Keith Forsyth brings us a very simple Idea to make a very useful diorama base.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Thanks for the feature - a well known, now well documented tip.

Very nice......
Not having access to a table saw to cut the plywood, I have found that foamboard ( I get that at the art store, or a craft shop) works just as well. I use the glass itself to guide the knife for the cutting. Always get the right size, snug fit, and glued and clipped in place, never had a problem.

I have never bought an actual diorama base from a store. I've always used whatever I could modify: picture frames, hat racks, even slabs of slate. So why does anyone buy these expensive bases when there are such cheap alternatives. I'd rather spend the difference on another kit. :-)

Hi guys

I'm sorry if this is a stupid qustion, but why can't the glass be used. The dio itself is not heavy enough to break the glass. I normally use wood scraps that are cut to size then finished, but picture frames would be cheaper and easier.

A really cheap source of picture frames is your local charity shop. They usualy have boxes full of c##p paintings, for as little as £ 0.50.....Buy a job lot and they'll usually drop the prize a bit. But if it's for a good cause, why haggle?
Whilst you're there, the figure painters and braille scalers amongst us might want to check out the horrid little statues... they are dead cheap, and are mounted on nice little bits of turned wood....

Like so





Look on peoples face when you buy one of these 'heirloom figureens' and snap it of the base is priceless..

Cheers
Henk

Doc Dios was the first modelling site I found, when I got into the hobby, and has influenced me quite a bit. I still use photoframes for nearly all my bases.
I use the glass though and never had any problems. If I dropped a whole base, breaking the glass would be the last of my worries.
Hopefully keith might put forward more of his articles, as so many new modellers, would benifit of a "one-stop" build a dio, instruction.

HI Guys

Thanks for all the support, one of the main reasons for releasing a lot of these articles has been the fact that i still get enquires from various modellers regarding my old web site.
I hope there are still new modelers who find them intresting and useful. The whole principle behind Doc Dios was to show how easy modelling can be by showing everything step by step using pictures.

In this day and age where everything is produced by one company or another, it is always nice to be able to do it differently.

The reason behind not using the glass is a safety one, with the age gap in modelling being quite large young to old, i felt that it would not have been a good idea to advercate the use of the glass in case sombody got injured also i find everything bonds better to the rough surface of wood than the smooth glass.

i will contiue to submit more of my older articles over the next few weeks, if people are intrested

cheers

keith forsyth

Hopefully you will Keith, as there is an interest. If you look through the questions in the dio forum, you´ll see how many basic questions there are about basic base building.
Those two "step by step" dios were a treasure trove of useful tips with clear and precise images to follow.

Nice article. Very simple yet very useful

A great tip.Any ideas on camnets that are deployed