How do you deal with miniatures with integral bases?

[carlos13th]

When gluing minitures with integreral bases what do you do? Do you cut them off to the feet? Or do you just use basing materials/green stuff or whatever to build the base up to cover the integral base? The problem I am having is I am not sure doing the second will work for everything I am doing.

Some minitures like perrys come on very small integrals but tag for example have much thicker bases on the bottom. I dont want it to look strange with miniatures for certain manufactures having huge mounds under their feet but others  having relatvily flat ground so I figured I would find out how you guys deal with them.

Thnks.

[Quendil]

I tend to glue them onto pennies or 2ps and build them up with milliput. It would probably be better to cut them off at the feet and pin them to a new base but this would take more time.  Also some of my miniatures with integral bases are very old so I wouldn't want to ruin there originality.

I suppose it depends on whether you have a dremel or similar to cut the integral bases off and a supply of new bases for them.  Maybe best to try each way and see what you are happiest with 

[Dr DeAth]

I glue them to the base and build up the ground work.  On those with thick bases I file them down to make them a similar thickness to the others.

Those with slotta tabs I cut off to leave small parts of the tabs under the feet, then drill holes in the base and glue what's left of the tab into the hole, which ends up looking like this:

[maxxon]

I stick them on washers using hot glue which can be used to provide some smoothing effect. Then I finish is off with some other filler -- Vallejo textured stuff mostly these days.

Sometimes I do this before painting, sometimes after. Depends on whether I want to use the natural color of the filler (Vallejo does a very nice selection).

I aim to have a small hill/mound instead of raising the edges for a totally flat surface.

[Silent Invader]

I do as Dr De'ath except that I glue the mini in place with superglue then, when it's cured,  build up the surrounding base with sand, which is then also fixed with drops of superglue.

[Anpu]

I use a jeweler's saw to cut of the base and then pin them on prefered base.

[carlos13th]

Yeah I am basing mine on pennies. With some I have had to cut the integral base off in order to push the legs closer together so they fit onto the pennies.

Thanks. I think I will try to saw the thicker bases to a become thinner and then build up using sand so they all look a similar height.

Any suggestions for a decent but reasonably priced jewlers saw?

Also please keep sharing your methods for basing with integrals.

[Silent Invader]

I did recently change from penny coins to 20mm washers that are a bit thinner, which also helps (though sometimes there's a bit of hole to fill with plasticard and/or greenstuff).

[OSHIROmodels]

I just tend to sand the bottom of the integral base a bit with some 80grit and then superglue to the chosen base type (generally pennies [head side down] and 2mm thick 25mm round acrylic).

After that, some wall filler on the bigger, 25mm bases and just superglue and sand for the pennies.

cheers

James

[carlos13th]

You use superglue for the sand Jim? I have been using PVA.

[zizi666]

I use a jeweler's saw to cut of the base and then pin them on prefered base.

Dito

[Vermis]

I used to collect old Citadel halflings, a few of them with integral bases. I clipped them back a bit, softened the rough edges, did a bit of gap-filling round them, and painted them up as rocks or mounds of soil.

link

Also some of Bob Murch's 'upper class swells' and servants from Pulp Figures, for a Frothers Salute game a few years ago. To go on Fenris Ian's cthulhu bases I had to clip and file the integrals away, like Anpu and Zizi.

link, then hit next six times.

But those were just a handful of minis. For army-building with near-all integrals (Like a few I have stewing away in the background) I don't know if I could be bothered. Though I remember a tip that used to be on Tyler Provick's 'The General's Tent' blog. (that and a bunch of other good painting advice disappeared when he decided to reboot last year) He hotglued his minis to oversized craft lolly sticks for painting, and when done, the adhesion to the stick was strong enough to use it to stabilise the mini, and saw horizontally through the integral base to minimise it's height. Although I think that was with plastic minis. Metal might be a different matter.

[OSHIROmodels]

You use superglue for the sand Jim? I have been using PVA.

Yup, it's quick and I'm impatient 

cheers

James

[alrith72]

Miniature Heroes have a range of bases called Hero Holders which are cup bases you just sit the integral in and build up around to level off. Easy way to deal with it in my opinion and covers all thickness of integral bases http://miniature-heroes.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=514_628&zenid=ee1f0e205d469fe0de5e3319882e334f

[lordbert]

It depends on how many figures there are - my IHMN companies I clipped the bases off and then pinned them onto nicer bases from secret weapon, but if its a larger army for example my germans then I stick them onto renedra bases and build up the ground using milliput, or lately a bit of pva and das modelling clay - the latter mainly as its easier and doesn't need me to mix up some putty. Once thats in place its a coat of PVA and dipped into sand.