Ethelred's Page of Modelling Ignorance

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

I have been a somewhat indifferent painter and have been somewhat restricted in the types of figures I paint.  As such, there are lots of basic things I don't know  .  I could just do trial and error, but as I paint so little I doubt I would paint anything to replace a disaster.

Today I received some Black Tree Design fantasy miniatures.  These come with slotta bases. 
Do you fill the underside of the bases with anything to add weight?  The figures seem a bit top heavy.
Some sit quite loosely on the base, is a filler glue best to secure them?
The cavalry have a thin flat horizontal metal base rather than a more vertical bit of metal.  This sits on the slot rather than through it.  What is the best way to attach these figures?

[Westfalia Chris]

I have been a somewhat indifferent painter and have been somewhat restricted in the types of figures I paint.  As such, there are lots of basic things I don't know  .  I could just do trial and error, but as I paint so little I doubt I would paint anything to replace a disaster.

Today I received some Black Tree Design fantasy miniatures.  These come with slotta bases. 
Do you fill the underside of the bases with anything to add weight?  The figures seem a bit top heavy.

I've never found it necessary to do so, personally, but some people do. You could use small lead weights from fishing suppliers stuck in with putty or superglue, r offcuts of pewter sprue if you have any left...

Some sit quite loosely on the base, is a filler glue best to secure them?

Most often, I just use a pair of small pincers to add a slight curve to the tab, so that the center point rests against one side of the slot, the ends against the opposite.

The cavalry have a thin flat horizontal metal base rather than a more vertical bit of metal.  This sits on the slot rather than through it.  What is the best way to attach these figures?

Now, for these, BTD used to provide a special slottabase with a wide slot that takes up the socket plug (cannot really call it a tab anymore, IMHO). Did you get the nowadays common cavalry base with two narrow parallel slots, akin to older GW designs, or a cavalry base with a large slot that just doesn't fit properly? If the latter, just file down the plug a bit. If the former, either remove the tab and pin, or cut a suitable slot into the base.

Or enquire with BTD to provide suitable bases.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

So far so good with bending the bottom of the tab - better fit.

I am going to buy the Oathmark plastic orcs next.  I want bases with some weight.  My Google skills must be poor as I am having difficulty finding places that do round metal bases.  Any advice here?

[Munindk]

Washers are cheap, weighty and available in lots of diameters.

[Severian]

I am going to buy the Oathmark plastic orcs next.  I want bases with some weight.  My Google skills must be poor as I am having difficulty finding places that do round metal bases.  Any advice here?

I stick them to pennies with a small dab of wood glue or PVA. I've always found pennies heavy enough for most purposes, for both plastics and metals.

[Hobgoblin]

Yes, coins or washers work well. I like using a hot-glue gun for the attachment. They're dirt cheap, and they give a strong, flexible bond that's less brittle than superglue yet can be removed easily if you need to rebase. Severian's wood-glue approach wood give similar results, I think - but you can probably buy a hot-glue gun and ammo for less than a bottle of wood glue; in the UK, Hobbycraft does hot-glue guns for a fiver.