Attaching Minis to bases

[jbaeza94]

Hey guys, i know this may sound trivial but im at a bit of a loss. i normally make my base first, with medium ballast then super glue my marines on top. i have had various degrees of success with this, with some holding on good, and some being very week. i was wondering if maybe some of you guys had tips on how to attach the minins to the base for a sturdier bond. thanks.

[Grotsmasha]

Pining would be your best bet. Drill and glue the pins into your marines feet, then drill the corresponding holes in the bases. Put place holder pins in the base with a minimal amount of glue from the bottom side, that stick up well above your basing material. Then once the bases are set using pliers, pull the placeholder pins out through the bottom. Then you'll be all set to attach you marines to the base, be sure to fold the pins to the underside of the base for added secure-ness.

 

Cheers,

Jono

[Quixus]

Pinning:

1. Take a paper clip or some wire.
2. Straighten it.
3. Drill a hole into the models foot (or other part that will touch the base) preferably at the heel, because there you can drill deep, 2-3 mm should suffice for infantry.
4. Glue the wire into the hole.
5. Depending on what you put on the base drill a hole through the base either from the bottom or the top, where you want the foot to be on the base.
6. Paint model and base
7. Stick the wire through the hole in the base.
8. Bend the wire so the base can sit flat.
9. Snap off any unneeded wire.
10. Strengthen the bond with a bit of glue around the wire

:cuss Grotsmasha was quicker. The placeholder pins are a good idea.

[jbaeza94]

awesome! thanks for the quick responses! i really appreciate it 

[Chaplain Raeven]

Pinning is the obvious answer. I suspect that ballast is an uneven surface that gives the glue some issues? Placing a pin and securing it further with some liquid greenstuff, filler or milliput should do the trick. Personally I'd for the lazy way: get small pieces of milliput, make it a bit wet and use that as bond between mini and base. 

 

Edit: Triple ninja'd. Damn real job is interfering with my forumtime

[Subtle Discord]

There's an underlying lesson to be had here as well; always glue from a clean surface to a clean surface, or the bond will only be as strong as whatever is between the glue and surface. In this case, the super glue bonded perfectly well to the basing material, but the material was the weak point that pealed away from the base. This can easily happen in other model assembly scenarios creating weak joins.

[jbaeza94]

Damn real job is interfering with my forumtime

I know how you feel. these things that i have to get done to get money to buy more minis really gets in the way of not doing work and browsing B&C.

 

But yeah, they way the marines feet are only provide a little bit of contact surface, and well rocks arent exactly flat. im gonna try pinning first. ill borrow a few more paper clips from the office and see how that works out.

[Tyberos the Red Wake]

I do my bases separately because it's faster and easier to not have to worry about getting basing colors on the model's feet, and not having to reach between the legs to paint the base. However, I am way too lazy to pin that many miniatures, and often with awkward ankle bends that may have the drill pierce through the leg.

 

What I do instead is simply take a tiny ball of sticky tack that you normally use for masking or holding bits to things, and mask the model's footprints on the base, but slightly smaller than its actual footprint. After finishing the base, I peel it off, and have two perfectly clean spots to glue the model to. It also makes future work on the model easier as you don't have to remove any pins, only a normal super glue connection from foot to base.

[Major_Gilbear]

Tyberos' solution is very ingenious!

 

Another old trick is to use some small pieces of plasticard, and glue them down where the models feet are. Slightly smaller than the feet is usually helpful, as this disguises them better after the texture is applied.

 

Once you've applied texture (sand, gravel, talus, etc.,) the little plasticard shapes are ready to receive your Space Marine - the plastic glue will form it's normally fantastic bond between the model and the base, and as a bonus your model will be standing on the base instead of in it. :)

 

There's an excellent tutorial on how to do this by Ron Saikowski here.

[Chaplain Raeven]

Tyberos' solution is very ingenious!

Another old trick is to use some small pieces of plasticard, and glue them down where the models feet are. Slightly smaller than the feet is usually helpful, as this disguises them better after the texture is applied.

Once you've applied texture (sand, gravel, talus, etc.,) the little plasticard shapes are ready to receive your Space Marine - the plastic glue will form it's normally fantastic bond between the model and the base, and as a bonus your model will be standing on the base instead of in it.

There's an excellent tutorial on how to do this by Ron Saikowski here.

Coincidence?

[Subtle Discord]

Thanks for the call-out GreyRavenC. Looks like a case of great minds, and all that. :) It's a long post, so look in the middle if you're interested in seeing the reference.

 

Like many problems, there can be more than a single solution, and one should find the solution that works for them. I prefer the model on the base in order to paint it all as a single cohesive part; I'm willing to sacrifice the advantages to painting for a model that takes less final assembly, but that's my preference. I always apply my basing before I prime so it can be painted along with the model; so I simply paint the basing early in the paint process and it's easy to avoid getting the base colour on the feet of model.