Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Machine Gun Nests


As part of my terrain improvement quest I knocked up half a dozen machine gun nests after being inspired by an article at Model Dads:  http://www.modeldads.co.uk/Life-at-the-Front/wordpress/?p=1524.  I had been lead there after a bit of Googling and coming across this article on Big Lee’s blog: http://www.blmablog.com/2011/03/scratch-built-mg-nest.html

I cut some bases from plastic scrap (actually CD case cover which I roughed up with sandpaper to improve its adhesion properties).  Next was cutting up the cocktail sticks (the only bit I would classify as tedious).  I used a bit of Styrofoam coated with PVA glue to give the basic shape and then used lots of handyman plaster to finish off the model.  After that it was painting and flocking.  I used a bit of plastic tubing (there is an associated saga with that I will keep for another day) to create a tree trunk that would accept some model trees I had that need basing (a bigger attempt can be seen in the pictures – that used a drinking straw, but I have since decided I need to get some black straws as the paint on the inside scrapped off with use).


In the pictures can also be seen my attempt at a model minefield (a topic for a future post).




I also did a machine gun nest for desert or rocky conditions (which is how my 15mm WW2 troops are based).  That was just kitty litter and PVA glue.


While I took over a week to complete them, they were just a few minutes each day so as to leave plenty of time to dry etc.

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