Mike Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I picked up a few of these bases at Cosford last weekend, after passing them by many a time back when I was an aircraft only modeller. This time I had a quick look, and was soon deciding which ones I wanted first to place my tanks & AFVs on, as I was mightily impressed with the designs & quality of the castings. The prices weren't half bad either, and friendly staff/proprietor added to the "must have" factor. The bases are made from dental plaster, and are heavy, with a slightly porous looking surface. They have a wide range of diorama bases that can be used as kits themselves, having a particular theme, or you can buy buildings & street furniture to place on your own groundwork. As a diorama neophyte, I chose the easy way & opted for the kits. I bought the Middle East and shop bases, which come in sturdy packaging, suitable for mail order, although postage on their website is necessarily expensive. My two were straining the handles of the thick carrier bag I was carrying them in, so I was hasty to get back to the car with them! I'll post up some pics of my own efforts on these two when I've had chance to build them up, but I also picked up one of their smaller bases, which was a paltry £4, and depicts a section of cobbled street at a slight angle to he rectangular base, with a small slice of pavement to one side & some textured concrete on the other. The vendor assured me that the plaster isn't very porous, and after spraying the dark grey on the Messerspit, I decided to use up the left overs on the base. I noodled about making patchy patterns on the cobbles, then added some brown to the mix. I added further brown & scribbled away again, then mixed up a batch of almost all British Gulf War Light Stone, and used a tongue depresser to roughly mask off parts of the flagstoned area. After that had dried, I drybrushed roughly with some lighter grey, which picked out the edges of the cobbles, and gave the sidewalk a nice yorkstone style color. I left that to dry for a while, and took my life in my hands, spilling a quantity of Mig Pigments brick dust onto the base. I scrubbed that about with my fingers, working it into the gaps between the stones, then wiped the excess off with a moistened piece (or two) or kitchen towel. Once it had dried, I was pleasantly surprised at the dusty street that I was left with. I'll paint the sides of the base and seal it all with some varnish in due course, but for now, here's a quick picture I took. You can see that the rubbing has burnished the cobbles a little, and that I've added a couple of bits of Magic Sculp to represent some discarded tarp, and a few bits of litter. I've ordered some of GNR's bricks and will probably add one or two to the finished scene to give it a little more interest. In total, it took me about 35 minutes to work it up to this state, and I enjoyed every minute of it, as it was so easy to do & so effective! You can see their full range of products and lots of pictures of the finished articles here. Review items courtesy of my pocket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obi-Jiff Kenobi Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Looks very good, O sainted leader. Nicely-made base, and well finished too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigger Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Simon at Great North Roads has a web site @ http://www.greatnorthroads.co.uk/ and he is a very friendly chap too. I have also seen his products on ebay @ http://shop.ebay.co.uk/merchant/farrugia1962 I have a few of his bases and have used some of the smaller items too. I have also mastered some items for him as well as vac forming the clear parts for his Horsa Glider. One of the items He has in his range is a 1/32 scale base with PSP matting over some rough ground which can be used for vehciles or aircraft. His range is ever expanding and I delivered a new master to him yesterday which will be a slightly elevated road section with two agricultural areas which can be either a paddy field or with some work a rough feild surface. The aim was to provide something that can be useful for those wanting a base to simulate a Vietnam scene. He also has figures and Bust in his range to so as you can see he has quite a listing of useful bits. Thoroughly recommended trader with loads of great products. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads203 Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Nice work Mike, they look like quality bases indeed. I checked out the website and the prices are very good, will invest in the future. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Brickles Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 The work Simon does at GNR is brilliant have stocked his goods for a number of months now and they sell really well. The prices are really reasonable and they build up cracking, and with a little extra work can be built really convincing. THis is the French shop front (not finished) that I have been working with roof and floor elements added that sits in my shop window .... Paul www.abcmodelsport.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 I delivered a new master to him yesterday which will be a slightly elevated road section with two agricultural areas which can be either a paddy field or with some work a rough feild surface. The aim was to provide something that can be useful for those wanting a base to simulate a Vietnam scene. Great stuff... I was only lamenting the fact that he didn't have a Vietnam scene in the range last night. I have a Sheridan that's going to be Vietnamised Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigger Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Having spent some time with him ast Night I cabn reveal that Simon is currently sourcing several materials for building dioramas which are amazing. His aim is to bring the very best materials out at the most competitive prices he can. I know he will have sea moss foliage soon and the box that he will sell looks bigger and fuller than any other companies I have ever seen. Keep watching the web site for new exciting items. