In order to play our u boat game we needed a dock/harbour. One that we could transport, one big enough to take two 28mm u boat (each 1 metre long). So it would need to be long and sturdy.
This is what we did and how we did it.
We had some 40 mm thick blue foam sheets around 6 foot x 4 foot. We also were able to get hold of some dis-used signage boards (2mm thick foam board). So we decided on a height (5 inch) that would place the submarine a lot lower to emphasis the height of the dock to a u boat. It would need to be in two sections for storage and transport.
We thought it would look good if it had train /rail lines recessed into the ground and had perhaps a cobblestone and concrete look.
We used the foam board as a sturdy base and then covered it with the plasticard (to make it flat). Then placed wooden sticks along the front.
The height (5 inches) looked good (see previous post on the u boat - for more sub pictures) next to the boat.
Its big...6 foot wide x 1 foot wide (5 inches tall).
Our intention is have two 6x4 tables (cobblestone mat and sea mat) but have one table with the legs heighten by the same height as the dock. Thus giving the sea level effect.
With the wooden strips as supports
So we then had to choose on how we get the cobblestone effect. We could etch into thee board (that would take ages), put clay over it then whilst wet run a cobblestone roller over it. But in the end we went for simple and quick ...paper and double sided tape!
The next stage was to print out sheets of 28mm cobblestone (which almost match our battlemats) and concrete. Then use concrete paper sheets to cover the dock front. We also burned into the surface with a foam burner blade to create the illusion of rail tracks.
We then painted the entire track black then highlighted it with oily steel. Them stuck the sheet down with double sided tape.
Concrete papered
Painting the steel rail
We burnt in one set of train tracks and one set of crane tracks. This meant... we had to burn eight 6 foot straight lines! e.g. 2 sets of tracks x 2 rails with each rail needing 2 lines each side of the rail. A nightmare. LOL.
We then added mooring points, air brushed a water line mark for high tide and added dock drainage pipes on the front concrete wall.
We added ladders along the concrete front. But we used magnets to hold them ....mmmm not sure if its strong enough may just glue them. But it gets more fragile with more details.
We also added "sea" to the bottom to blend into the battle mat.
Next is the dock cranes...we plan to adapt the Stalingrad cranes to run on rails...should be interesting ...with only 5 weeks to the Carronade wargame show 3rd May 2025.
