Wooden Airfield Base

Published on
Review Author(s)
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$30.00
Company: Tiger Werke - Website: Visit Site
Provided by: Tiger Werke - Website: Visit Site

As an aircraft modeler, I was unfamiliar with this company that is primarily focused on 1/35 resin armor accessories. According to the box inserts and website, they are under new management and are expanding the current line. This base fit right into my area of focus, so I was pleased to have a chance to write a review.

The first thing I noticed was how hefty and sturdy the packing box was. It is made of thick cardboard and has a few images of the product on the top. Inside, the resin base is wrapped in a plastic bag and tucked very securely between foam blocks. This is definitely not going to move around in box during shipping or handling!

The base itself is a good-sized chunk of resin (approximate 10” x 11”), and thus relatively heavy. It will not be sliding around on the display shelf! The casting seems crisp, and the texture of the mud and boards looks good to me. Some textures appear more distinct than others, but this is replicating all-natural materials, so that made sense to me. I did think some of the gaps in between the planks were a bit deep or wide, but that issue disappeared after I painted and weathered it.

I first coated the entire piece with Tamiya’s Grey Primer in a rattle can. You can give this a washdown first, but I did not see any trace of mold release or other issues that needed cleaning. After the Primer had dried, I airbrushed the planks with AK “Buff” and the dirt area with Tamiya Dark Brown. The textured effects on the dirt inspired me to augment that area with some Vallejo “European Mud”. While the texturing on the base is nice, I thought this improved it just a bit more. I then airbrushed variations of the two previous colors onto the base, lightening and tweaking them to make things less uniform. The wooden planks received a few washes of various dark colors, and pigments were randomly applied. Finally, I added a little of Vallejo “puddles” to create some water effects around the muddy area. The entire process was done in a few hours, allowing time in between for drying.

As Tiger Werke states this is suitable for WWI or WWII airfields, I posed an aircraft from each period on the base. It is almost too big for a 1/48 WWI aircraft, but that space allows you to add figures, another aircraft, or whatever to complete the scene. It did seem perfect for a 1/48 scale Me262 that you will see in one of the photos.

As someone who fiddles around with bases and small dioramas a lot, I was incredibly pleased with this item. Spend some time painting/weathering it and you will be rewarded with a good-looking base for a model, or a great starting point for a vignette. Highly recommend!

Thanks to Tiger Werke for the review copy, and to IPMS for allowing me to review it!

Resin Base

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