Diorama base bargain

[Guest]

picked these 6 1/35 scale diorama/vignette bases up for £6.

[ATTACH]288189[/ATTACH]

They are a lot smaller than I expected but they are still decent quality for the price paid. Bought them off amazon from fields of glory models.

I think they will make a nice display base for single figures or small models in the future

[Guest]

Nice haul!
What you can do if you're cunning is to make moulds out of those bases in silicone or similar material and then just make your own in plaster every time you need one and thus saving money!
Ok, it's a grey zone in copying, but doing your own resin copies in the world of scale modelling isn't exactly unheard of...

Remember to use some release agent on the bases before pouring silicone all over them, otherwise you're stuck with no base at all.

I don't know how much you paid for them? Perhaps it's just cheaper to buy ready made ones, but if they are made out of plaster you might just as well make your own and have ready made moulds for the future, whenever you need a certain base!
Just a thought

[Guest]

Cheers matey, Haha that is way out of my ability. I wouldn't know where to start or what I would need. Yeah they are made from rock plaster. Only paid £6 for the full pack so can't grumble at them being quite small. Got my mini art diorama base to do next anyway that'll be fun! Any tips on cutting the vaccine formed parts would be welcomed buddy

[Guest]

Cutting gypsum/plaster is done with a fine-toothed saw with as thin blade as possible.
A Dremel with a cut-off wheel could also work perhaps?

The bubbled piece I would cut from the backside, not all the way through and then score the front side with a scalpel or similar and break the part eventually, if you want the bubbles as whole as possible.

The best option would be a band saw, or a bench saw.

[Guest]

Have a look here on the miniart web site and they gave some helpful construction info.

http://miniart-models.com/painting-guide/

I built one of their building kits sone years ago and remember the vac formed plastic to be very hard so as Jens has mentioned already its a case of going steady and not trying to cut through in one pass.

I would also suggest washing the vac formed sheets in soapy warm (NOT HOT) to get rid of mould release agents which i remember i did have on mine.

You might also consider getting yourself a filler as many of the kits have an inner and outer wall to be glued back to back and depending on how you have cut out the parts you may find small gaps.

Hope you get on ok.

[Guest]

Have a look here on the miniart web site and they gave some helpful construction info.

http://miniart-models.com/painting-guide/

I built one of their building kits sone years ago and remember the vac formed plastic to be very hard so as Jens has mentioned already its a case of going steady and not trying to cut through in one pass.

I would also suggest washing the vac formed sheets in soapy warm (NOT HOT) to get rid of mould release agents which i remember i did have on mine.

You might also consider getting yourself a filler as many of the kits have an inner and outer wall to be glued back to back and depending on how you have cut out the parts you may find small gaps.

Hope you get on ok.

Cheers mate I'll have a look on the link. I have some green putty will that do the trick for the gaps? I'm going to make a start on it tomorrow

[Guest]

Cheers mate I'll have a look on the link. I have some green putty will that do the trick for the gaps? I'm going to make a start on it tomorrow

I seem to remember at one point squadron green putty (and the white) went off sale because if its toulene content here in the UK. Not used it for some years so it may have been re-formulated (not an expert on this so maybe someone else could comment).

However if it is still as strong a solvent as it used to have then - Squadron green stuff can be a bit on the strong side if you use it too thickly. It will work for you but should you have any areas to fill then build up in layers allowing each to dry before adding the next. Use it too thickly and it had a tendancy to melt the surrounding plastic.