RAPID FIRE! ....................

See also Making Czech Hedgehogs for tips on constructing beach obstacles	See also Making Casemates for tips on constructing your own Atlantic Wall bunkers
Gold Beach - Elvington 2004 To coincide with the 60th anniversary of D-Day and the Elvington Show (near York) on 15th/16th May 2004 Malc Taylor and I decided to build a custom Gold Beach table based on the scenario in the D-Day Campaign Guide. For something a little different I thought I'd report construction progress on the site and feature some images of the final game when it's unveiled in a couple of months time. Colin
Phase 1 The tabletop is 10' x 6'. Although we had several beach modules non were really suitable so we decided to construct two 5' x 3.5' sea/beach boards. At this size weight was a problem so these were made from hardboard over a timber frame. Their height is the same as our conventional chipboard sections so they could blend in.
A new chipboard module (2.5' x 2.5') was also required for a section of marshy ground and the above photo shows where this fits in. The main board areas were cut to size at the local B & Q and I cut out and glued/nailed the frame underneath the sea/beach sections. All new wood surfaces were then treated (both sides) to two coats of matt emulsion to help prevent warping. The colour of the paint has no significance it's just what I had kicking around the garage.
Phase 2 The roads, beach areas etc were drawn onto the boards and pieces of polystyrene were stuck down with PVA glue.
These were then carved, shaped to represent dunes. This is a messy business and the finished dune shape needs sealing. This is achieved using PVA glue (diluted) and kitchen roll.
The glue is then left to dry for a few days.
Phase 3 Adding texture and detail to the boards: a) Tufts of grass cut from a door mat and stuck into the dunes using Unibond. b) Sea texture from a roll of embossed wall covering from B&Q (note the close-up of the pattern. c) Roads from pre-coloured tile gout with a little sprinkling of fine sand. d) Sand from Polytex with sand and railway modeling ballast sprinkled on whilst still wet. e) Paint on a little Polytex at the edge between sea and sand to represent surf and some other 'streaks to represent wave crests. (Thanks to Dave Andrews for most of these tips)
Phase 4 The boards are painted with base colours. The paint is Dulux matt emulsion (mixed at B & Q). Blue code is 90GG08118, yellow is 10YY35543 and brown (which I use as a base coat for most of our scenery) is a chocolate brown (sorry I don't have a code). More beach obstacles added made from cut down barbeque skewers glued in place with two part epoxy. The locating holes are drilled into the boards and touched up with some Polytex and sand after the glue has dried.
Phase 5 Getting down to detail. The boards are dry brushed and highlighted. Mid beige on the sand, green over the grass areas and tan/sand mix on the roads. Beige and blacks are worked into a second coat of sea to represent deep and shallow areas. Light blue dry brushed with white to give an impression of surf. All colours are matt emulsion paint.
Phase 6 Finishing off. The sand is lightly dry brushed with magnolia, the green dry brushed with yellow and 2 coats of hard wearing satin varnish painted on to the sea.
Photos of the completed game will be taken at Elvington tomorrow and hopefully posted on the site next week (w/c 17th May)