Painting & Modeling

18th & 19th Century Finnish Buildings – Part V: Making yard bases

These bigger bases are used to line out a build-up area on the gaming table, so they may, depending on the scale, represent more buildings than there are models on that base.

Yard-bases with removable buildings
Yard-bases with removable buildings

Here we have four yard-bases. Each base has a slot for a house, large utility building and a small utility building. This makes the buildings interchangeable between bases.

My base making method is to take a card, line out the building places and roads, then glue fine sand to the roads and rougher sand to the grass areas. Leave building areas without sand. Finalize it with a wash of thinned glue. This makes the base strong enough to have it bend back into shape if it warps for some reason.

Custom base for the Lapua table
Custom base for the Lapua table

Above and below are two examples of irregular shaped areas, made to fit an exact spot on a specific game table.

Another custom base
Another custom base

 

Aerial view of four yard-bases with Games Workshop Epic figures (1:300 scale)
Aerial view of four yard-bases with Games Workshop Epic figures (1:300 scale)

The from above picture shows what details can be added to the bases; gardens, bushes, rocks, fences, buildings under construction, etc. I recommend that these extra touches should be kept low as it helps with storage and prevents damage.

An action shot from the Battle of Lapua game
An action shot from the Battle of Lapua game

Buildings and bases in action with 15mm Napoleonics.





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