ZTZ 99 Groundwork Begins

I've made a start on the base and groundwork for the model tonight and have used for the first time one of tamiya's display bases. They produce a variety of sizes which look to be very handy being cheap to buy and made of a nice rigid plastic. I happened to have a large size one in the stash which works well for this model.

After a bit of primer and matt black I masked up the base, scored the top with a knife then mixed up a batch of polyfilla, white glue and a good slug of tamiya red brown. After adding it to the base and allowing the mixture to dry slightly the Mk 1 finger was used to shape the base. Next a mix of fine sand & gravel was sprinkled over the base and pressed into the still moist plaster. Lastly the model was pressed lightly into the base until it sat naturally. Once dry some grasses, tufts and weeds will be added along with some posts and mine tape. My idea is to show an exercise scenario where sappers have cleared a path through a simulated mine field. It will help to add a little bit more interest to the simple base.

 
With any luck this should be all finished by the end of the weekend.