A miniature isn’t done until it has a base, and knowing the right basing essentials for miniatures will take your mini painting game up a notch.

There are a number of reasons why basing your miniatures is important, but among them are:

• Aesthetics: A well-designed base can enhance the overall appearance of a miniature, making it more visually appealing and eye-catching. It can also help to create a more immersive and realistic environment for the miniature.
• Stability: Basing a miniature provides a stable foundation that prevents it from tipping over or becoming unsteady during gameplay. This is particularly important for larger or heavier miniatures.
• Identification: Basing a miniature can help to identify it on the tabletop, particularly if it is part of a larger army or collection. A distinctive base can make it easier to spot the miniature from a distance and to differentiate it from other similar miniatures.
• Theme: The base can help to reinforce the theme or setting of the miniature. For example, a miniature representing a character from a forest or jungle setting could be based on a textured base that resembles soil, leaves, and plants.
• Customization: Basing a miniature allows for customization and personalization. It provides an opportunity to add unique details, such as rocks, plants, or other elements that reflect the personality or backstory of the miniature.

In this article we are going to look at the 21 basing essentials for miniature painters that will take you basic to beautiful.

Whether you are basing a miniature that is in a grassy field, a swampy bog, or a barren waste, there are tools you can use for how to base your miniatures better. 

Basing Essentials for Miniature Painters

Textures for Miniature Basing

Any good base needs to have some kind of texture, and it can be any number of things. You want there to be grit on the ground, something to shade and highlight, something to show that you’re not just painting flat over a round piece of plastic. Here are the basing essentials that we recommend:

#1. Vallejo Texture Mud

This comes in a huge variety of colors, from Russian Thick Mud to European Thick Mud to Brown Earth Gel to Black Thick Mud (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games), all of these are about the same consistency (mud) and can either be used plain–applied to the base as-is using the color of the specific mud–or can be applied, let harden, and then painted in whatever color you want.

Vallejo Texture Mud is my #1 go-to basing essential when painting a miniature because it is just so versatile. It can be spread smooth with just the occasional bump or grit, or it can be in sloshy waves and splatters, as if representing a muddy road that has been travelled too long in a hard rain.

#2. Vallejo Pumice

If Vallejo Texture Mud is my #1 go-to, then Vallejo Pumice is my #2 basing essential (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games). It comes in a jar that looks just the same as the mud, and when you open it up and begin applying it it really doesn’t look all that different, but when it dries it leaves a very different effect.

Vallejo Pumice is essentially a sandy grit that mostly evaporates away and leaves you with only a fine, slightly uneven gritty texture. This is the effect that most people are trying to achieve when they use sand, but sand has its limitations (which we’ll talk about a little further down) and this pumice gives you that perfect sandy texture with consistency and no clumping.

#3. Citadel Technical Paints

Citadel makes a number of technical paints which I think are mostly a ripoff because you can get the same effect from Astrogranite or Stirland Mud that you can get from the Vallejo products listed above, but one product that I do think is definitely worth its salt, and which I’ve used to base an entire army, is Agrellan Earth (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games). It’s a tan crackle paint, so you paint a dark color beneath it, and then splodge the Agrellan Earth on top of it, let it dry, and you get a beautifully cracked and broken desertscape.

They have additional products, which I haven’t used, in different colors, but one that intrigues me is the Mordant Earth, which works the same way except the crackle paint is black. So you can paint reds and oranges beneath it, let the crackle paint crack, and it looks like you’re standing on a lava field.

As with all Citadel paints, they’re cheaper to buy at your FLGS, but here are links to the Citadel page anyway.

#4. Flex Paste and Snow Flock

 There are many different ways for how to base a miniature with a snow base, including Valhallan Blizzard, a texture paste from Citadel. But I very much prefer Woodland Scenics’ Flex Paste and Army Painter’s battlefield snow flocking. The Flex Paste has a consistency that is similar to toothpaste, which you apply with a texture tool, and then the snow flock looks like a fine powder. What I like about this method of how to base a miniature with snow, as opposed to Valhallan Blizzard, is that the Flex Paste gives volume while the snow flock gives texture. It very much has the look and feel of snow drifts. 

#5. Baking Soda

Uncle Atom on Tabletop Minions teaches a great video about how to create bases using baking soda. The premise is that grains of sand–real sand–next to a model look like the model is standing in a field of gravel. But! Baking soda is a much finer material.

You can watch his entire video here but the point is that, because baking soda is a kicker for super glue, applying a little glue–a thin layer–on the base and then sprinkling baking soda over it will give a great look that has a very fine grit.

#6. Kitty Litter

Another great home option is kitty litter. (Clean, of course.) Not only does kitty litter have a finer texture than sand, it also comes in particles of varying sizes, and most importantly they aren’t rocky-looking, but are a little flaky. This makes for a good alternative to other textures on a base, giving you a unique look. There’s no one brand that I’m particularly in love with–use whatever you use for your cat, or try this one from Amazon. (You can also watch a video from Uncle Atom at Tabletop Minions about using kitty litter for basing, here.)

