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I have a pirate diorama I’m wanting to set up that will have both a ship and land terrain, using Blood and Plunder miniatures. Since I’ll want to move the figures around on it from time to time, I’m looking to replace the bases that come with the figures with some clear 25mm acrylic bases. However, a quick search is only showing me some that available in Spain - Can anyone assist me in finding some dealers or vendors in the US to save a little on postage?

The US vendors are more expensive than European vendors plus shipping (don't be misled by the flag on my profile; I have a mailbox in the States). I ordered from http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/


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Hmm... they had 32mm bases when I ordered last year, but they don't now.

https://litko.net/

I've ordered the clear bases and other things from them in the past and find them reliable.

 Stormonu wrote:
I have a pirate diorama I’m wanting to set up that will have both a ship and land terrain, using Blood and Plunder miniatures. Since I’ll want to move the figures around on it from time to time, I’m looking to replace the bases that come with the figures with some clear 25mm acrylic bases. However, a quick search is only showing me some that available in Spain - Can anyone assist me in finding some dealers or vendors in the US to save a little on postage?

Litko is good, but expensive. They do sell the 25mm clears on Amazon though sometimes.

angryboy2k wrote:
The US vendors are more expensive than European vendors plus shipping (don't be misled by the flag on my profile; I have a mailbox in the States). I ordered from http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/

For what it's worth, the stuff from GreenStuffWorld comes amazingly fast - despite being in Spain I find their stuff arrives faster that US to US shopping on Ebay, sometimes.

Pulp Alley (from Oklahoma) sells clear bases that they use to stand metal figures on in the 25-28mm scale.

Here's a link in case those might work:
https://store.pulpalley.com/product-p/1320.htm

The WizKids line also has clear bases (here's a link to Miniature Market)
https://www.miniaturemarket.com/wzk73594.html

Nice finds everyone! Thanks for the help - and I’ll keep these around for future reference

 Stormonu wrote:
Nice finds everyone! Thanks for the help - and I’ll keep these around for future reference

Likewise, thanks for the resources guys!

Has anyone used clear bases for full 40k/WFB/AoS armies? How do you find they look on the table top?

This is a common question and I'll respond as I normally do: it'll look worse than you think, but it does work.

The thought process behind it is often simple: clear bases will be easy and it'll match my terrain right? Kinda.

All I can say is to try them first, because there are some serious downsides, namely:

1) They're reflective. While they can be cleverly photographed (often by the people selling them) to "disappear" into the tabletop, they don't. You're using 2-3mm thick acrylic and it has a reflective/glossy finish, so you'll often see any light source in the area reflected, particularly overhead lamps.
2) It can be a hassle to attach miniatures to them without fogging the base. Superglue etc. will generally fog the plastic around the feet due to the chemical properties.
3) While not an immediate concern, clear plastic can eventually turn yellow or brittle, but that's a concern for 15-20 years down the road - so only worry about that if you want to keep and use your collection for a loooong time.
4) Depending on the surface on which you play, clear plastic can scuff over time. If you use heavily graveled/sanded tables, etc. you need to be careful not to slide your minis. Once scuffed/scratched etc, you're kinda stuck with an ugly (and even more noticeable) base, or you have to break them off and re-do them.
5) You can't easily find all of the correct sizes of GW style bases in clear acrylic, though you could likely contact an acrylic or lasercut company to make some for you. They will not be cheap, so it will be financially a bit more expensive than normal basing.

The theory is neat, I've just found it not to be as good when actually practiced. I have a small number of tentacles on clear bases (for use with a sea monster), and they're the only ones I'll do. Here are some pictures from a game using clear bases (not mine) to give you a non-biased look at how it ends up looking:











As you can see, the idea is neat, but what you end up with is miniatures walking around with huge plates of plexiglass strapped to their feet. Some people swear by clear bases, and if you dig them, that's cool. I find them to be extremely distracting.

I think the glare is much less noticeable in person that it is in photographs. I find the clear bases are less jarring than pretty much any other way of basing, unless you're always going to be on the same kind of surface.



Here's a good example. It would look pretty dumb for the guys in the building to be standing on mounds of snow. And it would look pretty dumb for the guys outside to be standing on planks of wood. So this looks less out of place than any other kind of basing would if your guys are going to be on different surfaces.

Also, you can paint a dark color around the rim of the base and that supposedly reduces the glare. I tried it and the amount of difference it made didn't seem to be worth the extra work, but some people do it.

One downside that I don't think has been mentioned is that they are very smooth, so if you try to set them on an incline they will slide much more than most other kinds of bases.

But which looks better, these guys standing on perfectly circular piles of dirt that happen to be on the floor:


Or these guys:

This is the beauty of opinions. You find a dirt base jarring, and I find a reflective disc of plastic jarring. As I said, I own clear-based miniatures and it's not just pictures that showcase how distracting I find it to be (the above aren't even my pictures). It's a matter of opinion. But the idea that suddenly the bases disappear is a commonly touted "benefit" which is rather disingenuous/misleading.

Thanks for the replies. Agree with the squirrel that they are less jarring than the completely wrong terrain type, think i'll give 'em a go if i can find the right sizes.

I've used them on Killteams and Necro gangs, often rebasing minis that were on slottabses (cutting off metal tabs)

I really like the effect, but second the criticisms that have been put forward.

You do lose the 'mini' diorama aspect of a miniature, which will rob you a little if you plan on displaying them.


However you do get a bettre sense of scale between minis- a chaos marine looks much bulkier than a cultist when a base osnt m,essing with your perception of mass.

My advice would be to try with a small squad and see you you feel.

 Elbows wrote:
This is a common question and I'll respond as I normally do: it'll look worse than you think, but it does work.
3) While not an immediate concern, clear plastic can eventually turn yellow or brittle, but that's a concern for 15-20 years down the road - so only worry about that if you want to keep and use your collection for a loooong time.
4) Depending on the surface on which you play, clear plastic can scuff over time. If you use heavily graveled/sanded tables, etc. you need to be careful not to slide your minis. Once scuffed/scratched etc, you're kinda stuck with an ugly (and even more noticeable) base, or you have to break them off and re-do them.
5) You can't easily find all of the correct sizes of GW style bases in clear acrylic, though you could likely contact an acrylic or lasercut company to make some for you. They will not be cheap, so it will be financially a bit more expensive than normal basing.

While I agree with you on points 4 and 5, I do not on point 3. My French Napoleonics are based on acrylic bases from about 1980, and they have not yellowed. Admittedly, YMMV depending on acrylic quality and storage environment. (Mine are in a wooden case in a dry, low humidity climate).

As for the added expense; it comes down to what is important to you. Saving time and effort on basing was more important to me than using the generic bases and then having to build a little diorama on each (time consuming and expensive).

That's good to know. The older stuff I've seen on acrylic bases have been hit or miss. The ones that have seemed yellowed could also be from the glue itself simply yellowing over time and simply reflecting through the plastic. I obviously don't own any that old (yet I suppose).