Plastic Surgery on a (plastic) Wooden Fort
Feb 3, 2021 20:26:55 GMT
tauster, skunkape, and 3 more like this
Post by sgtslag on Feb 3, 2021 20:26:55 GMT
I converted this toy Wooden Fort (see Photo1 link, below) for use with my 28mm fantasy 2e BattleSystem games, and my RPG, as it is better scaled to those figures, rather than the 54mm figures it was intended to be used with, originally. It is a Marx playset, intended for use with Old West figures, Union Cavalry and American Indians (not PC, I know, but that is the term used when it was first made, in the 1960's?).
Anyway, I thought I would share how I configured it, initially, what happened to it causing it to need repairs, and how I repaired it, making it stronger, and far more durable. I'll touch on some cosmetic issues, as well.
link
This is how it looked, originally, for my fantasy games. It saw use in several games, like this. You can see the foamcore which I initially attached to the plastic catwalks, with the paper ladders for access. You can also see, at the base of the exterior wall, the bump-out's which I applied epoxy to, to attach it to the MDF base. Also note the hideous yellow paint used to represent freshy chopped wood.
link
I initially mounted the Fort onto a large piece of MDF. I textured and painted the MDF, first, using sand, and green craft paint. Once this dried, I used 5-minute two-part epoxy to attach the Polyethylene plastic (soft, Army Men plastic, which will adhere to very few glues, with any strength at all…) Fort to the base. I applied the Epoxy sparingly, at around two places only, per side of the Fort. Lifting the base caused a lot of flexure in the Fort, which led to separation, after around five years of gaming use, and one house move.
I also made the mistake of painting the chopped tree ends, atop the Fort's walls, a dark yellow… Hideous, but I didn't realize how bad it was, until after I was done. Always hated that yellow -- should have been a light tan.
I need this Fort for an upcoming 2e BattleSystem game, so it was time to make some repairs.
I game with Army Men figures, and I mount them to 2-inch squares of MDF, using Hot Glue. Hot Glue holds onto the PE Plastic, rather well -- better than anything else I've tried. I've been gaming with Army Men figures since 1998, so I've tried a number of adhesives…
link
Note the square dowels, at the base of the inside walls, the clump foliage, on the outside, covering the plastic bump-out's, and the newly Sand colored log tips.
I had some square wooden dowels (base of the interior walls, above), so I measured, and I cut them to size, to fit inside the walls of the Fort. Two sides are long, without interruptions; the other two sides have a Gate in them, so those two sides would be limited. I Hot Glued the dowels into place, using the High Temperature setting, as this would give me much more working time before the Glue hardened. I applied a bead of Hot Glue along the base, in front of the wall, then I applied a bead onto the side of the dowel which would butt against the plastic Fort wall, on the inside. This created two lines of Hot Glue, one attaching to the wall, and the other attached to the MDF base. The two beads of Hot Glue created a fairly strong bond to the dowel, and the base, and the Fort wall.
link
I added a bead of Hot Glue along the top of the dowel, creating a stronger bond with the plastic Fort wall. I did the same along the bottom edge of the dowel, strengthening the bond to the MDF base. I will hit these with matte Clear Coat, to dull the shine of the Hot Glue. The dowels were coated with the Minwax Polyurethane Stain, to seal the wood, and to darken it a bit. Once the MDF catwalks are attached, the square dowels will be hard to notice, as they will be mostly in the shadow of the catwalks.
I used shorter lengths of dowel along the remaining two walls, keeping the dowel well away from the gates. They still provide plenty of bonding strength, securing the whole Fort to the MDF base.
I took the opportunity to cover that ugly yellow paint with a Sand craft paint color. I still need to paint over the yellow on the studs piercing the walls, but here you can see the improvement it made. I also need to brush on some Minwax Polyshades Royal Walnut over the Sand paint, to darken it, and give it some weathering.
The catwalks will be covered in strips of MDF, which I will Hot Glue to the plastic catwalks (the foamcore has been stripped away, leaving the plastic catwalks exposed). I will put two layers of MDF strips atop the plastic catwalks, as this will bring the figures to the proper height to shoot over the walls.
There are some small square areas jutting out from the wall sections, which needed to be covered up. I glued on some clump foliage (bushes) to cover these up. It is not much, but it hides the bump-outs, very well.
link
I will be finishing this project within the next two weeks. I will post more photo's once I finish the project.
