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Post by DnDPaladin on Mar 7, 2015 22:55:21 GMT
Simple question, i know DMscotty uses washers, but i wanted to know, what do you guys use for the bases of your miniatures ?
i'm also gona ask you where you get such things. i searched a few places and couldn'T find stuff that could also work as bases and as such im in search for bases. mostly cause i wanna start doing my own miniatures.
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Post by Alexis on Mar 7, 2015 23:04:09 GMT
So far the minis I bought all came with the bases included but you can also buy them seperately. I don't have much experience yet with minis and also not access to a big variety where I live. So I just know that GW sells their plastic bases individually here. But I'm sure that there are also a lot of other companies, since GW is rather expensive. Concerning other stuff like dungeon decor I also use washers as bases or just cardboard. Always depending in what I am doing. The washers are really great. The come in a lot of different sizes, give great stability and are fairly cheap. But for my miniature figures I definitely prefer the plastic bases.
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Post by bloodchoke on Mar 8, 2015 1:35:56 GMT
I use fender washers and wooden discs. Pretty sure I learned both of those from Scotty. I have a few bases I sculpted myself with sculpey or miliput, but even those are built on top of a washer. I use to store minis on magnets, so they had to be steel, but even if they're going in foam I like the weight of the washers.
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Post by Erasmas on Mar 8, 2015 1:47:46 GMT
A company called Wyrd miniatures (they are the makers of Malifaux) sells their plastic slotted bases for a reasonable price... like $2.50 for a box of 10, if I recall (for the ones I bought). I got a several boxes of the 10mm ones.
I like them because they have a lip around the edge that allows me to "fill in" the base while keeping it all 'contained'.
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Post by sgtslag on Mar 8, 2015 4:31:35 GMT
I use custom-cut, vinyl floor tiles. I glue two together, glue-side to glue-side. Then I mark them to size, and cut them with a utility scissors. I Hot Glue the mini's to the tile, then decorate the tile using PVA Glue and sand. Quick, easy, fully customizable. Cheers!
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Post by beerfrog on Mar 8, 2015 14:35:31 GMT
I have bought the wooden discs from the craft store and used plenty of those. I think they are 2.99 for 6 which isn't bad. Then I had the idea that I could take a closet rod and cut it into discs with a miter saw. This method gives you hundreds of bases for less than $10 and some elbow grease. Then I had the idea to do some bases from a length of youpon that I had in the garage. I left the bark on it and it works well for wild animals and rangers. And this method is virtually free. I will try resizing a photo and put it in here.
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Post by tauster on Mar 8, 2015 15:29:44 GMT
So far the minis I bought all came with the bases included but you can also buy them seperately. I don't have much experience yet with minis and also not access to a big variety where I live. So I just know that GW sells their plastic bases individually here. But I'm sure that there are also a lot of other companies, since GW is rather expensive. Concerning other stuff like dungeon decor I also use washers as bases or just cardboard. Always depending in what I am doing. The washers are really great. The come in a lot of different sizes, give great stability and are fairly cheap. But for my miniature figures I definitely prefer the plastic bases. what, GW charges 5$ for 5 40mm bases?!¿!? Manufacturing costs are probably a few cents each! I'm sure there are tons of cheaper alternatives out there, even without a huge DIY part! For example poker chips - they're dirtcheap heavy and some even have an iron core, so they're magnetic.
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Post by adamantinedragon on Mar 8, 2015 15:53:17 GMT
I have used a bunch of different things. When I was rebasing about a thousand MageKnight miiatures, I purchased wooden disks from an online wood craft supply store. I've also used dollar store poker chips, washers, Sculpey poly clay, coins, washers.... I've even cut them from card stock and foam sheets glued together.
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Post by Alexis on Mar 8, 2015 16:32:00 GMT
So far the minis I bought all came with the bases included but you can also buy them seperately. I don't have much experience yet with minis and also not access to a big variety where I live. So I just know that GW sells their plastic bases individually here. But I'm sure that there are also a lot of other companies, since GW is rather expensive. Concerning other stuff like dungeon decor I also use washers as bases or just cardboard. Always depending in what I am doing. The washers are really great. The come in a lot of different sizes, give great stability and are fairly cheap. But for my miniature figures I definitely prefer the plastic bases. what, GW charges 5$ for 5 40mm bases?!¿!? Manufacturing costs are probably a few cents each! I'm sure there are tons of cheaper alternatives out there, even without a huge DIY part! For example poker chips - they're dirtcheap heavy and some even have an iron core, so they're magnetic. yeah I know GW is way too overprized. Unfortunately there are not really any alternatives for me where I live. So I don't really have experience with a lot of other manufacturers. But DIY versions are always a good option.
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Post by tauster on Mar 8, 2015 16:33:57 GMT
One idea is using Screwcaps. This is one of the smaller variants from bottles, but for large bases you can use the larger ones. I like this method not only because it works nicely but also because it's a great example of upcycling: A family of four normally throws one away every few days - if you clean & keep them, you'll have more than enough very quickly. You can also cut them for scrap metal used to magnetize things. Another idea is making partial castings from silicone moulds. You get great textured bases, and it's cheap, super-simple and dirt-cheap (what's the costs of a blob of hotglue?) Some finished bases:
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Post by beerfrog on Mar 8, 2015 23:17:17 GMT
Here are some bears from an "animal tube"
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Post by DnDPaladin on Mar 9, 2015 20:11:12 GMT
Love allof this, i'd tend to go with cast. but at the same time im afraid of it.
