aujj65
Colonel
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2005
- Messages
- 9,151
As some of you know I’m a big fan of the WB War along the Nile series and have been most impressed by the new figures of the Tel-el-Kebir 1882 range (which will be available later this year). Inspired by the Redoubt shown I thought I would make my own to suit the size of the shelves in one of my display cabinets.
28 inches x 12 inches gives a decent size for displaying a reasonable number of figures.
The base was cut from an off-cut of 6mm MDF which I had laying around, the ground work was built up using some expanded polystyrene packaging (rescued from a skip) which was cut and stuck together using a non-solvent adhesive. The rough shape was then covered in Polyfiller.
Scenic items from JG Miniatures were stuck into the still wet mixture (to keep the cost down, I cut the gabions in half lengthways as it is only the outer face that is seen).
When dry it was given a coat of PVA glue to seal and give a good base for painting. Using matt acrylic paints, the outside edges were painted in an earth colour, the rest in sand.
I did a bit of dry-brushing on the scenic items. Then the groundwork had a coat of PVA glue and a liberal covering of plastic sand granules (again from JG Miniatures).
When this was dry the surplus was shaken off and the whole base given a couple of sprayed coats of matt acrylic varnish. Not quite the same as the WB one but I’m reasonably happy with it as it only cost around the £60 mark.
There should be enough room for about 30 figures and accessories. So I bought six more 42nd Highlanders which will be repainted in red coats to mix in with the new releases when available. When these have been finished I will post some more photos.
Jeff
28 inches x 12 inches gives a decent size for displaying a reasonable number of figures.
The base was cut from an off-cut of 6mm MDF which I had laying around, the ground work was built up using some expanded polystyrene packaging (rescued from a skip) which was cut and stuck together using a non-solvent adhesive. The rough shape was then covered in Polyfiller.
Scenic items from JG Miniatures were stuck into the still wet mixture (to keep the cost down, I cut the gabions in half lengthways as it is only the outer face that is seen).
When dry it was given a coat of PVA glue to seal and give a good base for painting. Using matt acrylic paints, the outside edges were painted in an earth colour, the rest in sand.
I did a bit of dry-brushing on the scenic items. Then the groundwork had a coat of PVA glue and a liberal covering of plastic sand granules (again from JG Miniatures).
When this was dry the surplus was shaken off and the whole base given a couple of sprayed coats of matt acrylic varnish. Not quite the same as the WB one but I’m reasonably happy with it as it only cost around the £60 mark.
There should be enough room for about 30 figures and accessories. So I bought six more 42nd Highlanders which will be repainted in red coats to mix in with the new releases when available. When these have been finished I will post some more photos.
Jeff
