Tuesday, 3 October 2017

Tips and Techniques-Explosions!

Before anyone thinks I am copying Ron Ringrose' article in this months Wargames Illustrated, I have been working on this article for a couple of weeks now,in fact after our last WW2 game!
Explosions always look spectacular on a wargames table,and lend a certain something to the game move...............................
I am a collector of all things that "just might" come in handy,and one of those things is the red plastic piece of junk you can see in this photo!-it is in fact the top from a glucose tablet bottle,but it forms the basis of my Explosion! Also in the picture are the other elements to be used,ie. wire,kapok(animal stuffing) pliers and glue.
The wire has been cut to size,and you can see the ideal shape of the tablet top.................
Health and Safety alert!!!! holding the wire in the pliers,heat it up just enough to be able to pierce the plastic top,as shown,and push 6 pieces into the top,at crazy angles!!
All pieces of wire in place,but just to make sure,I super-glued them too-can't be too careful with explosions!
A "healthy" splodge of glue was put around the base and then kapok was wrapped around it,as shown.
Glue was then added to the wires,and kapok wrapped around them too.
A central "plume" was added,and the kapok on the wires twisted into spirals.
The secret ingredient!!-hair gel to stop the spirals from unwinding-clever or what????

A few dabs of black paint to represent the debris and dust,and a few dabs of yellow and red to represent the explosion itself,and the explosion is complete.Now to show it in situ......................
Bloody Hell!!-that was close!!!!!
So was that!-I will now have to work on about another 5 for the next WW2 game.
Any comments?











































































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12 comments:

  1. B Irving3 October 2017 at 19:30

    Great stuff John.
    At least I know where my Hair Gel went!!!!.

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  2. Steve-the-Wargamer4 October 2017 at 12:26

    ...can you put one of your flickering LED's in the middle?? :o))

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    Replies
    1. william coutts4 October 2017 at 15:55

      Hi STW,great idea,unfortunately the centre hole is too small,but I'll work on that for the next one,cheers
      johnc(william)

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    2. Steve-the-Wargamer5 October 2017 at 14:38

      Bill/Robbie - spotted this on eBay and thought "that might be useful some day"...

      http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-LED-Deep-Drop-Underwater-Fishing-Squid-Fish-Lure-Light-Flashing-Lamp-Useful-/232481449151?epid=863569708&hash=item3620f964bf:g:sYYAAOSwWaRZsnSI

      Delete
    3. william coutts9 October 2017 at 15:23

      Cheers STW-it's amazing how wargamers are always looking for different applications of various devises!!-i will give it a look.
      johnc

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  3. Anonymous4 October 2017 at 20:16

    You're an artist, mate :-)

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    Replies
    1. william coutts5 October 2017 at 14:26

      HI Chris,but not as good as you-I understand that you won your club's painting trophy for you roman galleys!-well done,two trophies in one year,and you're calling me an artist-great stuff.
      johnc

      Delete
    2. Anonymous5 October 2017 at 20:55

      Cheers John. I do look forward to bringing my navy north

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  4. Independentwargamesgroup5 October 2017 at 09:53

    John,
    Yours looks better than mine. I also thought about stuffing a light inside but wouldnt have been able to switch it on.Shame you had to use Brian's hair gel.

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    Replies
    1. william coutts5 October 2017 at 14:27

      Robbie,Brian just uses "brasso" now to get a good shine!!
      I liked your explosion too-very effective.
      johnc

      Delete
  5. william coutts9 October 2017 at 15:26

    Chris,if you're bringing your navy north,you'll have to arrange for the millenium bridge to be raised,and land at Newburn!!!

    johnc

    ReplyDelete