Bases

VonJud · Post by **VonJud** » Thu May 14, 2009 11:23 pm

Hi, Im new to the game and have a Q? about bases. I have the Combat Command Africa Korp box set. The rules say to base the AFV models on a 1"X1" base but dosent mention the infantry. The picture shows the Inf. on round bases and the AFVs not based at all. Where do you get the round bases and is plastic card stock good for the AFVs? Thanks for any help.

fredjg · Post by **fredjg** » Fri May 15, 2009 3:58 am

You can purchase round bases from other miniature manufacturers, up to and including the "Evil Empire" - which can be expensive... or use "fender" washers which are available from home centers, in a number of sizes... or pennies .... or small denomination coins from other countries.... or plastic poker chips... the list is generally endless.

As for square bases - I cut mine from 1/16" plywood and then glue "flex steel" to the bottom (as my storage is lined with magnetic sheets) - some use thin metal bases available from other suppliers or gathered at local conventions. Some people buy pre-cut masonite, plastic, plywood.... One caveat about paper or card bases, they can warp, twist and/or disintegrate when you apply glue to hold the flock/grass/filler.

Mk 1 · Post by **Mk 1** » Fri May 15, 2009 5:06 am

Hiya VonJud! Welcome to the world of hobby-addiction.

Before I address your questions specifically, it is worth mentioning that many different rule sets are used by the folks around here. Even many of those who play with the GHQ "Microarmor, The Game" rules often play other rules too.

Some rule sets have very specific recommendations for basing your models. But most experienced microarmor hobbyists have developed their own preferences, which may or may not co-incide with any particular ruleset.

I have played more than half a dozen different rulesets, including two that were published by GHQ in years past. But I have never played with the "Microarmor, The Game" rules, and so can not advise you on the particular suggestions/requirements of that set.

I have never based my vehicles. I am not a big fan of the visual effect of bases with miniatures. I want to see less base, not more. So I only mount items which are really awkward to use in the game without bases ... vehicles pulling trailors, or horse-and-wagon sets get put onto bases, but not regular tanks, APCs or trucks.

Over the years I have tried many materials for basing my infantry. I started using styrene plastic sheeting cut into small squares. For a while I used card stock (regular cardboard, a little thin, bought in large sheets at my local crafts store). I tried metal bases from the hobby shop, and washers/slugs from the hardware store.

Finally I have settled on pennies. They are very robust, and so provide reasonable protection of my investment (of time) in the bases. So this (and the many wonderful pics on this board) have encouraged me to do a better job on my bases, and they really do look a whole lot better than they used to.

I find pennies are always available ... I used to get VERY frustrated when I was just one or two bases short of a full unit ... something that I always seemed to discover at night, after everything was painted and ready to go ... everything except for the last two stands I needed for my game in the morning!

But I can always find a few pennies around the house (just look between the couch cushions!). And it is hard to beat the price. I've found places that will give me almost 100 pennies for a dollar! No, really! Can't beat THAT price with any other basing material.

Here are a few examples:

My French infantry squads are based on cut card stock. This pic is from a game I held last year. This was the last card stock force I built, back in the early to mid-1990s. Originally the card stock was just painted. Later (after seeing all the work in this forum) I flocked them. But the card stock doesn't really hold up well enough for the "full treatment". So paint, and some flock, and that's it.

BTW the French 25mm AT gun in the picture was done just a couple years ago, and is based on a penny.

This is a pic from Thunder's website (www.microarmor.com) of a game we played at a con a few years back. This Soviet infantry (figures by a UK vendor) was the first I based on pennies. I used white glue to mount the figures, and tried to put enough on to obscure the figures' own stands a bit. When dry I painted it. Net effect was pretty primitive.

Here in a later game the same forces have been upgraded with a touch-up on the painting, and a bit of flocking on the bases. Still fairly basic, but clearly looking better.

Romanian squad on a penny. This is my most recent army. I have used several techniques learned on this forum, including flocking with both "grass" and "shrubbery", placing some sand to give the appearance of stones, and the use of acrylic matte gel (colored to match dirt) to give enough depth so that the figure's own bases are not visible. The matte gel works as an adhesive for the flocking, but is much easier to work with than white glue. I'm very pleased with the way these guys came out.

