The endless rebasing project
There’s a saying in Greek “Στερνή μου γνώση να σ’είχα πρώτα” that roughly translates to “if only had I known before, what I last learned”. Yes, I’d have done things a lot different! Perhaps the following can be of help to others if they go on such a rebasing task like I did, or just to get ideas on basing projects.
What I wanted to achieve: table-ready results with the fewer steps possible.
I blatantly failed due to a combination of factors:
– Lipped bases
– Shrinking basing medium
Before I get to that let me give a quick summary of the project.
After getting into 3d printing and seeing the capabilities, I decided to correct the varied basing I had for my miniatures. 15mm figures need 15mm bases. Looks better, has better zone of control, and fits better on a grid. Even with over 1000 figures to be rebased, I don’t regret this choice.
Removing the figures from the bases was perhaps the easier part, with the exception of a handful of pewter miniatures that were superglued on coins, so hard that I had to bend the coin, and the integral base of the miniature to get them removed, it all went smooth more or less. I had about another handful minis barely damaged in the process because I was careless, but I could repair them easily. Overall about 99% success rate.
Lessons learned:
– To remove the figures from metal bases, heat them up first. I’ve used the 3d printer hot plate to 80C, and then using gloves, I could pop them carefully off the base.
– To remove the figures from wood and MDF bases, I soaked the bases in water for several minutes (at least 5-10, the more the better), and then using two sets of pliers, I twisted the base so that the miniature popped off.
– To remove the figures from plastic bases, I just used two sets of pliers to twist the base so that the miniature popped off.
After this, I glued the minis to the new lipped 15mm bases, and once dry I had to retexture the bases. Did several different combinations trying to decide the best way to retexture with the least effort.
For my sci-fi miniatures, I got the best results by applying carefully acrylic brown speckle to the base, and then dipping it into sand while still wet. I had no shrinking, however, the problem is that I had to be extra careful while applying the speckle, as to not dirty up the miniature.
I didn’t want to do this for my fantasy miniatures, which where over double in number, so I went with a different approach, and brushed matte medium to which I dipped in flock + sand, and later on PVA glue when I ran out of matte medium. This was a big mistake, as I had varying degrees of shrinking, so much that the interior of the base between the lip and the miniature became a flocked gap. Which means I have to follow up with another brushing of glue and flock with static grass. At least from the looks of it, the static grass seems to cover the gaps. As you can understand this has set me back a lot, and I’ve spent tons of my hobby time just doing this.
On hindsight, I should not be so adamant about a strong bond of the mini to the new base, and even before gluing the mini to the new base, I should have applied the acrylic brown speckle to the base, and just pushed the mini to the speckle to stick it there, there would have been a minimal mound, and it would be ready to dip in sand and voilla, done. Yes the bond would be just the speckle, but that’s enough for the overall integrity of miniatures.
Alternatively, I could have used unlipped bases, but that would give me a pitcher’s mound which I wanted to get rid of. So it’s not the best solution.
With all my miniatures rebased now, it’s absolutely too late to have a different go at it. I also don’t see another situation on my side for rebasing again in the future.
Once I’m done with the final steps of rebasing I’ll start posting pictures of my new sets, as I believe they truly look better now.
ps. I also did rebasing of my odd based miniatures, and cavalry and mounts as well. Some longer or wider sci-fi minis I based on 15x20mm pill bases, and my fantasy cavalry and mounts/animals on 15x30mm pill bases. These look significantly better now.
Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice 
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