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<td>Nik Katsabas used an ingenious hot-wire cutter technique to
turn out this nicely made fortified outpost. Workmates at the
ready? Then we'll begin...</td>
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Some time ago I saw these bunkers or outposts or whatever on the
web. The image stuck in my head and one day a bunch of ideas congealed
in my brain and I stumbled on this great way of cutting foam. If you
have access to a Workmate or some similar device you must try it.
Materials
# Four pieces of foam about 10" x 6" x 1" (for the
building and some more for the hill
# Redi-Patch (ready-mixed filler)
# a <a href="../reference/hotwireFP.html"><u>hot wire cutter</u></a>
# scraps of card
# Black & Decker Workmate (No really, it makes sense! Bear
with me)
Method
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<td>First I thought out how many levels I wanted to have (in this
case 4) then I drew out a floorplan for each floor, on scrap
pieces of card.</td>
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Last I took the wire cutter up through the bottom of the Workmates
table and fixed it into place with just the wire (and the metal arm)
sticking up through the crack. It's important that the tube handle
butts up against the underside of the tabletop because this keeps the
whole thing square. Next, using masking tape, stick the card
floorplans to the pieces of foam. Switch on the wire foam cutter and
start cutting using the hard pieces of board to trace the shape in the
foam. Glue the four pieces together, let dry, "trowel" on
the redi-patch and viola! Ready for painting and mounting on a hill
(if you choose to do so).
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<td>I estimated that once the floorplan template had been cut out
I could make one of these in 3 hours. I plan on testing that
theory with 2 other designs I'm working on right now.</td>
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