Sub-assemblies and basing?

Two question post.
1. After some thought, ive come to the conclusion that if i build my kabalites and then try to paint in my chosen color scheme, im going to claw my eyes out with a shock prow. That being said, I'm unsure whether i should base kabalites first, glue legs to base, then prime and paint, and finally glue sub-assemblies? Or is there a better method i should be using?



2. I have almost zero experience in "advanced basing" , but i would love to use this as an opportunity to learn and try something crazy. Given the color scheme, what would you suggest for the base?

Comments and criticisms and questions of sanity are welcome, have at it!

1. I know sub assemblies work for a lot of people, so it's is worth giving it a try. Get yourself some cork or other method to mount all your pieces as you don't want to be handling them during painting (the paint wil run off, and your hands are naturally oily, which will affect paint adhesion & longevity). Just be careful when you glue everything back together, you don't want glue stains ruining your nice paint job

2. I always pre-base and paint before I start on my minis. Painting the bases Ali's always messy so imperfect to get it out the way first to avoid any overspill onto my completed paint job (it does mean you have to be careful when painting the rest of the mini though). What kind of advanced basing were you thinking of? I just use sand for mine, with a few different highlights and then a wash to tone it down and blend all the tones together. I then add grass tufts (by army painter) and leaves (eBay I think) to add that extra Va va voom. Have a look and see what you think (http://www.thedarkcity.net/t6097p625-harlequin-carnival-la-danse-macabre) The trick is just to play around with lots of different materials until you find something that you like. For your colour scheme I think a dark brown base would work well, as it would not interfere or distract from the striking colour scheme of your force.

Its been a week and a half so you've probably gotten started but i thought i'd throw in my 2 cents.

1) I glue torsos together and attach legs and heads, then glue that to the base. Other extremities and add-ons (arms, weapons, wings) are left assembled but unattached. Next everything is primed. I then paint the main part of the model (holding the base while painting for reasons spellcheck2001 stated). Then the extremities and add-ons (holding the same tip of the bit while painting the bulk of it, then holding the painted part with my sleeve while paint the tip i was holding before; try to pick a 'tip' where you can paint that section on its own e.g. the muzzle of a gun or the armored bit of the scourge wings rather than part of the barrel of a portion of the wings). Lastly i do my bases. I don't worry about getting a little bit of the base paint on the boots of the model as i think of it as dirt picked up while running through the battlefield.

2) As spellcheck2001 said, play around with it. I made 4 different bases before i settled on one i liked. I also think a dark brown base would look good for your paint scheme. Something to complement the red while letting the white and blue stand out.

I don't have any pictures up but i have brown/grey dirt/rocky bases. With some different washes and highlight colours it might work for you. What i did was use Stirland Mud to get some texture (i use a lot so the whole surface of the base is textured sometimes even creating small mounds) then wash it with Nuln and Seraphim in random patterns (just to break up the mud colour). I then attach some rocks (broken up pieces of cork, i think from Army Painter). The rock is then painted Mechanicus Standard Grey and washed with Nuln. I then highlight the dirt and rocks with a lighter grey, hitting the rocks more than the dirt.

Thanks for the input! I actually haven't started. My roommates brought home a nasty cold from St. Petersburg. My body decided to take better dead than red quite literally so i haven't gotten anything done since posting.

I think i've settled on a sand and dirt look for my wyches' bases, and ill fleck some red and black across them with a tooth brush. Very gladiator-esque.