Basing. Where and how to start?

[zFiend]

I have started out this hobby after 14 years and as a kid I never based anything. Now it seems that the trend is to base everything and I understand that, they really make the models come alive more and gives them depth.

Now I want to base my figures (Lynch and Yan Lo atm) but as where I can think of the paint schemes, I find myself in a dead end with the basing ideas. Where and how did you get started on the basing is my question? What materials do you use or do you just buy the bases like Wyrd sells separately?

Since this forum really gives out a feel of you can ask just about anything without the gtfo n00b comments (now I'm asking for it), I felt I might get some help here. I saw that there is some figure painter magazine in these forums and think I will buy those, but just to get some tips and info.

[Absolution Black]

Hi, basing is one of the most important stages of a model as it can either make it really 'pop' or drag it down. Personally I use pre cast resin bases (micro art studios or basicks) but these aren't usually cheap so if money is short or you are on a strict budget you may be better just painting them.

It also depends on what sort of 'terrain' you want your figures to be on. For example Lynch may look good on a floorboard style base to represent the casino floor etc, whilst Yan lo may be better on more earthy themes.

Achieving these effects with just basic ingredients and paint can be quite tricky. However, For example for floorboards, grab a handful of the stirrers you find in Starbucks etc (the wooden ones obviously) and cut these to layer onto the bases before maybe washing them with a brown ink.

With Earthy bases, you can use the stones that pet shops sell for fish tanks etc, glue them onto your base with your figure, plonk some static grass (available from most hobby shops) and then paint in your desired colours.

You don't need to go overboard, but just a little effort can make such a difference.

However you can simply just paint the bases black..I have seen this done too!

[Wings]

I find myself struggling for basing ideas too. I tend to keep an eye out for what other people are doing and see if that gives me any inspiration. For many things you can see what you have lying around at home. Corks can be carved up into rocks; cocktail sticks and coffee stirrers are nice and easy to cannibalise; dried herbs can be used for plants; sticks, bark and stones can be collected from outside. Just take a look to see what you can use!

It's much more expensive to buy base inserts or ready made bases, but so much faster. I've bought bases from a company called Fenris before and they've been great, but different people use different companies. You can also buy accessories for things you can't make (or sculpt if you're more creative) yourself.

I think my vary first bases involved painting the base, flocking it, and maybe adding a bit of static grass. My next step up was buying ready made bases, and I've moved on from there.

Good luck with it!

[zFiend]

Cheers. I was thinking of doing the Casino thing with Lynch but didn't figure out how to do it, that stirrer idea is actually great, quite easy and good practice to start with. As with Yan Lo that rock thing might actually be just the thing. I saw that Wyrd sells some big arch thing which might go for Izamu for example?

I have to check those pre cast bases, as a few bucks for "waking up" the model isn't too much and because I have no idea how to make them myself or how'd they turn out.

---------- Post added at 04:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:08 PM ----------

I've been trying as well looking outside what I might use, but it's quite hard atm since I'm at the very beginning stage. Have to try those ideas out and look even more on what people post on the miniature showcase.

[Absolution Black]

lol, yeah sometimes the outlay on pre cast bases is definitely worth it..but now I am hooked on using them as they are so much easier (yes I'm lazy lol)

But I think maybe basing an entire Space Marine Company on them was a little over the top...over £100 just on the bases....sheesh..thankfully it has been done in stages, so I didn't notice the cash going quite so much!

[Matney X]

You can always use precast bases as a starting point. There's a company that does hardwood-floor base inserts that you could then put a rug (greenstuff) and/or table (http://www.btsrr.com/btson01.htm -- the 36" one MIGHT fit on the 30mm base with Lynch).

If you want to roll your own flooring, instead of using coffee stirrers, look for flat wooden toothpicks. To scale, a coffee stirrer is about 2 feet wide, where a toothpick is just under a foot. (And now I've officially spent too much time in railroading forums.)

