The final part of Steve's interesting and informative series... a) Hedges - Perhaps the beet 'hedging' material for 6mm scale I've seen is a green 'pan scourer' available from most hardware stores in packs of 3 (I buy mine from ASOA by the way). Cut into strips & glued onto suitable coloured card, It doesn't even need painting. One pods of 3 'scourers' will literally make yards of hedging, probably more than you'll ever need. It you're baffled as to which 'pan scourer' I'm romancing on about try asking a suitable member of the opposite sex to help find some for you. (NOTE: Thanks go to John Bennett, ex-editor of Lone Warrior for this idea. He mentioned these 'scourers' in an article some years ago, and I've used them for hedges ever since). b) Trees - My own 'trees' (see fig. 7) are mode from knorted places of wood (for the trunks) inserted into bathroom sponge (coloured green) conspicuously hacked about with scissors for the foliage. They are stuck into model-makers day or 'SuperCost' plaster bases. Only the bases then need painting. c) Explosions ! - Apart from model figures, have you ever wished to see a little more 'action' on your table? You know, things such as fires, water-splashes, cannon-fire, explosions, oil over the place? Well, here's a safe way to simulate them aliwlth just a little glue, some pieces of card (christmas or birthday card again of course) and a few felt-tipped pens. And by the way, these 'Explosions' can always be used for other scatkes if you need them. 1) Cut from an old christmas or birthday card 2 shapes similar to those shown in Fig. 8. Use ONLY white parts of the card for this (to simulate the smoke from explosions). 2) Cut 2 slits as shown in Fig. 8 (one in each piece), slightly longer than had the length of the shapes. 3) Interlock the shapes by sliding the slits together making sure the shapes stay at 90 degrees to each other (or as near as possible). 4) Glue in position. 5) When dry, get to work with those felt-tipped pens. Plenty red, black, yellow & grey to simulate nice big 'BANGS'. The narrow end of the final model represents the point of the explosion, whilst the rounded ends are the elected smoke clouds. By turning this finished model onto it's side with it's narrow end pressed against the barrel of a cannon, you'll soon see how easily it represents 'cannon-fire'. To simulate 'shell-splashes' at sea or fall of shot 'explosions' on land, use the some method as above but before gluing together, cut off the narrow ends with scissors & replace them with a piece of 'basing' card ('beer-mat' etc.) as shown in Fg.9. When all glue is dry, get to work again with those felt-tips or paint. If you're a Naval wargamer, point the 'splash' marker light blue, and you'll be able to use a few of them together as Indicators for the fall of shell at sea. To simulate 'FIRE' in houses you'll need to cut out larger pieces from your christmos or birthday cards. Follow the method as before for the 'basic' explosion but before gluing, slice off the narrow ends with diagonal cuts (see Fg.10) to allow the finished 'Fire!' model to sit on top of your model buildings without toppling over. Once glued, colour the card to simulate a roaring 'Fire!' (NOTE: This method of using 'Fire' was used by the late Charles Grant in his book 'The Wargame'). Well, that's about it. I Hope some of the Ideas above have given you something to think about. And if they hove, why not put them down on paper and let us all see what you come up with. I for one, am always on the look out for ways to improve my gaming so don't keep good Ideas to yourself. Back to The Gauntlet No. 3 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by Craig Martelle Publications This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com