Base Texture Coverage Calculator
Work out how much texture paste a batch of miniatures needs, by base size, count, and depth.
A 250 ml tub does about 31.3 batches of this size.
A shallow, even skim coat is plenty for most texture pastes. Going deeper than about 1-2 mm mostly wastes paste and can crack as it dries.
How it works
The calculator treats each base as a circle and works out its area from the diameter you pick, then multiplies that area by how many bases you're doing and how deep a layer of texture paste you want. A 32 mm round base has an area of about 804.2 mm², so a batch of ten of them at a 1 mm skim coat needs 10 × 804.2 × 1 ÷ 1000, which comes out to 8 ml of paste. The tool also divides a standard 250 ml tub by that batch size so you can see how many armies' worth of bases one tub realistically covers.
Worked example: you're basing a 20-model unit on 25 mm rounds. Each base is about 490.9 mm², so at a 1 mm coat the batch needs 20 × 490.9 ÷ 1000, roughly 9.8 ml, meaning a single 250 ml tub covers around 25 batches that size before it runs out. Switching to bigger 40 mm bases for a monster or vehicle crew eats through paste much faster per model, since area grows with the square of the diameter, not in a straight line with it.
FAQ
Texture paste, glue and sand, or pre-textured bases: which is worth it?
Texture paste is the fastest and least messy option, straight from the pot with a palette knife, and it dries a consistent color that takes paint evenly. Glue and sand costs almost nothing and gives a grittier, more natural texture, but it takes an extra drying step and loose grains can shed later. Pre-textured plastic or resin bases look great out of the box and need no drying time at all, but they cost more per base and you're stuck with whatever pattern they were molded with.
Should I paint the base rim before or after the texture?
Do the rim last. Apply and fully dry the texture first, then paint the model and its base top, and save a clean coat of rim color, usually black or a dark brown, for the very end. Painting the rim first just means you'll scuff or drip on it while working on everything else.
What's a cheap alternative if I don't want to buy texture paste?
Mix cheap wall filler or spackle with a little PVA glue and water to a thick, spreadable paste, then press in fine sand or ballast before it sets. It won't look identical to a commercial texture paste, but it's a fraction of the cost for basing a large army and holds up fine under normal handling once fully dry.
Does paste depth actually matter, or should I just pile it on?
A thin, even coat around 1 mm deep is enough to hide the flat plastic or resin base and give a bit of texture. Piling paste on much thicker wastes material, takes longer to dry all the way through, and is more likely to crack or flake off later once it's handled during games.
For more on finishing your bases, see how to base a miniature, simple basing ideas and textures for beginners, and how to paint and finish the base rim.