Mine Entrance, scratchbuilt - Part 2 of 2

Although not generally well known the use of mine warfare was fairly common throughout the medieval and 17th century English Civil War (ECW) periods. During the medieval period Rochester, Dover and Bungay castles were all attacked using mines.

Throughout the ECW mines were used at the sieges of the castles at Harwardine, Sherborne, Goodrich, Wardour and Pontefract. Mines were also used against the city walls of York, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Lichfield cathedral to name ones I'm aware of. In fact the first known use of explosive mine in England took place at the siege of Lichfield in 1643 by Prince Rupert.

Also of interest are the mine and countermines created at the 1546–1547 siege of St. Andrew's castle in Scotland. These are particularly impressive, you can watch people walk above you through a grill in the pavement as you stand in the original mine entrance.

As with the sap in a previous post [Part 1 here] the base for this model is a CD with 20mm thick extruded Styrofoam glued onto it to build up the groundwork.

The trenches were cut out with a craft knife and lined with horizontal coffee stirrers and vertical barbeque sticks. Gaps in the foam were smoothed over using DAS white modelling clay. I've no idea if it is any different from the terracotta version apart from the colour.

Entrance (hidden) from the enemies point of view

For the entrance supports I used dowel whittled to give the impression that it had been rough hewn from timber. The entrance for the mine with downward facing coffee stirrers facing diagonal downwards, which looking at the images again you can't actually see in the photos.

I'm still in two minds as to whether I should add a blanket/screen to the mine entrance. I'm not sure if this was simply to keep out the rain or had another practical reason.

The figure is from Wargames Foundry.

Siege Sap, scratchbuilt - Part 1 of 2

These two posts will detail models I've made to represent a sap and a mine entrance for my historical games. Until I make (if ever) a form of trench system (and work out rules for siege warfare at a skirmish level) then I will probably use these as objective markers with medieval and English Civil War (ECW) games, hence the labels.

An interesting approach to siege rules can be found at the following blog, details here: [Siege Testing]

This form of siege work was often used to advance a trench so that mortars could brought into use against heavily defended fortifications, such as a castle. Once mortars were within effective range castle garrisons normally quickly surrendered as there was no real defense against such weapons, as witnessed at the siege of [Goodrich Castle]. I will detail a model mortar in a future post). 

The base for both models is simply a CD with 20mm thick extruded Styrofoam (or Blue Foam as most people seem to call it) glued onto it.

The sap was cut out with a sharp craft knife and lined with horizontal coffee stirrers and vertical barbeque sticks. Gaps in the foam were filled in with DAS white modelling clay.

Sap work from the enemies point of view.

The figure is from Wargames Foundry. 

The gabions, from Renedra Ltd, were placed along the top of the sap. This is based upon an illustrations (link below) that shows the practical way to dig a siege work and remain relatively safe.

The Attack of Fortresses

Sap

To achieve the same look I added the wicker base of the horizontal lying gabion using greenstuff.

C16th & C17th Army Covered Supply Cart and Horse, 4Ground & Colonel Bills

As the title indicates these are a combination of models bought from Wargamer show held in Halesowen back in December. The draught horse is from Colonel Bills. Their website can be seen [Colonel Bills]. The cart is from 4Ground (Code: 28-CAW-309). Their website can be seen [4ground carts].

The model cart doesn't come with any covering but I thought this looked a bit odd. I had considered using tissue paper or kitchen roll but quickly realised this was either too thin or patterned. 

The owner, Vince, of the local gaming store [AsgardGamesUk] suggested using a wet wipe after seeing it mentioned by Mel [TheTerrainTutor] on YouTube. This proved to be perfect. The material is not too thick and so look out of scale but is strong enough to hold its shape after being painted. He even provided me with one to try.

After letting it dry out I placed the wipe over the model and marked the basic pattern out, remembering to allow enough extra material to allow it the droop between the ribs. 

The (dry)wipe was then superglued into position and then 'painted' with watered down PVA glue. Once dry the wipe/covering was painted to represent dirty, weathered canvas. I sanded the two shafts to knock off the sharp edges.

