This is fresh of the reaper forums, a great wee place :
The Great Basing Materials Compendium
This file will be updated periodically pending new information/and or new products people might find that are useful. This is not a how-to on basing, but a listing of all the items that people find useful for doing basing so that when you are stuck on what to use, all you have to do is access this file and see what will fit your needs. Hope it helps! As always, your mileage may vary.
***ADHESIVES***
-Super Glue/Cyanoacrylate glue: Many people use this glue in conversions along with pinning but it also works well in glueing stuff to bases such as static grass or rock - especially the rock.
-Zap a Gap: Basically a super glue, and it is usually sold along side other Zap products that might prove useful such as Gap CA, and a thinner/adhesive remover.
-Elmer's School Glue/white glue: Leave it to Elmer's to be all purpose. Works well when slightly thinned for an adhesive for static grass and other foliage.
-E6000 or Goop: Both products are made by the same company and take a lot of abuse. I find it works well for gluing a mini to a base. The E6000 was formulated to resist abraision, vibration damage and is weatherproof. Goop comes in several types, each type has certain specific things it is used for. Read the label. E6000 is sold Industrial strength at some craft stores such as Michaels and Jo-Ann's. Just a note, this glue should be used where it is well ventilated.
-Epoxy: Used for adhereing minis to bases. Use in a well ventilated area. Comes in different forms too, such as: two part, five minute, or 24 hour. Also sometimes used along with pinning in mini conversions.
-Aleenes Tacky Glue: Like Elmer's it can be thinned and used to apply static grass and foliage.
-Carpenter's Glue: When thinned with water you can use this for applying flock and it dries waterproof. (Update 9/16)
***FOUNDATIONS***
-Hex bases: These are pewter or plastic bases that are about an inch in diameter and shaped like a hexagon. Very useful for basing. Just glue on the mini and then your other items. Sold by Reaper in packs.
-Round plastic bases: These are sold by several companies and can also be found at most local hobby shops. Some are solid, some have a slit in the center for the mini to slide into - depends on the manufacturer. Games Workshop's Warhammer line apparently has some good plastic bases.
-Metal Washers: For those lopsided or off balance minis.
-Wood disks: These are my favorite. Mainly because they are inexpensive. Roughly $0.99 for a pack of 6 at Michaels. They are fine cut and sanded and perfectly smooth. Glue mini to the wood and base as you would with the hex bases or plastic bases.
-Wood Shapes: A brand name in these is Forester. Not as thick as the wooden disks, but usable.
-Wood Plaques: Great for basing large minis such as Dragons or monsters.
-Tumbled rocks: Find a rock of your choice which really catches your eye and glue the mini to it, it is that simple! Some people use polished tumbled gemstones.
-Magnets: As requested by the Uber Froschmeister, I am putting in a small area in here. He notes that one can make magnetic bases using sheet metal cut up into one inch squares and magnets. Ask him for details!
-Ceramic Tiles: According to FranktheDM ceramic tiles make great bases. You can get them in small one inch sizes at Home supply and flooring stores. He suggests roughing them up a bit to make sure the mini sticks to it well with epoxy.
***SCULPTING MEDIUMS***
-Kneadatite (AKA: Green Stuff, brown stuff, epoxy putty, plumber's epoxy putty): Essentially an epoxy in putty form that can be used to make your own sculpted scenery which is highly durable when dry, and can be sculpted with a wide variety of tools. Most hardware stores should sell the stuff as does Reaper. Also can be used in mini conversions. Brown Kneadatite tends to take edges better, so some people prefer it for sculpting swords and other sharper edged items.
-Milliput: This like Kneadatite is an epoxy putty. Though some say it does not work up as well as the kneadatite. It is sold by Micro-Mark. The general consensus seems to be that it is decent for forming fine edges and also good for basing. It dries harder than Kneadatite and can be sanded, therefore is good for making items that might need to look like they have a sharp edge.
-Creative Paper Clay: The name says it all. A lightweight clay mainly of volcanic ash and cellulose fibers (wood pulp) that is nicely sculptable. Small pieces make good rocks if you let the stuff dry then carve planes into it with an exacto knife. Can be found at Michaels and JoAnn's.
