The Trouble With Skull Bases

published on December 31, 2022

So I really want to use skull bases for my Chaos Daemons - specifically, the skull bases created by Txalri Factory. They're so cool. Unfortunately, the texture is a bit unforgiving when it comes to affixing the model to the base. So I've tried a couple of different things:

Using my dremel to drill out a platform to affix the model. There's some issues with this, especially on models that have a larger base. Overall assesment: wonky. At this point I have one model based and primed using this method and it's fine. The main issue is that the platform is uneven and looks melty. Not a huge fan.
Marking the parts to be removed
The model has been affixed to the base.
Another shot of the base with the flesh hound attached
As you can see it works but the base is pretty ugly.
And here's a base that's been carved out without the model. Lots of melty bits.
Rather than printing the entire base, I tried printing a topper and using a styrofoam cutter to cut out holes to fit the flat bits of the model. I think this may be a good approach to take (even though my first attempt was a massive failure 'cause you can't mark the cut lines from the bottom of the print. Why not? it's reversed. Boo!).
The styrofoam cutter worked
Base topper with the cuts in place.
Alas! The holes are reversed. Curses.
My sweetie suggested that we try modifying the STL files themselves so that the necessary stuff is removed before actually printing. What a great idea!