#7. Pigment Powders

Pigment powders are essentially just what they sound like: powdered pigment. They are most often applied as the very last step in basing a miniature, as once the pigment is down it can be a little hard to control.. Pigment powders give a look and feel of dust and grime, tying the miniature to the base. 

One thing to note about pigment powders is that they can be applied with or without a fixer, which is to say that you can simply apply the powder and leave the powder dry, or you can fix it in place with some sort of spray or liquid. The fixer–often just varnish, but some pigment powder makers produce fixers as well–does a good job of making the powder stay in place, but it changes the appearance of it, losing some of the dusty quality. But, if not fixed in place, the powder can fall off the miniature, especially when they’re being transported. For this reason, pigment powders are best used on display miniatures or miniatures that will not see a lot of wear. 

Glues that are Basing Essentials

#8. Super Glue

So we’ve talked about basing materials, but we haven’t talked about how to apply them, and with basing essentials we’re looking primarily at two forms of glue: cyanoacrylate glue, also known as CA glue, also known as super glue, and PVA glue. (There are other glues that you’d want to use for terrain, but for basing this pretty much covers it.

Super glue (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games) comes either in thick gel or thin liquid, and you’ll probably want to have both in your hobby arsenal, although for basing you’ll almost always be using the liquid. Because of surface tension, when you apply super glue to a base it will form a big bubble, and it’s wise to spread that thin with the tip of a toothpick.

(Pro tip: super glue can take a few minutes to dry and while this generally doesn’t matter much in basing, a “kicker”, or a super glue activator can be very useful to make the super glue set instantly. Baking soda is a kicker (which is why it works so well as a basing material) but you can also buy spray kickers. (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games) I prefer to use a brand called Mitre Apel.

#9. PVA Glue

Don’t get mixed up thinking that you need to buy some kind of specialized glue here–some hobby companies will sell PVA glue in special tubes and make it seem like it’s something special and therefore expensive. But PVA glue is just Elmer’s Glue-All. (Note: it is not Elmer’s School Glue.) (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games)

PVA glue is useful because it is so easy to work with–it won’t glue your fingers together like super glue will, and it won’t make a mess of anything. The downside is that it takes a little while longer to dry (well, hours compared to minutes.) PVA glue is particularly useful for things like static grass.

#10. Cork

Cork is occasionally the butt of jokes when it comes to basing because people rely on it so much and build so-called “cork towers” out of it, but the reason is because cork is an absolutely marvelous basing essential. It comes with a rough texture, and when you break it and tear it it looks jagged like broken rock. A single base can be built up with multiple pieces of cork, creating a larger, more imposing model, or it can simply be used in thin pieces to look like a broken-up road bed.

Cork is not only lightweight but is also quite inexpensive, so there’s little wonder that people latch onto the stuff so much. Be careful not to overdo it, but a little cork on the right model can do wonders. (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games)

Grass and Flower Basing Essentials

One of the things that brings a base to life is the flora of a specific place, world, or biome. So while the above-mentioned texture muds and pumices might be good for a churned up battlefield or desert terrain, there’s also something to be said about fighting in the fields of Europe in Napoleonic battles, or New England during the American revolution, or the jungles of the South Pacific (or pick any green world in any fantasy or science fiction work).

#11. Grass Tufts

Grass tufts are by far the easiest way to get a great effect fast. They are essentially static grass on sticky backing, but someone has already done the hard work for you of creating them (we’ll talk in a minute about using your own static grasses).

The brand that I have turned to again and again for this is The Army Painter. They have a beautiful selection, something for every battlefield, and I believe that I have purchased and used every single one of these tufts. My Rock Badgers (homebrew Space Marines) use the Highland Tufts, while my Battle of the Bulge Bolt Action minis use the Frozen Tufts, and my Squat mining diorama used Scorched Tufts. I recommend them all wholeheartedly, and they are among MUST HAVE basing essentials. (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games)

But they’re far from the only manufacturers. War World Scenics make good ones, as does Railway Artificial Grass. (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games)

#12. Floral Tufts

And don’t think that you can’t have models with just grass tufts, there are also some beautiful floral tufts that give your models a very different look. You need to have just the right use for them, but they can be great when used strategically. I used Static Scenery’s flowers for both my American Revolution miniatures, as well as for the very-colorful samurai diorama (which also made heavy use of cherry blossoms). (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games)

#13. Static Grass

Static grass is a tricky thing to use on a mini because the whole point of static grass is that you want it to stand up straight, and for that you need to shake the grass from above, and you have to use a static grass applicator. That said, it can definitely be done. I used static grass (in combination with grass tufts) on my swamp creature Necrons (see the picture above).

