Anyone
who’s been paying attention will have noticed my interests have shifted once
again to the Great War. And that’s got me thinking about the
Vimy Project.
I’ve
realized as I have only five years until the 100th Anniversary it’s
time to pick up the pace!
As I’d
noted in a Revisiting
Vimy post about a year and a half ago, The terrain needs some work; The
trenches needed to be widened as I’d re-based all the figures and they simple
wouldn’t fit into the trenches and also I’d never really finished them up the
way I’d like.
(Remember: click on the pictures
for a bigger version)
I’ve started working towards
that and I have to say I’m pretty happy with how it’s coming along.
This is the north east tile of
the Fourth Division’s area of attack (so these are the German reserve trenches
and communication trenches).
I’d thought of a couple
different ways of doing the revetting, but had some balsa wood lying around and
decided to experiment with that and it seems to work quite well.
This all still needs to be
repainted… and I’d like to maybe add some patches of grass to this reverse slope of the
ridge.
I’d also like to add a sandbag parapet
– at least to the fire trenches, perhaps not the communication trenches as a
way of distinguishing the two. I’m not sure how I’m going to do this – I need
to do if fairly cheaply as I have a LOT of trenches to do. Casting (or buying
cast) resin sandbags is out of the question. I bought some Das (a self hardening
clay product) to experiment with. If anyone out there has any ideas I’d LOVE to
hear them!
Stay
tuned for more!
Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:
Um… well I haven’t started those French Foreign Legionnaires…
and the impetus to do them may have faded by the time I get back to painting (I’m
having some fun working on this terrain at the present)
Really great looking terrain. Das modelling clay is probably the cheapest option. I know people have used Milliput, bought in hardware stores as it's far cheaper than gaming shops. They also gently pressed coarse fabric into the soft clay to give the impressive of the sandbag material.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Matt
Thanks Matt. Milliput isn't sold in any hardware stores around here. They do have some sorts of similar two-part compounds... but that also would be a fairly expensive way to go... I will give the Das a go soon-ish!
DeleteLong time ago someone recommended dried beans can be used - kidney beans and the like.... in bulk, and painted, they might be OK...??
ReplyDeleteBeans, huh? Hmmmm.... that's an interesting idea... I think most of the dried beans I have are almost as big as 25m figures...? I'll have a look about for others. Thanks Steve!
DeleteYeah - kidney beans would be too big, but the smaller one's might do?? Black eye/butter etc..?? I'll be interested to see the result if it works... I'd love to see the look on the shop owners face when you hold your little metal man up next to the beans to see for scale..... :o))
DeleteBlimey, that's impressive Tim!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Deleteplaster will also work, when it is mixed thick, then you can sculpt it into the bag-like shapes on the sides.
ReplyDeletethere was a material called 'sculpy' that was similar to plasticine or Das and all you needed to do was spray the 'fixative' on it to have it harden into whatever you had sculpted.
Thanks MurdocK!
DeleteI haven't had the best luck with plaster in the past - perhaps I just don't have the knack. Might be worth looking into again.
I shall have a lookout for "Sculpy".
DAS can be brittle but is cheap; a quick & dirty method is to roll out a long "sausage" of the thickness you want the sandbags. Squash semi-flat then press a blunt knife part way through without cutting the "sausage" at intervals that are "sandbag length". Add texture to taste.
ReplyDeleteAnother alternative is Fimo or Sculpy which is clay like plastecene which when baked in a low temp harden like plastic.
Neil
Yeah that was pretty much my plan with the Das. Brittle, huh? Hmmmm. Do you happen to know if it shrinks at all? I'd ind of wondered about just modeling it right on to the board. If it shrinks some I might have to do it somewhere else and glue it on after it's dried.
DeleteTIm
ReplyDeleteI don't know if they even exist anymore but I recall an old Wargames magazine from the 1970s suggested using mini chic lets which were the right shape and approx size.
Love the terrain
Cheers
PD
I haven't seen them about... but then I pretty much never buy gum or candy, so it's not like I've been LOOKING. I'll keep my eye out. Thanks!
DeleteThere is a child's air-drying clay made by the fine folks at Craft (or Crayola, maybe) that works like Das but dried without becoming too brittle. I picked up at tub at Staples for about $8. It worked pretty well for the sandbags and entrenchments here: http://edmontonwargamer.blogspot.ca/2012/04/entrenchments.html
ReplyDeleteRolled out a wiener, flattened it, used a ruler to create the seams between the bags.
Brilliant! Found it!
DeleteCrayola Model Magic Bucket
Hmmmm... a bit pricier per kilo than the Das, but I'm guessing it's less dense because is says that tub makes 80 (EIGHTY!?) golf-ball sized projects!? Is that for reals!? Regardless, I'm definitely going to check that one out!
Thanks Bob!
Great work, very impressive!!
ReplyDeleteHi again Tim,
ReplyDeleteSaw this blog post and thought it may be of interest.
http://miniaturesterrainpage.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/sandbags-making-and-painting-tutorial.html
Regards,
Matt
DAS doesn't shrink that much (unless you mix in a lot of water to make a "filler" type paste).
ReplyDeleteIt is adhesive when wet but once dry breaks off surfaces very easily, so often needs remedial glue work!
Neil
Thanks Neil! I was experimenting with Das last night with some reasonable success. Hopefully I'll get to post the results over the weekend.
DeleteHi Tim,
ReplyDeleteI know this may be heretical, but what about foam? Many craft stores sell large soft foam pads intended to be used for pillows and such for next to nothing. It shouldn't be too hard to cut pieces to the approximate shape and size you want, then paint as desired.
Gordon