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English6mm Miniatures: What They Are and How to Choose, Paint, and Commission Them
Updated
6mm miniatures are small-scale figures—roughly 6 millimeters from foot to eye—used mainly for massed historical and epic-scale wargaming, where you want whole armies on a normal table rather than a handful of skirmishers. They suit players who value unit count, formation look, and table space over individual figure detail. If you want to paint or commission them, the practical decisions are scale consistency, basing standard, and how much detail you realistically expect at that size.
What 6mm miniatures are and where they fit
At 6mm, a human figure is a few millimeters tall. You are not buying a portrait piece; you are buying a building block for a unit. That changes everything about how you collect and paint them.
Typical uses:
- Massed historical battles where one base equals a company, squadron, or stand
- Epic-scale and large-formation games where dozens of figures form a single unit
- Armies that need to look like armies, not skirmish bands
The trade-off is direct: less visible detail per figure, far more figures per pound spent and per square foot of table.
How 6mm compares to other common scales
The table below uses the scale range listed by the painting service on miniaturelovers.com, which covers 6MM through 54MM and beyond, including 10MM, 15MM, 20MM, 25/28MM, 35/40MM, 54MM plastic and metal, and 70/80MM. Treat the size and detail columns as general scale characteristics, not product specifications.
| Scale | Approx. figure height | Detail per figure | Figures per unit | Table space for a large battle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6mm | ~6mm | Low; reads as mass | High | Small |
| 10mm | ~10mm | Low–moderate | High | Small–moderate |
| 15mm | ~15mm | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
| 25/28mm | ~25–28mm | High | Low | Large |
How to use this:
- Choose 6mm when the unit, not the figure, is the point—Napoleonics, Ancients, ACW, or epic sci-fi formations.
- Choose 10mm or 15mm when you want a bit more paintability and individual character while keeping big formations.
- Choose 25/28mm when you want character models, skirmish games, or display pieces.
Painting 6mm: what actually works
At this scale, contrast and basing do more work than fine brushwork. A few approaches:
Batch painting
Paint whole strips or whole units at once. Pick a limited palette, block in the main colors, apply a wash or dip for shading, then highlight only the most visible surfaces—helmet, shoulder, weapon, flag. Faces are usually not worth individual attention at 6mm.
Basing strips and stands
Many 6mm systems expect figures mounted on multi-figure bases. Decide your basing standard before you paint, because it affects how you group and orient figures. Consistent base sizes and a uniform basing style (texture, flock, edge color) do more for a 6mm army's look than any single figure.
When to hire a commission service
Commission painting makes sense for 6mm when you have more figures than time, when you want a consistent army-wide standard, or when you are starting a new period and want to jump-start it. The service on miniaturelovers.com explicitly offers painting of metal or plastic figures from 6MM to 54MM in either "Gaming Quality or Museum Standard," and notes that even with postage the prices are low and output fast. It also states it accepts orders by post and that postal and courier services are operating normally.
What to check before commissioning 6mm painting
Before you send figures anywhere, confirm these points in writing:
- Scale and figure count: state 6mm explicitly and give an exact count, including any command figures, artillery, or vehicles.
- Quality tier: ask what "gaming quality" versus "museum standard" means for 6mm specifically—at this size the difference is mostly in highlighting, basing, and flags.
- Basing: specify whether you want figures based, on what base sizes, and in what arrangement. If basing is not included, plan to do it yourself.
- Flags, shields, and decals: these carry much of the visual identity at 6mm. Confirm whether they are painted, supplied, or omitted.
- Shipping both ways: you are mailing figures to the painter and back. Ask about packaging expectations and who bears loss or damage.
- Turnaround and payment: the source page lists a "Painting Charges" section and a "How to Send" section but does not publish prices or payment methods in the material available here, so request a quote and payment terms directly.
Common pitfalls with 6mm
- Expecting 28mm detail: at 6mm, faces and fine trim largely disappear. Judge the army, not the figure.
- Inconsistent basing: mixed base sizes or styles break the massed look faster than uneven paint.
- Under- or over-specifying the commission: vague instructions ("paint them like the box") lead to mismatched results. Send reference images and a written brief.
- Shipping damage: small figures bend and snap. Pack in rigid boxes with padding, and photograph the contents before sending.
- Forgetting the extras: flags, shields, and basing materials are often the difference between a finished unit and a pile of painted figures.
If you are weighing a commission against painting yourself, the deciding factors are figure count, your available time, and how uniform you need the result to be. For a large 6mm army, a commission is often the faster route to a playable force; for a single unit, batch painting at home is usually quicker than packing and posting.