Repaint Threads. Painting, Bases, Figure questions.

[mac122]

Impact Miniatures also has a 40mm beveled base. It's slightly larger than the Deathwalker base. It has worked well for my larger custom figures. 6 in a pack for $1.80. They also have some 30mm bases 15 for $1.80. When I ordered, it was a flat $5.00 shipping no matter how many bought (at least up to 6 packs).

Edit: just went to the site and saw they lowered the price and I had the quantity too low on the 30mm. And, this time at least, shipping is $4.00.

[dok]

So when they say 40mm base, they mean 40mm diameter, not "appropriate for figurines at 40mm scale"?

I just saw the D3 bases (they had some packs at the FLGS where we held our game day) and I have to say, I'm blown away by how big they made them. They are, in my opinion, in violation of the letter of the rules. They are at least 39 millimeters across, which is more than the 38 millimeters of the narrowest diameter of the raised portion of a hex. I guess I don't need to feel bad about using poker chips as a stopgap...

[robbdaman]

Originally Posted by dok

So when they say 40mm base, they mean 40mm diameter, not "appropriate for figurines at 40mm scale"?

I just saw the D3 bases (they had some packs at the FLGS where we held our game day) and I have to say, I'm blown away by how big they made them. They are, in my opinion, in violation of the letter of the rules. They are at least 39 millimeters across, which is more than the 38 millimeters of the narrowest diameter of the raised portion of a hex. I guess I don't need to feel bad about using poker chips as a stopgap...

Yes, they are the same size as D&D Minis original large size bases. They fit okay on a hex without completely overhanging.

[dok]

Originally Posted by robbdaman

Yes, they are the same size as D&D Minis original large size bases. They fit okay on a hex without completely overhanging.

Sounds good. The D3 bases are really only a problem if you're OCD about it. Since they are official releases, I suppose we have to assume they are considered legitimately placed. However, it is imposssible to place them 100% on the raised portion of the hex - there is always a tiny overhang.

[dok]

I know that the D&D miniature line's "large" figures went from 40 millimeter diameter round bases to 48 millimeter diameter round bases, starting with the "War of the Dragon Queen" set.

Does anyone know when the D&D line switched from the soft plastic to the hard plastic for the bases? The old bases were a soft, rubbery plastic that could be cut with a good pair of scissors. The newer figures use a very stiff plastic that requires wire cutters. I know that it was somewhere between "War of the Dragon Queen" (which has soft bases) and "Against the Giants" (hard bases), but I don't know exactly where.

Also, I'm discovering a lot of variation in how the figures are attached to their bases, but this is probably a figure-to-figure variance as opposed to something that changed at one point in time. For most figures, the figure and its base seem to be a single piece of cast plastic. Some figures, however, are attached to the base by plugs coming up from the base that fit into sockets in the feet of the figures. These are very easy to debase; just put them in a quarter inch of boiling water for 10 minutes or so, and you can generally pull the base off the figure.

[dok]

Originally Posted by dok

Does anyone know when the D&D line switched from the soft plastic to the hard plastic for the bases? The old bases were a soft, rubbery plastic that could be cut with a good pair of scissors. The newer figures use a very stiff plastic that requires wire cutters. I know that it was somewhere between "War of the Dragon Queen" (which has soft bases) and "Against the Giants" (hard bases), but I don't know exactly where.

I think I had it all wrong, and the distinction is actually that the huge bases use the hard plastic, while the large bases (even in later releases) are a softer plastic that becomes pliable when heated.

[xraine69]

Originally Posted by dok

I think I had it all wrong, and the distinction is actually that the huge bases use the hard plastic, while the large bases (even in later releases) are a softer plastic that becomes pliable when heated.

Resorting to talking to yourself???

[dok]

Originally Posted by xraine69

Resorting to talking to yourself???

Well, I think it's possible that someone else was curious about my results on this.

Here's the reason I care: I've been doing a fair amount of what I call "ghetto rebasing" lately. For figures on large WotC bases that need to be placed on peanut bases, there's no shortcuts - you have to rebase. But for figures on post-2006 large bases that would fit on a Deathwalker base or at least a D3 base, or any huge figure that would fit on a peanut, there is actually a decent shortcut solution that doesn't require coming up with a new base.

Post-July 2006 WotC large bases: Put the figure in a flat-bottomed pan with just enough water to cover the base, and let it come to a boil. Take the figure off the pan - the plastic in the base should be very soft (and hot). Dry the base. Put the desired base (DW9k base, or D3 base) bottom-to-bottom with the base, covering the part of the base that the figure is standing on. Trace around the base with a sharpie. Get a sharp pair of scissors (I used curved cuticle scissors) and just cut around the base. If your cutting job is jagged, clean it up with some sandpaper.

Huge Bases: You can do the boiling water thing, but it won't help much. Do the same trace job as above, only with the appropriate peanut base. The peanut is longer than a huge base, so the resultant shape is more of an hourglass.

Get a good pair of wire cutters, and work around the trace. It will take a lot of small cuts and it will be pretty jagged. You will need to use sandpaper to soften it out. You will also probably want to sandpaper the bottom of the front and back of the base, so that the figure will sit on the entire bottom and not just the rail running along the front and back of the base.

Neither of these are really earth-shattering approaches, but it's notable, to me, how much easier the process is with the large bases than the huge ones.

[heroscaper67]

i thought this thread would be about custom repaints

[cmgames]

A while back I purchased a passel of resin bases in different sizes - already the right brown color and stickered. Anybody remember who did those or have a link to them?

~Z

[TREX]

Originally Posted by cmgames

A while back I purchased a passel of resin bases in different sizes - already the right brown color and stickered. Anybody remember who did those or have a link to them?

~Z

It was yodajunkie I believe. I'd bought some from him in the past.