Gabions

Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Naples, Fl

Here is how I constructed some gabions for an artillery emplacement terrain piece, and you can too. For materials, you need 22ga. and 28ga. floral wire. Tools you need are wire cutters, needle-nose pliers, a drill with a bit the same size as the 22ga. wire, and some gel-type CA.First take a scrap of wood (fairly thick) and draw a circle on it. The diameter of mine was 11/32", but I think anything from 1/4" to 3/8" will yield good results. ( I used a template, but you could do it free-hand with no problem.) Next, make 9 marks around the circumference of the circle. Do it by eye---- try to space them as evenly as possible, but you do want some variation. (You don't have to make 9 spots, but it is extremely important that the number of marks is odd.) Now drill holes about 1/4" deep at those 9 locations. Take the needle-nose pliers and push the 22ga. wire in a hole as deep as it will go. Cut it so about a half inch is left exposed. After repeating that 8 more times, you should have something looking like this:

Not perfect by a long shot, but remember these are wicker baskets made in the field with rough tools using local materials. You don't want them to look too good.

Now, cut a piece of the 28ga. wire about 10 inches long. ( It doesn't have to be 28ga., but it should be considerably thinner than the uprights.) Place one end to the inside of one of the uprights, then wrap around the outside of the next upright, then the inside of the next........OK,OK, all you're doing is weaving around the uprights. As you finish the first layer you will notice you are going around the upright that you previosly went inside of. This is why it is important to use an odd number of uprights. Otherwise you will not get the interlocking weave necessary to hold the gabion together. You will get several turns around with the first piece. As you progress, you will notice the wire tends to expand up like a spring. Use the tip of the needle-nose to compact it back down. Dribble a small drop of gel-type CA on the inside of the basket to lock it in place---- not much, you don't want to glue the basket to the wood. (I used accellerator to speed up the bond.)

This is what you should have after a few turns:

Just keep weaving. When you come to the end of a piece, take a new one and place it over the old and continue on. For now leave the excess ends out and exposed. The higher up you go, the greater the tendency is for the basket to get narrower. Every couple of turns, jam the needle-nose in the center and expand it back out. How tall you make your gabion is up to you, but most seem to be about shoulder height.

When you reach the size you desire, use the CA and glue the weave to the uprights. Now take a small screwdriver and gently pry up the basket. Go slowly, making sure the glue caught all the uprights. Otherwise, they may end up stuck in the wood, pulling out of the basket. When you've pried it enough to fit the wire cutters under, clip it off. At this time trim the excess ends, as well as clipping any exagerated loops out of the weave.

Here are the final products. Notice how much smaller the one on the right is. Believe it or not, I used the same jig for both. But I used smaller wire for its uprights. Remember how I said earlier the basket tends to get narrower as you progress. It is more pronounced with the smaller gauge. (Not that that's bad, after all you don't want them to be identical.)

Did I say "final product?" I still have to fill the interior with 'rubble', and of course prime and paint. So stay tuned for part 2.

Don

Site Admin Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 174

Those are pretty cool. How long did each one take to weave like that?

Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Naples, Fl

Probably 15-20 minutes. I have a TV right by my workbench, and you can easily do it without missing your favorite show. If I were to start over (and I may), I would use a smaller, rounder scrap for the jig, as well as putting a handle on it. I found it is much easier to turn the jig in your hand as you go, than to try and work around a stationary jig.

I am considering taking a couple of the best ones, and using them as masters to make copies. I got some molding and casting supplies from Micro-Mark a while back, and have been looking for a simple project to experiment with. If I do this, I will be sure to post a how-to.

Don

Site Admin Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 174

HobbyDr wrote:

I am considering taking a couple of the best ones, and using them as masters to make copies. I got some molding and casting supplies from Micro-Mark a while back, and have been looking for a simple project to experiment with.

I was actually going to suggest that.

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 7:48 am

Thanks for that, I need to make some Gabions for my Crimean war Russians.

Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Naples, Fl

Here is an update.

I needed something to fill the middle of the gabion with, so I stuffed enough Sculpey in until it squeezed through the wires. While baking them in the toaster oven, I kind of just played with the remainder of the clay. I thought, "Hey, this would be good earthworks for the redoubts," and before I knew it, I had this on my table.

As Evan suggested in another thread, my Russian main batteries will consist of 3 models---- here I have two 12-pounders on a large base and a 20-pounder licorne on a medium base. I started by orienting the bases on a piece of sheet aluminum, then outlining them with a Sharpie. Next I rolled 'ropes of Sculpey to the thickness of my little finger and placed them around the outlines. Then using my fingers and some simple tools ( a nut pick and a crochet needle Smile

), I sculpted the basic shape I wanted, being sure not to cross over any lines. I played around with it the rest of the evening (this is very relaxing, BTW), and the next day decided to add the now baked and primed gabions to the project. After finishing the basic shape, I took a cheap glue brush ( the type with the rolled metal handle and stiff nylon brush) and cut the bristles to about 3/8" long. I used this in a stippling (jabbing) motion to add texture and blend away any tool marks. This is my progress to that stage.

I then baked the whole thing in the oven and, after cooling, flexed the metal sheet gently till the piece popped off. To make the gabions look filled with dirt and stone, I topped them with Woodland Scenic's "Talus Stone." I used WS's "Scenic Cement" to hold it in place.

You may ask what the isopropyl alcohol is for. The problem is the cement is water based, and the surface tension will lift and displace the talus as it is dripped on. I saturated the stone with alcohol first, which drew the cement in without disturbing anything. I also re-applied the cement several times in the next half hour.

To make the project a little more durable (the thin sections of Sculpey are very brittle) as well as bigger, I placed it on a piece of .040" styrene, and traced around it. Notice I stayed right on the line on the inside of the embankment, but freehanded outward to the front. I then scribed and snapped the plastic free, and cleaned up the edges with an x-acto knife. The outside and front edges I beveled to a 45 degree angle with the knife. Finally, I glued the piece to the plastic with some contact adhesive.

To blend everything together, I used more of the talus, as well as the finest model railroading ballast I could find, applied with a chisel blade in my x-acto. I did just a small section at a time, saturating it with the alcohol first and then setting it with the cement. I didn'y hurry this step, and took a couple of days to finish it up. Here it is to that point.

My plan now is to fine tune this piece, then give it several coats of "Future," and use it as the master for a mold. I hope to make plaster castings, but if they prove too fragile, I'll have to go with resin'

I have also started another emplacement with a slightly different configuration as well as a gabion that has taken a cannon ball hit. More pictures to follow.

Don

Joined: 08 Jan 2008 Posts: 39 Location: Sydney, Australia

Sir,

You are a genius! Fine work, and an excellent tutorial! Now to find the time.......

Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Naples, Fl

Here is the beginning of the second emplacement. In this one, the odd third gun crosses the field of fire of the other two.

But there I sat with a piece of sculpey in my hands, and before I knew it, there was a second line of embankments. With this I was able to represent ball shot skipping through the front one and impacting or skipping the second.

Here is where a ball struck a gabion.

And now after a little ballast.

Now for some final touch-ups, then paint and sealer.

Don