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The Base…
We now have a model that is finished, well almost, but without a base and at least one figure, it really doesn’t do justice to all the work that’s gone into it or set the model in its context. By this I mean its place in history, where it fought, crewed by who and in what conditions. All of these points come to you while researching the vehicle.
I had decided to place this particular vehicle in Russia and this could be deduced from the fuel stowage as for this campaign more jerry cans were carried. A main user of the type was the 6th Panzer Division who started Operation Barbarossa in Tilsit (East Prussia) to the gates of Leningrad, then transferred to the thrust for Moscow.
I decided to have the Pz 35t on a base backed by small trees and being followed by three infantry soldiers. The time would be the start of the autumn with the leaves beginning to change colour and the wet season beginning to make the ground wet and muddy.
I started by determining the size of base which would be rectangular in shape. The top was scored with a sharp blade so the top ground work would adhere to it. Masking tape was then put all round the base edges to protect it. Next came some Oasis foam, (used in flower arranging), which was roughly shaped for the bank the trees would stand on at the rear of the scene and glued into place using PVA. This was allowed to dry then the oasis was cut and sanded to shape. A point to remember is that in nature there are no hard angles, so the ground contours flow into one another.
The next stage is to mix up some Poly filler with water and PVA, to a smooth consistency like icing sugar and then applying it all over the base. I allowed this to dry a little then went over it again where needed. As a final process a ½” brush was dipped in water and used to contour the ground to make the transitions smooth.
Before the filler had dried small stones and grit was dropped onto appropriate areas and pressed into the surface. This was followed with green flock around the muddy area and the bottom part of the bank. The rest of the bank was covered with ground scatter from Treemendus (Reviewed in the magazine) which was again pressed into the filler and allowed to dry.
When dry the base was sprayed with a mix of PVA and water to fix all the items placed so far. When dry the groundwork was painted with black and dark browns
Now it was time to populate the ground with grasses, and other vegetation. Holes were drilled at various points and “long Grass” was glued into place and teased to shape. MiniNature grass strips were then cut to resemble tufts of grass and stuck into place. From the same company I used tufts with leaves and glued then to the ground with PVA. With most products the colours are too bright so all were sprayed with different colours from green to straw. On the bank lichen was glued into place and then further along rubberised horse hair was torn into size and fixed to the base with PVA. On the right side of the base a twig was fixed in place to represent a dead tree.
