Model Bases

At your local hobby or crafts store are some nice bass wood bases you can buy for about $1-$2 USD. They come in various shapes and sizes, and I have found they are perfect for my models. I stopped in Hobby Lobby today and picked up two sizes of base for my Tallgeese III and my upcoming RX-78-G05. I couldn't decide right there what size I wanted- so I bought four and brought them home. Turned out the larger base was more proportionate.

This is a cheap way to make your models look great. They (the bases) needed some sanding with 150 grit sandpaper in order to get rid of the planer lines (a planer is a machine that feeds in a piece of wood and makes it thinner "thickness" wise). Choose your stain and your clear coat, and your base is ready to go! One note on Gundams: they tend to like to bend over backwards if you do crazy poses with them. To alleviate this, I picked up some brass stock at Hobbytown USA. I drilled a small hole in the base and I am going to glue the brass in there. This will help to support Tallgeese while not being too much of an eyesore.

Marking where I want the brass to go. I am going to drill into the base for more security. You can drill all the way through if you like, but it isn't necessary.

My paint booth with a new LED light fixture. The paint fumes will flare up on the roof, but upon inspection I saw no paint spray on the roof. The light will help me to see while painting.

Trial by paint: the paint booth is working out nicely. I need better ventilation, though.

Getting ready to line up my pose and mark the locations with Tallgeese.

The (messy) operation I have going on in the shop. I will get around to cleaning it sometime...

Spare kits I have lying around. They will be built next.

Using dowel as a guide. I can use dowel to support Tallgeese, but it looks more tacky and not as nice as brass.