How to Base Miniatures
An unbased model never looks finished, however well it is painted. Basing is the cheapest and fastest quality jump available, and almost nobody budgets for it.
The short answer
The fastest way to base miniatures is a single thick coat of texture paint, dry in about an hour, then a drybrushed highlight and a painted rim. For an army, texture paint plus two shades of grass tufts gets thirty bases finished in an evening and looks far better than either alone.
The quick version
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Citadel Texture: Astrogranite (24 ml)Grit suspended in dark gray paint. One thick coat turns a bare plastic disc into stone, dry and paintable in an hour with nothing to glue. | Fastest base texture | 8.6 | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 | Static grass and flock basing setTufts, static grass and scatter in a few shades. The cheapest way to make thirty identical bases stop looking like thirty identical bases. | Breaking up the texture | 8.4 | Check price on Amazon |
| 3 |  Brush-on acrylic matte varnishWater-based varnish you brush or airbrush on. Slower and less even than a rattle can, and it works in a flat in winter, which the rattle can does not. | Stopping the shedding | 8.2 | Check price on Amazon |
Scores are our own editorial read against the criteria stated below — not a lab measurement and not a user rating. Tap a row for the full write-up.
Four methods, by effort
All four produce a finished base. They differ in time per model and in how much they look like every other base in the room.
1. Texture paint. Grit suspended in paint. One thick coat, dry in an hour, already the right color. Roughly two minutes per base including the drybrush. The fastest credible option and the right default for an army.
2. Sand and PVA. Dilute PVA onto the base, dip in sand or ballast, shake off the excess, dry overnight, then paint. Costs almost nothing per base and gives you control over grain size. Slower, and it needs painting afterwards.
3. Cork and rubble. Break cork tile into chips, glue them down as rock, fill the gaps with sand or texture paint. The best-looking of the cheap methods and the only one that gives real height variation. Maybe ten minutes per base.
4. Resin or printed base toppers. A pre-sculpted insert that drops into the base. Fastest to a detailed result, most expensive per model, and every model with the same topper looks identical.
When to base: before or after painting?
The honest answer depends on whether the model is already attached.
If the model is separate from the base, base first and attach last. You can work on the base without protecting the model, and you can paint the model without protecting the base. This is always the easier route, and it is a good reason to assemble models without gluing them down.
If the model is already on the base, paint the model first, base second, and accept that you will be touching up the feet. Texture paint on a finished boot is far easier to tidy than paint overspray on a finished base.
Either way, the rim is last and the varnish is after that.
Basing a whole army efficiently
Thirty bases is an assembly line, not thirty small projects. Do one step across every base before moving to the next step — the same logic as batch painting.
- Texture paint all thirty. Leave them overnight.
- Drybrush all thirty. Fifteen minutes total.
- Glue and place tufts on all thirty.
- Paint all thirty rims.
- Varnish them all in one pass.
That is one evening plus a drying wait, and the consistency is better than doing them one at a time because you are not re-mixing anything.
How to stop a base shedding
Unsealed static grass and loose texture come off in a transport case and stick to the next model’s wet varnish. The fix is two layers.
First, glue it down properly. PVA diluted roughly two parts glue to one part water, with a drop of washing-up liquid to break the surface tension so it wicks into the fibers rather than beading on them.
Second, varnish over the top. A matte spray or brush-on varnish across the finished base locks everything in place. This is the step people skip, and it is the reason their cases are full of loose grass. The sealing guide covers varnish choice, and storing and transporting miniatures covers what happens afterwards.
The base rim, which nobody mentions
The rim is the frame around your painting, and a scruffy one undoes a good model at tabletop distance.
Flat black is the standard and looks deliberate on almost everything. A dark brown suits earth-toned bases. What matters more than the color is that it is clean: two thin coats, brush held flat against the rim and turned rather than dragged, with no texture paint creeping over the edge.
The one thing to avoid is leaving it bare plastic. A bare rim reads as unfinished even when everything above it is excellent, which is also the first fix in beginner mistakes painting miniatures.
For what to buy rather than how to apply it, the best basing materials ranks texture paints, static grass and the glue that holds the heavy pieces on.
The picks in full
Citadel Texture: Astrogranite (24 ml)
Grit suspended in dark gray paint. One thick coat turns a bare plastic disc into stone, dry and paintable in an hour with nothing to glue.
What it gets right
- No glue, no sand, no mess — the fastest route from bare base to finished base
- Already the right color, so drybrushing a highlight is optional rather than required
- Shrinks as it dries into convincing cracks, which is free detail
Who it is wrong for
- Eats brushes; use one you have already retired
- 24 ml does not go far on 40 mm and vehicle bases, and it is expensive per ml
- Every base looks like every other base unless you break it up with a second material
Scored against this page’s criteria
Specs from the manufacturer: Citadel product page
We do not publish prices. Amazon shows the current one, which is the only one that is ever right. #ad · how this is funded
Static grass and flock basing set
Tufts, static grass and scatter in a few shades. The cheapest way to make thirty identical bases stop looking like thirty identical bases.
What it gets right
- Costs very little per base and transforms how a finished model reads at tabletop distance
- Mixing two shades instantly kills the uniform look a single texture paint gives you
- Pre-made tufts need no technique at all — a dot of glue and tweezers
Who it is wrong for
- Loose flock gets everywhere and sticks to wet paint across the whole desk
- Unsealed grass sheds; it wants a dilute PVA or matte varnish overspray to stay put
- Too much of it reads as a lawn and buries the model's silhouette
Scored against this page’s criteria
We do not publish prices. Amazon shows the current one, which is the only one that is ever right. #ad · how this is funded
Brush-on acrylic matte varnish
Water-based varnish you brush or airbrush on. Slower and less even than a rattle can, and it works in a flat in winter, which the rattle can does not.
What it gets right
- Cannot frost, because frosting is a lacquer-and-humidity problem it does not share
- Usable indoors with no fumes and no spray booth
- Lets you gloss-coat one small area before an enamel wash without masking anything
Who it is wrong for
- Brush marks and micro-bubbles show if you work it too long
- Matt brush-on varnishes can go cloudy over dark colors if applied thickly
- Much slower than spraying across a whole army
Scored against this page’s criteria
We do not publish prices. Amazon shows the current one, which is the only one that is ever right. #ad · how this is funded
FAQ
Questions people actually ask
What is the easiest way to base miniatures?
Should I base miniatures before or after painting?
How do I stop static grass falling off my bases?
What color should I paint the base rim?
Can I base a whole army quickly?
More in Painting and Building Guides, or start from the beginning with what to buy first.
Sources
- Games Workshop / Citadel Colour — paint and texture rangeschecked October 2026
- The Army Painter — Wargamer brush rangechecked October 2026