Making runway bases

[armored76]

Hello,

 

I've seen lots of very attractive runways displayed below the fantastic models, around here. I was wondering if someone built their own or can suggest a good source for them? Preferably one that can be stored away after the photo session.

 

I guess, it should be one that can hold a 1/144 Gulfstream as well as a 747-8F, size-wise.

 

Thank you!

Cristian

[Skodadriver]

There are many options for making bases. I use commercially available bases from Coastal Kits and Nazca. (Coastal Kits are currently restricted due to Covid-19). The Coastal Kits bases come ready mounted on high quality Foamex. The Nazca ones are just plain card but it's easy enough to mount them yourself using artist's spray adhesive. I usually put my bases in cheap photo frames bought in bulk on eBay but picture frames or something home made will work just as well. The largest bases available from Coastal Kits and Nazca are A3 so you may have to look elsewhere for the 747-8F.

 

If it's any help this shows a selection of the bases I use. The A350, Bristol Freighter and Caravelle are on Coastal Kits bases and everything else is Nazca.

[TonyW]

I use plain card with a mist of grey primer from a rattle can over it in a cloudy pattern. I then rule off a grid with thin marker pen and that's it! Next to no cost involved and any size you want.]

 

While the fully lined and cracked surface bases have their place and can look quite spectacular, I think less is more. The plane itself should take centre stage, with the base complimenting it not overpowering it. That's only my opinion though.

 

Here's a card base used with a FROG Comet build I did for the FROG Group Build. The black edge is also done with marker pen.

 

Edited April 25, 2020 by TonyW

[Abandoned Project]

I think that @Scotsman07 should show us how he made his wonderful base that he has used for all his superb builds to sit on in the RFI.

[Abandoned Project]

Primer on cardboard is the easy part. The bit that I would struggle with would be getting the scale right for the concrete squares and the taxi way markings (width, colour, size of lettering etc...)

[armored76]

Thank you, gentlemen! Great ideas so far!

 

Superb Comet, @TonyW!

 

Me too, I would be blocked at the point where I'll have to find out the lettering, its size and... well... meaning There must be some international regulations describing this but not sure if this is available to the public...

[Abandoned Project]

 

 

Bra.Z do an apron decal in 1/144scale but everything is adjustable and the price is €22 plus €12 carriage so that's priced itself out of the market for me. 

 

[alt-92]

7 hours ago, armored76 said:

Me too, I would be blocked at the point where I'll have to find out the lettering, its size and... well... meaning There must be some international regulations describing this but not sure if this is available to the public...

ICAO airport design standards, annex 14.

See also this question on AviationStackExchange (stackoverflow related - who knew this IT stuff would come in handy  ) 

https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/35366/why-is-the-font-size-of-runway-numbers-in-canada-small

Edited April 25, 2020 by alt-92

[Abandoned Project]

2 hours ago, alt-92 said:

ICAO standards, annex 14.

Does this cover aprons or just runways?

[Ad-4N]

I’ve used the generic same hard stand for 1/144, 1/72 and 1/48 models for nearly 20 years.  I’ve never received anything but compliments.  Poster board, 50 shades of gray/grey paint, yellow stripes, HO scale grass mat, off black tar squiggles.  It is of my own design and it doesn’t match any known airfield.  I just wanted something that looked better than plain nothing when I shot outdoors.

 

1/72 V-22B

 

 

1/48 OV-1

1/144 C-141B and C-135A

 

 

1/72 B-26

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Ad-4N

[alt-92]

16 minutes ago, Abandoned Project said:

Does this cover aprons or just runways?

Not gonna spend $280 to answer that question

https://store.icao.int/collections/annex-14-aerodromes/products/annex-14-aerodromes

 

I don't know. I just use google-fu to determine there are standards for this stuff.

[modelldoc]

Decades before I found some in the net, can't say where and printed it out, here is an example:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21603181@N08/35427865490/in/dateposted/

 

A 1:72 Handley Page Hereford 

 

modelldoc

[armored76]

Thank you all, this was very useful!

[Abandoned Project]

9 hours ago, Ad-4N said:

I’ve used the generic same hard stand for 1/144, 1/72 and 1/48 models for nearly 20 years.  I’ve never received anything but compliments.  Poster board, 50 shades of gray/grey paint, yellow stripes, HO scale grass mat, off black tar squiggles.  It is of my own design and it doesn’t match any known airfield.  I just wanted something that looked better than plain nothing when I shot outdoors.

 

1/72 V-22B

 

 

1/48 OV-1

1/144 C-141B and C-135A

 

 

 

 

 

That is;

1- very nice and,

2 - works very well at all scales! And

3 - got some nice models sat on it.

Thanks for sharing.

[Abandoned Project]

I googled and looked at the ICAO standards, annex 14 and Aerodrome  Design  Manual  (Doc  9157). It would seem that runway design will be easier than designing an apron and it's a bit of a piece of string situation based upon the size of the aircraft using the airport. Runways and taxiways are fairly straightforward compared to aprons but the main thing is to pick which aircraft is going to be the largest in your collection and work to that one. I have seen some commercially available bases but most of them seem to be designed for narrow body aircraft which is no good for me and my widebodies, so I will have to make my own.

