Clear skimmer bases

What are your guys thoughts on whether or not to base the clear skimmer bases?

I base them for jetbikes, but not for Raiders, Ravagers, or Venoms.

I prefer all of them to be baseless. It gives them a better feel for the board they're on. (Plus they're usually pretty high in the sky)

I like to base mine, to me it binds the army together making it look the same.

Aeterna wrote:

I like to base mine, to me it binds the army together making it look the same.

I'd base them if our skimmers had flyer bases. (It feels more realistic to me if our transports flew that high. I could care less if they became flyers as long as they got the bases)

I base all my flying stands, masking tape the clear rod before priming, I can't stand flying bases that have a black primed rod, look out of place. Leaving the flying stands clear looks unfinished next to your regular based army.

I tend to paint my fliers with the intention of having them on perfectly clear bases, but most of the time I get paint on the clear base and then quit.

I feel like I'm the crazy one here... I painted my flyers prior to mounting them to the bases - that way I don't need masking tape nor do I run the risk of getting paint on anything I don't want to.

Thor665 wrote:

I feel like I'm the crazy one here... I painted my flyers prior to mounting them to the bases - that way I don't need masking tape nor do I run the risk of getting paint on anything I don't want to.

Same here. Who primes models on their flying base?

I base them. With real rocks no less to get them some weight. Models dont topple on sloped surface.

As for priming the bases - dont bother with tape. Just take a beverage straw and put it on the stem. If you have the minis glued on the stem, just cut the straw lenghtwise on one side only and wrap it around. ;-)

Or prime the base and then insert the stand.

yea. that works if you dont play with the models prior to painting. Most my stems are wobbly in the bases so I glue them outright. :-D

Oh no, I prime them separately, but I'm on about the Raiders. I stick all of the chains to the base so I put it on the base when painting it.

The problem is that after about forty minutes I get an incredibly twitchy hand and I'm quite a messy painter, so getting paint on the clear base is more of an inevitability to me.

My advice would be to get a 'painting base' and use that during all painting efforts, then transfer to the final base.

I prime the raiders without the flying base, but I think a based flying base can look really good and someday I would like to have all my flying bases based.

This is turning into a separate discussion, but don't have paints anywhere near your clear bases! If you need them to play before your models are finished, use blu-tack.

Basing clear bases: for vehicles I'd say yes do it. It's a shame to have such a dramatic model and no base to finish it off, especially when there's such a big space that gives you the chance to tie the base and model together somehow.

For reavers I'd say no for two reasons: the clear disc bit is so small it kinda looks silly, and it looks a million times better to mount the flying part onto a pill-shaped bike base. See Siticus' project log for awesome details.

This is good discussion! I appreciate the feedback from all of you.

Plot twist: How many of you actually glue the base into place?

Sky Serpent wrote:

Plot twist: How many of you actually glue the base into place?

I only glue flying bases on some of my metal tau drones, with a dry clear glue that could be taken off easily if necessary. Having the flying bases detachable makes easy for transport and avoid snapping the clear stem. If the ball tip flying base is loose, I use tack glue to fill the space to make it tight.

I've magnetized all my skimmer bases. File off half of the ball top, glue on a 2mm disk magnet. Insert another into the model's socket, and presto.
Polarity is the same on all, so I don't have to keep track of which base belongs to which model.

I glue my stems into my clear bases with the intent to add basing to them. Just adds another level of detail to your models. And if you use easy house tables (sheets and whatever for cover) then they are the best looking things on the table!! It also helps hides the actual stem since there is something else to focus on. Plus I hate trying to find clear stems when you have about 10+ clear bases to use each time lol.

I paint my bases first, then glue in the clear stand. Just makes them fit into the army nicer, you know?

Same with flying bases.

I never understood the whole spray the stem as well, just looks terrible.