Tacky Tacky glue glue - Temporary Miniature basing

ManicMan

ManicMan

Lord
Okay, I don't like to glue my minis onto a base unless it's kinda the LAST stage. This stops any run off (if you can call it that) of whatever you put on your base onto your figure. Sometimes you kinda do want a bit to transfer to your figure to show mud, or dust or something, but other times you don't want this.

Problem with not gluing the figure to the base is it can be tricky to keep the figure on the base when painting.
If it's a slotta base figure, its not too hard to use some blu-tack (erm.. checking Miniatures painting guide.. I mean "blob of adhesive putty (the stuff you use for sticking up posters)).

This has two problems though.. 1) it's not really sticky enough for holding non-slotta (erm.. this says Slotta is trademarked.. and so is the design? ... ) even with a fresh bit.. when it starts to get a bit used, it gets less and less sticky in a way, and even some slotta figures can be a bit tricky to get a decent hold. 2) despite it not being that sticky, or atleast not strong enough to hold the metal on plastic, it can create a problem where little bits get stuck to the figure.

Another option is hot glue. in cheap stuff you can buy, Hot glue is used as a replacement for a stronger blu-tack but it also has pros and cons.. one major con being the set up time.. Blu-tack you take a bit and stick.. hot glue you need to heat up and it's not a great sticking material for metals on plastics, even temporary.

solid bases are pretty easy to deal with and kinda have to just glue into a base, but then you have bases with either no tab or base, or a peg. getting these to hold on a temp base is tricky.

for some tab figures, a vice can kinda do the job to hold it (even if a mini vice like device) but again, doesn't do a thing for non-tabbed figures or peg figures.

Any ideas or tips on how you temporary base a figure, or I guess most people just glue the figure onto the base in the figure place..
 
I don't know if it'll be of any use to you, but I used to superglue 15mm figures to wooden lolly sticks for painting. Once painted and varnished they generally popped right off when you flexed the stick. When I had a bunch painted, I'd base them up with texture & tufts etc. as a subsequent step.
 
I only ever very very rarely base my miniatures before I paint them. For both miniatures with tabs and those I am pinning I mostly tend to pop them in some clamps I made. I did try various jewellers clamps, but they are all far too cumbersome. So quick snap of my clamps:

erics-painting-clamps.jpg

They are not perfectly balanced - there is a decent magnet in the base and the black felt is actually a reasonably weighty bit of 1.5mm steel. But I use these for both pinned and tabbed minis, probably made 10-12 of them. For some pinned models I have some smaller dowels I just drill a hole in and poke the pin in (since I normally have the pins oversized until I'm ready to base).

I have a few stands from http://rathcore.com which are similar in concept and I do use those from time to time.

For smaller models I tend to fix them to pieces of wood - for instance my snotlings https://forum.oldhammer.org/threads/the-age-of-strife.25733/post-128080 most are just poked in holes that are just undersized. You can also see some are superglued to nails in the wood where the snot had had it's stub cut off, or these Nurglings for instance: https://forum.oldhammer.org/threads/the-age-of-strife.25733/post-114722.

For shields and tiny things like that I tend to superglue them to some thin dowels - for instance: https://forum.oldhammer.org/threads/the-age-of-strife.25733/post-127243

If it's something small and on a small pin I do sometimes use medical clamps to hold them since those can be locked in place.
 
^_^ sometimes its good to talk about even simple things because there are soo many ways of doing things and new ideas (and old). Hell, look at figure painting when it comes to the undercoat (aka Priming).. some just use a plain paint, some use a primer, some spray, some airbrush spray, some paint, some prefer a black colour, some prefer a light, some prefer to change the colour depending on what is going to go ontop, some prefer badly spraying (zenithal priming which for some reason is sometimes referred to as highlighting even though it's not).

Dowling idea looks good.. basically a vice/clamp. Though does need a bit more space which is something I greatly lack. I kinda have to get rid of alot of stuff but... it's not something i'm great at.
 
I tried lots of things and by far this was the solution I was happiest with as I like to be able to access all round the minis. Slot is just cut with a tenon saw which is generally about wide enough for most slotta tabs. Cut deep enough that the wood can move and whack a bolt in somewhere. The Rathcore stands are quite nice if you don't fancy DIY, but are wider so you don't get the access to the underside of the model (granted no one is going to ever see that, but, err)
 
I have a drawer of slotta bases I use only to prime and paint, then the models get transferred to fresh bases once painted. A small dab of superglue to hold them in the temporary base is easily snapped off when done.
 
I have gone with what I had lying about, a bit of timber and a drill, used 4 different drill bits as the pegs are all different sizes and i have simply pushed them in. Old long hair with the club looks dangerously weak at the ankle so I had better pack them well for transit to work where I will paint them. Worked fine for the undercoat

20250601_190630.jpg
 
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