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Welcome to GermsWorld Celtos
Wickerman Terrain page
After my success with the Hell Gate
I thought I'd try making a Wickerman.
The idea of the Wickerman isn't exactly
a well documented Celtic religious
object, but seemed perfect for my
armies of the Undead. What with all
that burning sacrifices and the like.
So I did some research for pictures
of how the Wickerman is supposed to
look, but all I found were pictures
of the wickerman in the 1970's film
of the same name. I didn't like that
one because it was too ordered and
square. Mine had to look like crazed,
evil, undead things made it. So I
went for a more lashed together on
the quick look :)
Much like my article on the Hell
gate this is not so much a "How
to make" but more of a "How
I made" guide to making wargame
scenery.
Materials used
Balsa Wood
Craft Knife
Super Glue
Thin Wire
Procreate sculpting putty
Cheap modelling clay
and an old music CD
Also
Paints:
Coat
d' Arms
Flock:
Black
Cat Bases
Celtos Miniatures shown by
Brigade
Models
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Step 1
I spent a lot of time pondering on
how to actually make the Wickerman.
In the end I actually made it as if
I was making one for real (without
the sacrifices of course ;).
That is I bought a Balsa wood bundle
for £1.99 from my local craft
shop and set about cutting up lengths
of wood for the frame of the Wickerman.
I started with a frame as you can
see in the first picture. I cut straight
lengths of wood and used the craft
knife to round off the edges to make
it look like an axe had been used
to chop up the wood.
The frame poles are different lengths
intentionally, as I said previously
I was going for a rough un-ordered
look.
As ever when using knives, cut
away from yourself and be careful!
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Step 2
I used superglue to stick the frame
together. The bond wasn't bad but a
firm tug would separate the joints and
given the softness of the wood I had
to be careful when handling the structure.
To strengthen the frame I drilled a
hole through the cross piece and glued
in place a piece of wire.
I then added a beam across the top for
the arms of the Wickerman. |
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Step 3
Once I had cut the frame I then spent
time cutting up loads of smaller logs
that I could attach to the frame. I
used the same method of rounded the
logs off with the knife and i sharpened
the ends to a point to look like sharpened
stakes. It's meant to have been made
by evil people remember :) |
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Step 4
Adding these new shorter logs by sticking
them with the super glue one by one
to the frame legs I was starting to
bulk out the structure.
This technique was pretty much how
I would set about making a wickerman
for real.
Without the superglue of course!
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Step 5
As you can see the process of adding
the short logs around the frame worked
well and gave a realistic look to the
structure.
You can also see my first attempt at
using some wire to make it look like
the logs had been bound up with rope.
Going back to the lashed together look
the best example I could think of was
of a log raft. The sort you see in island
cast away films. |
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Step 6
With the legs done I moved onto the
arms. Cutting longer logs up this time
I wanted them to span the whole length
of the arms. Again same technique as
the legs and bound with wire.
Because I added each log one at a time
I was able to stick them around the
top of the frame which helped to keep
it strong and not look like the arms
were perched on the top of the frame.
You can see the frame poking out through
the top of the arms. |
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Step 7
I then needed to turn my attention to
the body of the Wickerman and a possible
cage for the sacrificial victims. Also
a head for the Wickerman started to
play on my mind. In the end I went for
a prison bar type cage and made the
pieces tall enough that they would stick
above the arms forming a rough human
shape.
Also at this point it was becoming obvious
that the 40mm round base I had stuck
it to was just too small. |
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Step 8
So in the same way as the Hell
Gate, I used an old music CD and
some modelling clay to make a bigger
base.
With the leftover bits of clay I made
some rocks, as you can see from the
picture to give the base some character.
Before the clay dried I pushed the Wickerman
Structure into it just to make an indentation
that would help later when I would stick
it to the base. |
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Step 9
Ok at this point I sort of decided
to change some parts and the structure
got a little complicated.
First up came the victims for inside
the Wickerman. I actually ended up
sculpting parts of bodies in the same
style as the existing Celtos
miniatures. I've worked on a number
of projects for Brigade
Models who own Celtos
and obtained permission to copy the
style of their miniatures for this
project.
But you could just as easily used
old miniatures and just cut them up,
so you can make it look like it contains
a number of bodies.
In fact you could probably make it
look more dramaticwith arms reaching
out from the cage!
You will probably have also noticed
that I had to take the cage beams
off insert the victims and glue the
cage back on :)
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Step 10
You will also have noticed that I ended
up removing the wire I'd used for the
bound together effect and re-worked
the rope binding the Wickerman together
using sculpted modeling putty.
I actually did this by rolling out flat
some putty and once it had cured I cut
it into thin strips and used it like
real leather straps.
Threading the thin strips of putty through
the structure I was able to really make
it look tied together. |
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Step 11
Adding a few more log beams to look
like the Wickerman was being supported
from falling over and a few more rocks
the structure was complete.
Painting the Wickerman
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