Help with Basing

[AlexanderTheOk]

Painting up some 3d printed Battletech support minis. Can’t decide if my basing mixture is too “course”. I want to avoid an overly rocky appearance but maintain some variation. Let me know your thoughts…

[OSHIROmodels]

I think they look fine as they are

Maybe some fine foam in the same colour as the tuft to add a bit of ground foliage and add some variety?

[AlexanderTheOk]

Thanks! It has been a journey learning how much goes into basing. Definitely will be adding some foliage and will paint the sides of the base. I wanted to get my "ground" texture right before moving on. I wish 1mm static flock was more available.

[Orctrader]

I think they look fine as they are

Me too.

Once the edges are painted the bases will "pop" and add to your figures.   

[AlexanderTheOk]

What color would you recommend for the edges?

[OSHIROmodels]

Maybe a mid-dark brown?

[TheDaR]

There's pretty much two schools of thought for basing edges that I've seen.

The first is to treat it as part of the terrain on the base, in which case you'd paint it similar color to the sand/rocks, in this case a pale sand yellow.  This looks great if you play on one table all the time or you've got a scenic display diorama board and your basing is designed to match the table or board.

The second is to treat the basing material as part of the model and the base as a separate element that only frames the piece above.   In which case you go with something neutral for the base edges: black, dark neutral grey, or maybe a generic dark earth brown.  This makes more sense if you play on a wide variety of tables or the primary display for the minis is something like a glass case or plinths, where there's no tie between the basing material and the display.

Separately, there's also the people who don't base anything which doesn't absolutely need it, and use things like clear acrylic when figures must have a base to stand up properly or to conform to game rules.  The upside is that this looks decently good on every sort of table, board, or display, the downside losing the artistic opportunity for complex basing and mini dioramas. It can also be hard to do well without smearing or abrading your clear base or if the miniature doesn't have sufficient and well balanced contact points.

[FifteensAway]

In the end, you must please yourself.  My personal choice would be to go with a color as closely matching the base texture as possible.