Basing tanks

[Cammerz]

I've recently been putting more effort into my painting and part of that has involved properly basing my models, mostly with GW's texture paints. I find that they really bring the army together, even when I've got a few different colour schemes (notably my Alpha Legion Primaris Marines who are accompanied by scouts made predominantly from Militarum Tempestus Scions).

The only exception to this, as the title of this topic suggests, are vehicles. Even with some dedicated Google searching I very rarely see tanks with bases, obviously they aren't supplied with them and the slight increase in height may make them more visible on the tabletop but I feel that tanks are appearing even smaller nowadays given the ever increasing scale of infantry models (especially with the advent of primaris). Also, as initially stated, basing tends to bring an army together visually.

Has anyone got any experience basing tanks? Any suggestions as to what size would best fit something with a Rhino chassis? (I'm considering GW's 120x92mm oval given that they no longer sell the rectangular bases), Any other thoughts or comments?

[Narric]

Mud and dirt on the treads, that matches the infantry basing, is probably the easiest option. Eventspecially if you add splatter where it has been flung against the vehicle.

I'm sure I have seen examples of that.

[Sorck]

For finding the size of your base you could print our a few ovals and see which looks best.

When it comes to basing them you should need to consider some key differences compared to infantry basing:

• The base is big with lots of space to fill - you need something chunky on that base or else it will look rather empty.
• Tanks are big and leave an impression of where they came from - think tread prints.

However, these don't mean you should have a substantially different aesthetic to the rest of your basing. Indeed using the same materials is a great idea. If you currently use sand and flock, they do the same with some tread prints and possibly large tufts, a tree, a cactus, or even a tumble weed. If your army is from a very green battlefield, consider adding a stream to the base using water effects.