How to Choose a Base For Your Army
Share
This post is part of the Notts Hobbies 30 Day Army Painting Accelerator, Click here to get your free copy.
How do you pick the correct base for your models?
Today, I’ll discuss four methods for helping you choose the base for your minis. It’s important to remember that your base should frame and improve your mini, not draw attention from it.
We always use desaturated colours on our bases to ensure the eye isn’t drawn to the base. This means the eye is drawn to the focal points of miniatures.
Also, it should be easy to distinguish your models from their bases. We wouldn’t recommend a snow base for a stormtrooper, as the base and the model will blend into one, as they are the same colour.
The rule of cool applies in basing, as it always does in miniature painting. If you think of a basing scheme that would look awesome with your models, do it!
Another way to choose your bases is to consider your army's narrative. If you’re a historical wargamer, this makes the decision easy. For example, the Afrika Korps would have desert bases.
If you’re not painting historical mini’s, you can still consider your army's narrative when picking the basing scheme for your models.
Some painters pick a base that contrasts with the main colour of their models. If the mini is mainly cold colours, the base will be warm colours, or vice versa. This helps the models pop on the table and separate the base from the model.
Click here for a TLDR on cool and warm colours
Finally, if you can’t decide, you can always use neutral colours like greys, beiges and desaturated browns. These bases look great with any paint scheme and are perfect if you don’t know how to base your mini’s.
If you're looking for Basing Inspiration, click here to view our Basing Tutorials on Youtube
This post is part of the Notts Hobbies 30 Day Army Painting Accelerator, Click here to get your free copy.
Cold Colours - hues like blue, green, and purple that evoke coolness and calm
Contrast - Highlights differences in colour, value, texture and shape to create visual interest and guide the viewer’s attention
Desaturated – a colour that is muted or greyish because other colours have been mixed into it.
Warm Colours - hues like red, orange, and yellow that evoke warmth and energy