Some time ago I read of a method of making shell craters for gaming using tinfoil pie dishes filled with plaster. It looked a neat idea. Not having any immediate need for craters at the time I put a few pie dishes away against the day I'd get to try it out. That day has arrived.
To make these, push the bottom of the foil dish in to form a depression. Turn the right way up and fill with plaster. I use Hydrostone. Allow to it set then tip it out. The photo shows the basic result.
They look a bit too regular for shell craters, but I'll come to that later.
Next up, I glued circles of thick card on the bottom of the craters-to-be using Aleene's tacky glue. Note: the plaster must be thoroughly dry before doing this. Any moisture still in the plaster will cause the glue bond to fail.
With the plaster craters fixed to the card, I applied 'Liquid Nails' construction adhesive around the edges. This dries hard after a couple hours but with some flexibility, making it less likely to chip than spackle or similar. While the adhesive was fresh, I covered it with dried coffee grounds and pressed them into it for a firm bond. It looks like coarse soil or rubble.
Once all that is dry, the next stage will be to make the circumferences of the craters less regular using streaks of spackle covered with more coffee grounds and sand.
1 comment:
What a great idea.
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