Making an Aegis Line for the Necrons? A guide (Pic Heavy)

As mentioned in the last post, I've been hard at work building some laser cut card barricades to represent the Aegis Line for my Necrons.  Now as I said, I was a bit skeptical when I first heard they were made of card, but seriously, for the price of $24.90 plus letter costing postage (it was sent flat pack after all :D), I figured what the hell.

Anyway, learned a few neat tips in making this lot, and I figured some people out there are wondering the same.  So this will be continuing the assembly from the instructions as given by the website.

http://www.lasercutcard.co.za/fortifications/cyborg-defense-line
Assembly instructions can be found under "Instructions."
...

Anyway!

 As we left off last time, the Cyborg Barricades were essential made. However.  As I might have again mentioned:  I am a F&"#ing clutz when it comes to my figures and scenery.  So every step had to be made to stablise the structure.  Firstly, we needed a base!

You can see where I've literally dripped superglue along the edge in drops. 
As cardboard is porous, it soaked right in.  No real need to smear it all over the place!

 Using some spare card of my own (pretty much anything thicker than cereal box card really, think hard back book card), obtained from a stationary shop, I created a standard base which just about edged the barricades.  To little and wear and tear would affect the barricades themselves.  To big and the base itself would bend and split over time.

The next stage is an old trick I picked up from a friend in Liverpool.   Polyfiller as we call it back in Britain, which is essentially wall filler.  This stuff is amazing, and can be relied upon to create some really simple and solid thick mud affects.  Too big to use on figures, but perfect for this.  Best to smear it on with a damp brush you don't mind losing.  Really spread it down as the movement seems to loosen up the stuff.

(NB!  Ready made wall filler, light if possible is best, from the tube!)

Wall filler, lättspackel, Swedish Product used in Norway.  Because its CHEAP! :D

Once the stuff has finally dried, and it can take some time, leave for at least an hour.  Press down on the thicker, deeper bits to ensure its solid all the way through.  Again, this stuff is also porous as in it allows moisture in.  Which is bad.  So after its dried, we want to seal it.  For this, we take some P.V.A. glue or Hobby Glue, thin it right down with water and I mean RIGHT down.  It should be really water with a faint white taint to it.  This can be liberally applied to the Filler, try not to soak the cardboard with it as too much water and this type of glue can clench the cardboard as it dries, warping it.  This is why little PVA should be used.  (Though don't panic if you get some on the cardboard, it isn't that big a deal!)

 Once this is dried, again leave it at least one hour.  We want to add on the sand.  Now, you can leave it here if you want.... no?  Excellent.  Now the sand is best applied with superglue as we want to avoid using PVA or Hobby Glue as much as possible.  OBLIGATORY WARNING:  Super glue is really really effective.  Be careful.  I knew a guy who once reached under a table to pick up a Space Marine from under his hobby desk only to find his check stuck to the desk.  Scars happened.  Not "cool" ones.  If you get superglue on yourself, let it dry.  Don't try and wash it!
Applying the superglue at this point can be liberal, use the thin stuff as it spreads out nicely, but don't worry about getting the whole thing covered in one go.  Do it safely in several.  The stuff dries so fast this shouldn't take long and should leave a nice natural bumpiness to the ground.

 

Once this was all dried I was finally ready for the prime coat!  For this I actually used the same colour I use for the figures in my Necrons army.  Skeleton Bone Spray from Army Painter.  Sadly I missed a fair few bits, which I didn't see until I was half way through (teach me for spraying at midnight...) .  Thankfully you can easily paint strait on the card.  Spray is easier though, especially on the sand.

The first coat of paint came in the form of Khorne Red in all of the iconography bits.  This took time.  You really need to add more water than usual when painting on card.  Take note!  The water soaks in and disappears before thick paint can settle.  Thin coats are better. 

Next I layered over the muddy bases and dirt with Games Workshops Dryad Bark watered down to ensure it got in all the holes on the base.

This was then liberally dry brushed both Mechanicus Grey and then Bleached Bone for a simple and effective finish.

Then!  The whole Barricade was washed in about half a pot of Agrax Brown.  Seriously this stuff should get a Nobel peace prize or something.

When this finally dried I began the laborious work of layering on the Skeleton Bone Paint from again, Army Builder.  This really needed to be thin coats, but half way through I was getting tired and decided to just dry brush the things thickly before watering my brush and neatening things up.  The wet brush thinned out the thicker dry brush work and really sped things up.
Army Builder No Shine Varnish to finish.  Because it really is freaking Mat.  Not Satin.  Mat.  I hate Gloss.

Moody Lighting or Night Fight?

Figure shown for size comparison only.  And to get the +2 cover save!!

To flock or not to flock.  Not to flock.

 So yeah, lazercutcard.co.za, good products, very well made by someone who actually seems to have a card engineering degree or something.  I had a few minor mishaps, namely the spines began bending after I may or may not have dropped them on the floor... Thankfully I held them back up and added more superglue, sorted it right out and I almost did the lot.  Looking forward to using them in battle

Has anyone tried this stuff? What was your experience?
Anyway, any questions, just let me know.








Meanwhile!  I came back today with a plethora of second hand un-assembled goodies.  Can you tell what they are yet?

Lastly, I also managed to get a carry case for the X-Wing game, which is amazing, you should all try it right now.  This and the vinyl plastic space mat kindly prototyped by an increasingly resourceful friend means more Xwing is on the way.  Still... theres a lot of empty holes there...

 Laters!
R