"Why don’t many 3D printed figures come with bases?" Topic

I've ordered Plains Indians, foot and mounted.
I've ordered "cowgirl sheriffs".
None came with bases.
Why?

It might be that the designers are not miniature gamers?
This is also evident in the way some of the figures are in "delicate" non line up poses.
It might be instructive to see how many 3D figure makers do or do not drop into this conversation.

martin

Because customers have differing requirements for basing?

I agree with David Manley, FWIIW. Even within a single ruleset there can be variations in stand sizes. For popular non-historical games, STL creators often add release stands separately. This allows gamers to choose the style of the base: flagstones, cobbles, etc, etc.

Robert

I want all my figures to have an integral base.

I don't like the Airfix cavalry or larger decorative bases.
Having said this I am not a skirmish gamer.

My wargames figures are all mounted in groups and need to stand up to wargamer handling. I avoid any possible weakness between base and figure.

martin

Being a skirmish gamer, I prefer them that way as I like to use clear bases.

They are not based, as "cowgirl Sheriffs" sounds a bit wokey pokey?

Some of the above comments seems confusing, as there are:

No bases, ie. feet.

Small integral beses, perhaps kidney shaped, or a small ovel, circle ect. Just around the feet.

And large integral bases, as in a moulded on full base. 20mm+ on a 28mm figure, typically.

And, of course, our old friend the slotta tab.

They are the main ones.

Other mentions include, but are not limited to,

The splinter, or peg leg, with a rod coming out of a foot for a hole on the base.

The strip (cue Corney music), usually several smaller figures on one integral base.

So on.

You want the miniatures to be printed on a base

Or

The model should be sold with a base?

If I need to, I'll print a miniature and a base on the same plate

I base my foot figures on 3/4" ID fender washers. With Emmylou Law standing on one delicate toe, that makes basing difficult to say the least. I dislike clear bases. Too shiny and they scuff.
I base my mounted figures on 1"x2" bases, whether MDF, basswood or plastic. Invariably, the horses are posed in silly artistic poses, that never occur in Real Life with multiple legs off the ground.

These 2 or 3 orders have pretty much soured me on 3D printed figures.
I find it interesting that the "manufacturers" print on license. One even admitted here on TMP that he ruefully admits errors in uniforms (😱) etc, but the designer(s) give him no say in the design. Whimsy up the wazoo, along with caricature like screaming faces.
This is a far cry from companies like Peter Pig, Perry or even GW where the manufacturers are active gamers.

As I've said in previous rants, I don't need to learn a new hobby. And until I see a major improvement in production, I've ordered my last 3D printed figures.

+1 Martin Goddard

Agree with you John, I always think clear bases make figures look like they are hovering..

Besides the RPG/pro-painter/skirmish gamer set mostly preferring no bases, bases can make it hard to add the supports needed for the model to print properly. Big flat areas also tend to be prone to weird failures in resin.

Turner Miniatures is a 3D designer that seems to 'get' wargaming, but he's mostly small scale stuff. Wargames Atlantic and Anvil Industry are also good, but their stuff comes multipart (like a hard plastic figure) which a lot of people dislike.

+1 martin. I have some 1/72 moderns that are all balancing on their toes!

Variation on this theme: I base my figures on fender washers, like John, and in the past few weeks, I've had a couple metal figures, one from Foundry, who had their feet together resting on a base so small it would fit in the hole of the fender washer. So, I fill in the hole with green stuff, and wait a day for it to dry, or post the figure on the edge of the center hole. Just annoying. I want the figure to have a base big enough to give a good area for the glue to bond the base with the washer.

Clear bases: I've mulled over these but haven't actually done any. My assumption was that you glue the figure to the clear base, wait for the glue to dry, then drill up through the clear base and into the figure's feet, then glue a brass or piano wire peg in the hole to hold the figure on.

Grelber

Depends who you buy them from. Paint and Glue Miniatures do their figures with bases.

Find out what material they are being printed in.

If it's plastic, you should be able to do a few things to quickly resolve this issue.

If it's a plastic that responds to plastic glue, glue it to an appropriate piece of plastic, like some sprue. Thus giving you a better base to work with.

If glue isn't an option, but it's still plastic, melt the edge of the foot to some plastic. Perhaps a hot wire, hold a bit over a flame. Or use a soldering iron.

