LXXXVI. The Cemetery Project vol.6

The Cemetery Project continues. The newest addition are some home-made graveyard fences.

Materials used:

• plaster
• PVA glue
• superglue
• balsa
• plastic rulers
• DAS air-drying clay
• plaster tiles (see LXXXV. The Cemetery Project vol.5)
• sand
• wooden beads
• plastic fence
• pins
• Vallejo Heavy Transparent Gel 
• static grass tufts
• birch tree leaf litter  

The plan:

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Let's start wih the clay wall sections. They were made using an expendable mould made of balsa. The key points here: have proper right angles, the mould must be the same height everywhere, and it must be well secured to a flat surface.

The mould filled with clay. It's important to pack it tightly in there, especially in the bottom corners, in order to avoid unwanted holes. I use a metal spoon and a plastic ruler as tools. DAS clay is easier to work with if you spray it with a bit of water.

When the clay dried I removed it from the mould (or rather, I removed the mould from it).

Carving some detail into the walls with a sculpting tool.

The whole thing starts to take shape. A plastic ruler makes a great base for this because its shape and size are prefect and it won't warp when textured and painted. I pinned and glued the three balsa pillars into place on the base, and the low walls in between them. Each pillar got a plaster tile for a cap.

Adding further detail.

The building part is almost done. You can see the iron part of the fence waiting in the background. Before it gets installed, the pillars need to be covered in a coat of plaster mixed with a bit of PVA. This will give the entire pillar the same texture.

Plastic fence from ebay. There are different designs available.

When the plaster has cured it might need a little sanding and filing here and there. The iron parts can be superglued in place at this point. Now there's only basing left to do.

Vallejo Heavy Transparent Gel mixed with sand produces a thick, textured paste. I spread this all over the base. The spots I missed were touched up with sand and PVA later.

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I've made two fence pieces this time around but I'll eventually add more. I'm really happy with how they came out. Much prefer these to the Citadel ones. I'm planning to also do some entirely solid walls; the same style but without the wrought iron part on top. 

The finished pieces:

Fence section I.

Fence section II. The Piper is here for size comparison.