Having settled on a method for basing miniatures that seems to work for me, I thought it might be helpful to share the 'recipe'. My aim is to produce a style of basing that's reasonably unobtrusive and that I can easily reproduce to give elements a consistent look even though they were completed months apart.
First we need basing material. Depending on the rules, the size of the figure(s), and sometimes the role of the figure in my chosen rules, I use 1p or 2p coins, pre-cut MDF or plastic bases or element bases cut from artists' mounting board.
I generally attach the painted miniatures to these using clear adhesive such as Uhu, Evostick or, currently, Gorilla Contact Adhesive.
Next, I build up the base with filler to blend in the figure's base. I've used Tetrion or tile grout in the past and I'm now using the Bartoline Wood Filler seen above. It's a good idea, if you can, to get coloured filler, ideally brown, such that if the base gets chipped you won't see brilliant white showing through. If your only available filler is white, you can probably colour it with cheap acrylic paint.
At this stage we don't particularly need to disguise all signs of the miniature's base - that'll be taken care of later. Also we don't need a completely smooth finish; a bit of texture is a positive thing.
My next step is to paint the base. I use
Miniature Paints Earth Brown and then dry brush with Vallejo Iraqi Sand.
I sometimes use patches of other shades of brown but to be honest it rarely makes an appreciable difference.
The result is a base that would work if your miniature is operating in the desert but now it's time to add some greenery.
I now apply patches of undiluted matt Modpodge. This is a resin-enriched PVA-like product that dries somewhat more securely than plain PVA (but you could use the latter if it's all you've got).
The amount you apply (and the amount of bare earth you leave between patches) should be determined by two factors. Firstly, this is where you get the final chance to disguise the outline of the miniature's base. Secondly, you may want less vegetation on miniatures for the Punic War in the Mediterranean than you do for Boudicca's revolt in Britannia.
Having applied the glue I now dip the base into fine flock. The colour isn't too critical but at present I'm using Woodland Scenics Grass Green Fine Flock.
This gets left to dry, ideally overnight but at least for a couple of hours. The excess flock is then shaken off and retained for future use.
The next stage may seem excessive but I've found it helps. The whole flocked area gets another coating of Modpodge. This is heavily watered down such that capillary action allows it to permeate the flock.
Once more a drying period follows, overnight again if you can, before you paint the whole of the flocked area with a third coating of Modpodge. This time I dilute it only slightly.
While this last Modpodge layer is wet, the model goes onto the static grassing tray.
This is an old, steel baking tray to which the crocodile clip of my static grass applicator can be attached.
I then sprinkle over static grass using the applicator. At present I'm using '2mm Wild Autumn' from PG Studio.
I've found it best to 'flood' the base with static grass and then, while the Modpodge is still wet, invert the miniature and shake off the excess. If you decide too much Modpodge is visible, repeat the apply and shake approach. The idea is to avoid leaving on so much static grass that the glued-down fibres are squashed flat by those on top of them.
You could just apply the static grass straight onto the painted base but I've found that way the static grass looks like, well, static grass with a painted surface underneath. With the layer of flock, the result is lush ground cover and the static grass fibres seem to stand up more reliably.
If you want to go further, now would be the time to add commercially-made tufts of longer grass but to be honest I rarely bother.
So there you have it. A little long-winded perhaps but I'm happy at last with my basing. Now do I go back and rebase all of the earlier models in the collection?