Since these photos were taken I've painted black straps onto the shafts to indicate that they are attached to the harness rather than just appearing to float as seen here. 

I've deliberately left off any figures so that I can use the set for different periods. I tend to use this set with The Pikeman's Lament rules. Scenarios involving protecting or raiding supply wagons are generally quite fun, especially if you can set 'fire' to them. I may even use it in a sneaky fashion in future games. Even if they are not used in play they still improve the look of the tabletop.

Scratch Built Hedges & Fences

This post may be "stating the "bleedin' obvious" for most readers but hopefully someone will find it useful. In the past I have made a number of hedges using various techniques for my tabletop. Initially I used strips of foam board for the base with scouring pads stuck together with wood glue (PVA) and attached to the foam board with internal posts (made from barbeque sticks). All of this was sandwiched together with PVA wood glue which had to left, usually overnight, to dry properly. The bases were textured using the same technique I used for my figures using sand, grass and various pieces of flocking. The resulting sections look nice but they required quite a lot of work for what is a basic piece of terrain. With hindsight these were definitely over-worked.

Original time-consuming example.

During a moment tidying away various hobby tools a thought occurred to me, I was curious if I could speed up the process using a hot glue gun. After all if it could glue my fingers to the nearest loose object then a scouring pad shouldn't be a problem. I also had a number of wooden tongue depressors that had been lying about which happened to match the length of the scouring pads. 

All new time-saving example

To make similar hedges you will need the following (Blue Peter style):

• Scourers - Wilko (large UK department store),
• Wooden tongue depressors (available from most craft shops),
• Hot glue gun,

Cut the scouring pad into two pieces (check the length of the pad matches the length of the wooden stick). An easy way to do this is to fold the pad in half length ways and with a large pair of scissors cut the pad in half along the fold. This will ensure that you have equal pieces with no need to mark or measure the scouring pad.

Fold one of these halves again length ways using the gun to stick the two sides together, the glue should set in a few seconds. Next glue the 'hedge' to the base. It really is that quick and simple.

You could use a small pair of scissors to trim the edges of the pad so that it has more natural looking finish but here I'm showing the very basic model.

For anyone tempted to make their own terrain this is probably the easiest and most practical pieces you can make for yourself. At an educated guess I reckon the materials used to make these hedges, in the form shown above, would work out to cost about 25-30p each. If made in batches then it should work out to take only a few minutes to make each one.

If you wish to improve these pieces you can do so very simply by adding sand (and flock if you're feeling fancy) to the base.

Using cheap poster paints you can drybrush the hedge to create light green/yellow highlights. 

Interesting Hedges in History No.01 (in a very occasional series) - The Great Hedge

The 'Great Hedge' that featured in the battle of Blore Heath (1459) was tall enough to conceal the waiting Lancastrian forces (but not tall enough to hide the glinting spear tips apparently). On a visit to the battle site it's interesting to see that this ancient hedge still exists and it's also possible to see how it played a roll in the battle. The hedge towered over me (and I'm around six feet tall).

Great Hedge, Blore Heath

One you've made enough hedges, or get bored of them, you can then try to make fences. I have seen online versions (it may even have been via Games Workshop) of these hedges that including a gateway. With plenty of coffee stirrers lying about I was interested if I could make a similar item for myself. The example shown below isn't made to any particular design.

Use the same method described earlier but obviously you will need to cut the hedge/scourer in half length ways as well. The fences were simply made with coffee stirrers and off-cuts glued together with PVA wood glue.

If and when I get round to making the next generation of hedges these might be rougher inm appearance with broken walls, fences and branches etc. but it will may be a while before that happens.

C19th Horse Drawn Utility Cart, 4Ground

Costing £3.50 this is a small kit, this time from 4Ground, that I would consider to be in the pocket money range of purchases, such as this [chicken coop]. Although the label states it's a 19th century utility cart I don't think it looks entirely out of place for my ECW games and even medieval set ups.

Utility Cart

Relatively simple to put together (each kit is individually rated indicating the skill level required) I would recommend reading the instructions before popping out all the pieces from their board. Another recommendation is to dry fit all the pieces before gluing them in place. 

