Magnifier Saves Kettenkrad!

Decided to make a stab at a base (1st attempt ever at such a thing) and went down to my LHS and picked up some Woodland Scenics items. Used real dirt from the back yard as the foundation with Coarse Earth, Coarse Burnt Grass, and Fine Yellow Grass along with their Fine Brown Talus for the rocks. Base is a converted black finish acrylic display case with clear top that used to house my M10 Duckbill. Base measures 10"x6".

I know it looks rather plain, but I figured the simple approach was best. The Kettenkrad will be displayed off to the side of the torn up track area as if out of gas with the Pupchen hitched behind it and a single figure carrying a gerry can. Basic idea was that it would have been travelling with larger vehicles (torn up area is about double the track width on the Kettenkrad) and had fallen out while the hapless driver went to fetch some gas. Possible title is "A Pint's a Pound..." in honor of the straining figure (not pictured here).

Any comments/suggestions are welcome.

Kudos Bill. A nice build and base to be. May you be an inspiration to the other Bill (WIPW) to get his going. Suddenly the tracks don't seem so intimidating with the magnifier. I know what's on my Christmas list.

QUOTE: Originally posted by tigerman Kudos Bill. A nice build and base to be. May you be an inspiration to the other Bill (WIPW) to get his going. Suddenly the tracks don't seem so intimidating with the magnifier. I know what's on my Christmas list.

Eric,

Let me know when you take the plunge. If you build the Dragon kit, there's a neat little formula I figured out for making the tracks that dramatically speeds up the process and retains a lot of the workable qualities.

The magnifier has spoiled me in many ways. The lighting it adds is just phenomenal compared to the regular room lighting I'd been using.

If someone was really daring, they could organize a Mad Kettenkrad Day...

Thanks for the tips, wbill. I was planning exactly that, but on some styrene that I keep for practice.

Bill,
good looking base!
i will have to get moving on my base when i return from the Glen.
but i am feeling more motivated now that i see your results.
mine will be a 'first time' too, and i am feeling a bit intimidated.

WW,

I have to admit it was very intimidating at first...I tried to sketch out some ideas on paper as a rough starting point and that seemed to help. Toughest part was deciding how to put the stuff on the base to begin with! I sat and stared at it for about 30 minutes before I just decided to throw stuff on it and play around with it until it looked decent. I commandeered three old seasoning bottles out of the kitchen cupboard and dumped their contents to use as shakers for the Woodland Scenics stuff, that worked out pretty well too. Who knew that Meat Tenderizer, Garlic Salt, and Poultry Seasoning would come into play for modelling?