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Ever wondered what to do with all the excess heavy weapons that you end up with playing Guard? Well my solution is to create fixed weapons positions that can be used in special scenarios. You can just move a suitable miniature up to them and start firing on anyone foolish enough to get out in the open. |
I have used two methods of creating sandbags so far. In the first method I just used putty to build the sandbag wall straight onto its cardboard base. This was probably easier and doesn't cost very much (in time or materials). In the second method I used some poly clay that I have left over from when I was a kid (which amazingly still worked after years of no use). I just shaped hundreds of individual sandbags then baked them in the oven on greased paper to make them go hard. With this method I glued all my sandbags together to create the heavy weapons position (this method was used on the one with cammo nets right over the top). Since making these I have now started to make complete sand bag structures out of poly clay straight onto the greased paper, then after baking them the whole heavy weapon position they can be glued onto a hardboard base using a hot glue gun.
On one of the models I used a spare heavy weapon from an attack bike. I wanted the whole thing to be camouflaged so after I have painted the model and put static grass on the base I added camouflage netting. To create my cam nets I used old stocking which I had soaked in watered down PVA. While it was still wet I placed patches of watered down green paint on it. The paint tends to soak up through the whole net giving it a dark green look (even using goblin green). The stocking eventually goes rock hard in whatever shape you put it and you can touch up the cam painting and add some coloured foam (like you use for leaves) and small shreds of lichen to the cam job.
| On the second model (the heavy weapon being a heavy bolter from advanced space crusade with the scouts armed filed off) I wanted cam netting covering the model from aerial view. I used toothpicks to hold the cam nets up covering the points with green stuff to stop them poking through. |  |
Everything else was done the same as for the other model. Although I designed this so that you could fit models underneath they are really difficult to get at on the table top so I don't recommend netting things as much as this, or leave bigger entrances so you can move miniatures in and out after the stocking sets rock hard or make a removable top over which the netting sits.
Basing.
I used a variety of different types of static grass on these models. I don't really like the patchy basing that I done. On the other model I coated the whole base with PVA and covered the trampled areas with brown scatter with a light dusting of grass so it looks like some is growing through (increasing towards the edges so you don't end up with distinct borders). I give it a coating of one of the lighter shorter static grasses then push on clumps of other grasses. I find that if you put on really thick clumps and push it down then shake off the excess it looks a lot better. After I finish placing the grass I blow on the model to make the grass stand up the way that I want it too.
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I made these using a post pack, the kind that you
use to send posters through the mail. This has been done by
other people on the net but mine don't look the same so I guess
you can check them out and get ideas. My ideas come from
hundreds of pictures of models that I have looked at on the net.
I just used my miniatures to gauge the proportions that I wanted and cut a slice of the post pack using a hack saw. The doorways were also cut out using a hack saw. |
| The bases are made of polystyrene mounted on hardboard. I drew the wall shape of the huts onto the polystyrene then used a modelling knife to create a natural shape to the base. I also made the path lower and flatter than the rest of the area by carving out scoops with a slight bow in the blade. The path continued right up through the doors. |  |
The walls of the hut were textured using some PVA that had thickened by being left open for a couple of hours (keep checking it, this will vary with climate etc) and sand. I find that at its normal consistency the sand runs down the wall.
The bases were also textured with sand and small pebbles.
Stems of any trees were inserted at this stage as I make my own using wire and masking tape.
The whole model was then spray painted black. I hadn't covered all the polystyrene with PVA so some of it melted but I was lucky and it ended up looking kind of cool.
I covered the whole base with PVA and then created a trail leading into the huts and covered the huts floors with brown scatter from Heki. I then gave the grassy bits a coating of bright green scatter (this is latter covered with static grass but where it shows through it gives a bright lush look like there is moss growing amongst the grass). I then sprinkled some static grass over the outside paths to make it look like weeds growing through and pressed clumps of several different colours and lengths of static grass all over the grassed area of the base. I like the look of using different colours. I tend to put shorter grass around the edge of the base and longer grass around the base of walls and trees.
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The roofs were made out of cereal packaging to which I glued pine needles to look like thatch. It would probably be easier just to give it a coating of filler and use this to give it texture but I am not sure if it would look as good. It didn't really take that long anyway. |
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I decided to make up a series of 1"x5" bases to create a series of barricades to be uses in my games of Warhammer 40K. These barricades are supported by beams made from bits of sprue. |
Materials
I made the cyclone fences out of some old flywire. I am not happy with this look yet and next time I will try creating a frame for the wire out of plastic rods.
| The razor wire fences are made by rolling a really thin wire around 0.9mm (any gauge will do) wire then wrapping this around a pencil. |  |