Yet another thing I would recommend is to paint the wheels and side of the wagon before gluing the wheels in place as it is quite awkward trying to paint them afterwards - as I discovered. A simple error to make but one that I will avoid in the future. 

Utility Cart

The model was given a rudimentary paintjob given that will only ever appear on the table top as a terrain piece.

Cattle, Irregular Miniatures

These models were bought loose from a stand at a show last year. I think they may be from Irregular Miniatures but I'm not sure as I couldn't find any reference to them on the company's website.

The miniatures are painted to represent White Park cattle, a rare ancient breed, hence the black ears etc. More details of the these particular animals can be found [here].

Sheep, Irregular Miniatures

Staying on an animal theme, these are a few more animals to decorate the tabletop. Not a lot to say about these. An animal generally considered dull but one that transformed the landscape and generated vast wealth for areas such as East Anglia. If you've ever travelled through countryside dotted with numerous medieval churches the chances are they were created through the wool trade.

Primarily for use as terrain (eye candy as our American cousins might say) I suppose they could be used as loot markers for certain scenarios.

Chicken Coop, Warbases/Too Fat Lardies

This terrain piece was an impulse purchase, picked up from the Warbases stand at the Derby World Wargames show. This company have a growing reputation for making innovative laser cut MDF products and providing excellent service but is the first time I've actually bought anything from them. Excluding a few telegraph poles this is the first time I've made a MDF structure. Pottering around shows I try and keep an eye out for small pieces that are cheap, will enhance the tabletop and that can be used for multiple periods. This model piece fits that criteria perfectly. 

Note metal chickens come with the kit.

The package was branded as a Two Fat Lardies/Warbase product, perhaps better known for their rule sets. This came as a surprise as I didn't realise they sold their own branded goods such as this.

The pieces separated from the frame very easily and fitted together without any issues. There are no instructions provided but the construction is simple enough to work out as you go along. The model can be glued together using standard PVA wood glue.

The kit comes with two pieces of textured card that makes up the roof sections, this is a nice touch as it covers up the joints that can be seen in the previous photos. 

Another nice touch, but something I didn't notice until after returning home, is that a small rooster and hen are also supplied with the kit. This was, of course, after I'd bought a small group of feathered friends at the show to dress the piece. My extra bird models will probably make their way on (or in) to a pond model I plan to make in the near future.

A very nice little kit, this took about ten/fifteen minutes to glue and fit together. You could just leave the model in its natural form but a simple paintjob will enhance it considerably. At £3, what I would consider a pocket money kit, this makes an attractive additional piece of terrain to any tabletop.

Medieval Chapel, Tabletop Workshop

I received this model was a gift from a regular reader (cheers Derek) but as usual it has taken me quite a while to complete it.

This model depicts a small chapel which I feel is more appropriate to skirmish style games rather than a larger church model (said someone who made a castle great tower) and as such it will eventually form an essential focus for a scenario based on a real life event that took place in the 1432 and directly involved Lord Dudley and few of his retainers (or henchmen, it depends which side you were on).

The interior of medieval churches would often be a riot of colour as can be seen with a rebuilt medieval church such as an example at St Fagans Wales [here]. A smaller version can be found [here] but because I'm lazy I have left the interior plain.

Interior detail

Interior detail

Corner detail showing filled in location holes

Although the model is perfectly acceptable straight out of the box, regular readers probably won't be surprised that I couldn't resist altering it in some form (I was about to say 'improve' it but that's a matter of option) I wanted to give the impression that the church had been rendered and whitewashed. This is a feature rarely seen nowadays mainly because, ironically, the Victorians tended to remove it in an attempt to make the churches appear more medieval. To achieve this look I used Milliput to roughly fill in the gaps on the exterior walls but leaving just enough of the original surface detail to show though. I used Milliput rather than greenstuff because basically its the same stuff and a lot cheaper. Milliput is made from the same materials as greenstuff but has been mixed with chalk to bulk it out.

