BPI
New member
A couple of thoughts about basing / plinthing minis for competition after attending the Sheffield Irregulars IMP event.
Stand them on something people!
Many minis on the table were just on gaming bases. Absolutely fine & all with regards to the product for show but when I looked (for voting on Best In Show) some of the minis were backwords, others were too far away, etc. So I wanted to pick them up & have a good look, or at least turn them around. Now of course I wouldn't touch the paintjob
But some of these gaming bases are rounded! I think Privateer Press? Complete & utter nightmare to get a grip on. How do you play with them?
Anyway, even if the minis are behind glass to prevent me pawing at 'em, the judges are still going to want to handle them. Don't put them off your work by making the thing difficult to pick up!
There are of course many solutions but mine is cheap & elegant enough to my eye Also not my idea, I should add, I read it on one forum or another & went with it
Carpet protectors for putting under the castors on sofas...
...pack of 4, small or large for a quid or so from Wilkinsons, in the UK, but I imagine it's a fairly universal product. I was hoping for black but ended up with dark brown, which'll do. The wood effect ones they do unfortuately have grippy plastic glued to the bottom, which for our purposes is the top, and are too expensive.
A mini will BluTack to them easily or it's simple to drill through so that you can epoxy glue a nut to the bottom of your mini base & then bolt it to the castor cup. (Banshee is bolted, Orcs are BluTacked (and look, units don't have to be on terrained movement trays, get your armies out, don't leave them at home for want of a stand )).
Wooden building blocks sprayed black, trophy shop plinths, whatever you can think of!
Of course IMP was my 1st proper comp so I am quite new to this lark Some minis that were on plinths had all of the name tag business & were very much a part of the overall effect of the project (A Dark Elves on Cold Ones cav unit stands out in my mind. Very clean & sharp). My solution, I feel, fits in between that and no plinth at all. Don't worry about fancy etched names & painting it smooth & so on, just provide a neat holding handle! Certainly don't you dare think that your work isn't good enough to deserve a plinth!
Cheers, B.
PS They're good for when non-painter friends come around & want to look too, as well as their toddler children who have trouble pinching a small gaming base but can hold a big cup easily They don't protect from sneezes unfortuately :lol:
EDIT http://sheffieldirregulars.co.uk/2010/08/03/imp-the-results-2/#more-1085 plenty of shots of the table lower down the page :good:
Stand them on something people!
Many minis on the table were just on gaming bases. Absolutely fine & all with regards to the product for show but when I looked (for voting on Best In Show) some of the minis were backwords, others were too far away, etc. So I wanted to pick them up & have a good look, or at least turn them around. Now of course I wouldn't touch the paintjob
But some of these gaming bases are rounded! I think Privateer Press? Complete & utter nightmare to get a grip on. How do you play with them?Anyway, even if the minis are behind glass to prevent me pawing at 'em, the judges are still going to want to handle them. Don't put them off your work by making the thing difficult to pick up!
There are of course many solutions but mine is cheap & elegant enough to my eye
Also not my idea, I should add, I read it on one forum or another & went with it Carpet protectors for putting under the castors on sofas...
...pack of 4, small or large for a quid or so from Wilkinsons, in the UK, but I imagine it's a fairly universal product. I was hoping for black but ended up with dark brown, which'll do. The wood effect ones they do unfortuately have grippy plastic glued to the bottom, which for our purposes is the top, and are too expensive.
A mini will BluTack to them easily or it's simple to drill through so that you can epoxy glue a nut to the bottom of your mini base & then bolt it to the castor cup. (Banshee is bolted, Orcs are BluTacked (and look, units don't have to be on terrained movement trays, get your armies out, don't leave them at home for want of a stand
)).Wooden building blocks sprayed black, trophy shop plinths, whatever you can think of!
Of course IMP was my 1st proper comp so I am quite new to this lark
Some minis that were on plinths had all of the name tag business & were very much a part of the overall effect of the project (A Dark Elves on Cold Ones cav unit stands out in my mind. Very clean & sharp). My solution, I feel, fits in between that and no plinth at all. Don't worry about fancy etched names & painting it smooth & so on, just provide a neat holding handle! Certainly don't you dare think that your work isn't good enough to deserve a plinth!Cheers, B.
PS They're good for when non-painter friends come around & want to look too, as well as their toddler children who have trouble pinching a small gaming base but can hold a big cup easily
They don't protect from sneezes unfortuately :lol:EDIT http://sheffieldirregulars.co.uk/2010/08/03/imp-the-results-2/#more-1085 plenty of shots of the table lower down the page :good:
Last edited:
