Workbench

Workbench is where the Editor does his best to assemble, paint, and prepare some of the products sent to us here at The Miniatures Page.

He may be more of a perfectionist than you are - or he may be less of one! He's not trying to prescribe the One Right Way. He's just trying to describe how one guy happens to do it.

If you would like to write a Workbench article, or if you are a manufacturer and would like your products featured in Workbench, please view the FAQ.

Areas of Interest

General

Featured Recent Link

New Year Promise to Myself: Chill and be Kind to Yourself

Featured Ruleset

Quickie Figs

Rating:

Featured Showcase Article

Cheap Scenery: Giant Mossy Rocks

Well, they're certainly cheap...

Featured Workbench Article

How to Dip Wargames Factory Plastics & Old Glory Figures

Laconia Hobbies shows us how it is done.

Featured Profile Article

The Training of an Assistant Editor

How a two-year search for an Assistant Editor finally ended.

Alien Plants From Cotton Pods

Using cotton pods to make alien vegetation. [13 Jun 2025]

OTHER ARTICLES
Title	Description
Making Area Cloths With Shelf Liner	Can non-slip shelf liner a forest make? [23 May 2025]
15mm Hive Mind: Gigabeetles	Extra credit – some monstrous beetles! [10 Dec 2024]
15mm Hive Mind Installation	Every army in ASL needs an Installation. [30 Nov 2024]
15mm Hive Mind: Vicious Biting Insect Warriors	Giant ants are swarming! [27 Nov 2024]
15mm Hive Mind: Giant Armored Cockroaches	Adding a third troop type to the Hive Mind army. [19 Nov 2024]
15mm Hive Mind: Vicious Biting Flies	A new variation on plastic flies. [13 Nov 2024]
Re-Equipping Scotty	This old action figure needed new accoutrements. [8 Nov 2024]
15mm Hive Mind: Acid-Shooting Bugs	Creating giant alien acid-shooting bugs from dollar-store toys. [6 Nov 2024]
Storing the Mechanoids	Finding a solution when the army is too tall. [23 Oct 2024]
15mm Mechanoid Installation	Every army in Alien Squad Leader requires an Installation. [16 Oct 2024]
Megatron the Fourth	What a surprise! A fourth Battle Mech for the Mechanoids. [9 Oct 2024]
Megatroid the Third	If the army list permits a third Battle Mech… why not? [2 Oct 2024]
Mechatron the Second	Modifying a Transformer toy to create a unique Battle Mech. [25 Sep 2024]
Mechanoid Megatron	A rubbery child's toy comes to the rescue! [18 Sep 2024]
Rebasing My 15mm Terminators	These Automata infantry need their basing updated. [11 Sep 2024]
Rebasing My 15mm Assault Droids	These Assault Droids need new basing. [4 Sep 2024]
Storing Projects	Containers for when you need to sideline that project you've been working on, or maybe just not lose the bits you're not ready for yet. [2 Aug 2024]
Skulls Barrier	An easy project to build a linear barrier for fantasy wargaming. [25 Jul 2024]
Lord of the Plastic Flies	What can you do with a cheap bag of plastic flies? [21 Jun 2024]
Raising a Giant Succulent	Blocking line-of-sight and channeling movement through elevating a plant. [24 Nov 2023]
Modding a Giant Succulent	Can you convert a plastic plant to make it more alien? [18 Nov 2023]
Deep Dream: Can It Map?	Can artificial intelligence create useful maps for wargamers? [19 Apr 2023]
Deep Dream: Prototyping Katie	Using artificial intelligence to generate concept art for future fantasy and sci-fi miniatures. [28 Mar 2023]
Deep Dream: Painting Picard	If the AI doesn't know the Vietnam War, does it know Star Trek? [25 Feb 2023]
Introduction to Deep Dream Generator	Exploring picture generation using artificial intelligence. [7 Feb 2023]
Heavy Gear: Northern Guard GP Squad	Editor in Chief Bill upgrades his Heavy Gear force with a second squad from the new boxed set. [15 Oct 2021]
Taming the Giant Succulent	Big vegetation at a small price! [18 Aug 2021]
