1:35 Street base

The real subject

A street is among the most rewarding settings for a diorama. A small section of roadway is enough and a model of a vehicle stops acting as an exhibit on a bare board; the viewer recognizes at once where the scene stands and how big it is. This base is prepared for exactly that and is executed in 1:35 scale, that is in the most widespread scale of military hardware and figures.

What it is suited to

It will serve as a base of its own under a single model, as a section of a larger diorama and as a ground for photographing finished work. How much room is left for models is decided by the shape and the relief of the surface, so try the arrangement out dry before you begin to glue and paint.

• 1:35 scale, the same as ordinary kits of military hardware
• the motif of a street surface
• a finished shape of base; the terrain does not have to be built from nothing
• a surface ready for painting, weathering and dusting with pigments
• suited to a vehicle, a gun and a group of figures alike

Building and painting tips

Before painting, wash and degrease the surface, otherwise the paint will adhere poorly. Cut the excess material off the edges with a sharp blade a little way from the base and sand down the traces of manufacture. Spray the base color on and then work from darker tones toward lighter ones: lightening with a dry brush will bring the edges out and the surface will gain depth. Darken the joints and the hollows with a liquid weathering product, and at the close add dust and mud with pigments. The particular procedure for preparation is given by the manufacturer's instructions.

Who it is for

It will be appreciated by modelers who want to put a finished model into a setting without building terrain themselves, and by collectors who want to unify the look of a display case. Unless stated otherwise, do not reckon with the package holding a model of a vehicle, figures, paints or glue.