Complementary Bases

[BedTimeBeer]

Hey everyone,

Getting around to making bases for my Ultramarines (first miniatures I've ever painted and also the first bases).

I would like some advice on the choice here. Of course i understand it's a personal thing (and choice) depending on the preference, but still some insight from other people would be appreciated.

I'm being split between 2 kinds of bases - snow (snowy rocks etc.) and lava (charred rocks with lava). To explain:

I was first going for the snowy bases as i liked the look and i thought the Ultras would look nice on them, but when i thought more about it i realized the lava ones would work well too.

The lava bases would be mostly red/orange which is a complementary colour (right?) to the blue of the Ultramarines and would maybe work better on making the figures "pop" (right?).

Do you have any experience and advice regarding the matter. I could go for any of them and still be pleased with the outcome i just wanted to see if someone has done one or the other and has some advice on it :)

Cheers!

[Sugarlessllama]

I think the snowy bases would be better.

 

1. Snow bases work well on both urban and rural game boards.

 

2. I think they would be easier to keep consistent across an entire force.

 

3. Army Painter makes some really nice snowy tufted grass that would help make them pop.

[Stoic Raptor]

I can see why there's a lot in favor of the snow bases, but I do agree that a complementary color adds visual appeal and makes the model stand out.  It's a concept I never really considered and now I'm going to take it into consideration when choosing basing.

[BedTimeBeer]

Thank you both for your input

Sugarlessllama: You do rise some valid points:

Especially (1), i haven't taken into consideration the game boards. Lava would be out of place in most of the boards.

For (2) i'm not really sure what you meant - i was thinking of having a bit of difference in each of the bases but i guess that can be achieved with both of these variations i'm looking into? Care to clarify a bit more on this?

(3) I will have to look into that - but thank you for the suggestion! (i live in a faraway world where little to none, shops are available, most places won't ship here, or if they do - just the shiping costs a lot more than the product itself.

Ulfgrim Alvsbane: Yeah, i was watching some video on complementary colors (for miniatures in general) and though about applying the same logic to bases. Would like to see if someone on the forum has done it and how it turned out.

The thing that i was also thinking about is how it fits the models fluff wise, i mean sure everyone can get themselves found on any kind of terrain, but maybe the lava fits demons/khorne more. But going with that logic route, snow would be space wolves exclusive Which makes no sense

Cheers!