40mm Sharpe and Harper - part four

I wanted this pair of 40mm Graven Image figures to be mounted on to a display or diorama base. I searched through my box of bits and settled on this 50mm round 28mm tall socket or plug of rough wood, (pine I think) that I picked up some time ago. I have no idea what it is or was but am glad that I kept it.

Photo One - I added a couple of layers of scrap balsa wood to the rear and some simple wood chips to the front. Once these were superglued in place, I trimmed them to shape with a large 'snap-off' bladed knife and filled any gaps with DAS modelling clay and/or Milliput over a layer of uPVA glue.

The edges of the socket/plug were very rough and rather than try to smooth them out I though I would make use of this roughness to add some interest to the base.

Photo Two - The base was sealed with a mix of uPVA glue and some white acrylic paint. I also added a 50mm round resin base to the bottom. (I am not sure where I bought the base from, as it was some time ago). I superglued the socket to the resin base and filled the slight gap with some ready mixed filler (Spackle).

Photo Three - Prior to painting, I washed the whole base with some diluted Badab Black wash from Games Workshop.

Photo Four - The stonework was simply drybrushed with some Skull White and Chaos Black while the sides of the socket were painted Black.

Photo Five - OK, I've been very impatient and mounted the two figures onto the base prior to completing the painting. What can I say - I'm a big kid and I wanted to see how the composition worked!

The miniatures bases were mounted in to the diorama base after I had cut two small holes into the balsa and wood chips. I used superglue to secure the miniatures and then built up the groundwork with DAS. In this photo you can see that I have also added some sieved stones and fine sand over the groundwork. This was applied over dilute uPVA glue.

There is still some work to do on this diorama, but I am pleased with the progress so far and think the two figure composition works well - Sharpe charging to the front and Harper covering the rear.

I am using the term 'socket' as I have recently read some tutorials by German model makers who use the same term. I am sure that 'plinth' would work just as well, however as this piece of scrap wood is so rough, I have stuck with socket.

Tony