As I start making my multibases for my minis I realized, since I never bought Mantic’s movement trays… How big is the lip on the tray? What is the REAL size of a 100mm x 80mm tray? I’d like to cut my multibases as close as possible.
Mantic movement trays/multi bases do have a lip, but that doesn’t mean your 100x80mm base needs to. It’s just built like that because this product is a movement tray first, multibase second.
The real size of 100x80 mm is 100x80 mm. That being said, if you did use Mantic trays as a multibase no one is going to cry foul or refuse to play you because your footprint is slightly bigger (maybe 5mm over each side?).
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Multi-bases must be exactly the measurement given. 100x80mm must be 100x80mm.
The rules say to measure from the model base, so how big the lip of a movement tray is doesn’t matter.
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Agreed!
However, Mantic sells movement trays that can be flipped upside down for use as a multibase. This multibase will include the lip of the tray (it’s just flipped upside down). So, the bases would be 110x90 mm (if assuming a 5mm lip on all sides). As this is an official Mantic product, I could see some people measuring from either the base or the lip, as long as they were consistent.
I apologise in advance for this pedantic post.
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My experience of Mantic’s plastic movement trays wasn’t good. I bought a range - infantry, h infantry & cav, and all were slightly warped (straight out of the packet) so wouldn’t sit flat (would rock gently).
Also, while sold as usable as multibases, I would heavily recommend alternatives, such as mdf.
I take it people measure from the edge of the unit base for everything, not the models? A larger footprint is normally a disadvantage.
A particularly thick edged unit base on something with Inspiring or an Aura could hypothetically be an issue.
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Maybe just bad luck @MarkG. Got my whole army on Mantic trays without issues. But I’m using them exclusively as trays, not multibases. No warping at all.
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If you live in the UK, I would recommend having a look at warbases.co.uk for MDF Multibases
They have a category ‘KOW Premier Bases’ which I believe has every Unit Size available. I think I was getting 4 100mm x 80mm bases for under £2
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I 3D print my own trays and multibases.
My multibases are exact while my trays are about 3mm extra on each side due to the lip.
If somebody complains about 3mm, I don’t need to play with them lol.
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@Mikes I wouldn’t have mentioned it if it had been a one off, but it was across at least two of each of the different sizes, 6+ packs in total. This was when they first came out so a few a years ago now - maybe quality control is now higher, maybe mine got squashed before going in the box.
To clarify - I was using them as trays, not multibases. Though even if they were perfectly fine, I think there are much better options for multibases.
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Got ya @MarkG and yeah warped plastic sucks. Guess I ve either really been lucky or, as you ve said, they re better now than the earlier batches.
I myself however had the opposite experience with base materials and had slight warping even with the 75mm Mantic mdf bases included with Mantic Titans, after i sealed them with varnish, painted them, varnished again and then finished with static grass applied with (probably too much) super glue. I was able to fix it (mostly) by carefully bending it very little by little … but as i first noticed the slight warping on the base of my just finished Dragon i was quite annoyed.
Haven’t done any multibases, but i’m wary of mdf after my experience with the 75x75mm Dragon base. Maybe i just did it wrong 
So I completely switched over to plastic and even got 3rd party plastic bases for my Drakons and Cavalry. Just seems to work better with the way I m used to base stuff.
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Renedra?
I’m using 3mm mdf, to match the Mantic base thickness - don’t know if that makes a difference? Though I’ve heard of people only buying laminated mdf to avoid warping.
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I much prefer a unit tray with edges like this:
To something like this (probably needs a quick discussion about where we’re going from):
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I use old plastic card signage.
Just cut into the correct sizes and happy days.
My trays though that hold my troops and regiments for hordes would be slightly too big due to a 3mm wood lip around them to hold the smaller units in place.
My monster, artillery and hero base sizes aren’t standard in a lot of cases anyway so a few milemeters on the infantry and cavalry hardly maters. 
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Haven’t used Renedra or laminated mdf (yet).
Got a rather large supply of plastic bases now but would have to check which manufacturer, when i’m back home after the weekend 
Those bases are solid and don’t warp (or at least the 50x50 and 25x50 i got don’t), but need some cleanup.
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Hey @Mikes. The 75x75mm MDF base I got with my Mantic giant was 2mm thick. Apparently that stuff will almost certainly warp.
The MDF I’m using is 3mm (same as GW plastic bases). I sealed it with x2 coats of spray paint and I haven’t got any warping (yet). Mind you, I have only made x3 troops!
After doing some searching, people even recommend 3.5-4mm thick.
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The MDF base supplied with my giant wrapped as well.
It was my reason for switching to heavy plastic card.
It still rocks on a flat surface as I haven’t replaced it yet.
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I don’t use mdf for anything larger than 60mm round bases and always gluing 2 of them together if they are only 2mm thick (3 mm work fine)
I use waterfree PVA glue and basing acrylic paste
for large bases either plastic card or plywood (3 or 4 mm thick) which is also easier to cut than mdf (so buying larger sheets and cut them to anything I need)
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Yeah, I guess that anything that contracts as it dries, in addition to substances that are ‘too wet’, could be a problem. And the bigger the surface the more likely this is.
I’ve tried to keep everything new based at the same height - going from the standard Mantic individual base, at around 3mm. Square rather than sloped edges for the same reason.
Sounds a bit fussy but my painting isn’t great, so I try to get everything else spot on - conversions, poses, colour schemes etc.
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Thanks for the tips @MechaSturgeon and @MarkG , maybe I ll give (thicker) Mdf a go in the future, but for now i’m still swimming in plastic bases.
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I think maybe you meant at MechaSturgeon?
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