14 Nov 2015

Re-Basing 25mm to 32mm using Base Adapters - Tutorial

Hello Readers, a few of you may of had the same conundrum as me when GW changed it's SM bases from 25mm to 32mm, well, I think the 32mm bases look better but the question is, can I be bothered to change the back catalogue of my army, a whopping 145 marines to the new size? That will take ages and I hate basing... until I saw the Tabletop Adapters kickstarter and thought, why not give it a go, and if it's easy, at least do the Characters - they deserve bigger bases!
Step 1 - file the surface smooth and get rid of any basing materials that will foul the new adapter. Whilst you are filing, give the whole adapter a quick once over to ever-so slightly roughen the surface for better PVA glue adhesion and paint adhesion.
Step 2 - glue the adapters to the rim of the base, I used poly cement, pushing firmly, one at a time was easiest. I placed the gaps at the sides of the model so the front facing will have a nice smooth finish.
Step 3 - fill the small gap either side with liquid greenstuff, when dry, file smooth. Repeat if necessary until the join is seamless. Don't worry about the top seam, it will be covered by the basing material.
Step 4 - apply PVA (Elmers) glue to the top rim, or whatever medium you use to base. I use modelling sand.
Step 5 - apply the basing material, this hides the unsightly rim and seams and just needs to be painted the same as the rest of the base. Leave this to dry, preferably overnight - start the next batch whilst you wait...
Step 6 - Paint and Varnish the base as normal, excellent results in 5mins prep time and 5min painting time, not forgetting the overnight drying time for PVA, but the production line/batch process can be easily done. I may consider doing the remaining 144... maybe.

A great product, I hope you have found this tutorial useful and somewhat answered those questions you may have had about the basing issues of 25mm to 32mm or not. Check out Tabletop Adapters, their kickstarter deals end 1 Dec, so get in whilst they are cheaper.

5 comments:

  1. I have absolutely no intention of re-basing any SM/CSM.

    Although your modifications do look good. But 25mm bases have been fine since 1985ish.

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  2. Ha ha, I was in your camp but the new marines will have 32mm bases and my OCD might not cope with squads on different sizes ;)

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  3. Currently I'm debating the same problem for my Space Wolves and Salamanders as they all have 25mm bases. After getting Betrayal at Calth, they all come with 32mm bases and I really see the advantages, just so much rebasing to do!!

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  4. Thanks for directing me here! Are these readily available or still only available as oart of a kickstarter?

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  5. Still available at link at ttadapters.com No probs, hope you get enough!

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For the Emperor! (and other Xenos welcome...)