-DAS Pronto: Comes in white or Terracotta. A clay that air dries hard. Use like paperclay for rocks and scenery. Lightweight, and also somewhat easier to sculpt than Paperclay but has some of the same ingredients as Paperclay. Can be found at Michaels or JoAnn's.
-Sculpey/Premo/Fimo/Cernit: A polymer clay, which is essentially a clay composed of plastic. Only drawback to using this is whatever you sculpt has to be baked before being applied to the base of the mini. Otherwise it is hard after baking and can take sanding and painting well. Bake sculpey at 275F for roughly 10 to 20 minutes depending on the thickness of the piece. Most craft stores carry this variety of clay. Disks made of supersculpey make great solid bases for basing minis.
-Wire Mesh: If you are doing a very large diorama and need to make a mountain or huge landscape this is usually a good bet. Can be found at most Craft stores. It essentially looks like screening, and comes in either sheets or rolls. Wire Mesh is meant for the armature.
-Plaster Craft: Cloth strips impregnated with plaster of Paris. Simply wet them and apply to a wire mesh armature to create sturdy solid terrain to be decorated. Can be found at Michaels and JoAnn's.
-Marblex: A craft clay that can be found at Michaels or JoAnn's that can be modeled then allowed to air dry. Once completely dry it can be painted as any other sculpting material. Roughly $9.99 for a container. One container goes a LONG way.
-Mexican Clay: This is made by the same people who make marblex. It is self hardening, and comes in a terra cotta color.
-Stone-ex: By the makers of Marblex, looks almost the same as far as workability and sculptability. I shall try some and keep you posted.
-Makins Clay: Found at Michaels. This stuff air dries and comes in many colors. It is best used for sculpting rocks on bases and large detail. It's ability to do fine detail is limited. If using for anything other than rocks, an armature is recommended.
***SCULPTING TOOLS*** (Update 9/16)
-Michaels now carries Crank style pasta machines so you can roll out thin sheets of polymer clay. This is useful for doing bases and scenery in dioramas. They also sell a decent variety of sculpting tools in the modeling clay area. Check out other stores such as Kitchen supply shops for roll style pasta machines. Michaels, JoAnn's, and other Hobby stores also carry clay extruders that you can force polymer clay and other softened sculpting materials through to make different shapes.
-Sewing Needles: Can be used for incising and fine line detail.
-Straight Pins: Again fine line detail and the heads can be used to make indentations.
-Xacto Knives: Blades are good for sculpting fine edges, hair and other detail. Remember to use water to keep your tools wet is sculpting with milliput or kneadatite.
-Wire: Different gauges of wire can be used to create different effects depending on how you bend the wire and use it to form the clay.
***WATER***
-Fake Water: A couple different varieties can be found on the woodland scenics website.
www.woodlandscenics.com-Spackling Compound: can be modeled to look like water then painted.
-Silicone Caulk. Model as normal. YMMV.
-Wonder Water: A floral product found at most craft stores. Remains gel-like. Good for making those strange oozes that maybe you can have some poor sap's mini get stuck in. Your Mileage May Vary.
-Envirotex: A clear thick polyurethane substance that is sold at most craft stores. Rumored to make decent looking water. Your Mileage May Vary.
***ROCK***
-Kitty Litter: A couple cups of clean kitty litter will last you forever in making small rocks.
-Silica Gel Pellets: These are those tiny clear to whiteish yellow colored pellets in those tiny packages you find in with electronic equipment or in with computer equipment. The silica gell is a dessicant, meaning it removes water from the air, keeping things dry. They make great small round rocks. And since they absorb moisture, they will also help keep your mini dry in storage.
-Marblex/stone-ex: Take a piece and let it harden then smash it with a hammer - voila, rocks!
-Gravel: Never underestimate real gravel in making a scene look all that much more realistic.
-Sand: Great for itty bitty rock, and for texturing the base surface.
-Vermiculite: Makes great rocks.
-Perlite: You can get bags of this stuff that will last you a bazillion years at places like Home Depot. Like Vermiculite it is meant to lighten soil, but when glued onto a mini base and painted, it makes great rocks.
-Ground up or broken Cork board: Apparently this stuff makes good rock when painted.
-Liquitex/Golden acrylic texture mediums: Great for applying to a base and once dry can be painted to look like dirt or grass. Great as a textured base under statis grass or for a base on a gaming mini.
