A question for readers of my blog.
I have finally got around to trying out Peter Little's suggestion of using thin plasticard to reduce the thickness of some bases.
A trawl through my 'odds and sods' boxes located a sheet of plasticard I had acquired in the 80's, possibly even the 70's! The thickness appeared to be in the region of 0.3mm - 0.4mm. I painted up 4 Russian riflemen for a trial:
The base completed on the left with my existing card based figures on the right. The card is approximately 1.3mm thick.
As I do not base my vehicles, thick figure bases clearly has an impact when placed next to an unbased tank.
A 2nd question is which do you think is the better basing method. Principally the 'grass' used. On the right it is flock supplied by Baccus and on the left I have used Woodland Scenics grass. Unlike other periods where brightly coloured figures stand out, the khaki/camo of WW2 can easily be overwhelmed by a too elaborate base. I am really torn between these two!
I have finally got around to trying out Peter Little's suggestion of using thin plasticard to reduce the thickness of some bases.
A trawl through my 'odds and sods' boxes located a sheet of plasticard I had acquired in the 80's, possibly even the 70's! The thickness appeared to be in the region of 0.3mm - 0.4mm. I painted up 4 Russian riflemen for a trial:
The bare card prior to completion and gives some idea of how thin it is.
Continued -
This is where the thin base has an advantage with figures now more in proportion to the vehicle.
There is a drawback to the thin base in that it makes them more difficult to handle. That means picking them up by the figures, which for these 2D6 robust miniatures it is not a problem. But not ideal.
I have ordered sheets of plasticard of various thicknesses and may try out the 0.5mm and 0.75mm.
The question I have is what do you all think?
For other periods where figures are ranked up I will continue using the thicker card as it is more practical.
Firstly, on base thickness. I would go with the thinner base and not worry about picking the base up by the figures (which I do all of the time) but ....... because I do that, once based, I run a brush up the backs of thefigures and the gun tips, with an extra lick of mat varnish, because of the increased handling.
ReplyDeleteI did read somewhere that a gamer protects with gloss varnish and then does a mat varnish - apparently, the gloss varnish is stronger and if the mat varnish rubs away, the gloss varnish is exposed and you know that the base needs another blast of mat varnish. Anyway, i have started doing that.
As for grass basing, I tend to go for lighter grass simply as it brightens up small figures, but for WWII, some balance is needed because of bases doing a lot of service in towns and ruins etc. Your base on the right looks good to me.
Many thanks for that detailed reply Norm. It is always useful getting others' opinions as you sometimes cannot see the wood for the trees when doing your own stuff. Yes I also spray the figures a gloss varnish before basing. They then get a couple of coats of spray matt varnish including the base. Encouraging you went for the thinner base as I have to admit when positioning next to the tank they do look better.
DeleteOn the bases front, I always prefer to pick up the base rather than the figures. This is less of a problem visually for my 10mm figures, where I use 1.60mm ABS sheet. I would go this route for 6mm as well, as it's what i'm used to.
ReplyDeleteAs for the flock, I go with what works best with your gaming mat.
Many thanks for your thoughts Steve. I will probably trial a slightly thicker base as in this scale those small differences can be noticeable when handling.
DeleteI should add that I paint my base edges black, to give them that slight diorama look. The other thing to be aware of is that thin plastic can warp over time, so the edges may lift, which is a bit of a pain. I always base my figures with the curved side up (like an arch) to help counteract this.
DeleteThanks again Steve. Will bear the warping issue in mind.
DeleteHave to agree with Steve J that painting the edges black results in a nice finish. Personally I would also go for the Baccus scrub on the right. As for thickness, I would prefer a thicker base - would you consider basing your armour as well?
ReplyDeleteHi Mike. I have never liked based vehicles primarily because of their appearance on the tabletop. I like to have figures and vehicles fit as naturally as possible into the terrain. Even figures would be unbased if that were possible but simply not practicable, especially in this scale. A line of vehicles travelling along a road for example looks more natural when unbased.
DeleteWhen my order of plasticard arrives I will trial something in between the two thicknesses I have here to see how that looks which may prove to be a reasonable compromise. Interesting what you say about black edges as Steve has recommended above. I may give that a try on the slightly thicker plasticard.
Many thanks for your views - much appreciated. Baccus flock seems to be winning the day!
I prefer a thicker base too. Have you considered basing the vehicles so that the infantry and vehicles are on the same plane?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your views Jonathan. Basing vehicles is something I am not keen on (see my reply to Mike above) although I do acknowledge the advantages of doing so including being able to write the vehicle details underneath. Just not for me. As I mentioned to Mike, I will trial a thicker plasticard base that may provide a compromise.
DeleteGood morning Jon, I have returned to 0.75 in my trials after a hiatus of a few weeks due to family matters.Left some in a damp and cold greenhouse which has not warped will be back blogging tomorrow with some images. Hope the five weeks goes well.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Peter
Look forward to seeing the photos Peter. Will be doing a post on it shortly but have finally settled on 0.5mm having agonised between that and 0.75mm. The original card I tried would have been around the 0.3mm/0.35mm thickness.
DeleteWell I have tried 0.5 today with a 10mm longer piece of 0.25 underneath to give a rear label. Only problem is that you are cutting up two pieces and I have not found a pen type that does not smudge but progress tomorrow I hope.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Peter
apologies for not posting will try again today if all goes well.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Peter
Excellent. Look forward to seeing your post.
Delete