Making Wargaming Buildings from Papier-mâché

Here is an article that I wrote for Ravage Magazine US in 2013 and have decided to share here with Ravage's blessing. It was originally published in Ravage US issue #10. Find Ravage at www.ravageusa.com. It's a great magazine full of games, exclusive scenarios, and high end wargame modeling and miniature painting.

With my recent Trash Bash Bits Kickstarter wrapping up I thought it'd be cool to post some of my stuff to inspire you to make your own creations. This is the sort of project that inspired me to create Trash Bash Bits in the first place since I was tired of having to find doors and windows to work with my models.

Enjoy!

Making Wargaming Buildings from Papier-mâché

by Brian S. Roe

Gangers from the Necro-Mags take on a cargo walker outside of a scientific research bunker. Miniatures by Reaper, Mongoose, and NotNorm.

Papier-mâché was an ubiquitous part of my elementary school years and something that I’ve always taken for granted.We used it for piñatas, masks, and all sorts of craft projects. Although I remember seeing some beautiful railroad layouts created with papier-mâché when I was a kid, I’ve never thought about using it for making buildings and terrain to play games on until a couple of years ago. 

I had found some cool plastic containers and wanted to use them for buildings. But the thin plastic was too weak to hold up to serious gaming so I thought of filling them with papier-mâché to strengthen them. Instead I ended up pulling the papier-mâché out of the molds and really liked the way that it looked, like rough, cast concrete. I then started collecting molds to create basic shapes that I could then enhance with other materials like model kit parts, bits of toys, and other more traditional terrain making supplies. Papier-mâché cast in this way resembles cast concrete and can be used for bunkers, defensive fortifications, and futuristic buildings.

Celluclay and various molds.

The type of papier-mâché that I use is a pre-made powder called Celluclay. It is made up of paper pulp and a powdered glue that activates when mixed with water. If you can’t find a pre-made type of papier-mâché you can make your own out of newspaper.

To mix Celluclay use a bucket or large bowl that is not overly precious as this stuff can make a real mess of family heirlooms. Add a handful of Celluclay to the bucket and slowly pour in a bit of water to moisten it. I’m always surprised by how little water I actually need to form useable papier-mâché. And the less water you use now the faster your finished piece will dry. 

Work outside if possible and wear a dust mask when pouring and mixing.

Stir the Celluclay slowly with your hand until the papier-mâché comes together. It should be well mixed with no lumps and it should be fairly dry. If it feels too moist add a bit more powder and work it into the lump.

You can use various plastic items for molds. Food packaging like those used for meat, mushrooms, or noodles work well for bunker type buildings, domes like those from whipped cream topped coffee drinks make great hemispheres. One of my favorite molds is from a microwave Christmas pudding because it is slightly heat resistant and can be put into a very low oven to speed drying.

Once you’ve chosen your mold start working the papier-mâché into the corners and crannies of the mold. Use your thumb to push out any air bubbles that get caught. The more time you take with this step the fewer pits you’ll have in the final piece. Finally, smooth the inside of the piece so that all of the casting is the same thickness. This will help the piece to dry evenly and prevent warping.

Leave the piece to dry for at least twelve hours before you attempt to remove it. This will allow the inside to form a skin of drier papier-mâché and make the whole form more sturdy. Leaving it for a couple of days will guarantee that the piece is firm enough to de-mold. Now put the mold into your freezer for at least four hours. This will freeze the papier-mâché and allow you to de-mold. Now put the papier-mâché piece onto a piece of cardboard and put it back into the freezer without the mold. This will begin to dry the other side of the piece without allowing the piece to warp as it thaws. Leave it overnight.

Hard frozen papier-mâché just out of the freezer.

Now take the casting out of the freezer and let it thaw and dry. You can speed this up by placing it in a very low oven with the door slightly opened water vapor to escape. This can take several hours depending on how thick the piece is.

When the piece is totally bone dry you can sand it and add various extra bits to it. Cardboard, plaster and wooden additions can be glued on with wood glue. Use CA glue to prep the papier-mâché when adding plastic pieces. This creates a hard surface for the CA glue to adhere to and strengthens the bond.

First coat papier-mâché with CA glue and then when dry use more glue to adhere the plastic piece.

Additional parts from Hirst Arts molds, Black Cat Bases and Pegasus Hobbies Platformer sets.

You can use plaster or more papier-mâché to fill in holes or make additions to the basic shape. You can also glue together two or more finished shapes and then fill in the gaps with more papier-mâché. This can create very biological, organic shapes such as these Roger Dean inspired pod houses.

Pterro-Man from Forge of Ice. 

Glue the final piece to a piece of masonite with woodglue and texture this with sand to make a base. Give the whole piece a good primer coat of flat spray paint and paint like you would any other building. The texture works really well when drybrushed. A good coat of varnish will help to protect it, I usually use gloss first and then flat.

Primed in basic flat black.

The texture of papier-mâché is great for drybrushing.

The finished science bunker.

The contrast between different types of materials adds to the visual interest and realism.

Papier-mâché is a very versatile material and makes strong, lightweight pieces affordably but not necessarily quickly. But working with it is enjoyable and it’s a pretty forgiving material since part of its charm is the rough unfinished look it has when dry. Give it a shot and good luck!