Hope that helps.

Extra Crispy · Post by **Extra Crispy** » Fri May 15, 2009 7:22 am

I base everything of mine on steel bases. For vehicles I use the smallest base I can, so it is almost invisible. For infantry I like washers.

The steel means I can use a magnetic storage box and transport everything without worrying about it sliding around getting damaged.

I don't like pennies because they are non-magnetic of course.

Cav Dog · Post by **Cav Dog** » Fri May 15, 2009 11:03 pm

i started out with balsa wood like this:

and then progressed to sheet styrene like this:

and these old school GHQ infantry:

They are barely suitable for gaming and that is about it. Thank God for micro-scale.

After spending some time learning from the great artists that frequent this board I have stepped my modeling game up a bit but still base on sheet styrene. It is cheap, takes paint well and bases can be customized to any size unit. Compare the basing of the previous MG team to this:

The previous anti-tank gun to this:

and the infantry section to these more recent stands:

Prompted by a recent post on the miniatures page (a great resource BTW. Google is your friend,) I found this circle cutter at Joann Crafts in the scrap book section that cuts 1" circles out of paper, card stock and very thin sheet styrene. I am planning to use these 1" circles to base my US Paras as they are too large to fit on my existing 5/8" x 5/8" stands.

Much of the credit for the improvement in the appearance of my stands is of course due to GHQ's tremendous increase in the detail of their models that make ithem much easier to paint.

FYI , I primarily play modern and WWII WRG rules that require the use of sections or fire teams and individual vehicles and weapons, although I do not base vehicles. The infantry stands can easily be used for any size element. It is easy to scale up and call each stand a platoon, company or whatever.

mluther · Post by **mluther** » Sat May 16, 2009 12:54 am

Speaking of TMP, there appears to be a discussion going on now concerning the lack of bases on my stuff. I'm always amazed at the great advice offered -unsolicited-by persons who seem to consider themselves expert. (I wonder what their games look like?)
If I had actually posted my pics on that site, as I do here, it could be assumed that I was asking for comments and advise. I choose only certain sites to post links with because I know that they are generally visited by persons that I consider informed and interested.
TMP is a gret resource but home to a great many wankers.

Mark

Mk 1 · Post by **Mk 1** » Sat May 16, 2009 2:04 am

mluther wrote:Speaking of TMP ...

I'm always amazed at the great advice offered -unsolicited-by persons who seem to consider themselves expert. (I wonder what their games look like?)
If I had actually posted my pics on that site, as I do here, it could be assumed that I was asking for comments and advise. I choose only certain sites to post links with because ...

Mark:

If you post any of your game pics on that other site, I expect you'll be quick to silence any critques.

Your game pics are magificent. Always have been. I have run out of superlatives to describe them. But I am working to learn you terrain techniques...

A great part of the fun of this board is the friendly attitudes, and the VERY inspiring work done by so many of the participants. As was stated by Cav Dog above:
"After spending some time learning from the great artists that frequent this board I have stepped my modeling game up..."

Indeed I have! And I have stepped-up my enjoyment of the hobby, as well.

Keep on modelling, keep on gaming, and fer Pete's sake (and MY sake too!) keep on POSTING THOSE PICS!

microgeorge · Post by **microgeorge** » Sat May 16, 2009 3:37 am

VonJud, per the full set of rules, everything is to be based on 1" x 1" square bases.

WHM · Post by **WHM** » Sat May 16, 2009 5:10 am

Ok, I'll bite.

What is "acrylic matte gel", never heard of this and where can it be got?

VonJud · Post by **VonJud** » Sat May 16, 2009 6:13 am

Wow! Thank you all very much. Thay was Exactly the kind of answers I was hoping for. The info was very helpful. Looking forward to assembling and painting my force and with all of your help I am looking forward to doin the basing. BTW very nice pics.Thanks again and good gaming to all

hauptgrate · Post by **hauptgrate** » Sat May 16, 2009 6:58 am

Basing decisions should not only be made upon your choice of rules, but probably more so on your terrain. Say you are using GHQ terrain maker and make a woods hex with trees spaced 3/4" apart..... not going to work very well if you have 1" bases on your units... For my game I made cardboard foldup buildings about 15 years ago with a standard size based upon 5/8" squares. Thus, my infantry is based upon 1/2" square styrene sections so they fit easily into a specific building section. Also, I have woods and forest terrain sections with trees glued on far enought apart to allow the counters to nicely fit in between. If I had it all to do over again, I might choose pennies -- standard size, available without ordering or visiting the local hobby shop (if there is one), and cheap...