The key is to have a larger bases with more surface area (for example, I used static grass on my Black Coach’s base).

And the bigger key is to have a good Static Grass Applicator. I have an applicator which I always use in fear because one time it gave me a really good zap. But applicators which I’ve heard to be good (and really ought to invest in) are the War World Scenics one and the Woodland Scenics applicator. (BUY from Amazon)

In a pinch, however, I’ve learned that if you’re using 2mm static grass and have a big enough surface area, you can use a fine kitchen sieve and get a semi-decent result.

#14. Foliage

There is also a lot to be said about foliage used on your bases. This is a place where you can easily go overboard, but looks great on a centerpiece model, or even in minor roles on an entire unit. (I based this entire platoon of American infantry fighting their way through Belgium in the autumn of 1944 using Woodland Scenics’ Fine-Leaf Foliage. I also used these great plastic bamboo shoots on the bases of some Bolt Action Marines (I don’t have a link–I got them from Etsy). In both of these cases you can see that you may not want to have this level of foliage on the base of EVERY model in a unit. But they do make good accent pieces. (BUY from Amazon)

Hardware Store Basing Essentials

Then, of course, there are some basing essentials that you just don’t want to buy from the internet and would be better off purchasing at a hardware store. Consequently no affiliate links on anything here.

#15. Sand

If you want sand you can buy a baggie of it on Amazon for $5, or you can buy a 35 pound bag of it at the Home Depot for $6. I bought one bag of the stuff two years ago and have used it as grit for every terrain project and dozens of bases and haven’t made a dent in the bag.

#16. Wood Chips

Wood chips work a lot like cork, and while yes, you can walk through the forest and collect wood chips from the ground, you can buy good clean (meaning: no bugs) wood chips from the hardware store for pennies.

Stones

I would have put some of these in the Hardware Store category, but most pea gravel that you can buy there would be too big for even a large model. Stones are definitely a basing essential for miniature wargamers.

#17. Paving Stones

Paving stones can come from a number of places. We’ll talk about Green Stuff a little below, but you can also buy bricks for dollhouses, and they work a treat. (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games)

#18. Slate and Gravel

Basing kits often come with a wide variety of small stones, including flat slate, larger jagged gravel, and more. The Army Painter sells Battlefield Rocks, but a good starter pack from Amazon is the War World Scenics Basing Kit. (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games)

Green Stuff World

Green Stuff World makes a whole host of products that are great for basing. Green stuff is a two-part modeling putty that you knead together, work with for a brief time, and then let it harden. Skilled modelers can do amazing things with Green Stuff. (I am all thumbs.)

#19. Green Stuff

Green Stuff itself can come from a number of places: the most famous being GaleForce Nine, but also Element Essentials. You can also use Milliput, which isn’t exactly the same thing as Green Stuff, but some people find it easier to work with. (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games)

#20. Rollers and Molds

If you’re not up to sculpting the Green Stuff yourself, then use the rollers and molds that come from Green Stuff World. You can get every pattern from marble floors to Necromunda underhives to fields of skulls. And, there are molds for making any number of bits of debris to add to your base. (BUY from Element Games)

Bits That Are Basing Essentials

Speaking of adding debris to your base, there is always the fun of adding bits from your bits box to the base of a miniature, but it doesn’t have to stop there.

#21. Citadel Skulls Set

Anyone in the miniatures hobby, even the most ardent Games Workshop haters, will tell you that there is hardly a kit better made than the Citadel Skulls kit. With hundreds of skulls, human, ork, even tyranid. For the price, and for the sheer variety, it’s absolutely among the must have basing essentials. (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games)

#22. Army Painter Barbed Wire

Finally, Army Painter sells barbed wire spools that may not seem like much but which are really quite useful and look great on the base of a large mini. (BUY from Amazon | BUY from Element Games)

#23. Basing Large Scale Miniatures

Not all miniatures are the same scale, and learning how to base different scale miniatures is important. If you play on a large scale–say, anything smaller than 15mm or so–then grass tufts are going to be too big to look normal on your miniatures. Basing miniatures in a large scale will require different techniques. In this example, this Adeptus Titanicus model, which is supposed to represent a monstrous machine several stories tall, was just based with texture paste and pigment powders. 

Putting It Together: How to Base a Miniature

The best part of miniature basing is when you are comfortable with many or all of these techniques and mix and match them. While there’s nothing wrong with a base that has a little texture and a few grass tufts–that’s my go-to basing method–on larger bases, or more important bases, I like to mix up all of the techniques and come up with something better. This means texture and grass and stones and skulls–anything and everything.

Of course, you don’t want your miniature base to overwhelm the miniature itself, but learning how to base a miniature is one of the most fun parts of the hobby. 

Did we miss anything? Are there any basing materials that we haven’t mentioned that are must have basing essentials?