My photo
Being a modeller for quite a few years now, I decided to explore the endless possibilities that the world (through internet) offers, and come up with a series of ways of building, modelling and painting fast (but not hastily), to create the worlds I was seeing in history books since I was little. . .If you care to join me. . . This is the place to be! And, I promise you to find the way (or ways)!!

Thursday, 6 December 2012

How to make: Piles of wood - stacked

How often do we look the scenery around us? Have you ever wondered?
Most of us people, neglect the little details that give a place its unique character in addition to others. And as the proverb says: ''Devil's hides in them''.
What do most of us wargamers want? Basically to play with our toys. That means that in the need of doing so, we want to deploy our little men, the tanks, tha horses, the chariots etc., as quick as possible on the battlefield, and play, and by doing so we tend to ignore some basic terrain elements that need to be deployed, or substitute them with generic ones, that have little affiliation to the real stuff.

In my opinion, it is this approach that makes all the difference (and not only in wargaming) - the attention to the detail.

It is this reason that helps me come up with all these far from normal ideas and create some terrain pieces that enrich the diversity of my battlefield tables.

On this occasion, I wondered how did the houses in the 40's warm up during the winter (it is the appropriate period of time, to think about that - though not for my friends that live in the Oceania region...). The answer was quite simple: fire and wood.
And how did the people find wood? From the forests....That's why I decided to make some terrain pieces with stacked wood for the cold days of autumn and winter. Sounds silly? See below how easy it is to make them.

Well.....


Step 1.
Take some small rectangular pieces of plastic (bases)



Step 2.
Cut some wood skewers pieces (even ones).




Step 3.
Glue them on the plastic bases.




Step 4.
Sand the bases.



Step 5.
Paint them with earthy colours (base and wood skewers). For the wood skewers I used some dark brown as a base, and then some (thinned in water) Vallejo's Panzer Aces 'Old Wood'.



Step 6.
Add some greenery (static grass, tufts etc.) on them.




Step 7.
Take some pieces of small tree branches (I got my lot, from a pile of cut-down branches from gardeners - they do that every late November, early December to help the trees grow stronger - just to let you know, that I didn't harm any poor tree, I don't know if activists are following my blog...). Cut them as well in even (as possible) pieces.




Step 8.
Stack them (see where this is going to????) on the bases - I didn't glue them, because I didn't want to spoil the whole 'natural' thing about them.




Easy peasy, wasn't it?

Now you see them on the battlefield.




And now you see some British soldiers running from cover behind them. They can hold a lot of bullets... :-)








As you see it is a very simple (yet generic) thing to make, and it doesn't cost more that 0.5 euro/piece. You should try it for yourselves.

Have a great Thursday night everyone - after all Thursday is the new Friday nowadays. :-)
T.

29 comments:

  1. Another step by step tutorial. Really nice idea about wood piles.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great scratching, Thanos! The muzzle flash is a brilliant Hollywood special effect treat!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Genius! You really are an inspiration Thanos and I shall definitely be 'stealing' that idea.

    ReplyDelete
  4. These little details do make a difference. It is more historically accurate and it brings the history to life. We heated our home with wood when I was a little girl and I'm so glad I don't have to haul wood anymore!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Excellent tutorial thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wonderful Tutorial? certainly a good idea... oh and yes we are warm here in the Oceania region to warm its uncomfortable at night :-(

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice tutorial. You got a great result with these, and they seem simple enough to make! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Excellent character piece T!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fecking excellent pieces of work mate.

    ReplyDelete
  10. It's the details that make it. Gonna have to copy these.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nice scenery stands T. I have something a little similar. Well thought out process.

    ReplyDelete
  12. super travail , tu fais partie de mes blogs awards ;)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Excellent tutorial Thanos! Thanks for sharing!

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://www.peterscave.blogspot.be/

    ReplyDelete
  14. Very nice idea.
    All the best

    airhead

    ReplyDelete
  15. Greate article. Keep posting such kind of info on your site.
    Im really impressed by your site.
    Hey there, You've done a great job. I'll certainly digg it
    and for my part suggest to my friends. I'm sure they'll be
    benefited from this web site.
    Review my blog post :: Hemorrhoids Treatment

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thankfulness to my father who shared with me regarding this web site, this web site is
    actually remarkable.

    Look at my blog; air max 90 pas cherAir Max

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hello to all, how is everything, I think every one is getting more from this website, and your
    views are good designed for new viewers.

    My blog Air Maxair conditioning system

    ReplyDelete
  18. I like the helpful information you provide in your articles.
    I'll bookmark your blog and check again here frequently. I'm quite sure I'll learn a lot of new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!

    Take a look at my site :: Cheap Jerseys nfl team merchandise

    ReplyDelete
  19. Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this post and the rest of the
    site is very good.

    My weblog Nike Air Maxwear fitted pair

    ReplyDelete
  20. Amazing! Its really remarkable paragraph, I have got much clear idea regarding
    from this post.

    my web-site ... Jordan Femmeair jordan

    ReplyDelete
  21. It's nearly impossible to find experienced people in this particular subject, however, you sound like you know what you're talking about!
    Thanks

    Stop by my page Nike Air Jordanair Jordan

    ReplyDelete
  22. I am genuinely thankful to the owner of this web page who has shared this wonderful paragraph at
    at this time.

    Feel free to visit my blog post ... NFL Jerseys Wholesale

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi there, I enjoy reading through your post.
    I like to write a little comment to support you.

    Feel free to surf to my webpage ... nike mercurial soccer cleats

    ReplyDelete
  24. You really make it appear so easy with your
    presentation but I in finding this matter to be really one thing
    which I feel I would by no means understand. It kind of feels
    too complex and very broad for me. I am looking ahead to your subsequent publish,
    I will try to get the dangle of it!

    Also visit my site :: Louis Vuitton Outlet Online

    ReplyDelete
  25. I am curious to find out what blog system you are utilizing?
    I'm experiencing some small security problems with my latest site and I would like to find something more safe. Do you have any recommendations?

    my web site - Air Jordan Pas Cher Femme

    ReplyDelete