[zFiend]

Absolution: That just might be a bit over

Matney: I have to check out those toothpicks. I've seen the flat ones for sale but didn't catch my eye as a basing idea.

And thanks for the links, I have to check them out. As for basing Nicodem (which I have ordered) I was thinking of buying a few caskets from Wyrd and start the basing there, as he is the undertaker, maybe I might be able to build some broken ones from the toothpicks or stirrers? That's the only Master I've had some vision and idea where to start the basing. What do you think?

---------- Post added at 04:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 PM ----------

Oh, some extra info, I ordered the Alt Nicodem since I thought it was a better looking sculpt and I got the idea from the zombie on his leg, that I would try and make him stand on a casket raising the zombie rather than earth.

[Bruglyother]

I started out with simple railroad balast and flock. Glue balast to base, paint desired color, flock to taste.

But it got BORING!

So I moved on. At first I tried just adding some rocks to the bases, and I still do that sometimes. I got a bag of aquarioum rocks at some point, and I still haven't put a dent in it. I like them since they are precleaned, generally the right size, and come in a variety of shapes, all in one bag. Also good for terrain.

I gave up on balast due to cost. I still have some ultra fine stuff for certain projects. But in general, I use clumping cat litter. It's easy to apply, and you can get some interesting effects if you compress it with tools or fingers.

I now do a lot with plasticard and greenstuff. Mostly simple things as I am not much of a sculptor. Brickwork, board floors, etc. I also use the coffee stirrer approach. I have found round toothpicks work well for bamboo style bases. When I did my Ramos crew, I cannibalized an old VCR for gears and pulleys.

I have also used fabric as simulated carpeting. I glued down some fabric on a base, and then primed and painted. I did this for Mr Graves and Mr Tannen, flanking a doorway to a casino. I intend to do the rest of a Jakob crew in time, but my painting cue is rather full at the moment.

I think you have the right idea in looking at what other people have done. Keep in mind, if you see something you like and want to try, ask how it was done. Most people are more than willing to share info. Besides, it's an ego boost to have people try to emulate your work. Also, look for tutorials. There are a lot of them out there, including right on these forums.

Have fun and good luck.

[LordDarcy]

I like using styrene strips from the local Railway Hobby store. The packaging lists the size of the material in inches & mm and then the scale size that the piece would be. ie. .020 x .080" or .5 x 2.0 mm strips are 1" x 4" in 1/4 scale. I have used this size for flooring. Simply scratch with a hobby saw on one side to allow some detail once painted. These strips come in scale for all common lumber sizes as well as a huge variety of other sizes. I made a number of rail ties for the Rail Crew with a larger size of these strips. The kind that my local store carries is by Evergreen Scale Models. There is a very good You Tube tutorial from Doctor Faust on how to make this style of flooring.

[zFiend]

Ah, I have to check youtube as well, thanks for the tip.

[jimmyd]

Tree bark, floor tiles, clay can do a million things with them also made round cutters out of pipe to get a perfect insert

[greenstuff_gav]

a bit late, but i Did a Few Guides as did Mortis

[nagash13]

I used to use special fine grain basing i bought. then a painting mentor showed me how he does bases. everything looks much better when you have a mix of fine and rough when doing a dirt like base. playground sand(free, just grab a scoop and put it in a ziplock bag), slate chips, model railroad ballast, whatever. aquarium rocks are overpriced, but can work too. sometimes you can go to a hardware store and ask if they got any broken tiles for cheap or free. put them in a double layer of ziplock bags and smash some more with a hammer for good cheap texture material for basing.

when i want boulders or rocks on the base i use tanbark, crushed glass(bought a bag from michaels art supply once) or rocks. real rocks have the weight advantage if you have a tall tippy model and want to lower the center of gravity.

