Project: Imperial Outpost

The second battle of the Arduen Campaign is based on an Ork attack on an Imperial Guard outpost/supply depot/compound of some sort. I had some barrels and ammunition boxes, etc., but a few barrels and ammunition boxes do not an outpost make.

So I decided to whip up some fencing and stuff to make a better outpost. The work would consist of three parts--a perimeter fence, a couple of military style tents, and a watchtower.The chain-link fence was pretty easy. I used plasticard tubing to make a frame and attached it to a plasticard base. I put the vertical poles on the base right at the edge so I could abut the various fences together to make a large, continuous fence.
I used fiberglass window screen to make the chain links, which I superglued to the framework. I was looking for a small sheet of window screen, but got impatient and bought a whole roll (only $6). Now I have enough to make a 40k chain link fence 40k miles long... But that's ok.
I had hoped to coil some window screen to make razor wire to top the fence, but the fiberglass doesn't hold its shape like aluminum would have (fiberglass was cheaper, so I bought that before I thought about it), and I didn't have much time before the battle in any case. I made two short sections, three long sections, and 4 corner sections to make an enclosed compound.

Next up was some tents. I took some plasticard square rods and made a tent framework.
Next I used some spare fabric I had lying around and sketched a pattern on it for the tent. I wasn't too meticulous here, as I figured I'd just glue it in place and then trim it with scissors.
My first attempt was to give the tent fabric some rigidity, so I made some watered down white glue and soaked the fabric in it, then applied it to the framing. This ended up being just a pain, didn't really work, and in the event it was unnecessary, so I skipped this step for the second tent. I used superglue to attach the fabric to the frame, and once the glue was dry I used scissors to trim off any excess fabric. Not perfect, but good enough.
A long time ago I took a sample of Catachan Green and took it to the local Home Depot and got a quart of it made up--so I used this instead of using up my model paint to paint up the tent itself.

Next up was the watch tower, made entirely out of plasticard. I made the "platform" a square 2 1/8" on a side, so I when I was done I could fit four models in there, with a hole cut in the center for an entrance.
I built up the frame and trusswork next.
The final tower, with ladder leading up to the platform, a trapdoor, and a removable roof so you can fit the models in there.
Finally I painted it up and made it ready to go:

Putting it all together, along with a quickie flagpole, and my aforementioned barrels/ammo boxes, and I have an Imperial compound. Look for it in my next battle report, coming soon!