GabiOff, GabiOn

For any respectable 17th century artillery force, gabions are a must. I know there are commercially available ones, for example the injection-moulded pieces offered by Renedra, but I went the cheap way.

After experimenting some, here's the complete method to Build Your Own Gabion, also called the Gyros Method:

1. Glue some corkboard together in layers, up to your desired height
2. Once dry, using a scalpel shave it down to a cylindrical form (hence the name)
3. Place it on a washer (I used wooden buttons from Pepco)
4. Place six or so bamboo sticks around the gyros meat's circumference, evenly distributed
5. Dunk one end of a long thread into CA glue and tug it under one of the supporting bamboo sticks
6. Once that end of the thread is set, wind the thread around the thing, going from bottom to top
7. When it's covered up to the desired height, cut the thread and add a few dots of CA glue for extra sturdiness
8. Once dry, coat the thing in PVA, the thread will swell and become less pliable
9. Add some PVA and dirt on the base and the top of the gabion
10. Now you can paint it, I used simple brown colours and a beige drybrush (it is preferred to wait 1-2 days for the PVA to dry completely, otherwise the layers of paint over it might crackle).

First I tried making the wicker basket and filling it up, but the force of the thread wound around the supports made it look a little bit weird. By creating the core from corkboard first, you can also be assured of a regular shape and size throughout your production line. It's also a good way to dispose of corkboard scraps left over from other projects.

These are for 28mm figures, but I guess they could be replicated for any other scale as well. Also the same method could be used to produce wicker fences.