Expanding a barricade.pt1

Terrain Tutorial

Hi everybody,

                    Picture this, we are all on jankers duty and restricted to barracks, you have run out of coal to paint white (you hope), the Sgt. Major is ordering more rations and PT kits from HQ for a bit and you are thinking "What can I do now?".

                   Well, I may have the solution for you today, embellish one of your old bits of terrain. In this case, I have a rough barricade made from a scrap bit of plastic that I had to hand. Couple that with a few carved up lolly sticks and scrap bits from laser cut models (optional), then we will see what we can make. I am using PVA wood glue here, but if you have a glue gun that should work too. This can work for a variety of model eras, from fantasy to bolt action and wild west. This is also a good tutorial if you have some new recruits with you, as no blades are needed..

Pick your terrain piece

First part to be fitted to the barricade,

Now in place.

The lolly stick has been carved on the edges with a craft knife to distress the wood and remove the straight edges. It goes along the piece in a roughly 30 degree angle to the right, attaching to the piece sticking out on the right.

Now in place.

Rear view.

 Now for the other side. The two square holes in the side wall planking do not give much cover to those inside,so with two more small bits of lollies broken along their length, I will convert the hole nearest to the corner to a mere slit to peer out of and leave the other one to shoot out of.

Before fitting.

I have added extra planking to reduce the target area on the left while still having a reasonable arc of fire and viewpoint.

Back to the left section of the barricade. I added a small wooden bar to the middle of the circular opening to prevent potential entry.

The bar in place

The Archer in action.

Inside showing shutter details.

 The central panel has had its face distressed, showing Dwarf axe blows and arrow dents.

Before painting.

 I now add whites and browns to the central area to blend it in more with the rest of the model.

Painting time.

After rough splashes of paint.

Added grunge.

More additions were made to the left edge of the barricade forming extra support for the plank sticking out, this has the benefit of attackers having to travel further round the hazard, giving the defenders more opportunities to shoot at them, or throw rocks if they are out of ammo.

Here we see our lone Elf defender against two Lizard Folk..

"Time to even the odds".

A close up of the supporting struts.

"An easy target".

Not up to professional standards, I was "winging it" as I went along, but sometimes that is all that is needed to put a bit of terrain on the gaming table.  I hope that gave you some inspiration to spruce up a model or even do a scratch build with some leftover materials, such as making rocks with foam core and filler, adding a standard to a wooden meat skewer. I add a base to the model in part two.  You may even have chance for a quick game before the Sgt. Major comes back. I hope so.

Stay safe everybody.

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. No Lizardmen were harmed in the making of this diorama.