Popsicle sticks are one of Craig 'Nagasuarus' Hardt's favorite sources of wooden materials because they are so inexpensive and easy to use in fences, floors, etc. Here he shows us how to use them to make a rather nasty looking spiked barrier. Ouch!
First cut 5-6 craft sticks roughly in half and then use the nippers or a saw to cut off the rounded ends into a rough upside-down "V" shape (nippers make quick work of this). Once you have a stack of 10-12 of these use the craft knife and carve the "V" ends to make them look roughly hewn.
With a stack of "boards" done take two full length craft sticks, cut the rounded ends off and lay them down parallel to each other about 1.5 inches apart. After applying a bead of white glue to the long sticks arrange the boards in row perpendicular to the long boards. Keep the flat ends lined up as this is the bottom of the fence. Once the glue is dry drill holes where you'd like the spikes. You can see that I placed them at the intersection of the boards. Glue each spike in place, revealing about 1/4" for the "spikey" part and cut the toothpicks flush on the back side.
Cut two lengths of the balsa wood for posts and glue these to the rear of the fence. Cut them at an angle on the bottom if you'd like the barrier to lean back slightly as I have done. Glue the fence to a base, coat the base with a layer of glue/sand and you're done with the main assembly.
For painting I sprayed the whole thing black for a base coat. I dry brushed the wood part dark brown followed by light brown and the spikes with silver and the sand dark grey/light grey/white. The skeleton was painted separately and then glued into place. Any miniature could be used as a victim.
