"Cheap, easy & realistic corrugated metal shanty town" Topic

Today I would like to present to you how to cheaply, quickly and spectacularly fill the wargaming battlefield for the years AD 1950 – 40 000.
Slums made of corrugated metal. Literally of REAL aluminum corrugated metal. Water and fireproof. Durable. Ecologic. No spray, no lacquer. Zero skill needed.

More here:

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Thank you for sharing that.

Great ides, thanks for posting. Now if they only made one that would work for 15mm…….

Dave

I think there was a similar crank one made for HO (1:87), though the name escapes me at the moment.

Dan
PS. It wasn't this cool one though:
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EDIT – I've always wondered if these Lego wheels were stackable and if the teeth of the wheels could be interlocked to make a crank operated corrugated sheet maker for strips of regular cardstock paper:
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What do you guys think?

Umpala, wh8ch roller is that? Cheap eBay one or the repackaged up-priced one.
Nan different rollers 9ut there. I do believe the all metal ones are the best if your looking to do more than paper or light foil.
I have always been curious how to do this process with very thin plastic. Maybe have to put a little heat to the plastic to make it playable maybe?
Seen people make their own jigs to do this type of modeling, especially for smaller scales. Be it a press form for roofs or making container trailers.
Also a fella made one recently with his 3d printer. Asked, still waiting, to make a smaller type roller for smaller scales. Figured smaller teeth to accomplish the task.

CC, really appreciate the link. Luke has a great YT channel. Didn't know he was linked to the RR guys. But that item he was reviewing is great. I honestly didn't know they were out there to purchase. Really appreciate the link. Thanks

Grimm

Corrugated sheet metal is a lot older than the 1950's. Just about anything post civil war

What are the standard dimensions of a sheet in real life? Something like 8' by 2' (or 2.25'j?

By the way, there apparently ARE some rollers for smaller scales:
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Dan
PS. Another example of a die:
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Umpapa, wh8ch roller is that? Cheap eBay one or the repackaged up-priced one.

Cheapest one from Ebay. Direct exact link is at my blog.

I have always been curious how to do this process with very thin plastic. Maybe have to put a little heat to the plastic to make it playable maybe?

I am a bit skilled with heating plastic (as You can see at my blog) but I am afraid I doubt it would work with this machine. Maybe vacuumforming…

Thanks Whitphoto for pointing me – You are right, I corrected.

Great links CC – a lot to improve for me.

Thank You very much. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Umpapa

And to you!

I can't wait to see your next project.

Dan

I used hot coffeecup holders from quick stop coffee shops. Like 7-Eleven. WAWA. They are corrugated on the inside works just about right for 15mm. Hot glue on 1inch square blocks cut out some windows and "puff"anywhere shanty town.

"Metal toothpaste tube squeezer for the whole 5 USD including (3 months) shipping from China"

I did not know such a thing existed.

I have been using the corrugated sheaths provided by Starbucks to protect your fingers from the heat of their coffee.

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I paint them with rust-colored primer, throw some dirt on them, paint them with silver primer, throw some more dirt on them, paint them with gray primer, and then shake and brush off the dirt. I may someday use other colors.

Or find a place that sells something like this in smaller amounts:

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Dan
PS. No backing layer at all, on either side:

I guess that, as with anything else, the corrugated paper industry has its own lingo.

"E-Flute, (1/16") single face" corrugated paper looks perfect for 15mm.

Dan

Nice tutorial and good tip on the toothpaste tube squeezer product. I picked one up for $3.87 USD today, shipping included.

I get great results using the middle layer in used USPS boxes from ebay purchases, using a knife to remove the two outer layers. I stiffen it with a coat of PVA. It's perfect scale for 28mm and the imperfections left from removing the outer layers makes a wonderful texture that I would otherwise have to add back.

Not sure if I'll switch over to using the roller but for less than 4 bucks it's worth trying out. The method above is time consuming to get the outer layers off. I would prime and paint the resulting foil corrugated rather than letting the foil show through rust weathering, but that's a personal preference.

A tip of my own on something that works incredibly well. An iron surfacer and rust finish combo from the craft store, such as Sophisticated Finishes brand. This makes real rust finish that can't be beat, and you can even get some purples and bright orange-yellows out of it if you experiment with thickness and timing.