Inspired by the "Printable modern aircraft carrier deck" on the ARC Diorama Forum.

I'm working on a concrete version (tarmac). Each square tile is 4.625" which I think scales out to around 20 ft @ 1/48 scale. Any suggestions on: airfield markings (with a diagram and/or ref photos), manhole covers, drains, etc.. is much appreciated.

I'm building the PhotoShop file in layers, so that I can go from a clean concrete base to a dirty (abandoned) field—and anywhere in between. I'll post a few progress pics. This printable base is designed to be modular, so that you can cut the tiles apart as needed to fit your layout (and put in grass sections, etc).

Right now the PhotoShop file is being built (16 squares) to measure 18.5" x 18.5" @ 250 dpi.

Thanks for looking,
Mike

Hi Mike

That's a very neat idea indeed! I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

All the best

Rowan

This is one very very very very very very good idea.

The only remark that I have is that all the concrete slabs that I have seen on airfields (at least when I was paying attention) were 6 meters by 3 meters.

Otherwise, i think that 300dpi is somewhat standard these days (or have i lost touch with printing reality?)

Thanks for the feedback. I'll do a version that's 6 meters x 3 meters as well. I like the look of the square tiles though (as seen in Verlinden books).

And yes, 300 dpi is standard for printing. I'll res up the final jpeg version to 300 dpi. The files get to be very large (very quickly) when doing high res layers in PhotoShop, so every little bit I can save up front really helps.

Mike

What about publishing the individual layers in seperate files in photoshop format (the extension escapes me)

Someone with some photoshop knowledge could then combine whatever. This way the difference between a square and a 3*6 dimension would come down to activating another layer

Maybe you could publish the final result as a feature? Forum posts tend to get lost in the mass of posts created.

I think that i have some pictures and other data of typical airfield markings. I'll search these and send them to you if this can help?

Again, this is a really splendid idea. I could kick myself for not having thought about this myself

Great. I'd really appreciate the pics of airfield markings. The 3m x 6m version is coming along.

Mike

This looks like a great idea. I've had a look at any concrete pics I can find and they all seem to be about 3m square.
Completely unscientific ,but if the aircraft below is 35' long (give or take a few inches) then the slabs are about 10' square!
BTW I haven't got a single picture with any markings visible - sorry.

Cheers
Steve

Thanks Steve. I'll modify the squares version to 10' (instead of 20'). All the help is appreciated.

Mike

All I can say is WOW.

I wish I could be as talented in photoshop as you as these would be great for some of my bases.

I agree with the idea of making a feature of how to do it.

Do you have this already?

"ETL 04-2 Standard Airfield Pavement Marking Schemes , with Change 1"

Just copy and paste the above line in google. It leads to the NATO airfield markings standard. I do however not have the impression that this standard is very closely followed.

I see on many airfields that the yellow (or white) line is painted in the middle of a (3 times larger) black line which makes the yellow stand out more.

I've posted the high res files here: http://www.4shared.com/dir/14896314/608bc0dd/Tarmac.html
Each opened jpg file is about 29 MB, 11"x17" @ 300dpi in CMYK.

Enjoy,
Mike

Tarmac1_48.jpg
Tarmac2_48.jpg
Tarmac3_48.jpg
Tarmac4_48.jpg
Tarmac5_48.jpg
Tarmac6_48.jpg
Tarmac7_48.jpg
Helipad.jpg
Helipad2.jpg

Michael,

NICE!

Thank you.

Mike

Neat idea!

I fly from RAF Topcliffe every week but never looked at the concrete. As you can see from the above the slabs are about 10ft x 20ft (Topcliffe was paved in 1942 or 43). The taxiway marking are yellow and I have not seen black edges on a RAF field. Parking locations are marked in white lettering (you can just see a "R" under the Vigi. Taxiways are paved in tarmac with yellow centrelines and dashed yellow lines down the sides. Taxiways are terminated at runways by double yellow lines.

These are great! Will look great mounted to bases for taking pics.

Thanks Michael

Andrew

I'm working on the 1/32 version now. I'll have to make A and B sides, so you can tile the sections to print out on 11"x17". Or you can use them individually.

Mike

supergreat stuff !!!

Thank you. Here are a few more: http://www.4shared.com/dir/14896314/608bc0dd/Tarmac.html

HoldLine_48.jpg
HoldLine2_48.jpg
Helipad3_48.jpg
Helipad4_48.jpg
Tarmac8_48.jpg

Looks great, Michael.

Thanks a lot for sharing your great work.

Two last files at 1/48 scale. http://www.4shared.com/dir/14896314/608bc0dd/Tarmac.html

CarrierDeck_48.jpg
CarrierDeck2_48.jpg

Hi Michael

Fantastic stuff! I'll echo what the others have said - thank you for sharing all your hard work!

All the best

Rowan

Yes indeed, very much appreciated!

Thank you. I'm working on a 1/32 tarmac now. I also owe another ARC buddy some Soviet Slabs @ 1/48. According to Marcus on ARC if you scale these files to 66% you should have them in 1/72.

Send me an email if you need anything specific, or if my markings (or scale) are off.

Thanks,
Mike

Hi Michael

I was going to suggest some Soviet-style hexagonal slabs too, but I didn't want to distract you from your primary focus. I'll defintely be keen to the result when you have them ready.

All the best

Rowan

Hi Rowan,

Can you send me some reference for the hexagonal Soviet slabs?
The only measurements I have are for rectangular shaped sections.

Thanks,
Mike