Modelling Sandbags out of Plasticene

[wulfen]

I'm currently doing some sandbagged trenches for 1/72 scale WW2 wargaming. I'm using cardboard bases upon which I'm mounting plasticene sandbags.

 

My question is what type of material should I use to stiffen the plasticene so that it will be hard enough to paint over, and that won't change shape when handled.

 

Would a coating of PVA glue over the plasticene do the job? Thanks for any answers in advance

[DougRichards]

I'm currently doing some sandbagged trenches for 1/72 scale WW2 wargaming. I'm using cardboard bases upon which I'm mounting plasticene sandbags.

 

My question is what type of material should I use to stiffen the plasticene so that it will be hard enough to paint over, and that won't change shape when handled.

 

Would a coating of PVA glue over the plasticene do the job? Thanks for any answers in advance

I wouldn't use plasticene at all, sorry, but there is a clay-like stuff you get from art stores (DAS?), that hardens in air, can be shaped and hardens overnight, and when hardened can be filed, drilled, painted etc. I used it to create life jackets for a LCVP and LCP crew.

 

Useful stuff. Lay out a strip of it, indent it as if sandbags, then lay another strip, indent etc, until you have the right height.

 

For barbed wire - wrap fuse wire around a dowel and then stretch out, like a spring - won't have the barbs, but at 1/72 in gaming does the job nicely and cheaply.

[wulfen]

I wouldn't use plasticene at all, sorry, but there is a clay-like stuff you get from art stores (DAS?), that hardens in air, can be shaped and hardens overnight, and when hardened can be filed, drilled, painted etc. I used it to create life jackets for a LCVP and LCP crew.

 

Useful stuff. Lay out a strip of it, indent it as if sandbags, then lay another strip, indent etc, until you have the right height.

 

For barbed wire - wrap fuse wire around a dowel and then stretch out, like a spring - won't have the barbs, but at 1/72 in gaming does the job nicely and cheaply.

 

I've looked up DAS at the local crafts hobby store and bought a packet. Since I've already quite a few trenches with plasticene however (and believe me, after cutting all of those plasticene sandbags I'd go crazy if I had to just throw them away! lol), would the PVA coating be enough to harden them?

 

I'm considering using one of the trench sections as a 'guinea pig' as see how it goes (keeping fingers crossed of course)

[Mk 1]

I also recommend self-hardening clay. But there is yet another type to try -- it is often called Mexican Clay as I've seen it.

 

This is genuine clay, as in it is very find soil. But mexican clay has a higher silica content than other clays, and so it does not hold moisture as well. As a result, it dries all by itself, into a genuine hard clay (as if baked).

 

However, it shrinks while doing so. Not good for making your trenches. But great for making sand bags, bricks, or other items to be added on top of modelled bases.

 

My modelling is for wargaming in 1/285th (6mm) scale. Here you see some French 25mm AT guns, mounted on pennies, which have been placed into sandbagged gun positions created by stacking mexican clay sand-bags onto a cardboard flocked base.

 

I find I can make about 100 sandbags in 20 minutes or so. Just role out the clay into little strings, cut it, and then gently rock a wet finger over the little tubes you've created to flatten them out a bit. Next day you have about as many sandbags as you can stand.

 

-Mark 1

[wulfen]

I also recommend self-hardening clay. But there is yet another type to try -- it is often called Mexican Clay as I've seen it.

 

This is genuine clay, as in it is very find soil. But mexican clay has a higher silica content than other clays, and so it does not hold moisture as well. As a result, it dries all by itself, into a genuine hard clay (as if baked).

 

However, it shrinks while doing so. Not good for making your trenches. But great for making sand bags, bricks, or other items to be added on top of modelled bases.

 

My modelling is for wargaming in 1/285th (6mm) scale. Here you see some French 25mm AT guns, mounted on pennies, which have been placed into sandbagged gun positions created by stacking mexican clay sand-bags onto a cardboard flocked base.

 

I find I can make about 100 sandbags in 20 minutes or so. Just role out the clay into little strings, cut it, and then gently rock a wet finger over the little tubes you've created to flatten them out a bit. Next day you have about as many sandbags as you can stand.

 

-Mark 1

 

Thanks for the tip. You have some cool looking models.

 

As an aside, what rules do you use for your 6mm wargaming? My gaming group uses Alzozero's Operation World War 2 rules which are ideal for 1/72 scale (games are usually involve a couple of platoons plus some support).

[Assessor]

Way back, "banana oil" was what was recommended for hardening plasticene (pre miliput days ). Whether a pharmacy could help, I don't know, but it might be worth a try. Otherwise, I see no problem with PVA - hell builders use it all the time to seal and bond stuff, and yours isn't exactly a "load bearing" application, is it?

[wulfen]

Way back, "banana oil" was what was recommended for hardening plasticene (pre miliput days ). Whether a pharmacy could help, I don't know, but it might be worth a try. Otherwise, I see no problem with PVA - hell builders use it all the time to seal and bond stuff, and yours isn't exactly a "load bearing" application, is it?

 

 

I've applied the PVA to the plasticene trenches I'd already assembled, and they've stiffened quite well after a couple of coatings, though they won't be able to be used for a 'load bearing' application

 

I've bought the modelling clay as other posters suggested, and will do the rest using that.....only another 25 bases to go!