(Another great how-to from Chris, a true fan of the do-it-yourself terrain table. Enjoy! - Judson)
Haystacks are, in my opinion, a neglected terrain piece. They were very common throughout Europe both east and west. They stand out in the series Band of Brothers, Part 7, The Breaking Point. During the attack on Foy, Easy Company found themselves using stacks for cover.
Supplies needed:
- Six inch foam ball
- Sisal rope
- wood glue
- flock and paint
Tools needed:
- Large diagonal cutters
- hand saw
- ruler
Start out by cutting your 6” foam ball into two equal halves. They do not need to be exact but close. I used a standard cross cut saw, nothing fancy.
Then use the saw to trim the edges so you have about an inch and a half height all around. This should put your foam at about four and a half inches in diameter.
Next paint them with a tan or light brown. Set aside till dry.
Once the foam is dry, you start to work on the sides. Cover a section in wood glue and then cut the sisal rope to about ¼ inch or less. Placing it so that it looks like it was stacked.
This will take a little time but once you have the sides done the top is a breeze. You may want to give it some flock on the very bottom to soak up any glue that is seeping out.
How start layering the sisal along the top in sections. I cut these around an inch or so in length. You will want to do layers going to the top to create a mound. If you want them to look like the ones in BoB you will need to take them to a point. I chose not to, I did not think the Ukrainian farmers would be as particular as the Belgians.
Chris Huhn is the owner of Huzzah Hobbies in Ashburn, VA. When not rolling copious amounts of ones, he is often found scratch building terrain for all sorts of gaming systems in all sorts of different scales.