Sci-Fi Terrain From Fall Decor	Sci-fi terrain doesn't have to be expensive. [16 Aug 2021]
Christmas Buoy	Having more fun at the dollar store, in the spirit of classic TV sci-fi! [24 Oct 2020]
Christmas Wormhole	Christmas at the dollar stores is the cheap hobbyist's delight… [24 Oct 2020]
Taking the Spin Out of Magnetic Flight Stands	Can Editor in Chief Bill solve the rotation problem with magnetic flight stands? [31 Jul 2020]
Building Leadfoot	Editor in Chief Bill finishes the Yellow Team. [1 Jul 2020]
Building Octa-Blitzer	Editor in Chief Bill makes a simple conversion to a toy car. [28 May 2020]
Grey Knights: Purifier Squad Rik	Editor in Chief Bill paints another Grey Knights squad. [11 Apr 2020]
Armored Windshields	Cracked windshield? No problem – just armor it! [29 Nov 2019]
Building Army Car Two	Editor in Chief Bill adds a new vehicle to his Army racing team. [18 Jun 2019]
Building Army Car One	Editor in Chief Bill uses bits from Stan Johansen Miniatures to upgrade a toy car for post-apocalyptic battle arenas. [7 Jun 2019]
Deconstructing a Toy Car	Sometimes, you have to take it apart, so you can put it back together again. [6 Jun 2019]
3Dprinted Jersey Barriers in 28mm	Useful 3D models for concrete barriers. [27 Jul 2016]
Simple Magnetic Flight Stands	Editor in Chief Bill takes another stab at building a more perfect flight stand. [13 Jun 2016]
Printing a 3D Model From the Internet	Editor in Chief Bill finds a 3D model on the internet, and tries to turn it into a wargaming model. [30 May 2016]
Drilling Holes in Minis - Part III: Going Larger	Editor in Chief Bill weighs the pros and cons of using a power drill on the minis workbench. [24 Jan 2016]
Drilling Holes in Minis - Part II: The Screwdriver	Editor in Chief Bill learns to drill with a screwdriver. [17 Jan 2016]
Drilling Holes in Minis - Part I	Editor in Chief Bill experiments with Finger Drills. [10 Jan 2016]
Marking With the Silver Sharpie	Trying out the silver Sharpie... [14 Jun 2015]
Brandon Paints Cy-102H	Painting a droid from the Fearless boxed set. [29 Sep 2010]
Adam Answers the Undercoat Question	Which color of undercoat works best? [25 May 2010]
Da Pinkos from HLBS	When evolved Newts happen upon a WWII comic... [17 May 2010]
Brandon Paints Jack Led	A photo-only tutorial on Fearless's Jack Led. [2 Apr 2010]
Suzi & Zombie Suzi as Painted by Pigmented Miniatures	Here's Suzi - before and after... [17 Jul 2009]
Painting the Biker from Hell	Sam shows how to paint a vehicle, starting with silver and gold. [15 Jun 2009]
Aztecing the Embassy Assault Carrier	You were wondering "How does he do those patterns?" [21 May 2009]
Adam Paints Some Conspiracy Aliens	"Funny lookin' fellas" is what Adam calls these invaders from outer space. [21 Apr 2009]
Hasslefree's Morgan & Tony	With clean lines and not a lot of clutter, Minidragon says these figures are a painter's dream! [5 Mar 2009]
Steve Jackson Games' Hellboy Villains	RobH was delighted to get the opportunity to paint these figures. [26 Feb 2009]
Adam Paints the Brigadier	Adam8472 takes inspiration from Doctor Who. [19 Feb 2009]
NMM vs. Metallic Pigments	Painting the same figure in two contrasting styles. [5 Jan 2009]
Vampire Wars Villagers	Warcolours Painting Studio paints "four characterful figures that seem to come directly from a vintage vampire movie..." [23 Oct 2008]
Painting Copplestone's News Crew	Dentatus thinks Mark's work is among the best available for all-around gaming and painting. [9 Oct 2008]
VSF Vessels from the London War Room	Mardaddy has an adventure with two Victorian science-fiction vessels. [24 Sep 2008]
Acrylic Flight Stands from Litko	What flight stand for our Hurricanes? [27 Aug 2008]
Painting the Castle Kits Egyptian Temple Entrance	Minidragon finishes his Temple project by painting the kit he previously assembled. [14 Aug 2008]
