Crystal Mineshaft Base Tutorial
Build an abandoned mineshaft base with rough grey stone, a painted timber hatch and teal crystals. Follow the video from dry-fitting to varnish, with a brush-glaze option for the crystal gradient.
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.
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Crystal Mineshaft Base Tutorial
Build an abandoned mineshaft base with rough grey stone, a painted timber hatch and teal crystals. Follow the video from dry-fitting to varnish, with a brush-glaze option for the crystal gradient.
Are basing bits tournament legal? What the event rules say
Yes. At every event whose rules we read, decorating the base your model stands on is allowed, and several say so in writing. Organisers regulate the size and shape of the base, whether it is finished, and the model itself. Here is what each rule document says, with links, and four checks to make before an event.
Alexander the Great's army and the Wars of the Successors: pikes, elephants and our 2mm models
Alexander the Great conquered Persia with the army his father Philip II built: a pike phalanx sixteen ranks deep, hypaspist guards, Companion cavalry and light troops. After he died at Babylon in 323 BC his generals fought for some forty years, adding war elephants, scythed chariots and siege towers, until three kingdoms were left. Here's that history with its sources, and what each of our 2mm Successor Kingdoms models represents.
Painting the Kabiliat Aljanubi War Elephant, step by step
Paint dry elephant skin with layered grey strokes, build ivory texture on the tusks and highlight the cloth canopy. Follow seven steps for this 10mm Wakes Emporium war elephant, with our painting video, close-up stills and the decking and rope recipes.
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.
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.
Which glue holds sand and basing bits, and how to seal a base so it lasts
Use PVA (white glue) for sand and grit, then lock it down with a second coat of PVA watered down about half and half; use superglue for resin or plastic basing bits. Seal the finished base with primer and then matt varnish before the tufts go on, and fix pigment powder with a pigment fixer or a light coat of varnish.
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.
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.
What colour should base rims be? Black, brown or matched to the ground
Black is the safe default for base rims: it frames the model, hides chips and goes with any ground. Brown, or a colour matched to the ground, blends the model into the table instead, so choose by the look you want and then use the same rim colour on every base in the army.
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.
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.
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.
The November release: Medieval Rus, crossbowmen, war elephants and a Mediterranean cog
Fourteen new sets for November: a new Medieval Rus line and 13th-century European crossbowmen from Ten Kingdoms, armoured war elephants and new infantry for Medieval India, and from Reconquer Designs a 28mm Mediterranean cog, a mounted Granada command, the second Grenadine archer set and winter trees.
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.
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.
Movement trays: which size for round and square bases, magnets, and ranking up a unit
Pick a movement tray by two things: the size and shape of your bases, and the formation you rank up in. A unit of 20 on 25mm square bases needs a 5 × 4 tray for 25mm squares, about 133.5 × 108.4 mm outside, and round bases need a tray with a socket for every base or a conversion tray that turns them square.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
How to set up a paint station that grows with your collection
A good paint station keeps paints upright and in view, brushes and tools within reach, and the light bright and even. Here's how to store pots and dropper bottles, light your desk, and lay out a Paint Hive rack that grows with your collection.
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.
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.
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.
How to photograph 28mm miniatures with a phone: our setup, step by step
28mm was far easier to photograph than 10mm. Two LED tube lights, an iPhone on a tripod at 2x and one colour correction gave sharp photos of figures, terrain and bases at ISO 50 to 160. Here's the setup, the settings and the results.
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.
Best 3D printer for miniatures and terrain: ELEGOO resin vs Bambu Lab filament, model by model
For miniatures, buy a resin printer: an ELEGOO Mars 5 Ultra to start, or a Saturn 4 Ultra 16K for whole armies. For terrain and hobby gear, buy a filament printer: a Bambu Lab A1 or A1 mini to start, the A2L for big terrain, or the enclosed P2S. Here's every model compared.
How to base miniatures: texture, basing bits and tufts, step by step
Basing a miniature takes about an hour: glue on the bits, add sand or texture, basecoat, wash, drybrush, paint the rim, varnish and add tufts. Here's each step with the paints we use for 28mm bases, plus the simpler way to base 10mm and 15mm stands.
Resin vs filament for miniatures: where each 3D printer wins, from 10mm armies to paint racks
Resin is better for miniatures: its 0.03–0.05 mm layers and 14–19 micron pixels keep faces and fine detail that a filament printer's 0.4 mm nozzle can't. Filament is better for big, tough things like terrain boards and paint racks. Here's how each one does on everything we make.
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