DnD Coin-Weighted Miniature Bases (1in/25mm)

Printed tabletop miniatures are great, but tend to lack the weight that many “premium” minis have. I wanted to add metal discs to the bottom of mine to add that weight, but I couldn't find any suitable discs available for purchase online at a price I liked. So I modified some existing base models to directly hold a US nickel coin instead. Nickels are reasonably heavy for their size, dirt cheap (always just 5c each), can be sourced from any bank (at least in the US), and are the perfect size to fit inside 1inch (25mm) mini bases.

 

5c Euro coins also fit, but they aren't quite as heavy. 

 

This modified base design uses three printed spring arms to hold the nickels securely in place without any adhesives, but the nickels are pretty easy to insert and remove when needed. You can incorporate a base directly into your custom mini models during printing, or glue your mini to a base after printing separately; superglue works pretty well if the mini has big enough feet. 

 

I'm providing two different versions of the bases, one with a hole in the center and one without. The hole makes it easier to get the nickels back out by pushing on them with a paperclip. Without it, non-destructive Nickel removal is still possible but kind of a pain. 

 

Printing

The nickel-holding mechanism was designed to be printed at 0.2mm layer height. Smaller layer heights may work, but larger ones will not. The underside bridging also tends to have issues when lower layer heights are used. To solve this, the provided profile uses a manually-configured adaptive layer setting to transition to a 0.8mm layer height after Z=2.8mm so the tops still print with maximum detail. 

 

A small support section is needed in the very center of the bases to assist the bridging. This has been manually painted in the provided profile. You can automatically support the entire underside if you want, but the supports are much harder to remove if you do that. 

 

After printing, each spring arm will need to be “broken” loose. Place a small flathead screwdriver under each arm and rotate the blade, using the leverage to very gently break the arm free free as shown in these two images:

 

Assembly

Insert the nickel at an angle, placing it underneath one of the arms. 

Use a small flathead screwdriver to gently pry back the next arm (clockwise) until the nickel can be dropped in place under it. The arm may need to be lifted up slightly and placed over the top of the nickel since the nickel will still be at a slight angle. 

Pry back the last arm, press the nickel fully into place, and release the arm to secure the nickel in place. 

In my testing this design retains the nickels pretty well, even when dropped. 

 

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