Scale Command blog

Painting, basing and printing, from our workshop

Basing and terrain how-tos, guides to scales, 3D printing and paint stations, and photography tips from our Perth workshop, with painting tutorials on the way. Pick a topic or a scale to see just those articles.

29 articles9 topicsUpdated

Topic
Scale

29 articles

What does basing cost? Our photograph of a painted crystal outcrop base with violet crystals and dark basalt

BasingHobby gear

What basing bits cost in Australia in 2026

A pack of basing bits in Australia costs about A$8 to A$42 before postage in November 2026, depending on the maker and where you buy it. Imported packs bought direct from the maker start under A$10, the same brands cost more on Australian shop shelves, and our own resin packs are A$16 to A$30 for 15 to 59 pieces, printed in Perth.

9 min read28mm

Your first battlefield: our photograph of a painted desert base with cacti, a skull and red earth

BasingHobby gear

What you need to start basing miniatures, and where to buy it in Australia

To start basing miniatures you need bases, PVA glue and superglue, fine sand or a texture paint, a few cheap brushes, paint for a basecoat, a wash and a drybrush, matt varnish, and some tufts or static grass. In Australia most of that comes from a hardware store, a model railway shop or your local hobby store; we sell the resin bases, basing bits, movement plates and trays and texture rollers, and nothing else on the list.

6 min readAll scales

Archive photographs compared: Games Workshop’s plastic Codewright on the left and our resin-printed Reconquer Designs crossbowman on the right, labelled by figure material

Basing3D printing

Resin vs plastic miniatures (and basing bits): detail, durability, cost

Resin holds finer detail than plastic and makes whole ranges possible that would never get a plastic kit, while hard plastic is tougher, more forgiving to drop and usually cheaper per figure for popular subjects. For basing bits the same holds: resin gives sharper rock faces, crisper textures and far more variety, and plastic gives cheap, tough sprues that glue with plastic cement.

7 min readAll scales

Add grass and tufts: our close photograph of a painted scenic basalt base with straw-coloured tufts

BasingHobby gear

Flock, static grass or tufts: what each one does on a base

Flock is a fine scatter that lies flat like short turf or moss, static grass is loose fibres that stand upright when you apply them with static or a puff of air, and tufts are ready-made clumps of grass on a sticky backing that you press on with tweezers. For most 28mm bases, tufts are the easiest way to a good look; static grass covers big areas and small-scale stands fast, and flock suits moss and very small bases.

6 min readAll scales

Care for your resin: our photograph of the painted resin Witch Emperor on its winged mount

Painting tutorials3D printing

Resin miniatures care: wash, glue, prime, fix a break, and is cured resin safe?

Our resin miniatures arrive cleaned and cured, so you don't need to wash them: prime them with any normal miniature primer, glue them with superglue (plastic cement won't touch resin), and pin any heavy joint or break. Bent spears straighten in hot, not boiling, water, and once resin is fully cured you handle it like any other hard plastic miniature, with a mask and water for sanding.

8 min readAll scales

What does painting cost? Our photographed painted Grenadine archer with its complete grassy base

Painting tutorialsModels

Miniature painting in Australia: what it costs, painting levels and turnaround

At Scale Command in Perth, a Tabletop Painted model costs its unpainted price plus painting time at $32 an hour with a 15% buffer: about $31 of painting for a 28mm figure on foot, $74 for a 28mm horse and rider and $19 for a 10mm strip. Painted orders ship within 10–15 business days, and custom jobs get a fixed quote within 1 business day. Here are real prices from the shop, the painting levels explained and how the options compare.

7 min readAll scales

Paint molten lava: our photograph of dark basalt columns surrounded by painted glowing lava

Painting tutorialsBasing

How to paint lava bases: cracks, glow and basalt

To paint a lava base, paint the lava brightest where it's hottest: pale yellow in the cracks and channels, orange around them, and deep red at the edges and against the rocks. Then keep the rock dark, charcoal with grey edge highlights, and glaze orange onto the rock faces nearest the lava so they seem to glow. Here's our own lava field base, step by step, with paints from two makers.

10 min read28mm

Base first? The same desert base photographed before paint and after finishing with painted cacti and a skull

Painting tutorialsBasing

Base first or paint first? The order that saves you touch-ups

Do the messy basing jobs before you paint and the tidy ones after: glue on the basing bits and the sand or texture, prime the model and base together, paint the figure, then paint the base, with the varnish, tufts and rim at the very end. If the model is already painted, or it's a big model with a busy base, build and paint the base on its own and glue the finished figure on last.

8 min read28mm

Base the whole army: painted Morghei Orc Rabble command stand, director-selected AI-enhanced photograph

Basing

How to base 10mm and 15mm armies on multi-bases

To base a 10mm or 15mm army, glue each unit's figures onto shared stands, usually 40 mm wide with a depth set by troop type, then texture, paint and flock the whole stand as one piece. Check your rule set for the frontage, the depth and how many figures go on each stand before you glue anything, because the stand, not the figure, is what the rules move and measure.

