Tombstone Rows: A Fast And Simple Halloween Craft
Oct 22, 2017 2:14:14 GMT
skunkape, kgstanley81, and 1 more like this
Post by sotf on Oct 22, 2017 2:14:14 GMT
I made some of these a while back, don't currently have pics, but it's something I figured that I'd point out if anyone wants to make a few of them for a Halloween game.
Basically, other than paints, you just need a pile of the wider popsicle sticks and your hot glue gun, along with whatever you want to flock it with, and perhaps a few small rocks. (If you have some double sided tape, it's also a rather useful thing for this.
It also helps to have a mini for scaling purposes.
First off, take enough of your wide sticks for the bases you want, and use the tape to attach them in a row with gaps. Keeping them from moving around on you early on is very useful.
Then take the scale mini and use that against the rest of the popsicle sticks, you want to mark on the stick, from the curved ends, in enough to have it to the minis waist, including the base height. Then cut them off, you want a big pile of the ends, these are what you'll be using for the tombstones.
There are a few other design options for them that you can probably think of, but this is a fast and easy to do. Though you could use some normal popsickle sticks mixed in if you want, and if you use 15mm scale, they tend to work better.
If you want to add rocks to it, make sure they fit entirely on the wide sticks, and glue them in place with the hot glue. Best places for them are near the ends to add a bit of weight to this.
Then use the hot glue to attach the tombstones on the cut end so that you get the curved ends. Make sure they're in as neat of a row as you can in the middle of the stick, you can get 4-5 in place per stick with an even spacing. If you want to mix in things like new graves, you can also skip a few spaces.
When the hot glue has cured, you can then use more hot glue to texture the bases if you want, but I tend to use white glue and sand to do that and leave it over night. The end result looks a bit better and it adds a bit more weight to the end result.
When everything is dry, blackbomb the entire thing, including the underside. This helps keep the base from warping on you, and it also helps keep the pieces from splintering on you with use.
Then paint it up, rocks as you normally do rocks, dirt as dirt, and the tombstones tend tend to look very good as either a dark grey, or a marble.
At the scale, you don't really need to label the stones, the shape works well enough to show what they are, but you can. Something easy like basic symbols can work on a few of them. Putting a thick cross on in black, then edge in with a lighter shade of grey than you used for the tombstones themselves can work well enough there and looks rather good.
When your paint is dry, flock it as you want, when the glue for it is dry, hit it with a sealant.
Not counting breaks to let the glue and paint dry, you do this in an hour for a couple dozen of them and they work for basic graveyard scatter terrain.
If you want a fresh grave, you can do that easily with a bit of the cheap foam board. Cut to the shape of the dirt pile plus a little more. Then use a knife to work the more random bevels of the upper side of it. Then seal it with a layer of white glue, let it dry then you use some white glue and sand for another layer. Paint it up as dirt, flock the edges of it it you want, then seal the entire thing.
Basically, other than paints, you just need a pile of the wider popsicle sticks and your hot glue gun, along with whatever you want to flock it with, and perhaps a few small rocks. (If you have some double sided tape, it's also a rather useful thing for this.
It also helps to have a mini for scaling purposes.
First off, take enough of your wide sticks for the bases you want, and use the tape to attach them in a row with gaps. Keeping them from moving around on you early on is very useful.
Then take the scale mini and use that against the rest of the popsicle sticks, you want to mark on the stick, from the curved ends, in enough to have it to the minis waist, including the base height. Then cut them off, you want a big pile of the ends, these are what you'll be using for the tombstones.
There are a few other design options for them that you can probably think of, but this is a fast and easy to do. Though you could use some normal popsickle sticks mixed in if you want, and if you use 15mm scale, they tend to work better.
If you want to add rocks to it, make sure they fit entirely on the wide sticks, and glue them in place with the hot glue. Best places for them are near the ends to add a bit of weight to this.
Then use the hot glue to attach the tombstones on the cut end so that you get the curved ends. Make sure they're in as neat of a row as you can in the middle of the stick, you can get 4-5 in place per stick with an even spacing. If you want to mix in things like new graves, you can also skip a few spaces.
When the hot glue has cured, you can then use more hot glue to texture the bases if you want, but I tend to use white glue and sand to do that and leave it over night. The end result looks a bit better and it adds a bit more weight to the end result.
When everything is dry, blackbomb the entire thing, including the underside. This helps keep the base from warping on you, and it also helps keep the pieces from splintering on you with use.
Then paint it up, rocks as you normally do rocks, dirt as dirt, and the tombstones tend tend to look very good as either a dark grey, or a marble.
At the scale, you don't really need to label the stones, the shape works well enough to show what they are, but you can. Something easy like basic symbols can work on a few of them. Putting a thick cross on in black, then edge in with a lighter shade of grey than you used for the tombstones themselves can work well enough there and looks rather good.
When your paint is dry, flock it as you want, when the glue for it is dry, hit it with a sealant.
Not counting breaks to let the glue and paint dry, you do this in an hour for a couple dozen of them and they work for basic graveyard scatter terrain.
If you want a fresh grave, you can do that easily with a bit of the cheap foam board. Cut to the shape of the dirt pile plus a little more. Then use a knife to work the more random bevels of the upper side of it. Then seal it with a layer of white glue, let it dry then you use some white glue and sand for another layer. Paint it up as dirt, flock the edges of it it you want, then seal the entire thing.