ext comes an obvious step: the pins are glued into place with Zap-A-Gap is an excellent super glue used for miniatures and modeling. For particularly small parts, put some Zap-A-Gap on a space piece of plastic and, using tweezers, dip the small part into the glue -- it's a lot more accurate than using the tip of the bottle.Zap-A-Gap. I told you this would be dreadfully easy. For an extra nice touch, tilt the pin heads for a more natural angle.

I like to take things a step above and beyond with an optional step that helps secure the pins and prevents fingers from getting a surprising poke on the bottom of the base. Using a candle, carefully let a drop of wax fall onto the bottom of the base where the pins protrude. Don't hold the candle too close -- you're only trying to place a small blob of wax, not melt the plastic base. I not only do this to secure pins and pieces that stick out from the bottom of the base, but to secure a slotta-tab miniature into the base.

As always, follow all safety precautions when using any source of open flame.

You may have noticed how, until this stage, I had not applied any texturing or ground covering to the base. We were working with naked plastic! I generally prefer putting the basing material on after any points of interest. In the case of larger bits like rocks and logs, this gives the impression of the element being stuck in the base, rather than simply glued on top.

When it comes to mushrooms and cat-tails, however, it really doesn't matter since they're so small and are actually stuck into the base anyway. You can put on the ground cover first if that's your preference, but let the glue dry completely before drilling into it and be prepared to knock loose some of the material in the process. One advantage to waiting until last is that you can paint the mushroom easily while it's not attached to a base.

Once we have the solid elements and basing materials attached (and completely dry), we prime the whole thing, just as we would with any figure.

When priming rough and pitted textures such as ground covering, it's easy to get caught up trying to make every single spot of the original colour in the crevices vanish -- meanwhile, you end up clogging up your miniature. Multiple light coats are far better than a single heavy one especially in this case. Aiming from radically different angles helps, too: from above, from the sides, etc. In the end, if your miniature and all the main visual elements have a good coat, just stop. Don't overdo the primer for the sake of crevices you'll be painting over anyway.

Now then, let's paint those mushrooms.