7 min read10mm · 15mm

Cobblestones, made simple: our rendered cobblestone texture example with a28mm scale figure

Basing

Cobblestone, flagstone and brick bases with a texture roller, and which putty to use

To make cobblestone, flagstone or brick bases, roll putty or clay 2–3 mm thick, press a texture roller across it in one pass, cut out discs using the base as a template and glue them on. Air-dry clay is cheapest and easiest, Milliput is hardest and sands cleanly, and green stuff suits small patches. Here's the putty comparison, which pattern suits which army, and every step.

9 min readAll scales

Build a basalt base: our archive photograph of a plastic Codewright standing on our painted resin basalt basing bits

Painting tutorialsBasing

How to base a dwarf on basalt columns: a 28mm basing guide, step by step

To base a dwarf on basalt columns, dry-fit the model on loose columns, glue them into a stepped stack, fill the gaps with texture paste, prime black and seal with matt varnish. Then drybrush grey, flow an ochre and a brown wash into the ground, drybrush again, glaze the columns blue-grey, add tufts and paint the rim. Here's every step, with frames from our own footage and the paints that give this look.

20 min read28mm

The Eagle of Brittany: our grey resin render of mounted Bertrand du Guesclin

HistoryModels

Bertrand du Guesclin, the Eagle of Brittany: the knight, his coat of arms and our 28mm model

Bertrand du Guesclin (about 1320 to 1380) was a Breton knight who rose to Constable of France and helped put Henry of Trastámara on the throne of Castile. His arms are a black two-headed eagle with red beaks and claws on silver, crossed by a narrow red band, and our 28mm model wears them on his shield and his horse's caparison. Here's his story, what each part of the arms means, what history records and what is legend, and how to paint him.

15 min read28mm

Brothers at war: our grey resin render of mounted Henry of Trastamara

HistoryModels

Henry of Trastámara: brothers at war, from Nájera to Montiel, and our 28mm models

Henry of Trastámara (1333/34 to 1379) was the illegitimate son of Alfonso XI of Castile who fought his half-brother King Peter I for the crown, lost to Peter and the Black Prince at Nájera in 1367, and killed Peter after Montiel in 1369 to rule as Henry II. Our 28mm models show him mounted under the castles and lions of Castile and León, and on foot with his squire. Here's the story, what is record and what is legend, his kit piece by piece, and how to paint the arms.

17 min read28mm

Nasrid Granada: our photographed painted Grenadine archer in teal and gold

HistoryModels

No victor but God: the Nasrid army of Granada, and what's on our 28mm models

Nasrid Granada (1238–1492) was the last Muslim kingdom in Iberia, and the Zanata Berber horsemen who fought for it gave Spanish the word jinete. Its soldiers carried the leather adarga shield, its sultans' motto, "there is no victor but God", covers the walls of the Alhambra, and in the 1360s it backed Peter I of Castile against Henry of Trastámara. Here's that history, kit and heraldry on our 28mm jinetes, archers and armoured infantry, and how to paint them.

17 min read28mm

Georgia’s golden age: our grey resin render of the mounted Georgian king

HistoryModels

David the Builder and Queen Tamar: Georgia's golden-age army

Medieval Georgia's golden age ran from David IV the Builder (1089–1125), who beat a Seljuk-led coalition at Didgori in 1121, to Queen Tamar (1184–1213), when Georgia was the strongest power in the Caucasus. Its armies rested on armoured noble lancers, a royal guard and Kipchak horse archers. Here's how to build and paint that army in 10mm, 15mm or 28mm.

13 min readAll scales

The blow at Bannockburn: our render of Robert the Bruce and Sir Henry de Bohun

HistoryModels

Robert the Bruce vs Sir Henry de Bohun: the axe blow that opened Bannockburn, and the 28mm model explained

According to John Barbour's poem The Bruce, on 23 June 1314 Sir Henry de Bohun spotted Robert the Bruce by the crown on his helmet and charged; Bruce stood in his stirrups and killed him with one axe blow that broke the shaft. The English Vita Edwardi Secundi agrees the king killed him with an axe. Here's what the sources really say, what every detail on our 28mm model means, and how to paint both coats of arms.

24 min read28mm

Roll a battlefield: our rendered cobblestone texture example with a28mm scale figure

BasingTerrain

How to use a texture roller for miniature bases and terrain

A texture roller presses a pattern into clay, putty or foam in one pass. Roll the clay 2–3 mm thick between guides, stop it sticking with talc or water, roll once, cut out your bases or terrain, let it dry and drybrush it. Here's each step, with a paint recipe for every pattern.

7 min readAll scales

The same Georgian banner bearer rendered at10mm,15mm and28mm, sized from the recorded full model heights31,43 and67mm

Models

10mm, 15mm or 28mm? How to choose a scale for your wargame

10mm is for whole armies and big battles, 15mm for historical battles with a little more detail, and 28mm for skirmish games where every model is a character. Here's the same figure in all three scales, what the numbers mean and how to choose.

6 min readAll scales

Before and after: a detail from the current selected Armoured Trolls group, AI-assisted photographic presentation

Photography

How to photograph 10mm miniatures with a phone and lightbox

See earlier miniature photographs beside our current images, with Armoured Trolls, Orc Rabble and the Witch Emperor. Learn how surrounding LEDs, adjustable lightbox brightness and a steady phone help you check shadows and painted detail before preparing the final web image.

7 min read10mm