A lazy tutorial: building a modern fence (sci-fi)

These modern 28mm fences were built for during our Weekly crafting and painting session (Motivation Thursday). The theme of our weekly challenge was to build modular fences. I opted for a modern variant to use in our Sci-Fi games like Space Weirdos or One Page Rules Grimdark Future Firefight, two very fine games we play.

Building the fences

Materials used: plastic coated textile mesh (barbecue mesh?), BBQ skewers (square), lollypop sticks, cutter, wire cutter, metal ruler (not strictly needed), hot glue, PVA glue, basing material: small pebbles, rough and fine sand

Preparing the fence posts

Cut the posts to the desired lenght/height. I used 6 cm.

Cutting the fence

Draw template on the cutting mat for precisely cutting the mesh. The height of the mesh should be lower than the posts, but it’s a personal preference.

Hot glue the posts to the fence

Secure the other side of the posts with a line of hot glue for increased stability.

Hot glue the assembled fence to the base.

Secure the base edges of the fences on both sides with hot glue an keep the posts straight while the glue cools down.

Mix watered down PVA glue in a cup and apply to the base with an old brush.

basing material

Apply the coarsest basing material first and finish with fine sand last.

6 fence modules done in a very short time!

I brushed on the rest of the watered down PVA glue to the posts for additional strength.

Leave the finished fences to fully dry … and wait until next Motivation Thursday where I paint them!

Painting the fences

I spray primed the fences in black.

I then over brushed the mesh and the posts with acrylic burnt umber.

With a sponge I sporadically applied orange paint to simulate fresh rust.

Afterwards I dry brushed the metal parts (posts and mesh) with a silver paint.

The posts were then very roughly painted in a light grey, leaving the underlying paint coats (rust and metal) visible here and there.

At the end I dry brushed the base in grey …

… with a final dry brush of a light grey tone.

My homemade terrain wash* ties it all together and gives it that grimdark look I’m going for.

* recipe in a future tutorial.

While the wash dries, treat yourself to something fine.

The result

And here’s the final result after a coat of matte spray varnish:

These will be tested in our next Space Weirdos game!

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