Advice on making tents

[cwchmc]

I'm looking for any suggestions or advice on making tents. These tents will be used in Colonial and Pulp games as camps for explorers, archaeologists, etc. I'm not too concerned with historical accuracy. I mostly just want them to have the right look. I'd like to build a couple large tents for the leaders and a number of smaller tents for bearers, soldiers, etc. I'm thinking of doing playable interiors for the larger tents but it not sctrictly necessary.

Thanks.

Chuck

[Malamute]

How about a wire frame and paper or tissue washed with PVA laid over the top to form an A frame style tent.

[Operator5]

Malamute's answer is exactly what I did for some tents for a camp I made. I made a wire frame, soaked paper towel in white glue and then put it over the frame. The tents looked great after being painted up.

[Rhoderic]

I've struggled (mentally) with how to make large tents with accessible interiors, too. Mine are for a fantasy setting so the tutorial at http://www.blackbirdmedia.org/lotr/?view=articles&which=haradCamp is probably more useful to me than to someone making 20th century explorers' tents, but maybe it's still a good place to start.

[cwchmc]

Thanks everyone.
Rich, when you say paper towels, do mean white roll paper towels, or folded brown paper towels? I would think the brown folded type would be better.
Rhoderic, you are correct. Thats not really what I have in mind but thanks for the link anyway. Very inspiring.

Chuck

[Operator5]

I guess you can use either. I used the plain kind you get in the supermarket.

My first attempts were with napkins, but the material was too thin and it would rip while I worked with it. Paper towel had better strength.

[L`ancien]

Rather than open a new thread, I advise you here of the translation of my article about "tents for the camp of the explorers" : http://fan2figs.blog4ever.com/blog/lirarticle-226522-998271.html

[argsilverson]

Usually most of the explorers didnot bother to carry tents for their bearers or servants. they relied more on the knowledge that their followers do use locally available materials to make their shelters. In a safari the critical factor is weight, so they prefered to carry with them other useful (?!) materials than spare tents for their followers.

In case you do not need to have interiors, use the styrofoam insulating material, cat V shaped sections, trimm & paint  them and you have a couple of tents for every use. (An alternative is try to find some Bellona vacuformed ones and you have the tents, or molds to cast them.)

Best material for tents, I think could be thick paper (the brown kind used to wrap packages) painted to suit you. this will keep the paper stiff and standing. method, yes the best is with wire support etc, as the other gentlemen suggested.

The last thing: I don;t think that interior in tents matter. Ofcourse you can leave the door half open to show a bed, a trunk etc. I think that the most important matter is the outside of the tents. I suggest you to make a couple of tables (wire legs, thin balsa or carton for the table and enrich it with books/notepad/glasses/bags, ammo boxes, and other various paraphernalia.
Do not forget to add a lamp or two, a camp fire, a roasting over fire animal etc.
Irregular miniatures and frontline do have some small bits like that to make some interesting mini dioramas.

[Rhoderic]

The last thing: I don;t think that interior in tents matter. Ofcourse you can leave the door half open to show a bed, a trunk etc.

I think cwchmc was more interested in making the interiors of the tents for accessibility (being able to place and move miniatures inside), rather than show. Which raises the question of how to make tents with "lift-off roofs" and still have them look natural. I have numerous ideas but as I previously said, they're more to do with a fantasy setting, so they'd probably not translate well for 20th century tents.

[L`ancien]

Usually most of the explorers didnot bother to carry tents for their bearers or servants. they relied more on the knowledge that their followers do use locally available materials to make their shelters. In a safari the critical factor is weight, so they prefered to carry with them other useful (?!) materials than spare tents for their followers.

I don't have these kind of problems with my explorers :
http://fan2figs.blog4ever.com/blog/lirarticle-226522-879561.html

 

[gamer Mac]

Use the wire, paper and watered down glue method but make a square Marque type tent. Make the four walls as one piece and the roof as a separate piece. Where the cloth from the edge of the roof hangs done should hide the gap. You should be able to make one suitable for a few figures. I will post a picture of a large tent I made. It does not have a lift off roof but it will show you my idea.

[The_Wisecrack]

i used some small pieces of card.
about 2 inches by 2 inches, and i bent in half, glued it onto more card. then based the based it. then i took a small flannel and cut up 2 inch squared slices and glued them on with watered down PVA (white glue).
once painted the texture of the flannel looks excellent and also they are jsut quick nice and easy.

TW



http://lovinggiants.blogspot.com/

[Ramshackle_Curtis]

Surely wire frame tents coveren in paper, but just dont glue them to the base? THe base will have the floor plan of the tent on it, then you just remove the tent when figure need to go inside?

[gamer Mac]

Picture of my attempt at a large tent. But you could make a tent like this with a lift off roof. Tent was not made for 28mm but for GW Inquisitor scale figures.

[argsilverson]

Very nice effort.

Is that the real colour of the tent?

If positive it will have to go with some ice/polar exploration.
This stiking orange will be fantastic over a snow diorama!