All About 'Dat Base

 

my new Rus sub-general

 

       Recently a few folks have asked about how I base my minis (and said kind things as well!) so I thought that I would do a quick step-by-step on my method. This technique requires no special tools or expensive supplies and will provide you with enough basing to take care of the average gamers lifetime. A bag of playground sand, a small box of kitty litter, few pounds of aquarium gravel and two quart jars of Woodland Scenics should set you up for life.

 

I paint my minis before basing them, some hardy souls  (with much better brush control than I) choose to base figures first, for individual minis I like to use the metal caps from Pillsbury crescent rolls tubes, they are just the right size and are free, scuff the surface to ensure that the glue has a good grip

 

the next step is using a high-viscosity, low shrinkage household glue,

 two of my favorites are shown

 

 

 

squeeze out a blob of glue roughly the size of the base of you mini plus a bit

 

then press the figure down firmly so the the glue oozes out all around the base,

let this set for about thirty seconds

 

with a moistened fingertip smooth the glue out to blend the base of the mini into the surface

 

while that is drying we will get started on making out basing adhesive/color,

craft paint and Titebond, actually any decent PVA glue will work, 

I use Titebond for just about everything because it is the glue my Grandad taught me how to build cabinetry with and I use on all my wood projects

 

 

squeeze out equal amounts of paint and glue the mix thoroughly

"The Mix"  three parts playground sand (I bought a forty pound bag in the 1980's and I'm still using it)

one part kitty litter (get the cheap stuff, Oil-Dry works fine too) and one part aquarium gravel, with a handful of Chinchilla dust (get the unscented variety!), stir frequently

 

 

 

generously apply the glue/paint mix around the base

 

then plunge our hero into The Mix, leave him there of a minute or so,

 the glue mixture will soak into The Mix ensuring the bigger bits stay attached

 

pop him out and tap the bottom of the base to get rid of loose material,

things should look something like this, 

if you are planning on  using them in desert warfare you can stop right here

 

if you are planning on a more verdant climate for your games we will need some green

 

add the green paint to the existing brown/glue mix until you get a color that you like

 

 

apply your new paint mix in an irregular pattern over the base

 

 

The Green, actually more of an olive color, 1/2 Woodland Scenics Burnt Grass flock and 1/2 Woodland Scenics short green static grass, plus some fine sawdust and odd lumps of flock that have accumulated

 

 

once again our hero is thrust into the mess,

leave the mini in the tray for a good minute or two 

as the flock is more resistant to sticking than the sand mixture

 

 

then take the mini out and give it a vigorous shake, 

at this point I spray them with a heavy coat of matte varnish and call it a day

       Obviously the color choices are up to you. I have gotten a color-matched gallon of paint (thanks to the wonders of of modern paint-store computers) so that when I paint my terrain the bases of the minis and the colors of the terrain boards match. in a pinch you can just use the craft paint as it is little more than PVA glue with pigment in it.