Base Colors

[Steelwhip]

so for the most part I have seen everyone pretty much run with black bases for thier minis. Can anyone really explain that to me? I know its kinda an industry standard but I much prefer to color my bases different colors.

with my Flames army I painted the base for every infatry platoon a different color as to differentiate the different platoons, and I will probley paint the bases of the crews up in different colors as well

just curious why so many people stick with black.

not that im saying its a bad thing. just curious:turtle:

EDIT:I should clarify that I mean the base the the minis stand on, not the base coat of piming the mini. looking over what I wrote I figured I may confuse some people cause I confued myself

Edited April 23, 2010 by Steelwhip

[tenabrae]

Black usually looks better.

I sometimes use colours if they suit the models (e.g. I have mud-based models where i've done the rims brown).

I'll also sometimes use colour for other things like LOS markers for Warmachine and Infinity.

[Trixer]

Honestly,

I think a well modified base is what separates the men from the boys.

However, a black base to me adds a professional touch to it, the way that fine pieces of art are displayed on pedestals. Just my two cents.

[Chev Chelios]

I think it is because it automaticaly makes a shadow on the mini.I don't do black undercoat,I think it hides to much detail.I normally go with a base close to the major color on the mini.Most of the time it will be a shade of brown.i think it is more "natural" looking.That is normally over a gray primer.I never use black primer.

[macgowan]

I did half earth/half terracotta for my Warmachine Menoth army and it looked great. I'll be basing my Wyrd minis in their faction colors once I get them finished.

[Q'iq'el]

just curious why so many people stick with black.

not that im saying its a bad thing. just curious:turtle:

EDIT:I should clarify that I mean the base the the minis stand on, not the base coat of piming the mini. looking over what I wrote I figured I may confuse some people cause I confued myself

Why do we frame the pictures black or put them on white passe-partout?

To me the black edge on a mini's base is the same thing - it somehow frames both the mini and the terrain it's standing on.

Granted, it's perfectly possible to make a good color base, especially if you are disciplined about the color scheme you choose for your crew, but should any of the models break out of the scheme, the color you've chosen for the bases may start looking out of place. No such risk with black edges.

Now if you are a truly aesthetically oriented player, you care not only about how your own team looks, but also how it composes with the allies and opponents on the table. While it is almost impossible to get all the players to use same basing for all their models (never mind matching color schemes ), staying with black frames allows the minis to somehow compose into something bigger, while randomly coloured bases produce rather odd results now and then.

[Sholto]

What Q'iq'el said.

Coloured base rims tend to draw the eye from the model, which is the exact opposite of what a base should be doing. With a base, you are (in some cases literally) putting the model on a pedestal - don't want the pedestal to be more eye-catching than the model.

Sholto

[ork56]

I debated this one a few years ago for my Confrontation minis.

my basing was very much of the 'Goblin Green' all over look, and noted that most of the painted minis in the catalogue had black edges to the square bases.

Th result of a poll on the forum was a resounding vote for black opposed to any other colour/flock. I repainted the bulk of my minis with a black edge and have ever since.

Q'iq'el has given a much more erudite reasoning, but the common vote (amongst Conf. players) was black.

I have since noticed that a lot of WM/Hordes players paint either base tones or Faction coloured bases and I really cannot get along with the look of them at all. In the end its your mini, your choice. All I would say is that the majority of the top class painters on CMON etc tend to have defined black base edges.

[Viktorias_Secret]

Hey, Black is classic. Everything looks better in/on black.

[n0signal]

The same reason I wear black shoes I guess - it goes with any other colour.

[Kagelong]

I've found painting the base is one more place that chips and has to be re-done. Base more so than anything else really since that's how I usually move my dudes.

[Iron Man]

i painted the rims of my neverborn crew purple. I think the rims on these style bases are too big to be left black. On my WWW2 american force i did them green to match the gaming table, but i think the faction colours will suit malifaux as there arent so many models on the table.

[Hatchethead]

I think the rim of the base is meant to compliment both the model and the terrain it stands on. As has been said, black goes with everything. Regardless of the model's color scheme, black looks good and doesn't detract. Whether it's standing on flock, stone, sand or red hot lava, black won't look out of place. Even if you've based your mini with snow and you're playing on a lush, green forest board, a black rim will smooth the transition between your basing and the table.

For instance, I painted the majority of my TK army with Desert Yellow base rims. It complimented the minis, which was nice. It looked great on desert boards, which was nice. But it looked odd on everything else, which was not so nice. I'd rather have "all the bases covered" (HA!), and black is the only color that does the job, in my experience.

Edited April 23, 2010 by Hatchethead

[Cryptkicker]

I've never liked painting the base edges. When I was learning all those years ago at Games Workshop Fairfax (closed way back in the 1990s... they recently opened another a couple miles down the road... and it's a horrible little store... my bedroom is bigger than it and they intend to have people browsing, painting and gaming there? Delusional....), the guy doing the lesson said I had to paint the base Goblin Green. I asked why. "So it looks like he's staning on grass." "I thought that was why I had put the flock on."

Anywho, I never trim the edges. I like 'em black. If I ever do paint the trims, it'd be cecause I'd put the miniatures in a diorama setting when not in use, and even then, I'd probably cut holes in the base of it to "sink" the minis into.

[Talishko]

It's the same reason why professional cameras are black, whereas 'fun' or 'toy' cameras are silver / pink / red / blue / green, etc...

Gives you that little extra that you can only get from having less. Ever heard the saying 'sometimes less is more'?

In my opinion coloured rims make the model look like something from lego... It should be something neutral; not specificly black, a grey would do well. Just check out yhe Freebooter studio minis, almost all have grey rims and they look fantastic. Also Peterdita's Necropunk has sand-brown rim that looks real good (one of the few exceptions, for me), but would probably look odd on a cityscape.

[Liek]

I generally paint my bases boltgun metal only so that I can tell my minis apart from everyone else.

[Omenbringer]

To each his own. This is one of those personal taste things like utilizing the "official" faction paint scheme instead of your own, black primer vice white, etc. Do what pleases you (unless you are painting commisions), no one else really matters.

I generally paint my base edges, I like the way it looks. I have also used different base edge colors to assist in identifying different units (not so important in Malifaux where the model count is low). I will admit that it can distract from the model if the colors are oppositional, however it can also enhance if they are complimentary. Not all fine art is mounted on black pedestal bases or frames, most times the frame/base is selected to compliment the piece in the space that it is intended to be viewed.

Base edge color preference has not always been black, when I first got into the hobby almost all the bases I saw (on painted miniatures anyway) had the GW goblin green base edge.

[macgowan]

Thank you Omenbringer! I couldn'ta said it better myself.