Miniature Wargaming 101 - Mounting!

Mounting

Once your figures are painted, or mostly painted, you will often need to mount them on bases. For infantry figures this is a fairly easy process. The set of rules you use will give the dimensions for the bases, and all you need to do is either cut bases out of thin sheets of balsa wood, or buy pre-cut metal bases. Some gaming rules use individual figures for combat, and so the number of figures attached to each base may be important. Other gaming rules use bases for calculating combat results, and in those cases, the number of figures attached to each base doesn't usually matter. For naval models, painting the base dark blue with white dappling patterns for the wake adds a realistic effect. Below are shown an assortment of miniatures of various scales and periods. This gives some idea as to appearance and final mounting technique, which can vary greatly.

Above is a closeup photo of the 1/3000 scale French battleship Carnot. Painted in her late Victorian era black and ochre livery. The model has been mounted on a thin styrene plastic base, with water texture added using Vallejo Pastic Putty. The plastic putty surface (which is fast drying) was then painted dark sea blue with some various white highlights, and then generously finished with a gloss sealer. As with most gaming miniatures, this model was received as a raw, unpainted pewter casting. For those not fond of the idea of actually painting, there are countless painting services available worldwide.

Above are shown two "levels" of paint jobs for 15mm Napoleonic infantry. The top level would be considered a good, average "wargame grade" paint job for these Austrian line infantry. The bottom photo shows how a good professional painter would paint some French guard infantry. Note the detailed shading and facial highlights.

This article is courtesy of;

http://www.wtj.com/games/articles/gaming_101/index.htm

Copyright © 2009 by The War Times Journal at www.wtj.com. All rights reserved.
All games shown here may be freely downloaded for personal use only. Not for resale or any other commercial venture not authorized by The War Times Journal.