Volley and Bayonet Stands WIP

Recently I came across a scrap of MDF that had been split roughly, and as I looked at it, I thought it looked a little like terrain contour lines. I then decided to cut the piece into V&B sized stands and make use of the extra thickness of the material (compared to my usual stands) to carve in some shallow trenches or scrapes.

Three of the thick bases with a normal base for comparison.

I have started making three such stands at the moment. In addition to the carving and sanding of the MDF blocks, I have added bits of twig to use as log barricades, or plastic logs from one of the Hasegawa infantry sets. I have also painted the base green, and the sides brown. At this stage I am planning to use at least some of the autumn leaves flock on each one.

Side view of the twig bases. The wood looked much better after I gave it a brown wash (not shown).

Essentially the whole project is an experiment to see what the idea of having thicker bases with some terrain relief will look like. The idea is to make up three militia bases for use in AWI games. I am aiming to create something interesting looking for the tabletop, and I am curious to see if I can make something from this idea.

A shallow trench and some militia.

I have used figures from the Revell American Militia set, and have placed five already on the first stand to give me an idea of figure placement. At least two more figures are planned additions for this stand. I have also been experimenting with what colours to paint the militia. Irregular forces and civilians are two things I find difficult to paint in a manner that looks right, and reflects a non standard appearance. Hopefully, once I paint the thirtyish figures for this project, I will have figured it out.

Side view giving a better view of the contours of the stand.

Of course, I can take shortcuts by making sure to  have a certain number of them in hunting shirts of various hue, sprinkle in some brown coats, add in some blue coats, and even the odd red coat too! This will make sure that I don't end up with a number of men wearing virtually the same civilian outfit.