Steam and Sail Ship Basing

I've based all of my Tumbling Dice 1/2400th scale models on 20mm or 15mm wide laser cut mdf bases to give me a consistent way of measuring for range and angles of fire. The models come with cast white metal sea bases, which look very nice and cut out all the messy base texturing, but which are all sorts of shapes and sizes making measuring a bit contentious. 

The extra mdf edge protects the bowsprits and sticky outy bits as well, making it less likely that things will bend or snap off in the heat of action. I did wonder about using wider 30mm bases like ones I used for my Victory at Sea French fleet but I don't think it would be worth it. They look nice but only if the whole base is textured to match, as you can see in the photo below:

One downside of the narrower bases is the lack of space for a label to identify the individual warships on most of the bases but I think I can label the base edge instead, which will be more discrete and less of a visual eyesore. I have just ordered some new 20mm wide bases for another project, so I may re-base some of the smaller models on longer sections to allow me to add some proper name labels. 

If not, I can always use numbers or just label the underside of the bases, which is less convenient but just as effective. I'll also have to paint the bare mdf areas with the same base colour that I'll use on the textured bases, so everything blends in rather than adding extra texturing to cover it all up. I should be able to get all of the basing done pretty quickly as a result.