I need some advice. I am searching for an easy method for making the typical airfield concrete surface in scale 1/48.

As it is the intention to gradually build a large diorama (this is not a 5 year but a 50 year project ) Ineed something that I can continue to use.

I got the advice to use thick drawing paper, to airbrush it and then cut it in pieces to form the individual concrete slabs.

Anybody knows anything better?

Hi Drabslab!

I have a similar project!

If you plan to build your diorama over many years (that's what I plan to do) I wouldn't use thick paper or paperboard. Over the years it won't stay flat I think. I would rather use a wooden base.

I plan to do a large diorama in several pieces. Basically, each wooden base will represent a small diorama but once assembled, it will represent a much bigger one! But this will indeed be a 50 year project!

What are you going to do? A Belgian airfield, a RAF base, a Luftwaffe Flugplatz?

Jean-Luc

Its a time wharp project.

One one side, It should look like an airfield from the early days of aviation, on the other side like a modern (whatever modern may look like in 50 years time ) airfield.

Walking along the airfield should lead you through the main conflicts in which aviation took a major role.

I know, it's over ambitious, well its plain grazy all together, but its fun dreaming about it, and even if I can't cobble it all together, the individual dioramas will have their merits on their own.

I have the overall plans sufficiently mature to concentrate on the individual dioramas.

Strangely enough, finding a good and easy to make substitute for a concrete airfield surface is more difficult than I thought.

I've used two methods.
1. I etched concrete squares into a thin sheet of styrene. This was nice because it gave me a firm yet workable surface. You can texture it a bit if you want. Sand some roughness into it or soften it with some liquid cement and stipple it.

2. I used the surface of my plywood base. I sanded it down quite a bit to get a good surface. Then I painted it. It was OK.

Some of my attempts to re-create cement runway surfaces:


This is "Spackle" with a very light (almost a wash of gray) that's real cement beyond the P-39


This cement is construction paper, dulled with "Mod Podge" then weathered with some pastels.


This is sheet styrene (actually the base provided in the hanger kit) again covered with a very light coat of gray.

These are just some things I've attempted, lighting will of course effect the look but hopefully they give you some ideas ?

P.S. The truth be known, the "color ?" I prefer to use for cement is the color in my brush cleaning jar - it's mostly gray but very uneven ?

One more :


The "runway" at upper right is "sludge" from my cleaning jar, the "road" is pumice rubbed into the spackle surface with my finger.

Hi there

We've just been given a bunch of hard plastic mouse-mats at work as part of a new supplier's promotion. They seem to have a really nice irregular texture, so they immediately caught my eye as a modeller more than as a mouse-user! LOL! I'll take a snap and check out the brand name tomorrow during a coffee break.

All the best

Rowan

Thanks for all the good idea's