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 Having spent some time with him ast Night I cabn reveal that Simon is currently sourcing several materials for building dioramas which are amazing. His aim is to bring the very best materials out at the most competitive prices he can. I know he will have sea moss foliage soon and the box that he will sell looks bigger and fuller than any other companies I have ever seen. Keep watching the web site for new exciting items.John Happy about that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 I picked up these two a tenner each for the Village, Parts 1 & 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 11, 2009 Author Share Posted April 11, 2009 I bulit up the Middle East Flats diorama last night, epoxying the various parts (there are 9 in total) to the baseboard in a couple of sessions. The flat desert area in the foreground is plenty big enough to cope with an Abrams MBT, or anything else that you care to put in there, and there's plenty of scope for adding a little detail to the insides. The insides are flat out of thje box, but a little wobbly following the moulding process, so I gave them a good sanding with a piece of sandpaper taped to a flat surface. Once that was done, it makes the parts easier to attach together, and gives a better surface onto which you can add any extra detail you might want to add. I'm not sure what I'm going to add yet, but there will be the remains of some electrical fittings, maybe a bit of broken furniture, and I'll be putting a set of wooden batterns to the rear of the sandbagged entrance to hide the blank rear surface of the sandbags. I've also got a couple of damaged oil drums that will probably make an appearance somewhere in the diorama. I've gotta say that I'm loving making & painting these bases so far. I can see me picking up a couple more from the next show I attend, funds permitting The pictures. Unpainted of course. I'll post up a couple more pics once I'm underway with the painting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Brickles Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 Looking nice and neat Mike - are you going to be putting any detail on the inside ? Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 11, 2009 Author Share Posted April 11, 2009 Looking nice and neat Mike - are you going to be putting any detail on the inside ?Paul Yup... not 100% sure what, but I'm just eyeing up some L-rod with a view to perhaps a bit of the remaining suspended ceiling? Will be using some circular rod & making some brackets for cable conduits, and some styrene blocks for switches & sockets. Might have to make some breeze blocks to throw about inside too. I'm also trying to pick up a bit of furniture from somewhere... not found anything that floats my boat yet... certainly nothing that fits my price-point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 12, 2009 Author Share Posted April 12, 2009 I spent a bit of time yesterday adding a few scratch built details to the Middle East base, including a wooden buttress for the back of the sand bags in the large doorway, a drainpipe on the outside, and wiring for the aircon units on the outside. The wiring was made by strapping 2 lines of 0.5mm solder together with thin strips of Tamiya tape, which were then glued on the walls. The drainpipe was made from a length of Contrail styrene tubing, which was bent & the end flared out as if it had been hit by shrapnel when the rest of the building was destroyed. I made some retaining clips from thin strips of pewter attached to short bits of styrene strip, and then glued the whole lot in place. Inside I added a bannister to the stairs in the corner, and a couple of light switches with accompanying conduit, which was made from rod with more pewter strips countoured round it & glued in place. Upstairs I put in a plug socket, guessing that it'd be a 2-pin system , conduit that again is traumatised where the building now finishes. I'm going to add a few more bits to the dio before I paint the inside, and then start with the layering of rubble & debris. The buttress was made from Maccy D's coffee stirrers, roughly cut to length, glued, and then stained with some Mig wash. Once dry, I gave it a bit of a sand to distress the wood, and then glued on some lengths of thin rod, which were sanded down to nail heads when dry. These were then painted with a few dabs of rusty oil paint to give some clue as to how they fit together. I've now sprayed the outside of the dio with various shades of gulf war armour & german tank cream, with bits of grey & white added here & there. I think I'm going to paint the building a rather dreary, weather beaten white, and add plenty of soot into areas where there is shell impact damage. Incidentally, where cables run near impacts, I've distressed them with a blade & bent them to make them blend in with the look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Brickles Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 (edited) Looking good Mike Know where your coming from on the furniture - the MIG modern stuff is a little pricey - my thoughts are scratch building something - fridge, table etc. On another note and loooking at the ref out there all electricity wiring is above ground so maybe an electric point on the highest point of the dio with plenty of cables hanging down. Keep up the good work Paul Edited April 12, 2009 by Paul Brickles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 WOW!! Just came across this....Looking very good...any more of your progress pics? Just asking.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Er....Mike...Any more pics ..updates.... Hungry for More.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 Not yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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