21 replies to this topic

[ub3r_n3rd]

New to the forums and new to painting minis. I have been lurking around the last few days after jumping in on the Reaper KS. I have a few questions for the experienced painters who do the larger minis.

What do you use for the larger bases (i.e. 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 6x6) circular or square?
Material (wood/plastic/metal/other)?
Where do you buy them (online site plz give URL or in-store)?

Any help at all would be appreciated.

Thanks,
UN

[Qwyksilver]

CDs. Cut squares of sheet metal. Plastic bases. Basswood. Etc.

[Rastl]

For the square ones I build them out of Hirst Arts floor tiles. Then again I've got a stock of those.

[Loim]

I have had pretty decent luck with the precut wooden medallions/plaques from Hobby Lobby. They have these in various shapes (oval, round, square) and they are fairly inexpensive. I also have access to 2nds of pre-finished wooden flooring in white and red oak that make pretty bases.

[Exwilly]

ive done it with plasti card glue 3 or 4 sheets depending on thickness together. then again i got a good amount of it

[ub3r_n3rd]

I think I'm looking specifically at the Colossal bases which should be 6x6 square or 6 inches in diameter. I found a site that has round cutouts for really cheap but the biggest they go to are the 4 inch in diameter. I don't care if I'm using circular or square, just something that will be able to support the biggest of the KS minis that I will be getting. I know it's a few months early (since they ship in March), but I want to have everything on hand when they do arrive and figured to start looking and asking around now while it was foremost on my mind.

@Rastl - Looked those up, they are pretty cool!

@Loim - I'll definitely take a look at one of the hobby shops near me this weekend if I get a chance. Don't have access to flooring like you do, but that's a good idea too!

[ThornDJL7]

1/4" plywood, cut out with a jigsaw. Takes 5 minutes if you know where to find a carpenter.

I then base it from there for whatever I'm dealing with. I do recommend sanding the bottom and sides, and maybe giving the sides a fill of epoxy to smooth them out.

[klarg1]

As Qwyksilver suggested, CDs make great, cheap 12cm bases, but they don't get any bigger.

I've never tried it, but if you need a really huge, inexpensive, square base, I'll bet you could use a 6" floor tile from your local home-improvement store,

[ub3r_n3rd]

I wonder if the tile material will allow for adhesion to the minis. Has anyone tried this? Ceramic or other types of material and would I just use super glue or something like gorilla glue?

[Frankthedm]

If you have a hand held can opener designed to cut from the side of the can or that leaves the lid intact, several brands of canned food have lids that are 3" and 4" across. Bring a small ruler or tape measure when grocery shopping. You may need to file the underside of the lid to smooth the cut metal depending on your can opener's design. Solid base, nice raised lip, deep enough inset to give the figure a smaller base that fits inside the larger base.



Here are a couple huge giants on these bases.



Note, several types of traditional can opener design CAN also be flipped to cut from the side of the can, BUT doing this will wear those out. TBH IME cheap side cutters also wear out kinda fast.

[ub3r_n3rd]

@Frank - Very cool, hadn't thought of that idea for bases. BTW awesome detail on those giants! I particularly like the grey one!

[Frankthedm]

@Frank - Very cool, hadn't thought of that idea for bases. BTW awesome detail on those giants! I particularly like the grey one!

Thanks, glad you like them. That photo is overexposed. Here is the pic from the show off forum.

[ub3r_n3rd]

Dang, I am impressed. I hope that I can get to be even 1/2 as good as you!

[David Goodner]

I like my larger bases, anything over 2", to be square for D&D play, which is mostly what I use minis for. So I mostly go with basswood, which is available in several sizes and thicknesses. I cut the wood to the size I want and sand it a little, then just paint it black. (For me, asthetically, I prefer my figures' bases to be simple. A really awesome grassland with little shoots of plant sticking up looks cool, but totally out of place in the dungeon, or in town, or on the elemental plane of fire. A nice, simple black circle just kind of fades into my mental background)

I don't have any collosal figs, so I haven't tried it, but if I did I would probably use four 3x6 inch sections wafered together with wood glue.

For Large, when I rebased all my mounted Mage Knight figures, I went with 2" washers, with 1" washers glued over the top to cover most of the hole if necessary. A little primer and black spraypaint makes them look quite nice, and they're responsive to magnets, which comes in handy.

David G.

[Frankthedm]

A way to make your own round bases is with a Compass Cutter and cardstock or other similar flat material. They can be tricky to use for smaller circles, but for 4" to 8" circles, it should work well.



Another board showing how to make the bases
http://www.dakkadakk...69.page#4091935

Cutting gently and shallowly gave me the best results with this technique.