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 really don't understand this, I base all my models. In fact it's often the first thing I do now as it helps me see how the rest of the model looks.

But I see SO MANY MODELS that are unbased, people who have a relatively good grasp of basic painting techniques, but for whom gluing on sand and then painting and drybrushing it appears to be a mystery.

It's so simple, but it seems to be huge and intimidating challenge for new painters. Any ideas why?

Perhaps we could start a thread cataloging peoples different basing methods with a brief overview of how it was done to encourage others to start?

I know what you mean dude. I base all my miniatures. .. eventually. I tend to do bases in sets of 10, usually when my painting mojo is low unless the base is an integral part of the model ( ie guard weapons teams). A mini is not finished until its base is done.

Alot of people have never based a model and do not realize how easy it is to do. I recently always left it for the last stage of the model (which I would then put on and move on to painting more models) after using corkboard to base I normally do 10-20 bases at a time and they look really good and is super easy.

Asking why people do anything is an exercise in futility. Some people don't base. Some people don't paint and prime their models. It is what it is man.

Anyone who doesn't want to deal with basing in sand (which, IMHO, is a pain), can use the awesome "resin sand" medium from Liquitex. That stuff is even easier to work with.


http://www.liquitex.com/resinsand/

It's like basing talent in a gel form.

Look at how most people learn to base. When I started back in the 90s, I got a small bag of green flock. The GW painting guides all had basing as the last step, because one miss with paint screws up your flock. Static grass works the same way, I don't bring it out until a model is done. It's likely people don't base for the same reason I didn't. The model was never "done".

I didn't do sand basing until this morning for the first time, and it's because I have gotten comfortable enough to try a complex marsh scene on a base.

Me personal excuse was i wanted to do a urban base rather than just sand.

eventually just went sand :(

Some times its just hard to pick a good theme that will look well on nearly any table but wont be soo damn generic.

For me it just seems a shame to leave nice mini ona black paint speckled base. basing can be as simple or complex as you want, but it is a hame when reasonably talented painters suddenly frreak out at the last step because it involves painting something other than the minis body...

A small amount of effort produces an incredible difference in end result.

I think basing sucks a sign post that always follows a guy or a piece of dirt that is some how around the same guy even if he is in grass snow or water... just doesn't make sence to me.

I think black bases are easier to visually ignore then a bar that drastically clashes with the board.

And because I'm busy. I barely get hobby time.

I base with sand and do so before I prime my models.

The base not matching the terrain you play on can be jarring for some people. Clear acrylic bases are getting more traction for this reason, especially if you know you'll be playing on nice terrain.

Some people prefer the look of a finely done miniature on a plain black base. They are toys after all. Personally, I prefer basing, but I always paint the sides of thr base solid flat black, the thing that peeves me most is a base thats poorly painted any other color lol.

Dessorag wrote:
Look at how most people learn to base. When I started back in the 90s, I got a small bag of green flock. The GW painting guides all had basing as the last step, because one miss with paint screws up your flock. Static grass works the same way, I don't bring it out until a model is done. It's likely people don't base for the same reason I didn't. The model was never "done".

I didn't do sand basing until this morning for the first time, and it's because I have gotten comfortable enough to try a complex marsh scene on a base.

QFT back then basing was done last. Even today I tend to do it last even if the model is already on the base. Old habits never die.

 Yonan wrote:
The base not matching the terrain you play on can be jarring for some people. Clear acrylic bases are getting more traction for this reason, especially if you know you'll be playing on nice terrain.

I love basing nicely (cork, mainly), but I am also mad for great terrain.

I really don't want to use acrylic bases, but it makes so much sense :(

I suppose I will never really be playing on someone elses table, so I may as well just base specific for my terrain.

Good chat Yonan, thanks for the help

So I based my first miniature just a few days ago, in Army Painter grass. I haven't really painted the base at all. I'm not sure what to do with it. The miniature is bone and red and it contrasts pretty nicely already so I don't want to spoil it with patchy, broken up yellow and tan dead grass but it just looks kind of one dimensional the way it is.

Any tips from the pros here?

I used to just use sand, rock and tufts. However, ever since I went to resin bases, I don't base anymore until I'm sure I know what I want for the entire army or subgrouping. So, I will drill out both feet (as a part of prep), but I will be 30+ models into a set before I know what I want to base.

Sadly, with what my time allows, I only finish 2-3 models a week on average, so it's many months before I base a group of models.

On the other hand, I am very happy once I do finish a model and finally base it properly!

If they are too lazy to base, do you imagine they are too lazy to respond? o.O

I base everything before I prime it. I hate the look of sand on a base that isn't painted or at the least washed. It just doesn't look congruent to the painted mini. But no basing is even worse. No excuse to have a finely painted mini and a blank base...

