that picture


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And i am a girl lol

Hahahaha

The thing is, a good base isn't some massive job affair with skulls, hidden models and little secrets. The same with converting within a unit.

The trick is to make them look consistent; a good quality simple base will always look better than either a crappy layer of sand or a half-arsed Golden Daemon entry.

I've got a phrase I heard once; "Faces and bases". Your faces look fine, and your bases look good. Everything else can be basic and it will pull the model together amazingly.