Simple Basing Technique for Modern Pulp	One way to base Modern Pulp figures for a wide variety of environments. [11 Aug 2008]
Tony Builds and Paints a Khang Robot	Tony shows how he puts together and paints a Flash Gordon-inspired sci-fi pulp robot. [7 Aug 2008]
Brandon Paints the G-1000 Guardian	Brandon Palmer of Grey Matter Musings Studios paints the G-1000 Guardian from Excalibur. [24 Jul 2008]
Painting More of the Corporate Babes	Warcolours Painting Studio says he's pretty happy with these babes... [11 Jul 2008]
Adam Paints Gangstas	Adam practices his white techniques on some Thugs. [11 Jun 2008]
MiniDragon's Spaceship Tutorial	People have been asking Minidragon for a while now if he would be willing to put together a tutorial to explain and show how he paint his spaceships. [18 Mar 2008]
Painting Hasslefree's Not Hot Fuzz Nick & Sam	Dentatus tackles two subjects from his favorite sculptor. [13 Mar 2008]
Painting Copplestone Castings' Corporate Babes	I supplied Stronty Girl with some 'babes', and she did the rest... [12 Mar 2008]
Web Space Station by CyborgTruckerUSA	DemosLaserCutDesigns "expands his knowledge" by venturing onto the high frontier. [19 Feb 2008]
Jasta Braune - SMS Hamburg-Class Gunships	dampfpanzerwagon makes models of models of models... [14 Feb 2008]
Quickdeath by CyborgTruckerUSA	DemosLaserCutDesigns takes inspiration from Masters of the Universe when painting these mutant cats. [13 Feb 2008]
"Tentacles Away!" with Flex-Sculpy	Dances With Words experiments with better tentacle material... [1 Feb 2008]
Blind Old Hag's Do-It-Yourself Flight Stands	How Blind Old Hag makes flight stands for 1/300 scale aircraft. [17 Jan 2008]
Building 28mm Sci-Fi Trees	The G Dog needs big honking trees - large enough to stop the Bugs! [15 Jan 2008]
ZorzSERBIA Paints Hasslefree's Ken & Kendra	Two of Hasslefree's Adventurers venture to Serbia... [12 Dec 2007]
From Flower to Sapling?	Can a plastic flower become a wargaming shrub? Or maybe a small tree? [10 Dec 2007]
Cavemen & Giant Armadillos!	DJD Miniatures runs amok with a diorama of cavemen and the giant prehistoric armadillo! [27 Nov 2007]
Dreamblade Repainted	Hundvig is not a real big fan of pre-painted minis, and he positively despises randomly-packed "collectable" ones - so why is he writing this article? [7 Nov 2007]
Zombies on the Workbench	Chogokin encounters the Walking Dead. [6 Nov 2007]
Dentatus: A Chance to Paint Something Scary?	Dentatus paints a couple of mean-looking mutant-type villains from the far future. [4 Nov 2007]
A Couple That is Possessed Together, Stays Together	DemosLaserCutDesigns says these Possessed Zombies would lend themselves well to a zombie game based on the world of the Evil Dead movies. [30 Oct 2007]
An Ancient Menace: Necrovores!	DemosLaserCutDesigns gets to paint out-of-production figures he never thought he'd see again. [15 Oct 2007]
Libby Gort!	alizardincrimson2 takes Hasslefree's Libby in a whole new direction... [11 Oct 2007]
Adam Paints Some DemonBlade Soldiery	Adam uses stark highlighting for a 'cartoony' style with these DemonBlade figures. [14 Aug 2007]
United Colours of Pig Iron	NBFGH with Attitude explores the versatility of Pig Iron's infantry. [19 Jun 2007]
Adam Paints Hasslefree's Ray	Adam gets to paint a cool figure, and then paint his dead counterpart. [13 Jun 2007]
Eureka's Kung Fu Schoolgirls	fieldarchy paints Eureka's anime heroines. [30 May 2007]
IDTV: Converting a Mercurian Maculator	Iron Dream Tournament V needed something that looked infernal, science-fictionesque, original, and big... [15 May 2007]
Three Adventurers from Hasslefree	Paul Baker of Brush Strokes tackles three female adventurers from Hasslefree. [9 May 2007]