Drilling into the foot and insert/glue a piece of plastic rod (cut/carved from sprue/spare plastic part, if needed), if you don't want to melt the foot, or if the model is resin.

Just some ideas.

Almost certainly sculpts are baseless to give the end user flexibility.

You can add a base in the slicer prior to printing if you like.

Where did you order those figures from?

Pluses to Martin and Grelber along with the OFM.

I also base on fender washers these days.

I use those round Avery dots (or non-trademarked simulacrums) to first cover the hole, then glue my mini on the washer.

I prefer a thin integral base myself. But for skirmish warfare (and if I were starting from scratch) transparent circular to which the figure must be glued would be a very tempting option. And skirmish gaming with 20mm and up and mass formations with 15mm and under seems like the wave of the immediate future.

Where did you order those figures from?

I'm not here to name and shame.
Just Google "28mm Plains Indians" or "28mm Western" and you'll find them.
They're fine for some people, but my cup of tea.

I am licensed to print three different companies. Medbury, BattleCat and Bergman (all armor or vehicles). The first two randomly have their figures on bases but there doesn't seem to be any consistency to those that do. In a lot of their promo shots of their prints they are standing on the typical round, black skirmish/rpg type stands.

I must agree that most designers are not gamers so don't always create them the way we would like.

When I print for myself I create a special file of each figure that has a base I attached ahead of time using 3D builder. I also print single bases and glue my figures onto them before painting. As I am a large army type gamer I then base my painted troops on larger moving baes.

Hope this clears things up.

What glue do you use?
I used Superglue Gel, with a spritz of CA activator.

Speira requires you to choose whether or not you want the figure with a base or without a base. Sometimes I miss this on a company's web site.

I use an Insta Cure Medium glue and when needed the spray accelerator.

Seems like a business opportunity for 3D print providers- simply offer base or no base, or even flat base, no base or detailed/textured base as options. Bases are super easy to model (I make my own these days on my own printer) so adding them would be an easy option. They could even charge more for the base option and the textured/detailed base option.

I think not having the bases is a good thing. Or at least having the option.

I might suggest that some 3d sculptors are gamers just not historical gamers. If you look at My Mini Factory most of the offerings are fantasy or Sci-Fi. As such they tend to use those plastic slot bases anyway. I do know the guy who does the Reconquer miniatures is a painter and gamer.

I have the Western miniatures the OFM refers to and no bases gives the gamer an option. I saw an old west game at Historicon with those figures on clear bases. IMO the figures looked great on the desert style mat used in the game.

I use white glue on wood or MDF bases, then cover the base with Valejo basing putty. It works great and not having the extra "base" on the figure is an advantage with this method of basing (whether single figure or multi-base).

monk2002uk +1

I do mostly skirmish gaming and like to put the figures on custom bases depending on the genre of the game (I don't like the clear plastic bases).

I share OFM's frustration at the lack of bases. I am not really a fan of 3D prints, or any other plastic figures, but recently needed some 15mm Prussian Landwehr for a game. I found a good deal on EBay, so ordered 12 figures. Nicely detailed, a bit of variation in both horses and troopers but no bases. It was not a problem with horse that were standing or walking, but several were in a galloping pose with only 1 hoof at a position suitable for glueing. I spent a frustrating afternoon try to glue these to the gaming bases. In the end I found that a mix of Rapid Epoxy glue, allowed a couple of minutes to get to a tacky stage, was the best way of getting the more recaltricant horses to stand up. The others were OK with superglue gel.
I think the idea of "no bases because we all have different basing conventions" is rather far fetched. My collection of thousands of metal figures were all cast with bases and fit onto the various basing systems that I use with no problem.
Designers – please add bases to your figures!

Designers – please add bases to your figures!

Which is why I refuse to buy any 3D printed figures in the future without the explicit guarantee that there will be bases.

Theory: These figure designers are primarily "artists". They have no idea how the printed figures will be used.
They assume that the figures will be used in an artistic diorama.
Handled, like in a game? Perish the thought!

""artists""

Just incase anyone missed the inverted commas.

"They have no idea"

I agree.

I thinks it's more they just don't care.

The business model is design lots, sell what sells.

With not real overheads, unlike actually having to manufacture and distribute, that's about all they have to do.

And its not like they make each figure from scratch.

Let's add tiny delicate feet and legs to the 🤷🙄😱 factor of having no bases.
Not to me that drybrushing would likely shatter the figure.