Mk 1 · Post by **Mk 1** » Tue May 19, 2009 1:48 am

WHM wrote:Ok, I'll bite.

What is "acrylic matte gel", never heard of this and where can it be got?

ACWBill turned me on to this on another thread. It can be found in the painters/artists supplies section of your local crafts store (I got mine at Michael's).

Acrylic "medium" is the "blank" stuff that acrylic paint is made from -- just add pigments. The "gel" tells you the texture of the medium (there are several choices of textures). In addition to being the base of your paint, the medium has pretty strong adhesive qualities. I guess it has to, to stick to whatever you are painting. Put it on thickly, and it is pretty much just like white glue, except it is easier to work with, and it does not shrink when it dries.

Gel is about the consistancy of pudding. I find it very easy to work with. I had tried textured acrylic paint earlier. It is about the consistancy of toothpaste. Even that somewhat arcane difference makes a big shift in the useability -- I find it very hard to use the textured paint in this scale.

The matte gel medium dries in a very flat clear. You can mix whatever acrylic paint you want into your gel, and it will take that color. I mix in about 1-to-5 of acrylic paint-to-gel, using whatever color I want my dirt to be.

I believe Bill said he globs it onto his stands, and then just sets his figures right into it, and then quickly flocks them, so that as the medium dries it holds both the figures and the flocking. I do it a little differently, at least so far. Still experimenting. But so far I have super-glued my figures down to my stands (pennies), and then painted the gell thickly all around them, and very thinly over the tops of the bases that are cast onto the figures, and then flocked (first sprinkling some sand, then some shrubbery, then the grass flocking). So in my case the medium only holds the flocking material as it dries.

Here are the results:

I think Bill's approach must be much faster than mine, but I really like to hide the figures' bases. Still looking for a quicker technique for doing that...

Hope that helps.

opsctr · Post by **opsctr** » Tue May 19, 2009 7:01 am

There are many options for basing your figures. One of the things you should consider is "How you are going to store them".

Metal bases allow your collection to be stored in boxes with a magnetic base, which helps keep your forces organized and safe from damage during transport.

This picture illustrates a series of unit boxes that make storage and access very easy for large games or conventions also allowing easy inventory control for the large collection, ...if you go that far.

We also base our equipment for the same reason. It protects and makes identification easier during games as you can see from the picture below. The ACav unit below is organized on a 1 to 1 ratio. You can see the scout teams and the IFV crews included in the box.

The picture below illustrates an option for bases depicting action in North Africa, Iraq, or any other similar theater of operation. The white looking base has had white glue spread on the painted surface before flour is sifted over the base to give it a sand texture in scale with the vehicles and figures.

And this picture of a MK III command tank illustrates what a finished base looks like after the process has been completed.

There are many, many options all well illustrated by the many fine examples you've seen here on this forum. In the end you will need to decide what looks best in your viewpoint but remember to consider the whole package (storage, looks, handling, ease of making, etc.) before starting.

Here is a final option for the ultimate skirmish game... Individually mounted figures with no bases for the vehicles.

If you'd like to view some additional information on how we make bases please follow this link: http://commandoperationscenter.com/products111.htm

VonJud · Post by **VonJud** » Tue May 19, 2009 1:16 pm

Thanks opsctr, that was very informative. I think I will go with the penny for the Inf and leave the tanks unbased. thanks again to all for the help. It makes it much easier for new commers like me to " get in the game " !

voltigeur · Post by **voltigeur** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:16 pm

Just a question while we are on the subject.

I have always been of the opinion "less is more" when it comes to Infantry stands. The reason is that many of my troops fight in "every clime and place". While the mini diorama fire teams and squads look great. Isn't it a visual distraction when they move into urban or more arid enviroments?

I have always used a more generic stand that doesn't bring alot of attention to itself.

What are other's thoughts? (Again not critisizing the stands look great.)