Basing Your Miniatures

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Simon's US 105mm Howitzer showing the end result of his basing.

Using Battlefront Flames Of War Bases By Simon Paton This article covers how to use Battlefront’s plastic bases. It’s all very well to do an incredible painting job on your miniatures and models but good basing will really finish them off.  Even those average paint jobs can be made to look OK. I’m more of a gamer than modeller so I’m looking for a simple, robust finish that looks good and can stand up to the wear and tear of frequent use

Battlefront TV James demonstrates how to prepare Flames Of War bases with ready mixed filler. Check out the Battlefront TV YouTube channel here...

Getting Started You’ll need some painted figures and bases.  In this example I’m re-basing some of my USA infantry to form an Armoured Infantry Platoon using Battlefront’s plastic bases. The new plastic bases look a bit tidier than my old hand cut Formica sheets. Left: Flames of War plastic bases

I use PVA wood glue to fix the figures to the base, it holds OK and comes off later if you want to change things around. For plastering the bases Selley’s Permafill a pre-mixed plaster filler is ideal. I also use Woodland Scenic ’earth undercoat’ and grass flock.  Woodland Scenics have an excellent range that can usually be found in any railways hobby shop. Right: Simon’s tools and materials.

Arranging the Miniatures Before getting out the glue I sort out which figures will go on each base. It’s important to ensure that you get the right mix of miniatures poses on each base. The Armoured Infantry Platoon has the following teams • 1 command team (3 miniatures) • 5 bazooka teams (2 miniatures)

• 5 rifle teams (4 miniatures) • 2 .30 cal teams (4 miniatures) • 1 60-mm mortar team (4 miniatures) • 1 37-mm ATG (4 miniatures) The command and bazooka teams will be mounted on small bases the rest on medium bases. I’ve included an extra rifle team so that I have the option of replacing the 37-mm. I prefer to mount the .30 cal teams with two extra miniatures on the medium bases, otherwise the gunner and loader by themselves could fit on a small base. I will include four crew miniatures with the mortar and light anti-tank gun.

I have also included two BARs among the rifle teams so that I have the option of using them for standard USA infantry teams if I choose not to field armoured infantry.   Preparing the Bases and Gluing Figures Before gluing anything in place I scour the plastic bases with a blunt pocketknife and trim any sprues. When gluing the miniatures to the base I arrange the miniatures to ensure that I have room to place the plaster later on. Left: Simon scours the bases before gluing the miniatures on.

Plastering I use an old screwdriver as a trowel to place plaster onto the bases and spread it between the figures. It pays to have some water on hand to moisten the trowel as this helps to get the plaster into those tight little spaces between miniatures . Take care not to spread plaster over your painted miniatures. Avoid using too much water as it can get messy and the plaster takes longer to dry.

I allow the plaster to dry to the point that it is no longer sticky then smooth it off carefully with my fingers to get rid of any marks left by the trowel. When the plaster has dried I trim off any excess around the edges and figures using that blunt knife. Left: A base waiting to dry before painting and flocking.

Paint and Flock I finish the plaster with a generous coat of earth undercoat and then glue on the grass flock. I tend to aim for an uneven cover of the grass and try to hide anything that can still be seen of the figure metal bases or any holes where the plaster is missing.

Options If you want to spend the time on modelling, each base can effectively become a mini- diorama. You can add shell cases, ammunition boxes, map tables, rocks, shrubs or whatever. Personally I prefer to see the terrain on the table and keep the basing simple but this is a matter of preference.

It’s these mini-dioramas and other details that separate the ’Best Painted Armies’ from the rest of us. Happy gaming... Simon