Glad to say I got another one done on my break from college. This one will be a birthday gift to a friend of mine. I decided to make the diorama to add some life to it, even though the dauntless was aircraft based. We'll say this was an emergency landing...
I used a canvas board for the base then elmers to glue down some fine ground up dirt I have. Just a simple little scene I had in mind for the size. I did preform the cardinal sin of having the stabilizers hang off of the base but i'm positive it won't be an issue. Going to put the thread on the antenna later today.
Depends where they were... I think usually they ran off crushed coral runways covered with Marsden steel matting, but there were areas where the matting wasn't laid - yours is in one of those!