Base material?

There are a bunch of things you can use, and I'm sure everyone's got their favourite base material which works for them...that being said...my preference is to use ceramic tiles. They're cheap at any building supply store, come in a varity of sizes, and are perfect for providing a solid base to work on.

i am working on my first dio, and i got a cheap memo board frame
(about 8x10) from an office supply store (< $3)
and then i took out the cork sheet and put in a piece of foam core poster board
that i cut from a big sheet (that was < $2).

only tool needed was a box cutter to cut the foam board to size.
(i do not have saws or routers, so i need a simple approach)

I use styrofoam as used for building insulation. First decide on how large the base will be. Then decide on what it will be. The decide on what you want for a border. Only you will know what is good for you. Just take your tim and it will all afll together.

Good luck,
Richard

Only the cheapest crap available, Mall-Wart picture frames, are used on my dioramas, and they look pretty good! See for yourself on "Die Ruhe.."

got myself about 10 cheesboards from a jumblesale (large & small) they are thick and have a nice curve already

I took the cheesy wooden plaque from "The Wedding Oath" that my aunt gave me and my wife for our wedding day and ripped off the front. It works nicely! It was already shellacked and stained. I dont think I will be telling my aunt about that though.
My question is if I use styrofoam to build up the dio prior to application of Hydrocal, how do I secure it to the base? White glue? Oh yeah, what is MDF?
Ryan

Ryan; I always use white glue to attach foam to the base. Solvent based glues will eat styrofoam. MDF is Medium Density Fibreboard.

knight667....I go to the craft store and by these pieces of ply wood which come nicely sanded and have rounded and frame-like edges.

I've used the Verlinden tarmac's too. When I've glued them I've used rubber cement and it seems to work pretty good.

here's another good base material. It's sorta like Critr Gitr's idea. Only I by the used bases and plaques sold at craft stores and the like. just sand, stain, sand stain, sand, stain, and you're done....really it's not that much work. you probably only need to sand and stain it once or twice, just to smooth it out and give it some color and sheen.

in fact the rougher the surface is where you're attaching the base, the better. gives it something to stick to.

BY THE WAY Ryan- another good glue for attaching bases is construction glue, like Liquid Nails. doesn't dissolve the insulation board, and once its dry, it'll hold like nothing else.

-gringe88

sorry, mistake in the prior post. the bases I buy aren't used. They're fresh. Just wanted to clear that up for u.

If you know any cabinet makers see if they have any scraps of Ultra Light MDF. It's the same material as regular MDF just half the weight.

all of the cutting is easy by piece of ply wood on top it mix of tanbark, cat litter and PVA
(PVA must mix 50% warm water)

hope you like the idea