If you are converting any type of plastic toys, like this, for gaming terrain, the best glue to use, is Hot Glue. Low Temperature Hot Glue will give you less working time, before it hardens. I normally use Low Temperature Guns, but for this project, I needed longer working times, so a High Temperature Gun was required. Cheers!
Anyway, I thought I would share how I configured it, initially, what happened to it causing it to need repairs, and how I repaired it, making it stronger, and far more durable. I'll touch on some cosmetic issues, as well.
link
This is how it looked, originally, for my fantasy games. It saw use in several games, like this. You can see the foamcore which I initially attached to the plastic catwalks, with the paper ladders for access. You can also see, at the base of the exterior wall, the bump-out's which I applied epoxy to, to attach it to the MDF base. Also note the hideous yellow paint used to represent freshy chopped wood.
link
I initially mounted the Fort onto a large piece of MDF. I textured and painted the MDF, first, using sand, and green craft paint. Once this dried, I used 5-minute two-part epoxy to attach the Polyethylene plastic (soft, Army Men plastic, which will adhere to very few glues, with any strength at all…) Fort to the base. I applied the Epoxy sparingly, at around two places only, per side of the Fort. Lifting the base caused a lot of flexure in the Fort, which led to separation, after around five years of gaming use, and one house move.
I also made the mistake of painting the chopped tree ends, atop the Fort's walls, a dark yellow… Hideous, but I didn't realize how bad it was, until after I was done. Always hated that yellow -- should have been a light tan.
I need this Fort for an upcoming 2e BattleSystem game, so it was time to make some repairs.
I game with Army Men figures, and I mount them to 2-inch squares of MDF, using Hot Glue. Hot Glue holds onto the PE Plastic, rather well -- better than anything else I've tried. I've been gaming with Army Men figures since 1998, so I've tried a number of adhesives…
link
Note the square dowels, at the base of the inside walls, the clump foliage, on the outside, covering the plastic bump-out's, and the newly Sand colored log tips.
I had some square wooden dowels (base of the interior walls, above), so I measured, and I cut them to size, to fit inside the walls of the Fort. Two sides are long, without interruptions; the other two sides have a Gate in them, so those two sides would be limited. I Hot Glued the dowels into place, using the High Temperature setting, as this would give me much more working time before the Glue hardened. I applied a bead of Hot Glue along the base, in front of the wall, then I applied a bead onto the side of the dowel which would butt against the plastic Fort wall, on the inside. This created two lines of Hot Glue, one attaching to the wall, and the other attached to the MDF base. The two beads of Hot Glue created a fairly strong bond to the dowel, and the base, and the Fort wall.
link
I added a bead of Hot Glue along the top of the dowel, creating a stronger bond with the plastic Fort wall. I did the same along the bottom edge of the dowel, strengthening the bond to the MDF base. I will hit these with matte Clear Coat, to dull the shine of the Hot Glue. The dowels were coated with the Minwax Polyurethane Stain, to seal the wood, and to darken it a bit. Once the MDF catwalks are attached, the square dowels will be hard to notice, as they will be mostly in the shadow of the catwalks.
I used shorter lengths of dowel along the remaining two walls, keeping the dowel well away from the gates. They still provide plenty of bonding strength, securing the whole Fort to the MDF base.
I took the opportunity to cover that ugly yellow paint with a Sand craft paint color. I still need to paint over the yellow on the studs piercing the walls, but here you can see the improvement it made. I also need to brush on some Minwax Polyshades Royal Walnut over the Sand paint, to darken it, and give it some weathering.
The catwalks will be covered in strips of MDF, which I will Hot Glue to the plastic catwalks (the foamcore has been stripped away, leaving the plastic catwalks exposed). I will put two layers of MDF strips atop the plastic catwalks, as this will bring the figures to the proper height to shoot over the walls.
There are some small square areas jutting out from the wall sections, which needed to be covered up. I glued on some clump foliage (bushes) to cover these up. It is not much, but it hides the bump-outs, very well.
link
I will be finishing this project within the next two weeks. I will post more photo's once I finish the project.
If you are converting any type of plastic toys, like this, for gaming terrain, the best glue to use, is Hot Glue. Low Temperature Hot Glue will give you less working time, before it hardens. I normally use Low Temperature Guns, but for this project, I needed longer working times, so a High Temperature Gun was required. Cheers!