JoeDios.com Forums - How To: Cardboard G.I. JOE Base

Alright I got a few requests to do a How To regarding the cardboard base I made so here it is. I'm not too good at instructions and I did not document each step of it's construction. In fact I just sort of made it up as I went along (hence why some part of it look a little crooked).

How to make a halfway decent looking cardboard G.I. Joe base:

First thing you need to get is a simple cardboard box. Don't worry too much about picking one that is big enough to house all the crap you would want to put in your bases' interior as the purpose of this base is to act as an exterior set for dioramas. Any interior shots you would want would be done with seperate sets.

Now back when we were kids all we would do is cut a couple of windows and a door in a box and call it a day. In order to make a base that looks halfway decent you will want to add a little archetecture and demension to the thing.

I started out by adding a walkway that surrounded the exterior of the box. I attached the walkway by cutting a grove a little above halfway up both the front and back of the box. I then got 2 strips of cardboard that were roughly 2 inches or so longer than the length of the box. You then place the cardboard strips into the slots. It's a tight fit but the purpose is to secure the walkway without relying too much on tape or glue. For the sides of the walkway I cut another 2 strips that measured the length between the front and back sides of the walkway. I taped them into place. I used masking tape. Do not cut slots for the side strips or you will end up cutting your box in 2! Next I put sides around the walkway to protect my Joes from attack (or to keep them from falling over the edge).

Too add even more demension to the base I got some more cardboard and made these sort of 3 sided boxes out of them by taping them together. On the cardboard on the front of the "box" I cut a rectangular window. These "boxes" were only tall enough so that they that they would fit beneath the walkway. I then placed them both on the front of the structure while giving them enough space to create a sort of entrace way in which one would then enter the base. I did not even bother actually cutting a door in the front of the base and feel my adding a little demnsion to the front of the structure I accomplished the illusion of there being a door even when one does not actually exists. I eventually plan on adding a computer printed door of some kind to the front but I haven't got that far yet.

As for the roof I simply got ahold of a piece of cardboard that fit the top of the main box perfectly. You could just use the existing flaps on the box as your roof but then it is going to be in two pieces. The roof on my base is emovable as to allow me access to the interior but again the interior of my base is unfinished and I won't really need to finishe it as the base is only serving the purpose of a backdrop for exterior shots. One might as well glue the roof into place.

I also added a few little triangular shapes to the side and back of the structure to again make it look like a real building. One could really add any number of cool looking but ultimately pointless pieces to the side of their base to give it more of an arcutectual feel. I also choose to add a small guard tower and garage to the mine (which is also detachable).

In the end I covered the base with a white posterboard (glossy side up) and painted it with a tan spraypaint. You can use any color of course. The glossy posterboard gives it somewhat of an illusion of actually being made out of plastic. And if it looks like plastic then it looks like it belongs with your Joe figures.

/edit - Replaced the imageshack broken image with the one from the JoeDios link below, and linked the image to that page as well. - Hammerfel