Materials Needed: 1) Basing material [cardboard, thin plywood, coins, metal, magnetic materials or plastic card]. 2) Plaster-type filler, powdered or ready mixed [Tetrion, Polyfiller etc] 3) PVA [woodworking type] adhesive. 4) 2-part epoxy adhesive. 5) Sand, grit, sawdust or similar [try model railway shops]. 6) Water based paint [acryillic, emulsion, poster or powder]. 7) Small stones. 8) Chopped electro-static "grass" material [Heki]. The choice of basing materials is down to personal preference, each has its advantages and disadvantages. Wood and plastic card for example, are both strong and durable, but are both expensive and difficult to cut. Metal shares these pros and cons, but has the advantage of adhering to magnetic strips or sheets which can be placed in carrying cases/boxes. There are several manufacturers of magnetic basing materials, with various combinations of metal and magnetic strips, sheets and tapes, but most tend to be fairly expensive. Eschewing such exotica as wood and metallic materials etc, I've always based my figures on cardboard and have not had any problems. I personally would avoid wood [however hard I try I always end up with splinters from even the softest and least lethal looking wood!] especially if I were considering experimenting with new techniques.I find that the metal and magnetic materials would work out rather expensive for my needs, but are a good method for protecting figures. Plastic card has the disadvantage that it does not take glues very well [apart from plastic type adhesives] and tends to be very "slippery" as a basing material, figures tending to slide down model hills and slopes. If using plastic card, I'd advise roughly scoring the surface you are going to stick objects to. Some glues and paints can react chemically with the plastic, so you may need to experiment on some scrap pieces first. The main problem with cardboard is the threat of warping, [but read on and I'll explain how to avoid this] but the advantages are it's light, cheap and easy to cut. You can try magnetic storage ideas by buying the metallic and magnetic tapes on the market and sticking them to your existing bases. You are best using the most expensive card you can afford, of the "mounting board" variety. Try asking at frame/print shops as they usually have off-cuts which end up in the bin, and they'll often give you them for nothing. Even if you have to [gasp! horror!] buy some, a sheet will do a lot of bases. Look for the sort which is white at the edges, a convenient rule of thumb is the whiter the edge, the better the quality. Avoid grey and brown card, as this is usually pulp as oppose to layers sandwiched together. I have used coins in the past, but unless you use in circulation domestic currency, supply can be erratic [personally I would prefer Spanish troops on Pesetas, Germans on pfennigs etc!]. In the UK, it is actually an offense to deface the Queen's head on coins......Coins strangely are cheaper than using washers.... Once you have chosen your basing material [it's really down to personal preference despite what I've just said], affix your figures to the base with a 2-part epoxy glue [the type you mix], despite what others have written about using just the filler to adher the figs, I'd advise against this. However, be assured that while your figs will not fall off during transport or a game, should you ever want to re-base them you'll have problems getting them off. I stick my figs down after having varnished them, but you could do it after this stage but before proceeding any further. After this, it's sometimes best to paint the figures actual base if you haven't already done it. Next stage is to add the textured basing material. I use a brand called Tetrion here in the UK, but what you need is a powder plaster material, designed for filling in cracks in walls etc. You may have to shop around, but what you want is a type that is hard wearing [sometimes the "external" varieties are better, but check it's mixed up using water]. A lot of the fillers claim not to shrink, but most do to a certain degree. The more water you add, the greater the amount of shrinking due to the water evaporating. Card tends to curl if the shrinkage is marked, but you can minimise this by pre-coating the card with a dilute mix of water and PVA [woodworking type] glue, bending it back to shape when dry. I don't bother myself, but find Tetrion doesn't shrink too much anyway. I have read that fixing magnetic basing material to the card also prevents warping, but I have not tried this. Tetrion also come in a "ready-mixed" version, which is more expensive and tends to "dry out" in the pot after opening. I prefer the powder variety, as you have more control over the consistency and can add other materials more easily. Mix the plaster with a small amount of water, some PVA glue [this makes it tougher and more flexible]. I add sand to this mix, but fine grit, flock or sawdust will do. NOTE: Do NOT use builder's sand as this tends to contain chemicals which can irritate the skin. If you apply it "neat" it is too smooth [good for snow though!]