Need Help Mounting Plastic Mini's on Bases.

[Mr. Beef]

This is my first post on the Miniatures, Art, and Cartography board, so please be gentle.

A long time ago I used to take Mage Knight mini's off their bases, strip the factory paint, and repaint them, and it was good practice. I was a below-average painter when I accidentally sliced my left thumb open with an X-acto blade when I was trying to get a Mage Knight mini off its base. Four stiches and about two months away from painting; I decided to move to metal mini's. I did some that I was proud of, and not having to mount them on bases was good. The only one I still have from that time is a Giant Reaper Mini's Scorpion that I spent 4 days glueing, priming, painting and sealing. I'm glad I did it because it's probably the best work I've done.

Someone posted on another part of the EN World board about the upcoming pre-painted plastic mini's being put out from Reaper Mini's. I made an off hand comment about buying and repainting some Mage Knight (MK) Mini's for my upcoming game and someone said something about the MK Painter's Set. I researched it and I'm going to buy some boosters off of E-Bay and this is where my question comes in.

I don't want to use the clix bases that come with the mini's, and instead want to mount them on square or round, I'm not sure which, and would like to know where I can find some bases and which would be better to use. I would also like to know what kind of glue to use to mount them to the bases. I used epoxy on the metal scorpion, but that took forever to set and I hate grinding my plans to a halt to wait for something to dry. There's something my step dad uses called E-6000 to glue parts to equipment he uses, but that's mostly metal to metal and I have no idea what to use that holds for a long time and can take lots of abuse.

I just had a brainstorm; round bases for the heroes and square bases for the villans. Maybe an inch in diameter for the round ones or 1" x 1" for the square ones so they fit in the map squares.

EDIT: Are Acrylic Paints like you get from hobby store, like Michaels or Hobby Lobby, good for mini's painting or should I get some from Games Workshop or Reaper? I used some from a hobby store and had mixed results. Some were really bright and others were a dark tone like I wanted.

What about primer? I used both spray primer and paint on primer and found little difference in them other than the drying time. Spray had a slight edge, but having to use it outside was kind of hard when it was windy, and the one I was using smelled kind of funny once it dried.

Finally, sealers. I used a matte sealer and liked it and I think my sister took it for the painting's she's doing in school. Could glossy be better or should I just stick with matte?

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Mr. Beef

 

[DethStryke]

Rather than using an Xacto and getting stitch runs every fourth mini, I suggest using this to clip them from their click bases:

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=80334

Games workshop makes the ever-popular slotta bases (both round and square) and you can get them in bulk from their website or in their stores.

There is nothing I have found that takes only seconds to set/cure/dry AND can hold up to heavy use/abuse. That being said, I use a combination of Green Stuff (modeling 2-part epoxy putty - named for the color the two part ribbon creates) and Zap-A-Gap if I really don't want something to move. Either by themselves work very well, too. Combined they are rock-solid.

Green stuff can also be purchased from Games Workshop stores. Zap-A-Gap is a bit harder to find. I buy it from Micro Mark (same place the above clippers are from):

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Department&ID=2

I have only used the medium cure. The quick cure may be what you're looking for, but I can't say it works really well as I have not tested it.

 

[Mr. Beef]

Rather than using an Xacto and getting stitch runs every fourth mini, I suggest using this to clip them from their click bases:

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=80334

I'll look at this as soon as I get done. Thanks for the tip.

Games workshop makes the ever-popular slotta bases (both round and square) and you can get them in bulk from their website or in their stores.

I'm not planning on using slot bases because the Mage Knight mini's I'm getting are generally flat plastic on the base, rather than the metal bar to hold them on the base. Unless you are talking about ones that have small mounting holes rather than a slot.

There is nothing I have found that takes only seconds to set/cure/dry AND can hold up to heavy use/abuse. That being said, I use a combination of Green Stuff (modeling 2-part epoxy putty - named for the color the two part ribbon creates) and Zap-A-Gap if I really don't want something to move. Either by themselves work very well, too. Combined they are rock-solid.

I'm looking for something that sets in maybe 30 minutes to an hour (90-minutes tops) rather than 3 or more hours.

I've heard of Zap-A-Gap before, but I've heard it can be hard to find in my part of the country.

Green stuff can also be purchased from Games Workshop stores. Zap-A-Gap is a bit harder to find. I buy it from Micro Mark (same place the above clippers are from):

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Department&ID=2

I have only used the medium cure. The quick cure may be what you're looking for, but I can't say it works really well as I have not tested it.

As long as it's a solid hold, and I can apply it easily I think I can handle it. I'm not that worried about super hold, but something that's stronger and thicker than Krazy Glue.

Thanks for the tips.

Anyone else want to offer up ideas? I'm ready and willing to listen.

Thank you.

Mr. Beef

 

[nyrfherdr]

Hey.

