"Painting Vacuum form bases" Topic

Hello everyone!

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So I have taken up a new challenge to the hobby and I am hoping some of you have some good tips on how to paint vacuum form bases. See my blog post.

Perhaps fill in the undersides with filler to make them tougher. All the best.

A few years back I painted up some 28mm Vac form scenery from a company called Amera who by the way sell a range of 1/72 of bases.

link

My best tip to get them looking less like plastic is to texture them, I used sand and PVA glue, but you can get textured acrylic paste, used by artists, which you can paint on it dries clear but leaves a grainy texture which you can paint over and then drybrush to good effect. Also try foliage foam flocks and self adhesive grass tufts can really help to bring model ground work to life.

I might suggest having a look on YouTube for diorama and model railway videos you can pick up some great tips on how they create more realistic ground cover for your bases

Here are some of my old vac form pieces painted for sci-fi gaming

Thank you both. I will try your suggestions out. I am really interested in the acrylic paste. I will look for some.

I have purchased a few of the Amera stuff from Noble Knight Games. I have a few projects to do over the summer.

Acrylic modeling pastes: link

Capt.Zeelow and his pet Chuxilian River snapping turtle.

Thank you! I am looking forward to putting it on the extra IMEX bases I have.

Many years ago, a company called Bellona ( if I remember correctly) produced vacuum formed scenic items. I still have their bridge, painted with Humbrol enamels. Paint job has lasted over 40 years.

I have a few Bellona pieces, one did recently. I will post that one this weekend. My real life gets in the way of "hobby time."

I know I suggested checking out YouTube videos in my earlier post have a look at this guy. He has same great videos mainly aimed at wargames scenery but a lot of techniques would work well on dioramas like yours. For example I see you tried adding some flock but this guy has some tips that could really elevate your flocking to the next level

YouTube link

Wow…I feel like a chump after watching that! LOL
That was really amazing work. I will have to watch more. I need to find a Flockit to get my grass to stand up.

HI folks so I updated the next pictures of a Bellona piece I picked up a few months.

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Cool I like that one better than the Airfix one. The Airfix one seems overly busy with lots going on. This one being a bit simpler shows of the vehicles better. I don't think the lack of hill tops is to much of loss the smaller one looks perfect for a polish MG team the larger one looks good for a polish mortar.

One bit of constructive criticism is the river looks to blue and uniform. Some green mixed in with the blue would work wonders as would subtlety darkening the base the colour closer to the banks.

thank you. Yes, agreed. I have never used that product before and I didn't know how it would come out. I have another smaller piece I am working on. I added texture with kitty litter, which I use on my figure bases. So, I am optimistic it will come out better.

So I put this together over the weekend.

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Back in the 70s, Vac Form terrain features were all there was. Still stand up well. I don't know why there are so few manufacturers now.
Even with texturing, a box of Vac Form scenics weighs a LOT less than comparable resin items! One gripe was that they WOULD tend to include shell craters! (As in above pic. ) Could always fill with a bush!

Not sure what Manufacturer, but, as a kid, there were Larger Vac Form 'battlefields', (About 2' square.), which were 'much used' but 'Flawed' in design.
A trench system… with the 'fighting' trench BEHIND a planked road… with what could have been a support trench as front line…. even as a kid, I couldn't understand that.
A rather nice 'ruined ' small port' with jetty.. but the gun position had a moulded 'pedestal', which meant you couldn't put a gun in it!
There was a nice 'ravine'.. but with few areas where troops could actually stand up… and they 'Had' to put a concrete 'Defence Position', there…!
Oh well, 'back in the day'!

Wonder if someone might look into Vac Forming against resin?
But better thought out!

I think those bases you are talking about were in kits made by Atlantic. They were large and very colorful, but odd in design like you say. When I was kid, a friend of mine had a two of them. This was very early 80s.

I am back with another one.

I was happy with the desert tones. I have a Bellona rubble piece I am working on next.

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Those last two are definitely an improvement on the first two keep up the good work.

HandLCreator. No…these were unpainted grey plastic and quite robust. Not kits.
More than one Manufacturer might have been in play? I also had another 'ravine and a ruined castle… in thinner plastic… cream or pale green.

There were smaller pieces of 'trench', etc. about 1' Square… in pale blue for some reason!
Think they were Bellona.

Their scenic walls and bridges were very useful. Walls were a bit 'basic' but ok for 70s gaming. Bridges, very nice… but sometimes a bit 'narrow' for armour… AS SOME BRIDGES ARE when you get to them! lol! Think the smaller one still survives, somewhere, but the larger piece 'got squashed'!.

There was also some 'MicroArmour' scale stuff.

I know I'm a fortnight late but this may of some help:

link

Heedless Horseman: Bellona did make some nice stuff. On occasion I find a piece on Ebay. I do have the bridge set and it is on my agenda of pieces to paint.

Maha Bandula: nice work! I am trying to craft my skill. Going to from tanks and figures to static terrain requires a bit of trail and error to get the process perfected. I like the extra large rocks you added. Did you create more?

HandLCreator and Maha Bandula: Very nice pieces!
My Old 'Big Pieces' will still be 'somewhere' in the garage, behind 'piles'… 'Resurrection'.. about as likely as my own! LOL!
But, smaller scenics… Well, just goes to show!

Well as mentioned, I painted up a Bellona piece this past weekend.

See what you Gents think of the outcome.

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Dave

anyone have tips for fine cutting of these bases? I have some vacuformed ruined buildings that came with BUM sets. each wall is in 2 pieces, one for each side, and I need to figure out how to cut the edges off perfectly enough to glue the 2 sides together. then there's the railings which need the same process, yikes. Does it make sense to glue first and cut all the excess off after? thanks for these great tips, all

Been AGES but seem to remember the best way was a new #11 blade, score repeatedly, dont try to do a complete cut in one go.

Hi, Do you have a picture of the walls? And, yes cutting the plastic straight is difficult.

So, I put this one together over the past two weeks. It is from Amera Plastic Mouldings Inc. But, I got the wrong building included in mine. So, I did the best I could with what come in the set.

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