Desert Fortifications - Firestorm Redoubt

(or Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery... right?)

So yes, I have managed to make some fortifications OTHER than the Desert Towers in my previous posts.  In this case, I wanted to scratchbuild a fortification CHEAPLY, yet still make it visually appealing and roughly match the dimensions of the GW kit.

Rough structural form

   The entire structure is made out of the same plastic cat treat containers as the Desert Towers, just cut down to be approximately the height of the Firestorm Redoubt.  Since I was going to place weapons on the top of each tower, I built them to the height of the battlements on the GW model.  The turrets are Liberator Sponsons from Blood and Skulls Industry, and the quad-laser is from them as well.  The Punisher Gatling cannon is the Gatling Gun from Puppetswar. I chose to make one of each mount simply because I wanted to try them on my current Force Org listing with my Imperial Armies.

Marine added for scale

A little bit of cork to provide a floor and battlements to the center section completed the basic building structure.  A Cork base was added to give some ground to texture in front of the Redoubt's walls.  The entire structure was glued to the cork using a hot glue gun for both a good seal and to break up the linear edges of the building before basing sand was added. Getting the center roof of the building in place and supported with wood slats was a bit of an adventure.  We'll have to see how it holds up to gaming use, as it is also held in place with hot glue.

texture spray coating added

A quick spray coat of textured paint and the building was ready for the same 3-color treatment as the Desert Towers.  A quick reminder - you don't need to cover the color of your building materials, and several light coats work better than one heavy texture coat.  You can still see the printing on the plastic in the image to the left, and this was in between coats one and two of the textured paint.  After it dries for about 24 hours, go ahead and hit it with your primary base color. (otherwise you'll be moving the texture with your brush! The same thing happens if you spray too heavy of a coat or don't let the previous texture coat dry.)

Anyone seen some Heretics around here?

The 3-color desert scheme took well to the textured paint, but the drybrushing highlighted some of the bad glue joints on the building panels.  For the cost of materials versus a GW Firestorm Redoubt, I am fine with the glaring joint issues.  The last bits to be added were the turrets and their mounts.  Drinkers of craft beer may recognize the base of the turret mounts as the plastic tops that hold the 6-pack of cans together.  A bit of sanding to remove any raised lettering, and the mounting plate from the Liberator (with magnets installed) was superglued to the plastic top, which in turn was superglued to the building roof.  I chose to not use hot glue as I wanted a smooth seam between turret and roofline.

Overall, I am happy with how the Redoubt turned out.  For about $21 in resin parts I've got a fortification to use and experiment with in my armies.  Because the turrets are magnetized to their mounts, it allows me to move them between the towers and the redoubt depending on where I spend the points.  Plus, the lack of blatant gothic Imperial styling, almost any army in our local group can use it with their forces!  Mission success in my book!