At certain periods of our lives, especially during this economic downturn,  purchasing everything for a hobby may not be a wise thing to do. The thing about collecting and modelling miniatures is that you need a suitable base to display them around your house. You know what happens to completed miniatures without a proper stand or display base, they get cast aside, forgotten and damaged sooner or later.

This is even more so if you are a student starting out modelling miniatures as a hobby(which can be pretty expensive, considering paint and all the materials required). So how can you with a limited budget, come up with a miniature base that look professional enough?

Search for Suitable Items

The things that I used for making miniature bases comes from the most unlikely of places. Below are some inexpensive items that you can use to create your own miniature base.

Two items that cost a dollar each: an upside down box and a wooden base glued together.

• Wooden box/base  from a dollar store
• Discarded trophy bases
• Plastic bottles and caps
• Plastic container for cotton swabs
• Citadel paint or any other fanciful bottle cap
• Wooden cube(as used in the video)

Normally I use water varnish or wood varnish bought from a dollar store to varnish my wooden bases. Water varnish are simpler to use than polyurethane varnish and gives a good finish every time. Wood filler and putty always comes in handy when you are working on these kind of projects because there are always gaps to fill.

Not an Expert in Woodworking?

If you have never tried woodworking before, not to worry. It’s not about making detailed decorations on your bases but choosing what’s already available and to work from that. The wisest thing to do is to select  items which are inexpensive and already available.  You just need to convert them into your miniature base and make necessary modifications. Start off with a simple idea for a base and groundwork. Once you have some experience, try out a more complex idea and design.

Tried and Tested in Competition

The biggest satisfaction that I get from using my miniature base is when I participate in a modeling competition. It is always great to see your miniature win an award by edging out other competitors that use commercially made bases. So far, all my miniatures that have used a DIY base had received an award in competition. Now that  I can afford commercially made bases, I still continue to make my own; as the saying goes,” Old habits die hard”.

Having said all of the above, you definitely need to put in the extra effort to design and furnish your miniature base. It’s the only price to pay for coming up with something of your own. What I have mentioned above is just the tip of the iceberg. There are endless ways to create and design your own miniature base. I hope this  article will serve you well and give you an idea on how to start.

Please visit 2PaintMiniatures for more information on miniature modelling.