Tuesday, 22 August 2023

Feedback requested

I finished painting the figures I blogged about at the weekend*. And discovered a failure in the logistics department - I don't have any glue strong enough to keep the figures stuck to bases. The Quartermaster  is now acquainting himself with the handling of a firelock.

* I'm a fast but impressionistic (i.e. untidy) painter.

In the meantime I need to canvass the option of the hive mind. I plan to base my AWI cavalry in pairs, each pair representing roughly a troop. Loose order infantry are based in fours on bases 20mm wide x 30mm deep (representing a frontage of 20 yards). Now I'd like to get your views on what works best for the cav. Like the infantry, the cavalry is meant to be in Loose Order, so they don't need to be boot-to-boot like European heavy cavalry.

On the left base of 30 x 30mm and on the right, a base of 20 x 30 mm.





Views?
 

30 comments:

  1. Depending upon ground and figure (man to figure ratio) scale, either would be OK. I might give the nod to the 30mm frontage. My 15mm AWI cavalry are based in pairs with a 30mm frontage and they look fine to me. Your 20mm frontage may look a little too close for open.

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    1. Thanks for your comment Jon. Because the figures are chunky for their height, they look close on 20mm bases.

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  2. Left. I think the bigger base better reflects open order.

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  3. Chris, I might need my coffee! As I pick the option that isn’t there. I am just wondering whether a 25mm (1 inch) base might be the compromise that gives the best look, I believe that is a popular ACW 15mm base size.

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    1. That would be the sensible thing (25mm) but I don't have any and I am impatient.

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  4. As Jon has said I think you can get away with both, from an aesthetic point of view I would go with the bigger base they look slightly better proportioned 🤔

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  5. Definitely the 30mm x 30mm Chris. The 20mm x 30mm looks more like close order to me. Hope this helps?

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  6. I would go for the bigger of the two bases for purely aesthetic reasons. I find cheap White Glue sticks figures to MDF fine.

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    1. And another vote. I should try those sticks sometime, but I've found some superglue now.

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  7. Bigger base, encourages picking up the base not the figures.
    Neil

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  8. The wider base as it more easily can be used to suggest rougher ground.

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  9. I prefer the look of 30 x 30 - so if the rules are agnostic on that sort of thing, I would go with that option!

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    1. This his becoming a landslide Keith. The rules are agnostic.

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  10. Glue - for my 20mm chaps I use PVA "Tacky Glue" from Hobbycraft, which does the job nicely on MDF bases, though you have to let it cure for 12 hours to be on the safe side. It also has a big potential advantage in that subsequent soaking overnight in water will soften the glue sufficient to allow easy rebasing if necessary (Heaven forfend), though this, of course, is knackered if you are a flock devotee.

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    1. I've had mixed results with straight PVA in the past. Most figures seem to stay put but there's often the odd one that decides to desert. Oddly it's usually the officers.

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    2. Beware of concave bases (as viewed from underneath) - if you end up with an air bubble trapped under the base, it weakens the job. [This is a problem with certain generations of Higgins horses]

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    3. That might be why Tony. Some of the bases are not flat, even after ‘sprue’ has been filed off. I’m too lazy/slapdash to keep filing until the base is perfectly flat, consistently enough. My industrial approach to getting units table ready either has to accept occasional failures or I have to improve the quality of adhesive used in the process. My tidy mind prefers the latter.
      Chris

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  11. As Jonathan said, depends on your groundscale. Aesthetically, I prefer the 30mm frontage. Ahhh, decisions decisions.

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    1. You’re not alone in that Richard. Plus there are practical reasons too.
      Chris

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  12. Replies
    1. We have a landslide in favour of the 30mm.

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  13. I base all my 10mm figures on 40mm frontages as I find the dinky 20mm May increase flexibility in terms of deployment but I knock them about too much. So I use 3 cavalry on a 40mm frontage so right between your two options 🤣. But definitely the larger base. As to glue I use gorilla wood glue just don’t try to rebase if you do!

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    1. You're right. They do get knocked about a bit. 3 on 40mm would look good. I wanted my bases to be companies/company size and 40mm would have made the army much more expensive!

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  14. I have been pleasantly surprised to find that neat PVA glue sticks both metal and plastic figures to card or coin bases. The Works do large bottles of clear PVA..
    Given the cavalry are 'loose order' then 30mm base width looks best to me!

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    1. I think it's near unanimous for 30mm. As I mentioned to Tony above, I've had mixed results with PVA but I managed to find some superglue.

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