Inspired by the SST demo at Cold Wars '05 where the Mongoose Infantry member had made a Tunnel Marker from spare bits and uninspired by the cardboard markers and templates included in the starter box led me to create my own Tunnel Markers and Tunnel Entrances.
Tunnel Marker: I started with 2 spare legs (you get 1 spare leg from a 2 Warrior sprue) and a 1" washer. Trimmed the ball joints to lie flat with the washer and then superglued the legs to the washer using Dollar Tree Gel Super Glue (3 tubes for $1). After that had set, I then spread wood filler, straight from the tub, onto the washer to make it look like that the legs were poking through the ground. I let it set overnight - mainly because I did this after dinner and before going to bed. The next day - a base coat of the cheap flat black spray paint from Wal-Mart, the usual treatment on the bug legs (see an earlier post on how I painted the Arachnid Warriors) and for the ground, drybrush Delta Ceramcoat Spice Brown and then a light drybrush of DC's Bambi Brown (you've gotta love the names of these colors).
Tunnel Entrance: In SST, a Tunnel Entrance & a Nest Entrance is 4" in diameter. Now a regular CD from AOL is just too big. At Michael's, I found 4" diameter wood plaques for a mere 50 cents each. So I bought about 10 of the things, and whipped up 10 entrances. I added straight wood filler around the edges to give it height. You'll have to go back and reform your tunnel walls 2-3 times as the filler sets, if you're working on 10 at the same time. You'll feel it start to get firm and then you'll know if you'll have to go back to it again or not, but do keep an eye on it. You certainly don't want to have "flat" tunnel entrances. After the wood filler sets, a base coat of cheap flatr black spray paint from Wal-Mart, a drybrush of DC's Spice Brown, followed by a light drybrush of DC's Bambi Brown around the edges of the entrance. Althought I have yet to do so, I'm going to add a spare bug leg or two to a few entrances to signify them as "Nest Entrances".
Inspired by the SST demo at Cold Wars '05 where the Mongoose Infantry member had made a Tunnel Marker from spare bits and uninspired by the cardboard markers and templates included in the starter box led me to create my own Tunnel Markers and Tunnel Entrances.
Tunnel Marker: I started with 2 spare legs (you get 1 spare leg from a 2 Warrior sprue) and a 1" washer. Trimmed the ball joints to lie flat with the washer and then superglued the legs to the washer using Dollar Tree Gel Super Glue (3 tubes for $1). After that had set, I then spread wood filler, straight from the tub, onto the washer to make it look like that the legs were poking through the ground. I let it set overnight - mainly because I did this after dinner and before going to bed. The next day - a base coat of the cheap flat black spray paint from Wal-Mart, the usual treatment on the bug legs (see an earlier post on how I painted the Arachnid Warriors) and for the ground, drybrush Delta Ceramcoat Spice Brown and then a light drybrush of DC's Bambi Brown (you've gotta love the names of these colors).
Tunnel Entrance: In SST, a Tunnel Entrance & a Nest Entrance is 4" in diameter. Now a regular CD from AOL is just too big. At Michael's, I found 4" diameter wood plaques for a mere 50 cents each. So I bought about 10 of the things, and whipped up 10 entrances. I added straight wood filler around the edges to give it height. You'll have to go back and reform your tunnel walls 2-3 times as the filler sets, if you're working on 10 at the same time. You'll feel it start to get firm and then you'll know if you'll have to go back to it again or not, but do keep an eye on it. You certainly don't want to have "flat" tunnel entrances. After the wood filler sets, a base coat of cheap flatr black spray paint from Wal-Mart, a drybrush of DC's Spice Brown, followed by a light drybrush of DC's Bambi Brown around the edges of the entrance. Althought I have yet to do so, I'm going to add a spare bug leg or two to a few entrances to signify them as "Nest Entrances".
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