I looked upon some lone “dead” sprues and noted the regularity of the tabs (the round bits that stick out from the frame). Like for use as the bases of fence posts. Very thin fence posts of course. More like thin metal spikes really. Well, if I use thin plastic rod, drilled in a bit to make them stronger bond, I could use wire to make “barbed wire” emplacements. Hmm.
Do I need these defences? Not now but that lack of need has never stopped me from creating a bit of terrain piece before….so I set about. The two sprues were divided into even frames for which I cut from hardboard 4 similar bases. The holes drilled and rods glued in. The frames were covered in cheap self-hardening clay. While I intended to just paint the grey clay an earthy color (aka WW1 mud and all) and just flock the edges (to blend it into the tabletop), the cheap stuff cracked a lot so I was forced to put on a glue layer to prevent more cracking later and cover these crevices with flocking.
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| showing progression from top to bottom |
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| ....to finished terrain piece. |
My wiring quickly had the rods snap off as they were unequal to the strain of the looping. So much for that idea. But then I remembered purchasing some flexible “barbed” wire at the LFGS.
I decided upon a diameter based on a 28mm figure and made tight curls using a lip balm container (!) which had the correct measurement.I placed the curls carefully over the rods (painted a metal color) but had not the need to attach. They lay there and could be employed for other tasks if needed.
I suppose I should really paint the wire a steel or metal color and add rust effects for 'realism' but the shiny wire has the new and dangerous look to it!
… of course now I am thinking to scrounge around for more dead sprues - of appropriate requirements - to create more of these defensive positions.