Groundwork
I've not attempted too many bases for my finished models and the ones I have had made have been minimal affairs utilising items I've found about the house. Old wooden name plates and even an Ikea shelf! Not the best looking or ideal material but they have been a test bed.
I have slowly been acquiring various groundwork products such as cheap picture frames, clays and sculpting materials, vegetation, ground mats and the like. To date I have only used a few of these materials on the bases I mentioned above, and these have been very small affairs showing road/track sections for wheeled vehicles. As for buildings I have messed around with a selection of Miniart's vacuum products but didn't get on with them too well!
I now need to learn the basics and find out which adhesives bond with which materials best and how to construct a base from scratch. I have plenty of vignette/diorama ideas of which many are sketched so putting them into practice is the next step.
As my earlier attempts have all had the groundwork sat on top of the base,
I am going to attempt one with the groundwork framed. I personally think this
look gives a better sense of scale and elevates the whole scene. Also, the
height of the ground can be manipulated to a greater extent. Packing polystyrene
seems to be the go-to products for bulking up the initial stages of the
groundwork and Styrofoam for the final layers which can be sculptured.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to source any locally!
My first attempt will involve a small setting with just one vehicle so I
can get to grips with the various materials.
This initial stage took about 2hrs
Materials Used
Materials I acquired for this project: Cheap picture frame, a
floral foam brick and some plastic card
Construction
After measuring out the card & foam to fit snugly inside the frame I went about sculpting out the foam and profiled the card sides to match. I used the model subject (Panzer IV) to mark out the track ruts making sure I left space to spare for the material I would use to sculpt and finish off the ground covering. As the foam is very flexible and soft it is easy to cut, shave and even manipulate with your fingers.
Once I was satisfied the card sides profiles were smooth and sat square, I dry fitted all to make sure I was happy with the composition
