Basic Basing and "De-Basing" questions?

[Flagg]

Hey Guys,

Apologies for the remedial questions here, I'm pretty new to the hobby, and haven't quite found info about these specific topics...

First, I've seen a TON of tutorials on creating bases. Seems like there's as many basing techniques and preferences as there are mini painters.

But, what I'm curious about is the base "blank" itself... and what folks are using for this specifically? There seem to be slotted ones, unslotted ones, plastic, metal, ones that take inserts, and ones that have inserts "pre-sculpted" in them.
Examples:
slotted
unslotted
metal
presculpted inserts

So, if you're creating something for tabletop gaming use, but want to have a bit of dioramic appeal, what do you go with as a general rule? (Like, if you are stocking up on base supplies, what do you get a bunch of?)

I realize this partly depends on the type of mini and how you want to present it, but it actually brings up another question...

DE-Basing

So, most of the minis I have bought in the past have their own "integral" bases as part of the sculpt. I've seen before/after photos of minis like these where the integral base has been removed, and a the mini mounted on a more dioramic style base. And, I've seen how a mini is mounted to a new base using pin drill and pins. But, I haven't seen any tutorials on proper methods for actually removing the mini from its integral base.

Examples:
Click to see full-sized image
Click to see full-sized image

Some, like the Thief one above seem like it would be quite the project in itself to grind away the existing base.

How do y'all handle this? Do you try to steer clear of sculpts like this and go mainly with slotted base sculpts, then just snip away the slot part and then use pins?

Do you just crack out the Dremel and go to town?

Trying to get my mind around this aspect of mini-painting. Here's an example of a base I started working on (no painting yet). Hindsight, I probably should've painted the sculpt and base separately then attached... This one is a basic slotted base which came with the sculpt...

Click to see full-sized image
Click to see full-sized image

(apologies for poor photos! )

Any advice folks?

Thanks!

EDIT:

Here's a good example of a before/after of a mini being removed from an integral base, then mounted to dioramic style:
Masaki before
Masaki after