For those that saw my WIP 1/72 Wildcat, I've been working on a base that is a section of aircraft carrier deck. My original plan was to use balsa cut to the scale size, but realizing it is a time consuming task, I looked to alternative methods.
The last visit to the local hobby shop, I noticed some pre made and finished 1/48 USN and IJN deck sections that were on clearance for about $6 each. I purchased the USN section after the light bulb went off. On the way home, I stopped at the local Office Depot and made 4 color copies of the deck on card stock, reduced to 67%.
The copies weren't large enough to fit onto the piece of .08" thick styrene that I also purchased at the hobby shop. I figured out the best way to go about it, after staring at the copies and styrene for some time, was to cut along the wooden planks. Carefully cutting to leave some of the black lines (that simulated gaps between the planks) so that it's easier to make the copies line up to cover the whole piece of styrene, without the obvious seperations in the sections.
After the sections were cut, I sprayed the back of them with Krylon Spray Adhesive. Happy with the results, thinking I was finished but feeling the need, I attempted to seal my efforts, but the Tamiya Flat Clear spray can almost bleached the base. I ran back to Office Depot, made more copies, then using a broad wood chizel, the paper was scrapped off and 90% isopropyl alcohol was used to remove the glue residue.
Cutting the new copies, I reglued them to the styrene. After drying, I trimmed to size and put on the unfinished Wildcat to see how it looks.
Anyways, sorry for the rambling, but I figured it would be useful for any one else looking to do the same thing, hopefully this will have saved some frustration. Any questions or comments, I'd appreciate hearing them. Nice thing about the premade bases is that I can reduce or enlarge as needed for future projects. Time for the pics.
