For me, basing has always been the last thing I do on my models when I paint them.  This tends to make basing one of my least favorite things to do as its the last hurdle needed to call a project done.  My current basing style looks fair, but I also feel that it takes a long time to get that look.  I want to find a faster way to get things based without sacrificing on the quality.  Enter Geek Gaming Scenics!

The Current Standard

Pictured above are some Byzantine soldiers from V&V miniatures.  Forgive the lack of picture quality!  My current style of basing has evolved from my painting style.  Back in the day I was just painting bases dark green and then glueing on green flock.  I graduated to using sand and static grass around the mid 90’s.  When I made the move to sand/rocks I wasn’t using a paint handle, so I tended to knock off the material while holding models by their bases.  To remedy this, I switched to applying the sand/rock mixture prior to priming so the primer could act as an additional glue to keep the material in place.  This meant I was required to paint the basing material a brown color then wash and drybrush to bring out the texture.  The result is decent.  With a collection of static grass tufts and my later additions of flower and plant tufts I think they are decent.  The drawback is the amount of time I spend on getting the bases finished and the homogonous look of the ‘soil’, A chance video on YouTube mentioning Geek Gaming Scenics resulted in me giving them a try, and I must admit that I am impressed.

The New Hotness

I ordered two bags of basing material and their spray to ‘lock’ the material in place.  Using two green Renedra bases, I simply applied my glue and gave them a dip into the back.  To finish up I painted around the base rims with black and on the left example painted the spot of base that didn’t get any material.  Not too shabby for a one and done solution.  I used the spray to lock the material down and it certainly locks it in place.  My one complaint is the spray leaves a bit of shinny finish on the base which I dislike.  I am also concerned that if I was spraying it with a model attached would it make the models like shinny?  I much prefer flat over gloss paints, so the spray bottle isn’t going to work for me.  Next up I tried do a little bit of prep work on the bases prior to basing.

The second part of the experiment I tried painting the bases first black and then on the second using my usual brown soil color.  Both turned out great and there was not much noticeable difference between them.  In person I think the bottom row with the brown base turned out the best and it will probably be the way forward.  At this point I was ready to declare the experiment a success, but Jeff deemed that it was not possible to make a decision on the project unless he saw it with a painted model.  I’m not the person who is lacking for models to paint so why not try it out.

Early Crusades Normans

I’ve amassed a collection of Victrix models and I’ve been dying to use shield transfers from LBMS so this project gave me the chance.  One of the great things about the Dark Ages is everyone is wearing chainmail, so it makes for quick painting.  For the spray I switched to using a pipette to prevent giving these guys shinny legs.  That worked but I still wish I could eliminate the shine.  More experimentation there is required.

Ancient Greeks

Not being content with just two painted examples for Jeff, I went ahead and painted up three classic Greek Hoplites also from Victrix.  In reality I was loving the LBMS transfers, and nothing is more classic than seeing a wall of hoplites with elaborate shield designs.  I was once again very impressed with the ease of getting these models based.  My one complaint would be that some of the rocks are a bit too large, but that is an easy fix.  I wish there was a way to not get the gloss on the fixing glue but it’s not a deal breaker.  I next compared these bases to a couple of gaming mats I already own.

Both matched up well. The only thing remaining was to see how they compared to models I had already based.

With similar grass tufts there was no real difference between the models.  So what is the bottom line?  I’m sold!  The ease of this product too good to pass up and the end product looks just as good or better than what I was putting out before.  The added bonus of it matching up well with my old style makes it easy transition.  A rare double win!