How do you guys mount your models to bases? I’m not looking for something permanent. I just want to be able to move the model if I have to without watching it fall off and shatter into a million pieces.
I’d like to be able to reuse the base without having to totally rebuild it. Magnets maybe?
For a tank you could do this:
Drill a small hole through the base where the center of the turret will be. Countersink it underneath. Drill a corresponding hole thorugh the bottom of the hull. Run a small bolt up from the bottom of the base into the hull. Secure with nut. You can do this with a very bolt.
The hole is hard to see but it’s there .
I do like Rob’s idea, might have the turret fall off depending on kit and angle but your probably also are having other issue if you’re turning it that far over.
I think your idea with magnets but instead of magnetics in the model I would put magnetics in chalk blocks. Might need to make a few bases depending on what is built as the footprint of a heavy tank is different then a light tank or wheeled vehicle.
I do like Rob, but with just a wood screw down through the bottom of the hull and into the base.
OK, yeah! That definitely sounds like a good plan for a tank! How about for something like a Stryker or a HMMWV? 
Thanks for the ideas, y’all! Much appreciated!
Small corresponding holes drilled in base / tires and metal pins .
PVA glue or epoxy . This works for aircraft as well .
While I have not done this with a Stryker, this is what l have done with vehicles that are buttoned up. It just requires a bit of planning.
Drill a hole down through the center of the vehicle, and drop a small diameter bolt into the hole. Make sure your bolt will be long enough to make it through the base. Affix a nut temporarily to it so it doesn’t get pushed into the vehicle and lost.
When the vehicle is finished, remove the nut, drop it through the hole, which again is countersunk underneath, and secure with the nut. Sometimes if the mood strikes me I’ll use a rubber washer in the vehicle. I can crank on the nut a little more without fear of cracking anything.
Remember to crank hard on those nuts.
Thanks, Rob! I think I’ll give that a try on the next track I do!
I still have to think of something for my wheeled vehicles. I do have a lot of Strykers and HEMMTTs and even a Centauro to do! 
I have marked where the wheels/road wheels set on the base. I drill two small holes close together just inside where the wheels sit. I run some fishing line up through one of the holes in the base, over the axels/ road wheel arms and back down through the other hole and tie it off. The model is secure and can be removed by cutting the line under the bottom of the base. You can return the model back by running new line.
I have mounted a good stiff wire into the wheels of my Stryker. Not all the wheels, just the corners. Then, take a piece of paper and place the hull with wheels attached over the paper and punch the wire through the paper. The paper is now a template for where the wires are. Drill slightly larger holes into the base to allow for possible angels of the wires and secure with epoxy or whatever means you choose.
With the small, super powerful, magnets today, you can mount them into the contact surface of the tires. Then embed magnets into your base. Should be easy to hide/conceal without truly diminishing their power. I may try this with my next wheeled build, which has lots of tires…lots.
I like the template idea! So simple even I couldn’t screw it up!
Me too! I got good advice in the Finescale group about using bolts from the wooden base up through the holland securing them with nuts and to mount my model of the hospital ship U.S.S. Repose. But now I’m having trouble mounting my Pegasus model of Jules Verne’s Nautilus to its base, a squid composed of vinyl. I’ve yet to find a glue that bonds smooth polystyrene to vinyl. Any advice?
Bob
Carve aggressive notches in the vinyl that widen as they go in. When the adhesive of choice sets inside the notches it can’t pull away.
No idea, I avoid vinyl like the plague.
I would test both epoxy and neoprene-based spray adhesive using scraps of both materials.
Worst case, drill a small hole in both materials, fill each hole liberally with epoxy so that it spills over to the other side of rhe material. Hold together. Ideally, making an epoxy “rivet” to hold the two materials together. Likewise, epoxy a metal pin between them.
Every adhesive I have tried has failed to adhere to the polystyrene submarine and/or the vinyl base. The idea of metal pins is probably workable; I tried with a polystyrene rod, but it promptly broke when I tried to insert another rod through another squid tentacle and into the submarine’s hull. The tentacles are extremely flexible.
The polystyrene used for the model submarine seems “different,” quite soft and not all that easy to work with.
Drop a photo of the model and base.
I use toggle bolts with great success when securing my 1/35 tanks to bases. I try to find the smallest toggle bolts from any hardware store. Once you determine where the tank will sit, simply drill a hole (about one size larger than the toggle bolt) in the center of the lower hull and drill down through the base and install the toggle bolt from the bottom up. Placing the toggle on the threaded part and screw it snuggly. DO NOT Overtightened it! Just snug it. Also, I spray paint my flat black so you don’t see the shiny chrome bolt.
I did find something that worked with securing the jersey barriers to the base I’m using for the gun truck. UV resin! Follow me for a minute. 
I used the Meng highway barrier set; but still needed two more barrier sections so I got to try the included mold. I have four plastic sections and two plaster sections being mounted to a base covered with AK Interactive’s asphalt material. I put a couple small dabs on the underside of one of the barriers and placed it where I wanted it to go. I shined the blacklight flashlight that came with the UV resin kit through the forklift slots for about a minute. Viola! It’s not going anywhere…at least not without destroying the base. I mounted the rest of plastic and plaster sections and there’s no trace of the resin material.
So I guess if you wanted to permanently mount the model to the base you could just put small dabs under each tire then zap 'em. I want to re-use the base though, so I’m not taking it that far this time.
That’s certainly a novel approach! If it works, why not? I have a similar situation where I want to mount Hescos on a base but remove them later. I use Elmers. Soak it a while and it softens right back up.
