A test in miniature

I've said on some previous posts that I am slowly (very slowly) getting back into miniatures gaming.  I have my eye on playing (and painting some miniatures for ) Song of Blades and Heroes, a neat and short skirmish style game.  It has simple but enjoyable rules, plays quickly, and doesn't require a million miniatures.


To this end I was lucky enough to get some Splintered Light miniatures for Christmas.  I've been reading up on the process of painting on different forums online - I used to do this quite a bit, but wanted to also get the bases looking good - and so I read a few things about what to do to prepare the bases, when to undercoat, etc.


I've glued one of the two sets I got to bases - the Splintered Light minis are around 15-18mm tall - all anthropomorphic warriors because... well, they looked fun.  I've decided to use 30mm round bases - to give them some presence on the battlefield.  It should also allow me to give the bases some personality - which will either be fun, or a headache - the jury is still out on which.

I can't just have the miniatures glued onto these bases though - they'd all look like they were standing on little mounds.  So I'm filling in the space around the moulded metal with 'stuff'.  This is the stage I'm up to at the moment.  

I'm trying two different materials - a plaster filler - the stuff used to fix small holes in walls, and I'm also trying some air-dry clay.  


The filler is much harder to manipulate, it sticks to everything I don't want, and assiduously avoids sticking to the base - which I do want. Nonetheless, when it dries I think it will take a small chisel to remove it - which is fine as I don't expect to be taking a chisel to my minis any time soon.


The air-dry clay on the other hand is much easier to manipulate; however, I'm worried it won't stick to the base - and that it may just break away once it's dry.


To find the better of these two options (and the best option is probably one I haven't selected), I've done a couple of minis with each.  Tomorrow or so I'll have a look at how they've dried and what they look like - I'm hoping the clay is stuck fast, because it's easier to use it'll make this part of the process go much more smoothly.  We shall see though - I may end up having to spend too much time with white stuff all over my hands, trying to get the filler to stay where I want.  


Fingers crossed it all works out as planned - the morrow will tell!

Clay on the left, filler on the right...

Cheers,


Giles.