sandbags

Sandbags making and painting tutorial

Hi everyone,

While waiting my reinforcements from post to come home and help me complete my 5.5’ gun Battery, I thought of making some small terrain pieces that would complement my unit. In my previous post you’ve seen some photos of the command troops that would be responsible for directing the fire of the guns, by taking coordinates from a forward observer and his companion radio man.

These men, would normally be protected and covered. With this in mind I thought of providing them the cover of some homemade sandbags (I have another special one-of-a-kind, but it’s not yet finished – stay tuned for the forthcoming post).

For this reason I bought a box of Milliput’s Standard Yellow-Grey epoxy putty and begun playing with it.

After combining pieces of the two pieces provided (Yellow & Grey), I rolled a ‘’sausage’’ of some millimeters (I can’t remember its width – sorry for that – you can always use the standard ‘trial and error’ method, depending the size of figures you are using), and then begun cutting with my modeling knife small pieces, one sandbag at a time. 

I then put them side by side (no need for glue, as the pieces can bond together on their own) and made these four piles of sandbags. When putting one next to the other, you need to press gently their edges with you fingers, as if they are sewn, as they are in reality. Be careful not to overdo it though! While drying, I drew some marking lines on the sides of the sandbags, with my modeling knife, in order to represent their seams (as if I hoped to!). 

You need though, to keep your hands moist, ‘cause this putty tends to get sticky if it’s not applied quickly. For this reason you need to have a small bowl with water next to your working space.

It took me almost 2 hours to make all these four ‘’corners’’, so be prepared for a rather time consuming task.

I then let them aside to dry (some hours are required – I begun painting them the day after). While waiting you can always paint something you’ve been neglecting for a while (come on admit it, we all do things like that… ;-) )

While searching the web I came across to this page where a tutorial of how to paint sandbags is being given. Nice page, wouldn’t you say? :-)

God, I love internet! 

The painting procedure I followed for my piles of sand (I didn't follow all the steps the page was suggesting to, but, it's up to you what painting method you want to use):

1.       White Primer.

2.       Devlan Mud wash.

3.       Brown paint (diluted in water) wash.

4.       Beige and White drybrush, to give that dusty look.

5.       Devlan Mud wash (light).

And that was it. Easy peasy!

You don’t have to pay money for buying ready made pieces of terrain.  You can always make them on your own! :-)