 Even without a lot of extra bits this bunker looks heavy and solid. Elder Things attack UTC exo-troopers on Proxima Tau. Miniatures by Nameless Design.

Steel-Iris Door for Trash Bash Bits.

The newest door to be unlocked for the Trash Bash Bits Kickstarter is the Steel-Iris door.

This is a classically simple sci-fi design and one that can be used for many different settings. The sharpened steel petals open and close with hissing whispers and the constant threat of horrible malfunction.

Trash Bash Bits Now on Kickstarter!

If you're like me you get tired of trying to find suitable technological bits like doors, windows, and hatches when making gaming scenery. Trash Bash Bits solve this problem by being easy to use, light, and affordable. They are flat on the back and thin enough to look good when glued to the outside of buildings.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/847163926/trash-bash-bits-sci-fi-doors

Check out the first three doors below and help me out on Kickstarter!

Miniatures shown for scale only.

Trash Bash 2013 Final Results

It is with great pleasure that I announce the winners in this year's Trash Bash! As always the level of creativity and craft is astounding and every entry has some inspiration that can be taken from it. Thanks to all of the entrants, the judges (who helped me to make some very difficult decisions), and our generous sponsors. And congratulations to the winners!

First Place: Diego Diz~ ATHT (All Terrain Half Track)

Again the first place prizes go to Spanish modeler Diego Diz. His weird war vehicle gained points by clever use of the mouse and overall cohesion of design and excellent finish. Diego has a great ability to find the right bit for the job and his skill in scale modeling is formidable.

"...It was the one that showed the most innovative use of the parts and the end result is a striking vehicle with a primitive-tech character - nice."

"Very well done. Also nice paint work."

( Check out some more "behind the scenes" pictures here.)

Second Place: Thomas Kelley ~ Nu-Mars Colonial Militia LRPT

This is Thomas's first year participating in Trash Bash and he has made a great showing with this cool piece for 15mm. Besides the excellent finish of his models he's also done a huge amount of modeling to create the vehicle stowage and sensors. Lots of great ideas in this one.

" This model demonstrated a high degree of imagination, forethought, artistic talent, and craftsmanship. The attention to detail was considerable yet not overdone, and this model stands out all the more for it."

"I really like the fact I don't see a computer mouse when I see this vehicle."

Third Place: William Burke ~ Red Star Mining Security: ADNOH Hover Darter 

Trash Bash veteran William Burke delivers another fun entry for this year's contest. Judges liked the overall feel of this model, like something you'd see in a Gerry Anderson show.

"The model has a campy, retro 60s style to it, adding to its overall appeal in the context of the figures and terrain with which it was presented."

 "The little hover is a very pleasing design and I liked this a lot - it's so cute!"

Honorable Mentions:

It was exceedingly difficult to choose only three winners for this contest so I'd like to also recognize the other contestants and their entries. Every single one is inspirational in its use of trash bashing techniques and overall creativity. (The following are listed in no particular order.)

Clark Payne~ SCARAB Defense Pod

Alex Hoover~ Self-Contained Quantum/Underwater/Ionospheric Device (SQUID) 

Adam Smillie ~ General Engineering and National Technologies  G.E.N.T. Deep Strike Walker

James Holloway~ Scrapdevil

Duane Gilbert~ The Anuran Prospecting Mech

Trash Bashing a Sci-Fi Vehicle From Start to Finish: Part 3

Final Painting! After gluing a bunch of stuff together it's time for the magic to happen. When I prime a new trash bash project I often forget what it was made of in the first place. The primary colored plastic melds into one cohesive object that can then be painted without any concern for what the parts began as. Quite simply this step makes me happy. 

I tend to prime all of my terrain and vehicles black as it makes for easier painting overall. Even if I'm painting something red or yellow I prime black and then drybrush the colored areas with white. This makes shading much easier for me since I use dampbrushing to add my colors, especially on a big, clunky vehicle like this.

Once the primer was totally dry I went over the main body with dark red and built up the color by layers, finally ending with very pale red/orange. All of the metal parts were repainted black and then layered with dark metal and finally lighter silver. I added some "Chris Foss" panels to break up the surface and to add more visual interest. The windshield was painted with a gradient to imply transparency and the various lights were painted using the standard gem technique.

I used rub on transfers from the Pine Car Phantom set and a yellow racing stripe to correspond with the yellow number 6's on the sides. The transfers were varnished with Testor's matt varnish and allowed to completely dry. Then I used various Citadel washes to dirty everything up. I added some dark soot along the exhausts by drydrushing dark gray. finally I finished the tires by drybrushing them with gray. I kept the upper body separate from the wheelbase to make this step easier.

Once it's all painted and dry I used a gloss varnish and then the Testor's flat varnish, standard operating procedure for most of my stuff.

Some perps never learn.

So that's it! The Bates Industries Roadpig DX is now ready to hit the mean streets of Mega City 1. I hope you've enjoyed this article and that it inspires you to start collecting and gluing together your own fleet of vehicles. Remember that Trash Bash 2013 will be happening next year so start saving your greeblies!