Tutorial - Terrain - Barricades

After completing my old Citadel Scenics barricades I got to thinking that they could make for a great 'counts-as' Aegis Defense Line. After measuring them I found that each piece was just a little too long or too short to make a reasonable 'counts-as' so I thought I'd make my own.

The below tutorial can be applied to your own 'counts-as' Aegis Defense Line or any piece of terrain you'd like to make. All the tools and materials I used were items lying around in either my garage or hobby desk so ultimately it was a zero cost project.

To replicate this project you will need:

Tools

• Saw (optional)
• Razor Blade
• File
• Pencil
• Ruler/Tape Measure
• Popsicle Sticks
• Paint Brushes

Materials

• 1/8th inch MDF
• Model Bits
• Super Glue
• Joint Compound
• Sand
• Primer
• Paint
• PVA Glue
• Static Grass

I began by measuring out strips of MDF which were 1.5" in width. I also marked those strips every 5 inches for the first 20 inches and then every 2 inches after that. I cut those strips on my table saw and then cut the 5 and 2 inch segments on my miter saw. As you can see above I several more sets that what I needed. I figure I'll get around to making more of these later since this first try was a success.

Each Aegis Defense Line is made of of four 5" sections and four 2" sections. In the above photo I've rounded the edges of each tile with a file and my razor knife. After I started to place bits on the tiles I decided to further trim the tiles into more narrow and irregular shapes.

After each tile was trimmed and filed into irregular shapes I placed various bits from my bits box along with some styrene and apoxie sculpt.

One of my smaller sections is built out of a piece of a dozer blade, a tank wheel and some sandbags made of apoxie sculpt.

 A Tamiya oil drum and some other bits.

Some larger styrene sections here, more sandbags and some wheels.

A great way to get texture on styrene is to chew it a bit with your molars. It seems gross but it makes for some great random dents and texture. Other bits were simply chopped up with my clippers and some received a plasma cut texture using the technique demonstrated in this other tutorial.

After all my bits were placed to my liking I applied joint compound to the tiles around the bits. Be careful not to apply too much, although if you do you can chip it off pretty easily. Leave the barricades to dry for at least 24 hours.

After the joint compound has dried I applied thinned PVA glue around the tile over the joint compound and then spread sand of varied size over the PVA. Allow the glue to dry overnight.

Once the sand was dried in place I applied two coats of Krylon 2x grey primer. This helped to ensure the sand stayed put and layed down a great base on which to paint.

I began my painting by applying a brown earth tone to the base. I followed that up with a dry brush coat of 'Blue Stoneware' to the sand followed by another dry brush coat of 'Dolphin Gray'.

After the ground had been finished I painted the bits. Most of it being metal I painted the majority of the bits with a 1:1 mix of gunmetal and black. I painted the wood with a light brown, the rubber with nato black, and the sand bags with light tan. After the paint had dried I applied a thinned down wash of Army Painter's 'Dark Tone'. The wash was allowed to dry overnight.

I applied PVA glue in a thin line around the edges and applied static grass to mirror the style of the Citadel Scenics. Everything then received a healthy application of dull coat. DONE!