Gluing a plastic (mageknight) style mini to a base requires something like Zap-a-Gap. It is like superglue/crazyglue, but it superior for hobby purposes. Hobbytown or similar stores should carry it.

You can pin the mini if you want a stronger bond to the base.

Games Workshop sells bases in bulk (with or without slots) round and square (their Lord of the Rings and Warhammer 40K use round bases. Warhammer uses square bases).

Their are other companies that sell both plain and sculpted bases depending on your interest and budget.

I hope this helps.

 

[rowport]

Mr. Beef-

The key to avoiding cutting your fingers (!) is using a set of shear clippers to cleanly 'pop' off the MK figs at the original glue points. Any Games Workshop store should sell them; I think they cost around $10 US or so.

When I rebase, I usually use superglue on the original glue points with a spray accelerator to set the glue instantly. A couple of the bigger MK figs (like the ogres) took a base pin to hold in place better, but most of them work fine with new superglue.

Welcome to the boards!

 

[Mr. Beef]

Hey.

Hey nyrfherdr.

Gluing a plastic (mageknight) style mini to a base requires something like Zap-a-Gap. It is like superglue/crazyglue, but it superior for hobby purposes. Hobbytown or similar stores should carry it.

I'll look into Zap-A-Gap at hobby stores around here. I'd rather pay the 8.25% sales tax on it rather than having to pay $4.95 minimum on shipping from somewhere like Games Workshop.

You can pin the mini if you want a stronger bond to the base.

I've heard about pinning for things like posing arms and legs and mounting weapons and staff's and things like that, but never thought about doing it for holding mini's on bases. I've never done any pinning on any of the ones that I have painted because I just have that kind of skill yet. I'll try it one day on some mini's I don't care about, but for right now I'm just more into the whole mounting and painting.

Games Workshop sells bases in bulk (with or without slots) round and square (their Lord of the Rings and Warhammer 40K use round bases. Warhammer uses square bases).

Their are other companies that sell both plain and sculpted bases depending on your interest and budget.

I went to the Games Workshop site last night and they have some pretty reasonable prices on bases. I saw the slotted ones on the site, and when I clicked on the description I saw they had unslotted ones.

I don't need anything fancy that other companies offer, just something to put mini's on so when I start a game I can have something for the players to see and make the game more immersive.

I hope this helps.

It has helped lots.

Thank you.

Mr. Beef

 

[Mr. Beef]

Mr. Beef-

Hi rowport.

The key to avoiding cutting your fingers (!) is using a set of shear clippers to cleanly 'pop' off the MK figs at the original glue points. Any Games Workshop store should sell them; I think they cost around $10 US or so.

I saw those on the Games Workshop site last night and thought, "Where were those when I needed them." Using an X-Acto at the time was the way that I found on the MK Realms and it worked well the first few times that I did it, and it was shortly after that when WizKids changed the way the bases moved, and I had to stop popping them off because they had those black disks they mounted them on the bases.

When I rebase, I usually use superglue on the original glue points with a spray accelerator to set the glue instantly. A couple of the bigger MK figs (like the ogres) took a base pin to hold in place better, but most of them work fine with new superglue.

Never heard of a super glue drying accelerator before, I'll have to see about that. I just find that superglue is not quite the consistency I like. It just comes off as a bit too watery. I like more of a gel like consistency when I'm glueing mini's.

Welcome to the boards!

Thank you rowport. I've been on and off since Mid-December, and this is the first time I've been to this part of the boards.

Thanks again,

Mr. Beef

 

[nyrfherdr]

One of the advantages of Zap-a-Gap is available in different consistencies.
Hopefully when you go to the hobby store, they have someone who builds models that can advise you on which to buy.
They also sell in different size bottles, so you could go small to try it out.

H

 

[DethStryke]

The link I put up at the top for clipping shears are a bit more expensive than the ones you can get at Games Workshop, but they are far superior in quality. Not to mention Micro-Mark is a great company to work with for miniature tools and has always done right by me in over five years of orders. Even when someone stole a delivery from my porch, they had a full replacement at no cost sent immediately while it was being investigated.

The second link was to the adhesive category for the same company, which has all the versions and sizes of Zap-A-Gap, as well as this for accelerator:

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=80885

However, the Quick-Cure Zap-A-Gap says it cures in 1-5 seconds... so you may want to just use that then mess with glue AND accelerator.

 

[Mr. Beef]

One of the advantages of Zap-a-Gap is available in different consistencies.
Hopefully when you go to the hobby store, they have someone who builds models that can advise you on which to buy.
They also sell in different size bottles, so you could go small to try it out.

H

I'll have to see if the hobby stores I have around me have Zap-A-Gap for sale and have a modeler on staff. Most of the ones they have here in Dallas are chains and there are few if any independant hobby stores around here. The chains generally hire personnel that specialize in things like sewing, scrapbooking or anything other than plastic modeling.

Looks like I've got a lot of researching to do.

Thanks for all the help nyrfherdr.

Mr. Beef