Once you prime your miniature and remove flash and mold lines, you're ready to attach it to its base.
Most miniatures I buy come with a separate base. Those that don't, should. Miniatures for which the base is part of the entire miniature cast tend to tip over. The bases of these miniatures tend to have too small of a footprint for the size of the miniature, so they fall down easily.
If you plan to use your miniature in wargaming or with a roleplaying game such as Dungeons&Dragons, you'll want to make sure you mount your miniature on a stable base.
Many manufacturers sell separate bases. From Games Workshop's "Slottabases" to more creative bases sold separately, you've got a lot from which to choose.
If you already have a base or you're happy with the one that came with your miniature, click here to skip ahead to deciding on a color scheme.
How To: Learn How To Create Custom Oak Bases for Under 25 Cents Each
Use a good quality super glue to attach the bottom of the miniature to its base. I have found that the thick consistency "crazy glue" works the best. Its strength is that it can fill in small gaps. That's also its weakness. You have to be careful not to get it into areas where you don't want details filled in or obscured. The biggest nuisance about super glue is when it gets on your hands. It can be difficult to remove and irritate your skin. For this reason, it's a good idea to know how to remove super glue from your skin (or other objects) before gluing.
If the miniature you're painting didn't come with a stable enough base, these Reaper miniature bases work great, and it doesn't cost much for 25 of them.
Few things can be as irritating as getting super glue all over your hands or your work. Also called crazy glue or cynoacrylate adhesive, it can be a nightmare to get off.
How To: Learn How To Remove Super Glue from Your Hands or Furniture
This is a lifesaver, though it's hard to find locally, sometimes (see product link for Amazon). Just apply super glue to your miniature parts and spray the accellerant on the joint area. Within 10-15 seconds, even thick super glue sets tight.
Without it, you may find it very difficult to keep miniature parts together without moving, which weakens or prevents altogether the bond from adhering properly. This can cause a buildup of glue, which can obscure details (especially with thicker crazy glue) and cause a real mess.
Tired of waiting for super glue to dry? Especially when pinning multi-part miniatures, the slightest movement can mess everything up. A quick application of super glue drying accelerant, and the bond is all but instant. This has saved me endless headaches.
I used super glue for years to attach miniatures to their bases, but anymore... not so much. I found a glue called E-6000 which is fantastic!
While it doesn't have the instant set time of super glue plus accellerant spray, what's different is the bond it creates. It remains flexible! The bonds bend, rather than breaking, a common problem with super glue.
Also, you can remove a miniature from its base after attaching it, and in most cases, you can simply peel off the glue.
If you get it on your hands, you can peel it off once it dries without using a super glue remover, which sucks the oil from your skin and can make them bone dry afterwards.
The glue fills even better than thick super glue, so it also has that going for it. It doesn't take more than around 5 minutes to set up well enough for your miniature to stand on its own without propping it up.
Overall, this is the glue I reach to most now when attaching miniatures to their bases.
E-6000 is hands-down the best and most versatile adhesive that I have ever used. I still use super glue for gluing and pinning multipart miniatures together, but for most everything else, E-6000 is the best!
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