Introduction

When I was down at Duxford Military vehicles day this year, I picked up a couple of the SB Scotia Diorama bases. This is a brief look at SBS 35067, the 1/35 scale resin Street Corner Diorama Base. The box art was done by Stewart Binns of SB Models.

The base

The kit is cast all in a cream/buff type resin and comes in two simple parts: the main base measuring just over 7 ½ inches by 5 ½ inches, and a small section of demolished wall. The contents come packed in a small, sturdy box showing details of the manufacturer and the product details, with a colour print of the finished base to use as a painting guide if you want. Little clean up is needed other than a quick sanding of the base under-edge and the removal of a small plug on the damaged wall section. The base could be used on its own, or mounted on a small plinth-type affaire. Mine rocked just a little when placed on the table, indicating some slight warpage, but nothing of any great concern.

The base displays a cobbled street corner. The cobbles run both across and down the base giving a nice variety of layout. The corner part has a raised footpath and a small section of damaged wall with some rubble on the pavement. There is a tram line running just across the front edge and some rubble in this corner too. The remaining two corners also have smallish piles of rubble. The rubble itself is mainly dust piles, small bricks and some corrugated iron sheeting evident on by the top left hand corner, along with a manhole cover in the larger, bottom right pile of rubble

The cobbled street is very well-done— the base is not just a flat surface, with the cobble stones dipping slightly, giving the street a nice, natural undulation running across it. The level of detail on the base is extremely good with sharp detailing rather than soft casting. The design of the cobbled street looks very good, with the two different styles meeting at the corner. This is additionally defined by the border cobble stones of each separate street area. The paving stones and paving edges look good, too. The small damaged wall section stands just over an inch in height, so will add a little height without obstructing the viewer’s sightlines of the kit on display. The base is big enough to display small vehicles and figures on, but it will also hold a single large vehicle.

I have included some WIP pictures for a better perspective and a couple with vehicles on the base so you can better judge the size.

Conclusion

A very handy and well-detailed base. Little preparation would be needed before you could get painting underway, and mounted on a plinth, the unit will provide a very nice display base for some figures or a vehicle. I saw completed example of the bases when I was visiting Duxford, and they do provide a very decent display. Additionally, this base could be used in almost any genre in any time-frame from the introduction of paved sidewalks. With its quick and easy clean-up, you can pretty much get to the fun part straight away, and the rest is up to individual choice and need.