Base Modelling

[rogg]

Has someone good links, tips and hints for modelling bases?

How do you style sand? Do you mix it up with glue and put it on the base or do you put the glue on the base and afterwards the sand?

Thx!

[mad lemmey]

50/50 water pva on base, dip in sand, brust off excess, ink wash, paint, highlight, pva/water mix over the top, flock/scatter, varnish!
Sometimes bases take longer than figures!

[goat major]

I use the following approach that i picked up from an article in battlegames magazine

- Coat the base with tile grout (or plaster)*

- using pva glue create patches on each base - covering between 1/3 - 2/3 on each base. dip in sand (i use sieved builders sand rather than childrens play sand which i find is too fine)

- paint the bases brown and then drybrush using various shades of lighter brown

- use pva glue in patches (again about 1/3 - 2/3 coverage) and add static grass, the odd rock or twig and the odd clump of clump foliage 

you can see an example result here http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt239/goatmajor/DSCN1453.jpg


* - this can be very warpy though - i use steel bases so it doesnt matter to me but beware of cardboard!

[NTM]

As I posted on another thread recently this is my method;

I've tried many different methods over the years, flock, sand, filler, textured paste etc etc with varying levevels of success, Only recently have I found a method which gives maximum impact for minimal effort.

i) Attach painted figs to base
ii) Paint base brown (I use DecoArt Cinnamon Brown)
iii) Apply patches of ballast (Woodland Scenics Medium Dark Brown)
iv) Apply static grass to rest of base (Noch Spring Green)

That's it, simple but effective, I've just picked up some Talus to provide some variation too.

[Steve J]

These GW series of articles are very useful for tips on how to do bases.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?categoryId=1100020&pIndex=3&aId=9800023a&multiPageMode=true&start=4&_requestid=8285800

[rogg]

Thanks for your help!

Do you cut off the miniatures own base before you place them on the base?

[mad lemmey]

No,ultrt position enough basing material around the base to come up level with the top of the figures base!
flock and scatter cover a multitude of basing sins! 

[NTM]

I file the miniatures base down a bit which means I can miss out the filler/grout stage.

[Steve J]

I find that the pva glue and basing material come up to the height of the stands. I give the stand a very light coat so that everything looks the same. Once painted and flocked any slights variations in base height are no longer noticeable.

[stormrider]

Using bases made from plain old card and adhesive magnetic strips (3M magnetic tape, it's strong and pretty thick) I glue any models with their own bases onto it, then using cheap own brand tubes of filler (I think ASDA is the one I have on the go atm) I texture the base, hiding the bases of the figures. Then glue on any other models/accessories like mortars, guns, barrels, rocks etc. I paint on undiluted PVA across about 50%-75% of the base (less sand = more muddy areas) and give it a quick shake in my sand tub (builders sand, so it has some small gravel in there too, anything upto 5mm I guess). Undercoat and paint, then afterwards more pva and static grass randomly.

[WarrenAbox]

I glue my figures to steel washers before painting.  My transport boxes are lined with magnetic paper to keep them from rattling around.  I paint my base brown and dip it into fine grained beach sand while still wet.  After the paint has dried, I repaint it with brown sand and drybrush up in dark green, light green, then just a hint of yellow.  Looks just like grass from a distance or up close.

[Genom]

I glue the models to the base with superglue, when dry coat the base in a thickish layer of PVA and dip in sand. Once it's all dry and settled, the entire thing gets sprayed black and then drybrushed up with shades of brown. Depending on what i'm doing,  i'll then add patches of straight sand, flock or static grass.

[mollinary]

WARNING! HERESY! WARNING!

I'd recommend a look at a rather clever idea of a purveyor of dwarfish (only joking Peter!) figures a mere 6mm high. The Baccus Basing System, all details on their site, is equally applicable to 10mm.  I find using a slightly coarser grade of sand works better in 10mm, but the concept is tremendous. Improved my basing immensely, although even my friends would admit that is not a particularly high hurdle!

Mollinary

[Leon]

WARNING! HERESY! WARNING!

I'd recommend a look at a rather clever idea of a purveyor of dwarfish (only joking Peter!) figures a mere 6mm high. The Baccus Basing System, all details on their site, is equally applicable to 10mm.  I find using a slightly coarser grade of sand works better in 10mm, but the concept is tremendous. Improved my basing immensely, although even my friends would admit that is not a particularly high hurdle!

Mollinary

Bah, must get those Minibits basing kits done...!   

[Rubicon]

I use builders sharp sand for my bases.
I bought a big bag from B&Q - it cost less than £5 and will provide enough sand to texture the bases of all the miniatures I'm ever likely to paint....
After drying it in the oven I sieved it to remove the bigger bits of gravel - the gravel is perfect for the fish tank, so doesn't go to waste.
For rockier areas I superglue individual "boulders" of cat litter on to the base, sprinkle the immediate area around the boulder with some finer cat litter (I bash it up using a pestle & mortar 'til it's the size I need), then I dip the rest of the base into my sand..
I glue it to my bases with a 50/50 mix of PVA and water, then seal it with Woodland Scenic's Scenic Cement.
I then undercoat figures and bases with Army painter black spray.
For the ground colour I start with a heavy drybrush of Yellow Ochre, followed by a drybrush of Buff Titanium. I use a heavier final drybrush if I'm doing arid bases - these are Artist's tube acrylics from Winsor & Newton's Galeria range. The bases are then finished with an appropriately coloured static grass and a few Mini-Natur tufts (the 6mm tufts create a great jungle effect on my Japanese & USMC.
It's quick and effective..