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Post by michka on Mar 10, 2015 9:30:01 GMT
I use the GW slotta bases too, but I cut out the underside part of the slot and put washers in them. It gives the bases weight, and the washers stick to the magnet sheet I line my storage boxes with. Even though the GW bases are expensive, it's nice to have uniform sizes to work with. I was using washer for bases for as while, but the paint would chip off the edges every time I got them out to play.
I tend to make my bases as unobtrusive as possible. Both my fantasy and modern/sci-fi base styles are in similar tones of grey. That way if I want a Beholder to attack landing party of Klingons on the streets of Mega-City One the base differences aren't obvious. The eye naturally goes to the figure and not the base.
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Post by indigo777 on Mar 11, 2015 2:01:21 GMT
For large bases I currently use old action figure bases. I have a bunch left over from the early 2000s when I collected Marvel Legends figures. The X-men ones make great bases for the 4x4 base sized Reaper dragons and I've used the Spider-man ones to support the warped/flimsy bases of some of the early huge D&D minis like the Bullete. I've also found that the foothole pegs on them make great anchor points to attach the minis to. You can occasionally find these cheap at garage sales or on Ebay in parts lots. For 1 inch to 3 inch bases I use several of the following. For smaller sized 2x2 size monsters and scenery like trees I use plastic poker chips. They have a nice heft to them and glue and paint stick to them well after washing them in soap and water. I bought a huge set of 400 of them for 3 bucks at the local thrift store that will keep me in bases for years to come. I also use Dollar Tree party favor coins for slightly wider 2x2 size monsters like spiders, the penny and dime in the coin sets are perfect size for 2x2 and the quarter is perfect for 3x3 the nickels are in between slightly larger than 2x2 so don't work well for gridded play. For 1x1 size monsters I was using woodsies and other packs of wooden circles from craft stores. I recently switched to plastic quarters from a school supply shop. $3.99 for a pack of 100 bases was hard to beat price wise and they are the perfect size. I also use numbered wooden circles I got from a Sudoku board game at the local thrift store. It had a bunch of thick wooden circles the size of the ones in the picture and a smaller size set of 1/4" circles as well I use in projects. I mainly use the thick wooden circles on lighter minis like re-purposed aquarium plants so they won't blow away on the table. I've also used them with the 1/4" circle glued to the bottom to make bar stools out of for tavern decor. For 3x3 sized monsters I use the plastic quarters in the party favor coin set from dollar tree, artmind's 3 for a dollar wooden circles, or dollar tree party favor tops depending on the mini. For example I attached the reaper devil in the picture to an artminds wooden base because I needed a sturdy base for its weight. For a lighter mini like a re-purposed halloween spider I would use the quarter or the top.
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Post by Sam on Mar 12, 2015 0:20:49 GMT
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Post by DnDPaladin on Mar 12, 2015 6:18:13 GMT
anybody ever used salt dough for sculpting bases or the likes ?
i am looking for a very very very cheap and easy to make stuff. something that i cna make a lot of bases rapidly by just putting a textured thing on the stuff and then let it dry out. so i typed in google, homemade clay and this is what i got to. the person does a lot of stuff, says you can paint it with acrylic and then even seal it off. but i wonder about the fragility of the stuff. anybody used that before ?
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Post by Alexis on Mar 12, 2015 6:39:22 GMT
anybody ever used salt dough for sculpting bases or the likes ? i am looking for a very very very cheap and easy to make stuff. something that i cna make a lot of bases rapidly by just putting a textured thing on the stuff and then let it dry out. so i typed in google, homemade clay and this is what i got to. the person does a lot of stuff, says you can paint it with acrylic and then even seal it off. but i wonder about the fragility of the stuff. anybody used that before ? i used to craft with that stuff a lot back when I was a child. As far as I can remember it is very brittle. It's good for making decoration stuff that just stands around and will not be touched but for something that is going to be handled a lot like bases I think it's not going to be a very good option.
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Post by voduchyld on Mar 12, 2015 12:46:52 GMT
i've used beer and soda bottle caps, washers and wooden discs.
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badeacr
Cardboard Collector
Posts: 2
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Post by badeacr on Mar 28, 2015 10:51:07 GMT
Since the majority of my minis come from WotC or Pathfinder I needed plain black round minis of the same size. GW ones are visibly taller and have a slightly conical shape so I looked elsewhere. Fortunately I found shopping cart chips that are 1mm smaller in diameter (the size of 1 euro coin) but it's hardly noticeable. I got 1000 for only 20 euros and that is probably enough for all my current and future medium miniatures. For large and huge I'm still looking, I'll probably use poker chips for smaller large.
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Post by SpielMeisterKev! on Mar 28, 2015 15:27:09 GMT
Howdy,
Necco wafers?
I'd be worried they'd get eaten, Kev!
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