"Bases for 6mm" Topic

I was looking around for a super cheap way to base my models since my first batch of GHQ miniatures ever are going to arrive here in the next hour or so. I have deduced that the best size to mount figures on is a quarter for vehicles and either a quarter or a penny for infantry. A quarter is 15/16" or 24mm in diameter. Well I found these little guys on ebay auction . Bingo chips. 250 of the little bastards for about 5 bucks (china of course). They are 7/8" diameter but only 1 or 2mm thick so they won't raise the height of the models significantly. The major downside is that both sides of the chips are beveled. I was wondering what you guys that actually have models in your hands think about how the models would look based on these chips?

Having used pennies the chips should look fine.

I've gone even cheaper though, I bought linoleum floor tiles from Home Depot, spray painted them with textured spray paint and then cut them to size. They hold up well and it is easy to put unit labels on the bottom.

That's actually a pretty damn good idea although I lack the tools to accurately cut holes. The other issue besides the bevels with the bingo chips is that there are some much longer vehicles such as the HEMMTs or whatever they're called that obviously would not fit onto a quarter sized base. My first army is the ultra modern 401st armor brigade of the 162nd division of the IDF so I won't be using any of those vehicles but the scenarios I will be doing after I'm done with my ultra modern arab/israeli conflict will sort of be a global free for all set around 2018-2020.

Instead of circles I made mine squares and rectangles. A cutting board does the trick with that. Another way to do it is to use a utility knife or just a good heavy pair of scissors (Linoleum is a heck of a pain even with those though)

Try tiddly winks!!

I checkd out tiddly winks on ebay. Everything is super expensive because they slap the word vintage on it. :p

I use poker chips -they are big, but end up looking quite cool with all the basing. For skirmish I now use washers.

Here's an example of some Koplow Games small poker-type chips. Seems reasonably price to me?

auction

I've gotta rethink my strategy. My stuff arrived yesterday and while a 7/8" base is sufficient for something like an M113 or a group of infantry, my much larger Merkava MBTs and Namer IFVs are 1 1/4" or 29mm long. At the very minimum I'm going to need 30mm bases now for these tanks. I am seriously considering putting off all basing until I can afford some Litko stuff. What I am really liking about Litko is that I can get bases made of material less than a milimeter thick which I really like. Maybe I should start a blog or something.

I am going to use Flames of War small bases for my GHQ vehicles, the ones made by Litko.

I have to say that, considering what GHQ models cost, and the amount of effort that goes into painting them well, I personally don't try to save a few pennies on the basing. I mostly use 1" square steel bases – I get them pre-cut from Precision Wargames Supplies but I'm sure there are other sources. They are thin but rigid, won't warp over time, they take a good paint job, and they give a nice "heft" to these small pieces, especially infantry and guns.

I use thin Litko bases.

I go extra thin and base directly on steel paper. Good for looks and transport. My troops have not seen much action, but so far durability has not been a problem.

im looking at basing mine too. how are the litko steel bases?? do they hold basing materials on or do they flake away??

I don't think Litko makes steel bases. I'm eyeballing their 0.8mm thick laser cut plywood bases though. Now that I've gotten into 1:2400 GHQ micronauts I'm going to need both circle bases for my land based stuff and rectangular bases for my naval stuff.

I use Vinyl floor tiles- mind you I cut my bases square.

I based my on 1" basswood squares (painted & flocked). The problem is if I play on an urban table, all of my tanks are bringing along a square inch of nicely groomed turf where ever they go. I'm seriously considering taking them off the bases (at least the vehicles). I also ordered .06" thick clear plastic sheeting from Plastistruct. Going to base the other models on the clear plastic so that they'll look okay regardless of the terrain. (This is still an experiment in progress, mind you, so I can't say if it is yet successful).

Going to base the other models on the clear plastic so that they'll look okay regardless of the terrain. (This is still an experiment in progress, mind you, so I can't say if it is yet successful).

I tried this several years ago. Even though it seemed like a good idea, it was not a success.

The problem is that 99% of your time is spent looking at it from a relatively flat angle -- you seldom look down from overhead, but often look from along the sides of the table. At those angles the clear plastic will be highly reflective. While you hope to see the terrain beneath the stand, what you will actually see is the light on the other side of the room. They will stand out as if you had mounted your miniatures on mirrors.

:-/

And if that isn't bad enough, you will also find that any glue you use to mount your vehicles or figures on the clear plastic will be VERY visible on the clear plastic. Big gray/white smudges around whatever it is you mount. Tried super glues (cyanocrylates), white glues, acrylic medium, and modelling cement. Same results -- except that the modelling cement actually melted through the stand, gluing the figures to the surface beneath the stand.

:-(

Tried it. Gave it up pretty quick.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

I use sabots made of metal sheet which I cut with tin snips. The metal sheet comes from Home Depot. I texture them either for country or urban. I superglue small magnets under all my vehicles. This way I do not need a base for every vehicle I have – only enough for a scenario. And I can store all my vehicles in paper steel covered drawers or a metal tool box.

Thanks for the feedback Mark 1. I bought the sheets but haven't mounted them yet. A friend brought up these same issues (although he hadn't tried it, so we didn't know for sure). I guess I'm shelving that idea and will go back to no bases for tanks.