Wednesday, 22 April 2026

Basing 101 - part two

Following on from my earlier post I will now give details of how I prepare the plastic card base for attaching the resin barricade and the DAS modelling clay.

Firstly I 'score' the surface of the 3mm thick plastic card with a large snap-off bladed knife. I do this so that the DAS modelling clay has something to 'grip on to' - I am not sure that this has to be done with every piece of terrain but as I have been doing this for over a decade and have never had any DAS come loose or shrinkage I feel that it is a precaution worth taking.


With the plastic card scored I first sanded the base of the model with medium sandpaper (which was attached to a piece of Contiboard with double-sided tape) and then glued the resin barricade (Alternative Armies - link) in place. I have used gel type superglue and accelerator for this as in my opinion this gives the best results.


Next I added the DAS modelling clay over a layer of dilute PVA glue. Nothing special here just a thin layer of DAS to 'blend' the base of the barricade in to or on to the plastic card base. I use a mixture of plastic and wooden clay sculpting tools for this.

As you can see I just couldn't help adding some additional detail in the shape of balsawood strips and small plastic card nails.


In the next update I will show how I add additional texture to the plain DAS groundwork. As with the earlier post, if you have any questions or comments please go to the comments section. 

Thank you.

Tony

3 comments:

Codsticker said...

Does the plastic card have a texture? It almost looks like Foamex.

Lasgunpacker said...

Thanks for posting these, really interesting.

What is Contiboard though?

Tony said...

Q. 1 - Answer. The plastic card does not have a texture but I am familiar with Foamex. I believe this is the plastic sold in sheets for advertising signs, normal plastic signs and display panels. I will do some research and see if I can find the correct name.
Q. 2 - Answer. Contiboard is a chipboard core covered in plastic. It is usually sold in sheets or lengths for DIY and is the same as the panels that you would find in an IKEA wardrobe. I picked up my piece as an off-cut from B&Q. See this link - https://www.selcobw.com/products/timber-mdf-sheet-materials/melamine-faced-chipboard#:~:text=Melamine%20Faced%20Chipboard%20(MFC)%2C,wood%20material%20for%20internal%20projects.
I hope that these answers help.