Rebasing the Hexwraiths

Time to put my Hexwraiths back on square bases so they can join the ranks of the Legion of the Infernal Skull!

 

These Hexwraiths have had a long ride, indeed– I started building them in 2017, and initially had them on the old cavalry bases, but ended up switching over to oval bases when I finished painting them in 2019 for my Age of Sigmar Nighthaunt army. I think I only ever played a couple games with my Nighthaunt, so they didn't see much action. Now, with The Old World being my main focus, I've decided to swap them to the new cavalry bases.

 

 

The 30mm x 60mm cavalry bases are the same length, but the sides of the ovals stick out much farther.

 

 

In order to retain as much of the finished basing as possible, I clipped away the base rim, and trimmed everything down so it could fit on the cavalry base.

 

 

The simplest solution would be to glue the base on top, and add more basing material around the edges, but the plastic of the original base is so thick, it adds too much height, and the extra sand would create a "hump" that I know I wouldn't be happy with. I decided to cut an opening in the top of the new base that they could fit into, bringing them back in line with the surface plane.

 

 

I made sure that all the bases fit within the top of the rectangle with a bit of clearance all the way around. Two of the models had tombstones that stuck out to the side, and in those instances, I clipped them apart, and made room for them to fit.

 

 

I cut away the rails underneath the base, and scraped all the text smooth.

 

 

Then, I cut a piece of 1mm styrene card to fit under the base.

 

 

For each model, I traced its outline and cut around the base top.

 

 

I didn't cut all the way through, but cut far enough that the white plastic stress mark of the cut showed through on the underside of the base. I cut around the underside, following the stress mark, again trying not to cut all the way through. My goal was to keep the plastic in place, but weak enough to pull it out later.

 

 

Then, I added super glue around the outer edge of the base and glued the styrene card underneath. (Once that cutout is removed, the remaining perimeter of the base loses its structural integrity, and can shift or deform. By keeping the cutout in place, the base retains its shape.)

 

 

Once the glue had set, I popped out the center cut-out. The styrene rectangle ensured that the base held its shape.

 

 

And, with that section of the top removed, the bases now had shallow recesses for the Hexwraiths to sit in. I only needed to make a few minor trims around the edges to get them to seat comfortably into the recess.

 

 

One final step on the base preparation was to drill holes so I could add magnets later.

 

 

Because each base was uniquely cut for each model, I numbered them all so I could easily match them up. Then, all the bases were attached to a long paint stick and spray primed.

 

 

I glued each model into its new base and super glued fine brown ballast around the perimeter, matching it up with the existing basing material.

 

 

To paint the new ballast, I coated it with thinned Formula P3 Umbral Umber, and then drybrushed the surface with GW XV-88 brown, and Army Painter Skeleton Bone, matching the original base color and seamlessly blending the transition. 

 

 

I painted the base edges and added more static grass and tufts to fill out the surface, and they were done!

 

 

It took about three evenings to get these ten models completely rebased, and now they are ready to hit the battlefield!

 

 

I will be similarly rebasing a few other units like the Spirit Hosts and Fell Bats. I won't be taking any step-by-step photos, for those, so they should go a bit quicker.

'Til next time!