Building a village for Nam

[Mr. Peabody]

I can just see you rolling on the contact table now... "oh no! Pass 2, enemy considered to be hidden. Roll for In Sight check!"  And the peaceful little ville is suddenly crawling with Victor Charles.

[Mad Carew Snr]

Having watched "Charlie" slaughter my guys in a game only last night, I have to commiserate with whomever is in close contact with the occupants of those huts

[Navy Colt]

Nice project!

cant wait to see the finished project!

[revford]

I'm about to go attempt the most fiendish looking part of the construction, the thatched roof.

Camera at the ready I'll let you know how I get on soon. 

[revford]

Okay, the thatching is done, time to let it set and see how that works out. 

First up, an old blue flannel.



I trimmed the edges off and lined up the ceiling on top, marking off the corner with plenty of slack as this could well suffer shrinkage.



Chopped that out.



Then did it again.



The top layers were cut out by eye to help the rough natural look.



Now time for the messy and sordid looking stage.  I didn't know quite what ratio of glue to water to use, so I guess about this much glue.



With this much water.



A good stir later and it looked like skimmed milk.



In with the first section of flannel.



Which is then put carefully over the roof already balanced on the building.  The little cross section follows it right up.



Then building two.



And the roofs assembled.




Now it's time to let that dry out in the sunshine, with some luck I'll have a pair of hardened roofs that fit the buildings perfectly, should Mr and Mrs Cockup come around for tea, I'll have two soggy mashed lumps of cardboard and the chance to try a different method. 

[Mr. Peabody]

I tried Matte Medium mixed w/ Future (Klear) for my teddy-bear fur thatch effort. The Matte stuff took the shine from the glossy floor finish and it dried nice and tough. Smells perfumey for a while after though.
TR

[Doomhippie]

Thank you so much for this post. I have a ton of painted marines and VC yet no village to burn and commit attrocities to. I guess that will change pretty soon...

[revford]

Latest update, the glue didn't set hard on the thatch, I guess my glue/water mix was way off. 

However it didn't ruin the rest of the work, so I'll give it another go. 

I have finished off the bases on the two buildings and the pen.

Somehow I've misplaced the camera, but when I find it I'll get some pictures of the progress so far and have another go at the roofs.

[Doomhippie]

Some painter told me last year never to use more than 10% water with white glue. Maybe that helps...

[Kestrel]

Having watched "Charlie" slaughter my guys in a game only last night, I have to commiserate with whomever is in close contact with the occupants of those huts

That'll be me tomorrow night I suspect, unless I am lucky and manage to fail 2 - In which case I'll be the back up to help extract someone else.

[revford]

Some painter told me last year never to use more than 10% water with white glue. Maybe that helps...

Cheers Man, I'll give it a try like that.