Building a 1:72 Scale Base

Just a quick post to show a base I've been working on for my Tamiya P-51D. I decide that I wanted to add some context to the model, rather than just having it standing on a shelf on it's own.

So the base of my base was one of Trumpeter's display cases, the 170mm square one. To this I added some very fine sand, airbrushed brown. Then I added several packs of Bregun's 1:72 PSP Marsden matting. This proved to be somewhat awkward, if you want to use this stuff then I recommend a smooth surface, the fine sand made it hard work.

I airbrushed another coat of brown paint over the whole base, a slightly lighter shade than before before drybrushing the PSP with Citadel Chainmail. Then the PSP was washed heavily with brown Citadel inks ensuring all the holes in the PSP were brown rather than silver. Oil stains were added by leaving a large pool of brown ink to dry.

Then I added brown flock around the PSP and green static grass. Wheel chocks were made from a wooden cocktail stick, the paper drop tanks were from my spares box (probably from an Academy kit).

Finishing touches included a tool box and tools from Bregun and the pilot figure which came from CMKs USAAF Korean War pilots set (F72 110). The CMK figure was nicely detailed for the scale, I highly recommend this set.

So far I'd say it's about 90% done, just a few more bits to add. So to finish this post, a few pictures with the P-51D Mustang.

Completed Review - FineMolds TIE Fighter - Part 2

Scale: 1:72, RRP - £24.99 (UK import price)

So back to blogging after a break and where better to start than with the FineMolds TIE Fighter. In my previous build review I pretty much covered how well this kit went together, so there isn't much more to say. I will make a quick mention of the masks that were included with the kit for the glazed parts, these were excellent and the decals went on without any problems, despite their small size.

Really all that's really left to do is show some pictures of the finished model.

If you read the my earlier posts, (the build review and this one), then it's not going to come as much of a surprise when I tell you that this is a fantastic kit. Beautifully detailed, authentic looking (when compared to the original film models) and all at a sensible scale. And to top it all off it goes together remarkably well.

The only difficultly for me was understanding the Japanese instructions, but as this kit was only intended for release in the Japanese domestic market that's completely understandable.

Simply put, this is, without doubt, this the best kit I've built to date. Yes, it even out-preforms my favourite model company, Tamiya!

Overall Build Score: 5 out of 5, an essential build for sci-fi modellers (and others). Perfection in model form, a kit that's well thought out, well engineered and true to its film roots in every way.