Bases for terrain

I'm going to start making some terrain and wanted to know what people use to base theirs? I could get mounting board from a local hobby shop but wonder if that might warp when it's painted or has any sort of textured material on it? If so, what else would you suggest?

I use light weight plain plasticard for small terrain features such as trees and rubble. I like to use heavy weight plasticard that has a textured finish for my building and ruins bases. However I prefer to model these bases straight onto the table. I leave the large building/ruins sections loose so that they can be moved as needed while gaming. I've not found a suitably thin yet rigid material that can hold the weight of large terrain models without messing with the esthetic. I don't like my large and important terrain features to look like they are sitting on the table. You can get plasticard at just about any store that stocks model train supplies.

Cheers. I was going to start with smaller stuff like some craters (with Raider and Venom wreckage). Have also bought some of these:



So I thought I'd make some rocky area terrain sprinkled with some of the crystals. Will look into some thick plasticard and see how it goes.

Post a photo or two and good luck.

I tried plasticard, but I use a lot of non-plastic materials in my terrain and they wouldn't stick and hold.

So I use masonite, very cheap and available in large sheets from any hardware store. And regular construction glue will hold anything in place on it nicely. You just have to watch make the base piece too large, as the masonite can warp and is a bugger to get flat again without breaking some of the glue seals. There's some pics in the Distractions section, if you are interested.

On another note, Battle in a Box covers the base of their area terrain pieces, hills, etc., with felt. I find that a very nice touch that really helps keep pieces in place.

Good luck, and yes, post some pics.