Ok Material is not a problem, neither is making the base. What I need is an idea for the base. I don’t know what is appropriate.
I picked up a Tamiya 1/16th scale WWII Luftwaffe Ace Pilot fig. Fit so far is nice, moldings are excellent, etc. I don’t want to just stick it on a stained peice of wood. I’d like to put it in some kind of context. Dirt and or grass doesn’t really seem appropriate.
For making bases for my dio’s and such, I use various materials, wood, styrofoam, foam core board, spackle, durhams water putty, various woodland scenics stuff.
I’ve heard of sandpaper being used to simulate airfeild tarmac. Perhaps you can find a texture and color that looks right to you.
I sometimes do runway/tarmac surfaces by painting a piece of evergreen sheet styrene w/ Mr. Surfacer 500, using a sponge to give it texture, the same way armor guys will give a cast look to armor sufaces. Scribe a joint line afterwards, maybe w/ some subtle cracks…
Well, Luftwaffe forward airfields WERE mostly dirt and grass…
Depends how big the base is, I reckon… A small one would look kinda iffy with a pavement-type of surface if there isn’t a way to add markings in a practical way…
Static Grass blend would look good, IMHO, and dirt would be ok too… Especially since with dirt, you can carry the ground color up onto the figure’s boots, which will tie it to the base…
Well, regarding the Mr Surfacer, it’s not available out here. Not worth it to mail order it, since I don’t order in large bundles, just one or two items at a time.
Considering that this fig doesn’t stand flat(it’s supposed to but Tamiya made a boo boo), I think actually doing some kind of non hard surface like dirt or grass might end up being the way to go, so I can kind of sink the feet in a bit.
I didn’t realy want to do any weathering on this guy, his pose is more of a formal post, and his uniform seems to be more of a dress uniform then anything else, so I imagine it would be a bit more spic and span. The odd part is the dress style uniform, combined with the inflatable jacket.
Can you post a pic of it or the box art?
This is from the box art.
Perhaps inside the flight shack, standing next to a wedgie of a table with some maps on it or infront of a wall with a wall chart of “today’s mission.” maybe with part of a wall with a “window” overlooking ar airfield, supplied by a printed color picture of a German airfield.
Unfortuntely, he’s too large to do a wedgie of a Messerschmitt or FW.
Due to his stance I viewed him as more of a statue type pose instead of being able to be put into a setting like that. The next fig I do, I will put it in a setting like that, because he’s already in a fighting position. I didn’t go with that fig because I didn’t want to deal with the complex camo scheme on the uniform for my first fig.
Out of curiosity, what would the “mm” scale be for a 1/16th scale fig such as this? This is about the smallest I care to do, with the exception of dio figures for my armor builds.