An easy and cheap way to make minefields for Bolt Action

    A minefield section in Bolt Action is a 6" x 6" square area. Larger minefields can be made by placing two or more of these sections next to each other.

   I made four 6" by 6" square minefields. I used mdf, putty, little stones, sand, an old sprue, green stuff and twenty eight buttons!

   First, I cut twenty eight slices from an old sprue.

   Then I used green stuff to stick the sprue slices on the buttons.

   Like that, my mines were ready!

   I cut four mdf squares, scored their surfaces and glued some little stones on them. 

   Then I covered them with putty and placed randomly the mines-buttons. I also added sand.

   Since we will use them for our Western Desert campaign, I painted the ground Desert Yellow, the stones German Cam. Pale Brown, the mines Gumetal and highlighted everything with Iraqi Sand. 

The four minefields

   For the signs I used pieces of the old sprue and 25mm square bases. I cut three of the bases in half.

   I found in internet some minefield warnings of the WW2 in three languages English, German and Italian. I printed, laminated and stuck them on the bases and the signs were ready!

The signs

in German,

Italian

and English

   That's it for today! Stay tuned for more!

Craters and the Palace of Knossos

    Craters are nice terrain scenery pieces for the battlefield. I found the term on google and it is a bowl-shaped depression produced by the impact of an explosion. So, I made my own bowl-shaped depression pieces, seven of them!

The seven craters

   I started with the MDF bases, where I did some cuts in a net pattern in order to stick the modelling clay and the acrylic putty on them easily.

With the modelling clay I made the craters' shape

On the big craters I added some DOW pieces 

   And after that the process was as follows: apply acrylic putty, add some sand and little stones, paint them all black, paint them with Vallejo "Flat earth", wash and finally highlight them with "US tan earth".

One of the big craters with two "Black Death" sailors 

One of the medium craters

And the two small ones.

   Two days ago, the famous singer Mick Jagger uploaded on FB some photos and asked "Somewhere on the Med...but where?" I didn't reply but I know where he was. He was here, on Crete and specifically in the Palace of Knossos.

In front of the "Queen's Megaron"

On the same spot my wife, me and a friendly couple.

In front of "Prince of lilies"

My wife and me, not in such a dramatic pose as the above!

   That's all for today! Stay tuned for more!

More dragon's teeth

    After eight years, I followed again more or less the same procedure, in order to build some more dragon's teeth for the battlefield! This time, I didn't use plastic boxes but paper ones. If you wish, you can see the previous dragon's teeth here. 

The dragon's teeth

An eggs paper box

I marked with a pen the proper height of the teeth

and cut the upper part

I glued the teeth on mdf bases and staffed them with tissue paper soaked in white glue 

I used filler to cover the tissue paper and the mdf bases

I painted the teeth with neutral grey and then highlighted them with light grey and sky grey. All colours are Vallejo acrylics.

   That's it for today! Stay tuned for more! 

More obstacles

   Five more obstacles for our WW2 games are ready! I used almost the same materials as the last time for my previous five obstacles. These materials are mdf, little rocks, sand, static grass, white glue, acrylic water based putty, red thread and some cotton buds. 

The obstacles

Cotton buds

   I tied every three cotton buds together with red thread to make an obstacle. Then I glued them on the mdf bases, where I added the putty, the little rocks and the sand.

A Soviet sailor to scale the obstacles

A squad of U.S. Pathfinders finds shelter behind an obstacle during one of our battles

   I can say that I am very pleased because the boy that my wife and I baptised, follows the hobby of wargaming. You can see him below enjoy painting the awful goblin warriors of the "Escape from Goblin Town" box.

The goblin warriors

The Goblin King

And some dwarves fighting the Balrog!

   That's it for today! Stay tuned for more!