Here's a way to make barricades and other obstacles for cheap as free! I can't bear to throw anything away, and as my pile of empty sprues grew higher and higher I figured I had to do something to take care of them all. Finally, I discovered an easy way to make caltrops style tank barricades. I later topped them off with razorwire, but that's a post for another day.
The first step is to cut several straight segments of sprue. For each barricade, cut out three 1 1/2"-2" segments. If you plan on making razorwire-type barricades cut 6 of these smaller segments and a 6" segment as well. After they are cut, sharpen one end to a point on the small sections, and both ends on a 6" section. Whittle down the plastic to make it worn looking.
Sprues are in a somewhat trapezoidal shape. When you whittle them, try to take more off the thicker corners to make them more square.
After whittling them, glue two into an X shape. Give the glue a bit of extra time to dry as you aren't gluing preformed pieces into shape. After they dry stand it up and glue the third piece to form a tripod shape. At this point I use paint bottles on each corner to support the whole thing until it dries completely.
If you are simply going for tank traps, go ahead and stop here. I simply prime them black and give a very light drybrush of Boltgun Metal. You can mount them on a 6"x2" base if you wish, or just set them up on the table as they are. If you want to make the razorwire, check for my next installment on how to make your own wire and how to set it on the barricade without bending the whole thing out of shape (not as easy as it sounds).
Thats a really obvious and deceptively simple use for all that excess sprue. I have been collecting the long straight bits for a while with a vague idea of doing something with them 0 this is that idea.
ReplyDeleteWell done.