Adam Paints Some Parroom Adventurers	These models gave Adam the perfect opportunity to experiment with Citadel's new Foundation paints. [2 May 2007]
CombatPainter Makes a Barbed Wire Section	combatpainter has been watching some documentaries lately set in the Western Desert, and was inspired to create this... [30 Mar 2007]
Robots to Smash!	When you feel like smashing robots, where can you find enough of them? [6 Mar 2007]
Painting Ninja Magic's Tiko Destroyer	Zen Ghost makes use of mirrored surfaces in painting this Tiko Destroyer from Ninja Magic. [2 Mar 2007]
Bronze Age's Wasteland Mutants at Blue Table	Is Blue Table Painting Service a match for ten giant, four-armed mutants? [26 Feb 2007]
Obelisk's GangStars at Blue Table	Blue Table paints up three packs of Obelisk Miniatures' GangStars. [22 Feb 2007]
Can These Minis Be Saved? Episode III	The Spacefarers are covered with some kind of lead disease! [19 Feb 2007]
Laser-Cut Bases for Grav Vehicles	The Editor tries a simpler solution for grav vehicle basing. [12 Feb 2007]
Painting the USS Meade	Having scratchbuilt a flying monitor, dampfpanzerwagon now paints and bases the model. [7 Feb 2007]
Scratchbuilding a VSF USS Meade	Building a flying two-turret monitor from scratch, inspired by Space: 1889. [6 Feb 2007]
Eve of Destruction	Lonewolf dcc paints another of Hasslefree's adventurers. [5 Feb 2007]
Maddogs and Englishmen...	Lonewolf dcc paints his favorite from Hasslefree's Zombie Hunter range. [21 Dec 2006]
Krimso's Dragon Landscape	Entry #3 in Scale Creep's Scavengers Design Contest - as a father-and-son team venture into a land of Dragons and Mutants... [4 Dec 2006]
Timlillig's Astrohunt	Entry #2 in Scale Creep's Scavengers Design Contest - big game hunting in a heavily populated asteroid belt. [1 Dec 2006]
Andrew Walter's Franklin's Sea	Entry #1 in Scale Creep's Scavengers Design Contest - a complete 18th Century Fantasy game you can play on your refrigerator. [30 Nov 2006]
Heavy Gear: Northern Guard Recon Squad	Jake Staines of Eviscerate tackles a squad pack for Heavy Gear. [8 Sep 2006]
The $2 Planet	What can you do with those cheap Christmas decorations? Well, the sky isn't the limit... [5 Sep 2006]
Anyone Seen My Puck?	Lonewolf dcc returns to show us how he painted Hasslefree's Jess zombie-fighter. [23 Aug 2006]
Powered-Armour Libby	Holger Schmidt of Fantasy Miniatures jumps at the chance to paint Hasslefree's Powered-armour Libby. [16 Aug 2006]
Necron Monolith Diary	Mardaddy of Mardaddy Paints experiments with color-shifting paints on a pair of Necron Monoliths. [7 Aug 2006]
Building the Veh-Deh-Merd Express	If your tournament is inspired by John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars, you've got to have a train! [21 Jul 2006]
The Zombie Resistance Family Project	Meet the Zombie Resistance Family! [20 Jul 2006]
I Once Knew a Girl Called Maria...	Lonewolf dcc explains step-by-step how he painted Hasslefree's Maria adventurer. [11 Jul 2006]
Making Zed	Sometimes, you've just got to have that special figure... [28 Apr 2006]
Last Painter Standing II: BattleTech	Ten painters begin - but only one can be the Last Painter Standing! [7 Mar 2006]
Rednecks On The Road To Iron Dream Tournament 4	Can NBFGH with Attitude make an army of Rednecks for Iron Dream Tournament 4 from only four poses? [21 Feb 2006]
Printing & Binding from PDF	The Editor learns about downloading, printing, and binding a ruleset. [23 Jan 2006]
Bartella and the Neanderthals	Scurvy's mission: Convert and paint 8 Reaper Neanderthals into a Cyberpunk/Sci-Fi gang of future 'hop heads,' using common wargaming supplies. [23 May 2005]
An Impatient (and Cheap) Idiot's Guide to Assembling and Painting Bugs	TheMackster shows his quick-and-dirty way to paint up the Warrior Bugs from Starship Troopers. [7 May 2005]