I made the model so that I could remove the roof and two walls. This was relatively easy. I initially glued two of the walls in place and then filled in the location holes that were visible from the outside. I didn't cut away any of the location pegs but I did covered the location walls on the over walls with thin pieces of greenstuff. 

Wargames Foundry Friar
shown for scale reference.

Unfortunately it appears that the manufacturer, Tabletop Workshop, no longer trades but it looks the model can still be bought online or possibly from old fashioned bricks and mortar stores if you're lucky.

Barr Beacon Boulder

On a visit to Barr Beacon (to observe the recent solar eclipse) we stumbled across this scene. The warning sign seemed highly appropriate.

Once again I used my brother as a scale reference.

Standing near the fence I had visions of being chased down the slope by a similar boulder - Indiana Jones style. Being sandstone this boulder will soon crumble away to a pile of sand leaving only the misshapen fence to indictment the dangerous nature of the cliffs.

Afterwards I couldn't get the following tune out of my head:

You Tube Music

Make Your Own Wattle Fence - Wargaming Scenery Tutorial

Another YouTube video released by Ade showing the same method I used to create the wattle fence animal pen seen (here). Although normally associated with the dark ages or medieval periods this is probably the one piece of man-made terrain that can be used for all sorts of settings from ancients to the modern day. Wattle fences make an attractive addition to the table top and a nice visual contrast to regular hedges. 

Hopefully some of you may find it useful. If anyone has any suggestions or requests for similar tutorials please fell free to leave a comment and I'll see what we can do.

Wattle Fence Animal Pen

This piece of terrain can be used on the table top for ancients right up to the modern day (OK, it would have to be somewhere quite unsophisticated but the principle remains).

The base is made from a small off cut piece of MDF board from work; barbecue sticks make up the corner posts and the smaller posts in between are the ever useful cocktail sticks. This size and shape of the board isn't very important with this method so any piece of cast off material can be used to form the base. Cutting a cocktail stick into two equal halves will establish the overall height of the fence which seems to suit all of the 28mm size animals I have, such as the two porkers previously shown (here)

Mark straight lines on to the board approx 10mm (or 1/2" which is 12.7mm and close enough) which will determine the line of the fence, then equally divide this line to the spacing of the uprights. Again I used approximately a 10mm spacing which seemed to work out OK and gave a realistic enough look to the final model.

Next holes were drilled holes suitable to hold the various size uprights sticks in place. You can quite easily use the same size stick for all the uprights (although I previously found that corner cocktail sticks used in a corner tended to bend inwards under the pressure of the 'wattle'). 

Remember to leave a gap for the gateway.

Once the board and sticks have dried in position now comes the tricky bit, using plant/garden twist tie (available from any garden centre or even any decent supermarket nowadays) and starting from one corner weave the twist tie thought the uprights. Once you completed a circuit (remembering to leave a gap for the gate) return in the opposite direction and weave the twist tie through the uprights so the is now on the opposite side of the stick - hopefully the technique makes more sense when you look at the photos rather than me trying to describe the process.

As you weave the twist tie around the uprights you will have to push the tie down into position as it does tend to 'ride up' in places. Once happy with the number of horizontal passes I then painted the whole assembly with PVA glue to secure everything into place.

The gateway is simply made from more cocktail sticks and coffee stirrers and secured into position with twisted copper wire to give the impression of rope.

Obviously exactly the same technique can be used to create single wattle fences.

Very nice (and cheap) plastic wattle fences in two fixed lengths are available to buy from Renedra Ltd. However using the method described above you can make any size and shape enclosed area you wish. It might make a while to make but it is always very satisfying to make you own terrain.

Row Boat, Ainsty Castings

There's not an awful lot I can say about this apart that it is a row boat from Ainsty Castings (Code: 3502) and it cost £6, purchased at the Stafford Wargames show back in June.

Gripping Beat plastic Dark Age Warrior for scale

I intend to use this in conjunction with the (Medieval Ship) one I prepared earlier. After painting this I thought I'd like to build some sort of jetty or even a harbour terrain board but this will have to wait until I have the time and inclination to make it.