. I then add waterbased paint to this mix, as it cuts out a stage in painting, and also stops glaring white from showing through if it ever gets chipped. You need to remember that the plaster will lighten the paint considerably, so it needs to be darker than you imagine. I would advise either using either a dark ready mixed paint or noting down the proportions of any colours you use, so that all yourbases are the same. Look out for DIY/home improvement "test pots" of emulsion paint. You can find some interesting sand/yellow shades. For browns try tubes of acryllics from art shops, expensive, but they tend to be "concentrated" so go a long way. Or look out for "burnt umber" or "burnt sienna" poster paint. This brings me on to colours, which is more important than most people think. Whatever colour you pick will effect the colours you have painted your model. I have tried various shades, and have found that you are best to avoid bases that are either too light or too dark in shade. Be aware that modern uniforms are designed to blend in with the landscape, so a base colour too close to your troops uniform colour, will literally make them disappear. This is fine if you are fighting a real war [or prefer your toys to blend in] but a bit frustrating if you want to show off your painting skills. For maximum flexibility, It is helpful if you pick a "generic" shade, as your Italian Blackshirts could be in Spain one week and Greece the next. A light to mid brown works best. Err on the side of lightness, as it's easier to darken than lighten bases. Remember also that a light coloured base will make your figures appear lighter, and a dark shade have the opposite effect. Spain has a wide range of climatical and terrain variations, from the sandy, arid, North African style country in the south to snow capped peaks, with most variations in between. If you are fanatical or planning a particular scenario, you may wish to research the exact colour for the particular region you are trying to represent. You may even wish to "import" some authentic Spanish sand or soil if you happen to go on holiday there, but how you would explain this to customs is another matter! Most gamers (like myself) will probably tend towards a sandy colour as this tends to reflect our idea of Spain, hot, arid and dusty! I'm presently experimenting with a lighter grey-sand base colour, but a brown shade gives maximum geographical flexibility. You can probably get away with a "European" or a "Desert" colour for most troops. Once you have mixed your base material [aim for the consistency of thickish porridge] apply it to your base, building it up to the figures base without actually covering it. You can taper it away to the edges. Avoid any big lumps. You can add stones at this stage, just put a blob of PVA on them and press them into the mix, gluing them to the base itself. When this is dry, you may find it has shrunk. If it warps your card, carefully bend it back into shape. It shouldn't flake off. If it does either a) change your plaster or b) use less water and more PVA [PVA will make it smoother though]. If you use metal, wood or plastic card this will probably not occur. If you have large cracks appear, you can either cover with more filler or rationalise as drought conditions.... Next, I usually apply a darker wash of paint, the same colour as I've painted the figure's base. I then drybrush when dry with a light brown-grey, followed by an off white. On sandy coloured bases, a light brown wash and a drybrush with just an off white is enough. When the base is dry, I add clumps of artificial grass material from model railway shops. For "European" bases (including Spain) I use a grass material by Heki, this comes in 3 shades, light and dark green and a mixture shade called "bunt" [nr 3354]. I prefer the latter shade, as it tends to match the sheets of grass material which make nice terrain boards. Put small blobs of PVA glue at random, and stick a clump of "grass" with tweezers. The amount of "grass" is down to personal taste, but my bases tend to have from about 30-70% of the surface covered, depending on the effect I'm after. A mix of big and small clumps works best. Use the grass to disguise any mistakes in basing or painting. Try and avoid a "regular" pattern, as this looks too artificial. Try model railway shops as you can get all sorts of useful materials [I've got some sandy and brown grasses for "desert" bases discovered in my local shop]. If you can't get this or similar, you can make your own from sisal string dipped in paint, allowed to dry and then cut up. The process is not that lengthy when you are used to it, and the final effect is worth it. As others have said, a nice base improves the figs enormously. I would add, that a nice base can make poorly painted figs look much better and poor bases make nice figs look tatty. Like most aspects of the hobby it's all down to personal taste. If you don't fancy mixing your own basing material, there's a commercial product available called "Basetex" from Colour party paints. I find it's too expensive, and you need a few jars to do even a moderate number of bases. However, for the timid or novice it's a useful start. I'd advise buying a few jars, or basing your whole army at once, as it's best if all your figs in an army have the same base colour. Back to Abanderado Vol. 3 No. 4 Table of Contents Back to Abanderado List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Rolfe Hedges This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com