Assembling a Warrior Bug from Starship Troopers	The Editor puts together some Warrior Bugs from the Starship Troopers boxed set. [21 Apr 2005]
Can This Mini Be Saved? Part II	What's wrong with Americ-Ann, and can she be saved? [16 Apr 2005]
A Hexon Board for Ogre	The Editor uses the Hexon II system to build a science-fiction battlefield. [14 Apr 2004]
Storage Cabinets Project	The Editor tries a new storage solution for his Ogre models. [9 Apr 2004]
Last Painter Standing	Eleven Finalists have embarked on a grueling 9-month, 9-round contest of their painting skills. After each round, the readers of TMP will vote somebody out of the contest - until there is only one painter remaining! [16 Oct 2003]
Cheap Buys: Snowball Ornaments	The Editor finds a gaming use for cheap Christmas ornaments... [1 Dec 2002]
Assembling and Painting GW's MkIVb Predator	Leland R. Erickson of Miniatures Dressed to Kill takes on Games Workshop's upcoming release: the MkIVb Predator. [1 Jul 2002]
Building Future War's Heavy Transporter	The Editor makes a few mistakes, learns a new basing technique, and ends up with some unusual gaming models. [20 Nov 2001]
Painting and Basing Irregular's 2mm Sci-Fi	Reader James Marshall shows how practical 2mm science fiction wargaming is - low cost and easy to paint up! [12 Nov 2001]
The $1 Gretchinmobile	What can you do with a $1 vehicle? The Editor steps up to the plate and takes a stab at painting the model we reported on last week. [17 Mar 2000]
Painting Up the Armorcast Trench System	A quick-and-easy project - painting up Armorcast's Starter Trench Set. [10 Mar 2000]
Bring on the Osario 4000!	The Editor takes on a 1/300 scale grav tank from Scotia. [10 Mar 2000]
Going 3D With Moondragon	The Editor Undertakes 3D Space Combat. [10 Mar 2000]
Starships, Painted Fast	The editor messes around with a fast-painting method, on some 1/3000 scale starships from Brigade Models. [10 Mar 2000]
Adobe Buildings from Foam?	These structures, made of a light but durable urethane foam, have been sent to us by Epicast. [10 Mar 2000]
Resin Rocks	Tactical Conflict Systems lets the Editor paint rocks! [10 Mar 2000]
Resin Craters	Three sizes of battlefield craters from Tactical Conflict Systems [10 Mar 2000]
Building the Janus VII	The Editor takes on Reviresco's microscale Janus VII. [10 Mar 2000]
More 25mm Earthworks from TCS	The Editor paints up some 25mm Plank Earthworks. [9 Mar 2000]
Brick Ruins in Resin	A set of ruined brick walls in "15-20mm" scale from Tactical Conflict Systems. [9 Mar 2000]
25mm Earthworks from TCS	Speaking of "amazing," painting up these 25mm terrain pieces from TCS is amazingly easy. [9 Mar 2000]
Stumped!	A two-step painting process that puts stumps on your tabletop. [7 Mar 2000]
A Scratch-Built Missile Site in 1/285th Scale	The Editor takes household junk and hobby store supplies to create this simple missile site. [7 Mar 2000]
Back to the Rebellion!	The Editor paints up some 10mm scale Cybrid Vindicator scout hovertanks, from Starsiege: Rebellion. [7 Mar 2000]
Starships, Painted Fast - Part II	The editor continues to mess around with rapid-painting techniques, this time on some Silent Death starships. [7 Mar 2000]
The Imperial Obsidian Tank	Sci-fi war in a larger scale - a look at the 10mm vehicles for Starsiege: Rebellion. (Roughly twice the scale of Battletech, for instance.) [7 Mar 2000]
A SMITE from Star Blazers!	The Editor "starts out small" with this ship from the Star Blazers! product line. [7 Mar 2000]
Building a Three-Decker Spacecraft	The Editor moves up to a medium-sized ship in the Star Blazers! product line - the Gamilon Trideck Carrier. [7 Mar 2000]
"S" Stands For "Battleship"	The Editor concludes his small Gamilon fleet by building the S-Type Battleship. [6 Mar 2000]