writes:A few years ago, I built and painted some 1:700 scale British and French brigs for Warlord Games' Black Seas game. At the time, I followed the recommended practice of leaving the ships unbased. Experience, however, has convinced me that unbased ships are difficult to transport and prone to get entangled with each other, risking the delicate masts. Therefore, I am now basing my brigs.
First, a few words about my preferences. I'm not a fan of pretty bases. In my opinion, in a perfect world, all bases would be invisible and you would only see the figures/models on the tabletop. In other words, I don't want bases to distract from the models. I want them to blend with the tabletop. (I'm not saying this is the right way to do things, it is just my way of doing things. 
)
I also like thick bases which clumsy fingers will have no trouble picking up and moving during a game. That's why I like 3mm-thick wooden bases.
Above, you can see three 3mm 1.5" x 3" wooden bases from LITKO. I've chosen the size to protect the masts and spars. If this causes a problem with the rules mechanics, I'll figure something out. I've spray-primed the bases white on both sides to seal the wood.
With these bases, the edges have a prominent grain that is difficult to overpaint with certain low-coverage paints. Therefore, I've gotten into the habit of hand-painting the edges with another coat of white. (The spray paint never seems to cover properly.)
The top of the base is painted with a suitable sea color. Apple Barrel Military Blue looks right to my eye. Two coats give good coverage.
For the benefit of newbies, I like to color-code my base edges. For my French brigs, I've chosen to use a light blue. (British get red, Americans get dark blue…)
I then apply a spray coat of gloss clear. This works well to protect the edges, but I can never get a good gloss finish on the top, even though I carefully clean the bases before painting them.
This was also a good time to apply LITKO FlexSteel to the base bottoms. This will keep the ships in place when stored in magnet-lined boxes. And I have brought out the Mod Podge, which is used in making collages as both a glue and a gloss finish. It doesn't dry out, so this size container works for me; you can also buy a smaller container at Dollar Tree if you prefer.
As you can see above, I have used a half-inch brush to apply a thick coat of Mod Podge, and then I have stippled it with the end of my brush to create a sea-like texture.
Since the Mod Podge also acts as an adhesive, I press the ship into place while the glue is still wet.
And here are the finished, based brigs!
The Mod Podge shrinks as it dries, providing a subtle wave texture to the base.
A thinner coat of Mod Podge provides a more subtle effect. I haven't tried going thicker yet, or using an alternate product such as Artist Gel.
I've chosen not to paint wave crests or wakes, as I don't think they're needed – but you may make different choices!