The Commander Series Forum

Hi all,

finally put an order in for some 6mm north africa armies. Now i'm wondering how to base them. i was going to order three sizes
vehicles (large rectangle)
support weapons(smaller square one)
troops (epic size?)

what sizes does anyone use?
also, i've used MDF before but i struggle to stick metal to it. often i need to add superglue twice. What does anyone else use? the cheaper the better

Wood glue works well.

Araldite works well.

Greetings

I've generally got 10mm but there are some 6mm I will probably use for CWC - these will use 40mm x 20mm infantry bases - not sure about heavy weapons but maybe 25x20mm. AFV 20mm x 40mm but these are modern so bigger than most desert war tanks.

Something like Bostick All Purpose Adhesive works fine - in fact rebasing a couple of 10mm AFV over the weekend was a bit more difficult than expected.

Regards

Edward

Another vote for wood glue - excellent for sticking sand on the base (just get normal builders sand, not the stuff from model shops!) too

I use 20x40mm for modern AFVs, but not sure that many WW2 tanks are big enough - maybe 20x30mm.. In which case using 30x20 for 4-5 infantry may be a good idea as it makes life simple and the stuff easy to pack!

If you magnetise the bases I also find that cardboard plus magnetic sheet is rigid enough for most stuff. I only use MDF for 28mm figures or similar big boys toys.

I should have clarified; Araldite for basing figures etc, then builders wood glue for sand etc.

For 6mm I've got basically everything on 30*30mm MDF from Warbases (although some older stuff is plastic!), barring more modern HQs & a few bits of support weapons or recce based explicitly for ease of recognition after we switched to BKC.

I usually use a No More Nails type 'glue', sometimes with superglue if something proves a pain to stick!

If I was starting from scratch especially for BKC I might go with 50mm*25mm long edge forward for infantry & short edge forward for vehicles, and 30*30mm for heavy weapons (using one or two on a base depending on size - eg two HMGs or one ATG) and recce probably on pennies/2p's with HQs on 40*40mm and CO on 50*50mm.

That way you can tell exactly what everything is and make the bases a bit of a mini-diorama.

All my bases are MDF and I use superglue (from the £ shop) to attach the figs. Occasionally I have an issue with them falling over before the glue holds but not often. This is with 15mm though which gives a larger surface area than 6mm of course. For the basing material I used to use PVA but recently switched to acrylic matt medium works just as well but doesn't dry shiny like the PVA occasionally did.

I use the following for my 6mm, the large command bases allow me to make mini dioramas:

20x40mm: Infantry, AFV's, ATG's, SPAT's, Transport, Infantry Support (warbases £1.10 per 20)
30x40mm Artillery (warbases £1.10 per 18)
50mm round CO's (warbases £1.10 per 12)
40mm round HQ's (warbases £1.10 per 16)
30mm square FAO/FAC/Recce, Recce Support (warbases £1.10 per 20)


As for attaching them I use superglue from Poundland 8 tubes for unsurprisingly £1, never had any problems with it and ive used it for many projects in varying scales

20 thou plastic card, I just don't like the look of bases which are as thick as the troops are tall.

I use UHU usually found in the 99p shop and base on 40thou plastic card. mdf seems too thick for me, but too thin and you get plastic bowing with some manufacturers like irregulars (irregular troops are very good and I have some spare too!!)3cm square for vehicles, artillery/mortars,3 by 2 for infantry and their support weapons 4cm square CO, 3cm square HQ, 2p pieces for recce and observer types, 5ps for snipers.

For my 6mm stuff I use self adhesive floor tiles cut into 30*30mm squares for all Inf & support and rectangles for vehicles 15*30mm. all HQs & COs are on circular cuts of floor tile.

Peel back paper backing a small drop of cheap super glue to position them (the self adhesive works quite well alone but I like to ensure a firm grip ready for the next step)
once figs are secure cover the tile in your scatter/sand basing material and less for painting etc your done. no glue and scatter on figures or working into the gaps as the glue is already there. and they are super thin, just as Chrisj said I don't like the MDF bases as they are just too thick.

To finish off all my bases have a small strip of magnetic tape on the bottom to prevent warping and secure storage in biscuit tins.

I will put some images up at the weekend if I get time.

For my 6mm Western desert forces I have taken to using two vehicles per 50x50mm base where the unit is a combat unit such as tank or recce.
25x25mm bases for single ATG's and transports.
25 wide x50mm deep for towing units with separate bases for the deployed gun and crew.
50 wide x25mm deep for infantry units, MG's, mortars and IG's.
Command units are all on round bases with CO's on 50mm, HQ's on 35mm, and FAO/FAC's on 20mm.
I use thin plastic card as I don't like thick bases for such small models. I stick them using a gel superglue and then use a watered down PVA to fix a fine crush rock from the railway model shop.
I should say that I stick metal paper to the under side of the plastic card before I cut the bases out and then line my storage boxes with self-adhesive magnetic sheets.
You can see my British models and a few Germans on my wiki on the links page and I'll be adding new pics of my Italians shortly.

Thanks for the huge response guys. There's quite a variation in sizes and material

I'm probably more inclined to go down the MDF root but the floor tile or plsticard options are intreging. Do they not bend?

I think the plastic card I use is 0.5mm thick. I've not seen much bending and those that did I think did so because I used neat PVA and ended up with a thick layer that then contracted slightly.
Most seem perfectly flat and, in my opinion, look good on the table as they are so thin.

I started to use vinyl floor tiles. You can buy a pack of 6/8 from pound shops and this gives you about 800 bases for a £1.00.

Poundland vinyl floor tiles are a cheapskate wargamers dream. Sofar I've used them for to make roads, rivers, wooded areas and marshes.

The floor tiles are prone to some warping if you cut them too big, but once you stick some metal or magnetic sheet underneath they are bob on for the price!

I used 2mm mdf magnetic bases, they probably do look too thick but hey ho...

I base on steel and then line my carrier case with magnetic sheets so that everything stays in place.

I've found some vinyl floor tiles left over from a DIY disaster. I'll have to try some roads and rivers and stuff. Is there any YouTube clips of examples