Basing Your Miniatures

You can use not only sand, but small pieces of rock on your bases for variety. Click for Larger View

Before going any furthur, you will want to protect the painting that you have done up to this point. Spray a light mist of matte protectant sealer on the figure. Applying sealer to the miniature is done at this point because you will be painting a lot of color near the base. If the parts that you have already painted have a sealant applied, you can often remove the paint easily when you accidentally get paint from the basing step on the portion of the miniature itself that you have already painted.

Don't apply the sealant too thickly or it will give an unnatural shine to the piece. Even if you are using a "matte" finish, if you use too much of it, the miniature will shine. To avoid the glossy shine, use a matte finish and if you need heavy protection on the miniature because you will be handling it a lot, apply more than one light coat of the sealant.

I have heard the shiny look sometimes called the "english look" as many British gamers use a semigloss finish for their figures. Most miniatures artists do not like the unnatural effect of a shiny sealant. The sealer will protect the piece from handling, which tends to chip and rub off paint. Acrylic paint is not very durable until sealed. Once sealed it can handle regular use in gaming and the like without much wear.

Basing is putting a natural look on the base of the piece, the appearance of rocks or grass. The first thing to do is to paint the top surface with household glue. Wash your brush out immediately afterwards to keep the glue from drying and ruining it, and always use a brush that you don't care about. Dip the bottom half of the figure in a box of coarse sand, or merely sprinkle it over the glued top surface. The sand will stick to the glue and remain in place. I often apply small rocks to the base to give a natural look with more variety than the texture that sand alone will give.

Let the glue dry before going on. When the glue is dry you have a decision to make. If you want the look of grass, mix up some dark green (almost black) and paint the entire base, even the part with no sand on it (the sides). When this dries, drybrush with a lighter green, made from adding white to the previous color. Some enthusiasts use flock available at model train or hobby shops to get better appearance of grass or foliage.

If you want the look of natural rocks, you can either paint the base brown and drybrush tan or even do it very dark grey and drybrush with a light grey or white. Try a few different color schemes to determine what you like best. The standard color is green to represent grass, but you only have to please yourself. Again, when you are done, spray sealer on the painted base to protect it from chipping and flaking.