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It has been a few days in the grips of the Trench Crusade fever. The squad and I had a few games, and went deep into the no man’s land. With the construction of the Silesian Trenchline (part one) we have crossed the point of no return. In order to finish the scenery set and be able to play the game for real, an array of proper peripherals and extras had to be made. So here we are…
I kicked off with a set of most essential peripherals, being the walkways, ladders and firing steps. These are necessary to get the most out of the entire trench line. Fortunately they are also fast and easy to make.
For the walkways I used two thin pieces of 3mm thick plasticard to support the length and adhered some broken stirring sticks on top. I was considering cutting the sides to fit the ‘rails’ underneath but ended up liking the ramshackle look.
The ladders were made by gluing a few steps on top of two, precisely cut, stirring sticks. I then glued decorative halved balls to fake nails. Not very realistic, but a cheap additional detail to spice things up.
Finally I used the leftover sides of the XPS foam as the base for the firing steps. These got cut into 4″ and 6″ long pieces then covered with PVA glue and stirring sticks one side at a time. Once properly adhered, the stirring sticks got nipped off. The process was then repeated on another side until completed, resulting in a set of very light, but durable firing steps.
The Extras such as damaged barrels, stacks of ammo crates etc. are great to hinder miniatures movement and provide some additional cover on the board. Most importantly this type of scenery adds much needed detail to the composition and can be moved around easily for best visual results.
I used a bunch of 3d printed elements (full list at the bottom) and mounted them on a 3mm thick plasticard with cyanoacrylate glue. I then added some small gravel and poured thin cyanoacrylate on top, sealing it with an activator. This created extra texture and volume around the 3d printed objects. I then cut off the excess of the plasticard, forming an irregular shaped base for each piece. In my opinion this makes the scenery look less artificial and allows for individual pieces to be combined into larger shapes by siding them with one another.
The scenery set was taking shape, but it still lacked the most important thing – the ‘soul’. The Trench Crusade follows a certain artistic theme and I wanted to tap into it and create some memorable centerpieces. Elements of scenery not just to steal a glance or two, but seem significant on the gaming board. To try to achieve this goal I have built two shrines, by breaking and mixing 3d printed elements with stirring sticks. I then based both of them on 3mm plasticard, then combined them with two smallest pieces of the trench wall – both of which have a straight vertical space designed for this particular purpose. Gravel and super glue followed to build volume and texture.
No proper Trench Crusade board should be devoid of Bunkers and I have added three 3d printed pieces to the set. All properly based on 3mm thick plasticard and surrounded with extra details. I used this opportunity to introduce two rows of anti-tank fortifications to go alongside one of the bunkers, further enhancing the militaristic theme of the set.
In order to push the overall theme of the set one step further I glued a few dozen sandbag barricades along the trenches with the PVA glue. Initially I planned to keep these separate, but a few test games convinced me otherwise. The reduction of modularity was a fair price to pay for the decreased setup time, comfort of use and improved transportation.
With everything built and ready, the undercoat followed. A lengthy process of mounting every scenery piece on top of a tray with two sided tape, then spraying black undercoat all around. I do like my undercoat done right after all…
And with that out of the way the only thing left seem to be the painting process, but this I will leave for the next article – coming soon. In the meantime feel free to engage with me about this project at Scarhandpainting social media or down in the comments below. I’d be happy to chat 😉
List of used STL files:
Sandbags & Barrels by DICEVERSE
Bunkers by GRADDESIGN
Tanktraps by BIMBUSPRINTABLES
Cannon Ammunition Crates by MKHAND_INDUSTRIES
Cannon Shells by MKHAND_INDUSTRIES
Artillery by ALPINEWEISS3D
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