Hi...
Progress report.
this is my first attempt at any kind of dio....well since helping a friend add scenery to his model railway when I was 12....such a long time ago...lol.

I thought I'd keep it simple for a first go. So decided to do a bit of airstip for shooting completed models.

The biscuit is clumping type kitty litter and has not turned out quite as I'd like.

Any views, comments or advise will be wholeheartedly welcomed.





I intend adding some oil stains and maybe a few tyre marks...???

Thanks and cheers
Peter

Peter that looks real good,I know what you mean about the clumping kitty litter. The good stuff is the non-clumping. The tire marks and oil stains will also make this a terrific base for your planes. What did you use for the runway? Cheers Kevin

looks great pete what did you use for the tarmac?

Hi Kev..




I cut up plastic (styrene) sheet into squares and battered them and added cracks although you can't see them on the pic, and glued them down. I sprayed them with grey primer and added a few washes of various tints and some pstel chalks.

I'm thinking of using aquarium fine gravel to replace the kitty litter...???..if I can find some in Riyadh.
The foam hilly thing will be polyfillered and painted with some model railway grass added.

Cheers
Peter

Looking nice. The oil stains and tyre marks are both good ideas, maybe some sort of painted marking (text, number) would look good as well? Or maybe not, it depends on the dimensions of the base you have there.

pete,
just had a brain wave why not try and pick up some bathing sand for chinchilla's? thats almost a
dust and would be a nice scale effect .I'll pick up some later myself

Looks good and convincing, I like the tone of the tarmac.
The gravel does need a touch of work, you could sift some play sand over is in a while glue mix to break up what is there.
The seams are bit deep (at least in the photo). I would add a bit of seam filler (zap a gap, white glue,. putty) just to give the impression of the seam tar used.

What scale is this going to be for? Be careful with the vegitation you add if you are going to mix scales for photo shots.

I think a generic base is a fantastic idea just for taking pics. Things certainly would look much better on a base rather than a weather beaten 2x6 deckrail

Thanks so far one and all..

Scott



I was thinking of soaking a suitable size string or twine in paint then use this as the seam filler.

The scale is for 1/72nd. I don't do any bigger so scale shouldn't be a problem....but watch this space...if I get tempted to try a 1/48th.
I've made it quite large to accomodate up to bombers.

I'll print out a suitable backdrop...i.e. meadow in front of a line of trees with hills in the background and a big sky.

Cheers and thanks.
Peter

Thread is a great idea to fill the gap. Careful of the little fine hairs that may spring of the thread. A touch of white glue/water mix will keep them down.

Thanks again...

Scott,
I'll keep the peepers pealed for wayward strands..I wonder if there's a plastic version that won't go hairy???
Or tiny plastic rod???/

Davy...
Great idea...but out here it'll probably be unheard of...but I am in Saudi...the land built on sand of various types...???

Cheers
Peter

If you're going to get stray stringies from the thread maybe you should use a green thread and paint it black tar color. Any stray stringie then becomes weeds or grass growing in the crack.

Brilliant!

Alan, you answered my very next thought...how to apply weeds in the cracks after the sealer goes in.
It just goes to show...5000 heads are better than one...lol.

Thanks a million.

Cheers
Peter
:-)

Pete,
you could also use thin nylon fishing line to fill
the areas between the gaps you can buy different
thicknesses so you should be able to find one to
suit your needs or get a dark grey/black sprue and
stretch /melt it into the gaps and smooth it out
that will give you a nice effect of the tar they put
down between them in real life

It just reminded me of my high school days in the summer having to weed the sidewalk cracks everyday at this exclusive country club I worked. I swear the weeds would be back the very next day.

"It just reminded me of my high school days in the summer having to weed the sidewalk cracks everyday at this exclusive country club I worked. I swear the weeds would be back the very next day."

LOL LMAO.... reminds me of my days awaiting a court martial, one of my duties was to do exactly that outside the base XO's office........ LOL LMAO

The base looks good Peter, and a good Idea also.
Perhaps I'll make up a basic base just to photo some vehicles also.