Tuesday 21 July 2015

Problems Making Papier Mâché Wargaming Hills

papier mâché wargaming hills

I enjoy making objects out of papier mâché. Masks, hexagons, walls, hills. I made these two hills about 6 years ago. I like the way they look but unfortunately they don’t work well as hills in a wargame. They are 3,50 cm high and have a smooth surface. Figures slide down or fall off.


papier mâché wargaming hill

Now I’m working on a hill that’s much flatter. It’s 1,50 cm high. I can’t make it flatter, I think. Then it wouldn’t look like a hill any more. It would look like a piece of area terrain.

Making a hill from papier mâché might not be the best idea, but as I said I like the material. It’s my favorite material. It’s my intention to make a hill that lies flat on the tabletop board. Unfortunately, each time I apply a layer of paper to a papier mâché object with wallpaper paste, the object changes its form while the paper dries. So it takes a long time to make a papier mâché hill that lies flat on the floor, possibly forever if you want a perfect hill.


papier mâché wargaming hill work in progress

I started to make this hill 2 or 3 years ago. In January I said to myself: Ok, two years are a long time to make a papier mâché hill. I have to finish this project now. I have to change my technique.

papier mâché wargaming hill work in progress

So I thought about ways to stabilize the object and applied a layer of Milliput, a self-hardening modeling clay which can be carved and sanded. This works a bit better but the hill still changes its form when it dries.


papier mâché wargaming hill work in progress

Maybe you think: Whatever. These are hobby problems. Not really important in a time when our environment is changing rapidly, reminding some of us of the big changes that happened 65 million years ago and lead to the extinction of dinosaurs.


clay dino

Or you experienced problems making papier mâché hills yourself and can offer some advice on solving them?

I hope I can finish the hill soon. And start three more.

6 comments:

  1. I have found that when I am done with a project like this, even if the hill or project changed shape, a bread knife works wonders to help cut it to whatever form I like. For the bottom of a hill, I would place a level next to the hill and lightly pencil where you need to cut to make it lay flat and then slice away (like you would a cake to make the top flat).

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    1. The tools I have used until now are a small carving knife and sandpaper, but a bread knife might indeed work better. Thanks for the advice. I will give it a try.

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  2. Love the dinosaur. I have to confess that I have not had much luck with paper mache as I get frustrated with the drying time. Instead I bought a sheet of loft insulting foam and set about it with a bread knife - very quick, very simple.

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    1. Thanks a lot. I made the clay dino with my children some time ago.

      I have not worked with soft insulating foam before. I should give it a try, although some scary pictures appeared when I googled the material. You are the second person that recommends a bread knife. The other day I was in a hardware store looking for the right tool for my hill project and ended up with a small carving knife. Of course they didn’t have bread knives. Thanks for the advice!

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    2. It is not too bad when you get going below are some links from my blog where I tried to make hills:
      http://28mmvictorianwarfare.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/green-hill-far-away.html

      http://28mmvictorianwarfare.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/tough-terrain.html

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    3. Thanks for the links! The "Maiwand Day" Blog you mention in your second post is also very interesting.

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