[Turbofan]

Hi Christian,

If you do go down the diy route you could just zoom in on an area of an airport of your choice on Google Earth and copy it. Using the ruler tool you can make sure its to scale. That way you don't have to worry about whether you're meeting ICAO standards or not!

Cheers,

Ian

[Adam Poultney]

On 25/04/2020 at 09:38, TonyW said:

I use plain card with a mist of grey primer from a rattle can over it in a cloudy pattern. I then rule off a grid with thin marker pen and that's it! Next to no cost involved and any size you want.]

 

While the fully lined and cracked surface bases have their place and can look quite spectacular, I think less is more. The plane itself should take centre stage, with the base complimenting it not overpowering it. That's only my opinion though.

 

Here's a card base used with a FROG Comet build I did for the FROG Group Build. The black edge is also done with marker pen.

 

Very nice comet!

 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

I am currently making my own, still deciding on thickness of the parking and taxi lines and size of concrete pads. Mine will be about 4 feet x 4 feet to take a 1/72 C-17. I ave a few 1/144 airliners and air lifters as well. I was going to paint both sides of the board for different scales but seeing the results of @Ad-4N's base I might just do both sides the same-ish scale and make 2 layouts. I am lucky I have a 2 car garage to store it in and will used 2 saw horse to mount it on when in use.

 

This is the start of it under my 1/72 KC-130

[Giorgio N]

I've always used a simple way to sort the size of the various parts of a runway: check pictures of the intended subject and compare the zie of the runway features with the know size of the aircraft. Of course the result is not accurate, but gives a decent approximation.

Regarding how to build a base, I do something similar to what already explained by others: I start from a grey cardboard sheet and cut it to the size I need. Then I add the junction lines between concrete elements with a scriber. Once these are done, I pass with a black pen with a fine tip within these lines. Sometimes I add cracks and similar features, again with a pen. The same can be done with a small brush and a dark grey paint of course... with paint it's possible to add more volume to these lines to properly simulate the tar inside the junctions, but IMHO this in 1/144 is excessive (but can look great in say 1/48).

I airbrush all lines, after having masked them with tape. I have vague memories of someone making decals for this kind of things, but I can't remember well. Years ago there were dry transfer sheets with these features in scales like 1/50, 1/100 and others, but I believe this kind of stuff has disappeared from the shelves a long ago.

I should mention that I generally spray some clear paint over the cardboard before painting, as using acrylics I want to avoid any problem that a water thinned paint may cause to the cardboard itself. With the cardboard properly protected, I can also apply washes to simulate dirt-

If I have to reproduce an asphalt runway I use as a base a sheet of wet n'dry paper (generally 1200 grit), as the dark grey/black finish of this is IMHO quite similar. It's then possible to reproduce dirt not only by using paint and washes, but also by rubbing pastels of different colour on the sheet.

With both types, and also with preprinted card runways, I usually glue them onto a wooden base to add some strength. What I generally do is to head down to the local DIY shop and buy one of those cheap frames. I then remove the clear front panel and stick my apron/runway on the back panel. Put this back in the frame and I have something that looks quite nice without spending a fortune. Here's a 1/72 example from a few years ago, where I didn't get everything right (the drain is not great) but was happy enough in the end. Total cost of all parts was maybe a fiver, 4 for the frame and 1 for the cardboard. Time needed, maybe a couple afternoon, with another spent looking for pictures

 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

I had a few hours this arvo to start dressing mine up, I went overboard with the concrete creases and will have to tone them down...

 

and with some 1/72 USMC stuff on it to see how it looks, still some work to do on it

 

[Rickoshea52]

I make bases from Wills plasticard, abrasive paper or mounting card and paint them as I like, I also add join lines with  by drawing a straight line with a ruler and pencil then going over free hand with a marker to give it a rougher look that you get with the poured bitumen used as a sealer. 

Cheap frames can be had from charity shops, Ikea or Wilko.

I have also used Scalescenes papers, buy once and print as many as you like again and again. The limitation is the scales available and they start to look alike if you join them together. 

 

https://scalescenes.com/product/tx19-concrete-ground/

https://scalescenes.com/product/tx33-concrete-paths/

[armored76]

More great ideas! Thank you all!

[Ad-4N]

On 4/26/2020 at 1:09 AM, Abandoned Project said:

That is;

1- very nice and,

2 - works very well at all scales! And

3 - got some nice models sat on it.

Thanks for sharing.

You are very kind.  

[Ad-4N]

7 hours ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

I had a few hours this arvo to start dressing mine up, I went overboard with the concrete creases and will have to tone them down...

 

and with some 1/72 USMC stuff on it to see how it looks, still some work to do on it

 

Looks great.  If it were mine, I would add some oil drips everywhere and hit the dark gray/black area with random shades of medium gray.  Scruff up the yellow paint some.  Put tar lines on here and there and finally on the yellow paint lines go back over them where the concrete creases.  I am jealous.  I'd love to have a hardstand that big.  Fantastic job.  I find the hardstand is useful for eye level shots as well.  

 

 

 

 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Thanks for the tips, will take on your great suggestions.