Opinions on basing.

[Mr.J]

In the end I've bought myself a bunch of MDF bases from East Riding Miniatures. I normally do base on coins as said but like the look of a ranked up army for my Norman. I've decided to go for a mixture of different sized based which will equate to 60mm frontages.

This is basically how I have planned my units.



It allows me to get a decent unit battle line, but arrange them into columns/formantion as and when I may need to. Each of the smaller squares are 20x25mm. They also allow for me to remove casualties whilst allowing me to do basic scenic bits too.

I think with bases like this I should be able to game using both WAB and Impetus systems and hopefully they should look quite nice too. It's been interesting hearing everyones opinions though.

[Major_Gilbear]

On the subject of making movement trays, surely some 1mm plasticard, some 0.25mm plasticard and a circle cutter will quickly and easily make folks all the slim-line movement trays that they could want? It really is easy:

- Mark and cut out the shape of the tray you want in the 1mm plasticard

- Adjust your circle cutter to the right size for your intended bases and twiddle the cutter on the tray where you want the bases to go

- Flex the plasticard to snap out the circles

- trace the outline of the tray onto the 0.25mm plasticard, and cut it out.

- Stick the two pieces of plasticard together with very thin CA glue and texture/paint as you wish

If you want more stiffness or the figured are heavy, you could increase the thickness of the lower layer of plasticard, or even use something else entirely. Circle cutters and plasticard are cheap on Ebay (or elsewhere I'm sure), and they really aren't hard to make. Or even very time-consuming...

[Captain Blood]

Excellent! Knock me a few up would you? 

[jthomlin]

Given the time it takes to paint the little buggers, having a basing scheme that allows skirmishing and big battles is definitely the way to go. As a 'collector' of leaden antiquities (i.e. someone who spends far too much money on old figures he will never paint ... ;-), I have the additional constraint of not wanting to modify the base or tab, and that effectively means using GW style 'slotta' bases.

Another consideration is the use of magnets, it's one thing to have a movement tray but it's bloody frustrating to have the figures fall out all over the place. 'Rare Earth' magnets can be had in various sizes and are perfect for the task.



The key difference in my bases and the ones discussed previously then, is using .5mm metal sheeting as the bottom layer. This makes the tray only slightly higher than the base, provides the necessary surface for the magnets and if you line whatever you use to carry the trays in with magnetic sheet, makes for a nifty overall transport solution.



The only downside is getting the metal cut, I ended up getting a 'lifetimes' supply in one go from a metalworking outfit which got the cost down to (AUS) $0.50-$0.90 a piece for varying sizes from 120mm x 40mm to 120mm x 120mm.

The top part of the tray can be made out of whatever you want. I had originally thought of using laser cut Perspex or wood like the original post but decided against it because not having a laser cutter myself, I had to get a bulk lot done for cost reasons and I could never decide on exactly what 'hole' arrangements I needed. (And because I am quite anal and didn't like that fact that my bases were 3.5mm thick and the perspex or wood was only 3mm.)

In the end I use .5mm cardboard for a top layer, cut slightly smaller than the metal base (~.5 to 1mm each edge), then after cutting out the appropriate holes I glue on a suitably thick layer of blue foam sheet that I have cut out using a hot wire 'table saw'. Excess foam is then removed from the edges and holes using a hot wire 'knife'. This is then glued to the metal base and the edges 'bulked out' using Acrylic modelling paste which is sanded flat when dry to make nice smooth and quite durable edges.

The cardboard and exposed foam is painted with diluted PVA to toughen it up before spraying with a suitable undercoat.

Told you I was anal ... ;-)

Obviously, if you are not using 'slotta' bases you can probably get away with one layer of material and cut to exactly the dimensions of the underlying metal, saving the need to putty up the edges.

However, since the average base will contain at least 8 figures, which would have taken me a minimum of 20 hours to paint and probably a lot more, spending a bit of time on the base they will spend 99% of their working life in seems quite reasonable to me.

Hand building like the above also means that I can get the positioning of the figures 'just right', rather than arbitrary positions and can also accommodate any shape or size of figure on the same base as required. Like in yet another example of my 'dedication to excellence' ;-P  I'm making my own bases for cavalry and 'long monsters':



Cheers!

[Silent Invader]

However, since the average base will contain at least 8 figures, which would have taken me a minimum of 20 hours to paint and probably a lot more, spending a bit of time on the base they will spend 99% of their working life in seems quite reasonable to me.

I went through a period of self-doubt as to whether or not I could justify the effort of making movement trays and then it occurred to me that they need not be just for movement, they can be for display too.  

[Malamute]

Excellent! Knock me a few up would you? 

Yep and when you've finished making them for the good captain, can you produce some for me too

[Silent Invader]

I have no doubt you will come up with a brilliant solution as ever, Steve - and I did figure out some time ago that I could make something for myself that would give me exactly what I want - which is pretty much as you describe.

I'd just prefer someone to make it commercially, so I can buy 12 - 15 of the ruddy things, rather than having to laboriously make them myself!

Richard I know you to be well and truly capable of making them yourself and having now spent more than a few hours making the basics of a measly four, culminating in scraping out sand that was superglued into places it shouldn't have been with sand and broken knife blades pinging all over the place, I can well understand the attraction of buying them commercially!   

 

[Major_Gilbear]

Excellent! Knock me a few up would you?  

Yep and when you've finished making them for the good captain, can you produce some for me too

If you're serious, drop me a PM with a the base sizes and thicknesses you use, the number of figures you want and the overall size / shape of the tray. I'll work out what it'd cost to do and post a single tray. If we agree on that, I'll knock a tray out and send it to you to see what you think. If that goes well, I could be persuaded to do a few more. But I wouldn't be open to doing big orders or commissions in general as I have many, many of my own projects to be getting on with and they are quite easy to make anyway! So this would be strictly "favour-work"!  

I've made my own Epic40k bases using essentially this method (the main differences being that the holes were drilled and the lower sheet was .75mm thick to achieve an overall thickness of 1.75mm and match my other Epic bases). You can see them here:

[Malamute]

Very generous of you to offer, but my order has aleady been placed with Mr Bibbly.

[Calimero]

@ Major_Gilbear, your Epic bases look really good