to make concrete, i buy those round cork disks ikea sells to set hot plates/pots on in the kitchen. you can easily snap it to size, cut it to make it thinner or on an angle. bent bits of paperclip pushed into the broken edge of the cork and glued in place make great rebar on damaged slabs. the cut cork texture makes for great pitted concrete slabs, and the way it breaks so uneven when you snap it looks like real damaged concrete.

coffee stirring sticks, balsa and toothpicks make good materials for floors, decking, or docks.

when i want cobblestones or diff textured metals, you can sculpt it, but you can buy sheets of plasticard that make you life much much easier. this is great for factory, industrial, spaceship, or junkyard bases.

when i started out doing bases i would just put down PVA (white or elmers) glue and toss on some sand, the next day it was ready to paint. years later i found the glue and basing would start to peel away from the plastic. now i take my bases and score a bunch of crossing lines into the plastic with an exacto blade. then i spread around superglue with a paperclip. the stronger superglue and the scored plastic makes for a much longer lasting base. just remember, if you have the model already attached to the base, and you use superglue, dont leave the model in the sun to dry, a hot car, or use a hairdryer to speed things up. superglue+heat = that white fog that shows fingerprints on shows like CSI.

whenever possible(like when working with plastic and resin models) i preffer to paint the bases and model sepperately. i generally drill a small hole in teh foot of the model, and glue in a paperclip/flourist wire. then jab the other end of the wire into a used wine cork to make it easier to hold. when a base is sepperate, i use an aerisol spraypaint primer. this helps bind the sand/rocks/bark and seals it. you are much less likely to get a chip or bit break off like this. when i am working on a metal model glued into a slotted base, i generally water down some black paint real thin to almost an ink. then brush that onto teh sand to make sure the deepest recesses are dark. then i overbrush a dark brown, andthen do a careful trybrush with a lighter brown avoiding the model. this will result in darker areas directly under the model, which is fine as it simulates a shadow. once that is done, you can buy static grass in a bunch of different colors. couple dots of glue on your base, then sprinkle the grass on, and shake excess off. once dry, and model is done and attached, spray with a matte varnish for that last protective coat to help your model last.

hope that helps some, if you have any specific questions drop me a line or add it here and i'll gladly try and help folks.

[Thulis]

I pretty much just use the bases they come with and add several different size sands and then 1 part white glue, 1 part water and mix it up until its a paste. I add it into the base (with a pre-drilled hole) and use a paperclip or some extra pinning material and stick it through before adding the sand paste.

Once I add that, I pull the pin out and push the miniature lightly into the sand making a very light indentation while the paste is still wet. What I've found is this helps keep the models feet flush with the bottom, and more like they are standing right ontop of the base. It also ends up having the sand surface a little uneven, more like real ground which is rarely perfectly flat.

After I have the model just sitting in there, and while the paste is still wet still, I push a rock or two where I feel a blank spot is, that will add visually to the model.

I then remove the model from the base being very careful to keep the indentations and hole uncovered so I can easily slip the mini back into its base once its dried. Luckily if anything shifts, its just elmers/white glue that is keeping the sand glued so you can use your nail or anything hard and chip away at any excess base materials.

Once everything is all dry, I put the model in the base and prime it all. This helps seal a little bit of the base so it doesn't soak up too much paint once I go to paint the base the tan or brown that I decide to.

I ALWAYS seal my base with a clearcoat after I've glued my finished model to the base before adding grass or any extra elements. This helps the grass glue to it better, and I've found superglue can disolve the paint or white glue sometimes.

[Lussuria]

I am also very new to the world of basing!!

What I have currently being doing is buying cheap 'hot pot' cork serving mats:

And then tearing a piece off (or cutting, but it's easier enough to break up in your hands) and using that to paint as the base.

It's...um...not as impressive as what a lot of others do, but it's nice to paint and dry brush and simple for me at this stage. *grin*

It ends up looking some what like this after painting it brown (but hadn't detailed it yet).

*Note: Sorry for the crappy image, it was the only one I had on hand of one I'd made!

*Additional: Foot modeling by Miranda.