I wonder about this myself, but I do think that for many folks a clean black base looks bettter to them in person than what they imagine their attempt at basing might look like. At this point I see so many unpainted figs in the shops that if someone has just painted their figs I'm so happy to see it that the unpainted base barely registers. That's how low the bar is now.

For myself, I only play with painted and based figs and my club follows the same standard.

For me its a combination of laziness and not wanting the base to clash with backgrounds. I like adding a few painted bits, but the basic black of a base doesn't bug my eyes.

Many reasons for me, but the most significant is that I don't think I could base something competently to the point where it wouldn't detract from my painting. I'd rather have a nicely painted mini on a clean black base (I do go back and clear up paint on the base) than the same mini on a crap attempt at basing. A black base is simple, won't clash with the mini or board, and does it's job well enough.

I probably could base stuff well if I tried, but every time I attempt to do so, I realise the time would be better spent doing painting, modelling, doing anything less boring than gluing sand to plastic and wrecking a brush painting it.

A lot of my models go years without being based because I can't figure out what sort of basing style will suit the model. I often don't think far enough ahead, when you base a model, you are adding more colours to it and that can mess up the colour palette you've chosen. For my DKOK I went snow bases and made them specifically so they contrast the blue grey of the models.

For my 'nids, I ended up going snow bases after years of them being unbased simply because I could not think of a colour that would go well with my scheme (bone - blue - red).

There is also something nice about a clean black base, though most GW models don't have clean bases so leaving them black doesn't look good (so many are slotta bases which need to be covered or more recent GW kits have injection dimples in the middle of them).

kb_lock wrote:

 Yonan wrote:
The base not matching the terrain you play on can be jarring for some people. Clear acrylic bases are getting more traction for this reason, especially if you know you'll be playing on nice terrain.

I love basing nicely (cork, mainly), but I am also mad for great terrain.

I really don't want to use acrylic bases, but it makes so much sense :(

I suppose I will never really be playing on someone elses table, so I may as well just base specific for my terrain.

Good chat Yonan, thanks for the help

I really dislike clear bases. I also dislike clear flying stands for the same reason. That reason being that they are trying to pretend to be "nothing" but because they are actually very shiny and reflective they stand out more than just painting it flat black.

I base my krieg in a way that makes sense for them. So lots of mud kick back on the trench coats, rusted barbed wire on a few models, usually 3 out of 10, and other little bits. I also paint the rims of the bases because if left black I feel that they take away from the basing I do.

You either have to base before you assemble the model (Which delays the fun, at least for me) or pry the model off of it's base which can damage it. That or you could glue the sand around the models feet but that makes it look stupid. You could use textured paints and, imo, this is one of the better options but those can be less than convenient to get.

This is my latest set of bases


I didn't base my models for a while simply because of a lack of skill and imagination. I slowly worked my way up from drybrushed sand to what you see above the main reason because of IG heavy weapon teams being on 60mm bases, such a large blank canvas to work on.

I can understand why someone may not want, or be bothered to go to the amount of effort that I do, anything but the bright green bases of 2nd/3rd edition dear god anything but that.

i find basing really boring. i've got two squads and two characters on my painting table, but 5 squads and 3 characters sitting on the side here waiting for me to do the bases

i find it boring and finnicky to do good bases. i often just paint the bases a solid colour and leave it like that!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
actually this has inspired me. i'm going to base one of those squads now and not read any more dakka until i have done so

Lack of skill maybe?

My early models are simply got them painted a simple battleship grey. Later models are argelian earth and bits, while my latest have bits, green stuff, weathering and dry bruahed metal and bits like pipes, rubble, and old sprue.

there we go. eleven bases painted in woodland green. i'll stick some grass on them in an hour when the paint is dry. simple and easy.

I enjoy painting and I consider myself ok at it, but I don't like extravagent bases. All of my bases bar a few are black with a little bit of sand which is to cover the base slot more than anything.

The main reason is I like my bases being "neutral". For example, a Carnifex rampaging through the snow with dead Ultramarines at its feet might look great as a stand alone piece or in a display, but I think it looks daft if you're playing in a ruined city against Orks.

I used to do a lot of custom bases, but then I fell in love with clear acryilcs. I really love the "wherever you go, there you are" aspect of them... and the amount of time saved is not-insignificant.

When you're going to spend the money on fancy terrain like battlezones, battle systems, or spend a lot of effort making your own home terrain look great... I just hate to insult it with a base that doesn't match. And if I make custom bases for my city board, they look dumb (to me) in the woods.