Here I'm going to show you how to make the bases I'm using on my Deathwatch Army. They are intended to appear to be a part of a run down industrial city. The floors are grating and diamond grip, and there's rocks and dying grass all over along with other detritus.
The first thing you need are your supplies. I've pictured just about everything I use in this base below except for the plastruct tubes and sheets that are used to make the shell casings. Shown here is: A sheet of diamond plate plastruct, an I-beam plastruct stick, a corner plastruct stick, mesh in the form of window screen, a medium round base, snips, pin vice, modeling knife, and file.
Step 1
Cut the diamond plate plastruct to the shape/size that you want. Here I was lucky that I had already cut a piece out and had the inside angle that I wanted, so I just cut out enough to cover the appropriate edges of the base.
Step 2
In preparation for making curbs, take the I-beam, and slice it down the middle. It's not too important if the cut is even at this point, as a 50/50 cut is still going to have to be trimmed down to the right height.
Step 3
Here you can see my very messy job of cutting the I-beam apart. Very uneven.
Step 4
Use your knife, and smooth out the bottom of the cut. Try to get it eve all the way across to maintain its height along its length. Remember that the diamond plate sheet, and the mesh are going to have to fit underneath.
Step 5
Fit your diamond plate sheet onto the base, and attach it with whatever substance you prefer. I use Tenax 7-R, a plastic welder that pretty much fuses the plastruct to the base. You have to be careful with plastic welders though, as they can literally melt away the texture of the diamond plate.
Step 6
Cut a length of the corner plastruct stick long enough to be the other curb. You're I-beam will need to be able to fit under this as well.
Step 7
Attach the corner stick to the base such that it is facing away from the diamond plate. You want it to cover up the edge of the mesh when it is placed onto the base.
Step 8
Fit the half-I-beam to the other edge of the diamond plate. It should fit under the corner piece and over the diamond plate.
Step 9
Here you can see the corner junction. Note how the I-beam piece sits nicely under the corner, and over top of the diamond plate.
Step 10
Time to apply the mesh. I've already got it cut out to a nice square, so no adjustments to shape are necessary yet. Using model glue, be sure to cover a good portion of the base. Especially important are the edges of the base, as these are prime areas for it to fray with wear later on.
Step 11
In order to keep the mesh in place for drying, I used the model knife and the pin vice to apply pressure. The mesh is bent slightly upwards (a natural curve that came from cutting it I think), so the pressure from the pin vice pushes the mesh up against the underside of the I-beam and corner pieces. This lifts the whole base up, and that is why the model knife is there to apply an opposing pressure.
The result is that the mesh is firmly pressed down against edge of the base itself - the most important place to ensure the glue holds it in place.
Step 12
Leave the base to try (with pressure applied) until you are certain the glue is dry - I left it overnight. If you don't wait, the next few steps will break pieces off of the base and you'll have to start over.
Here you can see an underneath shot of the base. Note that we are going to have some left over materials. I'd suggest just getting a little box or bin or something to keep them. You can use them for smaller bases or other things!
Step 13
Use the snips to clean off the majority of the excess materials. In most cases you can get them off in one piece and keep them around for later.
Step 14
Use the model knife to clean up the edges of the diamond plate and the curbs.
Step 15
Once the diamond plate is cleaned up, go back with the clips, and snip off all the excess mesh.
Step 16
As a final clean-up step, use the file to smooth off the transition between the base and the diamond plate/curbs.
Step 17
All thats left is to add little bits and peices of rubble/scrap, and paint it up. Here's a pic of the final product!
