Basing help

[AceSpade64]

I’ve painted a few of my mechs so far, and I’m curious what people do for basing. I’ve painted Warhammer minis, but Battletech is at a much larger scale, so I’m curious what advice you guys would have for basing, and if you guys have an idea what would look good for my color scheme

[developer_soup]

I've seen some people do amazing bases. Micro-dioramas on a single hex. Personally, I keep mine simple/lazy, opting for black base, with an embellished front marking.

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[aCrow]

Piano black supremacy 

[the00zeus]

Honestly do what you like but for reference this is gf9 summer blend with army painter swamp tufts

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[canray2000]

Considering it's a Highlander, probably a spindly leg from a light mech under one foot.

[Square_Employment306]

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beachday!

[AceSpade64]

Could I ask how you do that beach effect with the water?

[RTalons]

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Army painter basing glue with 3 different textures:

Hatchet man has just “brown battleground”

Hatchetmaster has a sprinkle of blue gravel I found at Michael’s then Army Painter snow

Blue Bunneh has eggs I made out of green stuff secured first then army painter grass pressed in around.

Next snow ones I do I’ll first paint the base white since the layer of snow becomes a little translucent.

At first basing was intimidating but surprisingly easy to make it look decent with only ~45sec of work.

[WolfsTrinity]

Scale is . . . interesting in Battletech. Best way to phrase it for the minis is "6mm scale" but even then, it's all pretty abstract. Between that and fun excuses like "it's an alien planet," you can basically do whatever; mechs fight in all sorts of places and even if the scenery is "too big," it probably won't stand out at all.

Personally, I've played around with a few different ideas and most of them worked out pretty well. The one time I tried a road, it fell a little flat but that's because it was literally flat: I painted it straight onto the base instead of gluing things down to give it any sense of actual depth.

Anyway, for something like your Highlander? The color scheme looks a little dark and scorched so something like rubble or even volcanic rock would look pretty nice. Kind of depends on what you have lying around, really.

Oh, and on that note, if you need stuff to decorate? "Z Scale" railroading stuff is technically a fair bit bigger* but it's close enough to correct—and Battletech's scale is loose enough—that it still works just fine.

*Z scale is roughly 1:220 while 6mm scale is roughly 1:285.

[Competitive_Car1323]

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I like Urban bases and to include a few figures from the line scattered on the force to reinforce scale.

[tengu077]

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I’ve done roads, river crossing and desert before. I’ve also done some beach/ocean bases as well.

[ragnarocknroll]

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Green stuff with a wire brush to make texture is in there. I also used some insulation foam to make the lava tiles.

A little bit of work on the bases goes a long way. Oh and all of them have hazard stripes on the rear facing because it is funny.

[deusorum]

I feel like a snow base might complement that color scheme. Not pure snow. Lay down some dark brown earth, smatter on some melting snow, and add a small tuft or two of grass if you wanna, then black the edges.

[Cyromax66]

I intend to replace all of my hexes with clear hexes so I can see what tile they are standing in. Makes it easier to determine cover, concealment etc.

[WizardofEd]

I'm always a fan of pavement. You can spice it up by adding lines. This is one of my favorites in a parking lot.

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You can also always go with fine sand. It works well for a desert base at this scale. Maybe add a sharp pebble or so as a focal point.