writes:I was volunteered to do an article for my friend Dave Maguire who owns Urban Construct, and he sent me this terrain piece:
(Photos above from manufacturer's website.)
My first impression of the piece was that it was solid and chunky, so it’s practical and unlikely to break. The sandbags themselves had nice detailing and pattern, so the piece would dry brush nicely. I thought that the footprints in the mud behind were a nice little touch. I wasn't personally bothered by the fact that there were three German hand grenades on the piece, but I thought that it might put others off because it reduces how generic the terrain is.
I started off with a simple dark brown basecoat over most of the bunker, leaving the edges so I could easily hold it.
This was followed by a light brown covering, like a heavy drybrush, to try and bulk up the layers of coloring on it.
I wanted to try and achieve a more yellow appearance on the whole, as I felt the one on the Urban Construct website was a bit white and bland. Just personal opinion, but I wanted a bit more color and brightness to the piece.
The light brown was then followed by a heavy drybrushing of yellow ochre over the sandbags, leaving only the recesses untouched with the brown in. This was to try and achieve a look of there being mud and soil inside the bags, and spilling out.
The tops of the sandbags were then also slightly highlighted with a yellow ochre/off-white mix, to try and make it look a bit sun-bleached and worn.
Finally, I painted round the base...
...highlighted with a light brown, and then painted the stick grenades and all was done.
On the whole, I thought that the piece was very nice indeed. It is very cheap at only £4.35 GBP, and I certainly intend to get a couple more for my WWII skirmish games. The detailing on the sandbags is fantastic, allowing for very easy drybrushing. There is scope for a bit of home-adjustment as well – if you wanted to glue wooden poles in and stick a camo net over the top, this would be relatively easy. The piece is large enough to comfortably accommodate a AT gun or at least five to six figures.