Happy new year, everyone! As another year opens, another Adepticon gets nearer; so I have to step up terrain making over the coming months. Today, we'll build an ornate European city park using Kibri's HO scale Factory Fence with Gates (#9792). A box cost me a little over $12 shipped from Ebay and there are enough parts in the kit to make two of these 8"x8" parks or to use the extra around other city buildings. You can certainly use any type of fence you'd like (or even make your own) but this kit both looks great when complete and is pretty affordable compared to most 15mm resin cast walls.





Rare in the 19th century, by the 1930s, small fenced parks like this could be found in virtually every town in Europe. You could even use the whole Kibri kit to make a larger 1ft.sq. park like those found in larger cities. By the late war period, large city parks became critical features in the otherwise dense urban battlefields like Warsaw, Berlin, and Budapest (the latter was even used to land Fallschirmjager gliders while the city was entirely surrounded!)





Materials

Kibri HO 9792 Factory Fences

2-3mm MDF/Hardboard base (8"x8", sand or bevel the outer edges)

Gesso

Brown, black, grey, tan, and white acrylic paint

Black or Brushed Bronze spray paint

Flat spray sealant

Extra miniature, plasticard, or wooden pieces for a central statue, fountain, or memorial

X-acto knife

Ruler

Plastic Glue

White Glue

CA Glue

Clump foliage for bushes

Flocking or static grass





Dry fit the fence bases together and figure out the dimensions you want your park to be. I used two long fence bases + 1 one-section piece to make the long edges, 2 two-section fence bases + one of the small gates to make the shorter edges. I've also placed the statue I'm going to use in the center to be sure I have enough room to fit infantry and tanks inside before gluing. I didn't put the fences right against the edge of the base, so it will look like a small sidewalk surrounds the property. Tint a small amount of gesso with a mixture of grey and tan acrylic paints. Gesso takes acrylic paint very easily so a little goes a long way! Cover the entire MDF base in gesso (both sides), allow to dry. While the gesso drys, spraypaint the wrought iron fence sections while on the sprue. Allow to dry. Assemble the fence bases in the configuration you want them. When complete, drybrush them with white acylic paint. Using a ruler, draw a short line from corner to corner of the MDF base, where the lines intersect is the exact center of your base. This is where you will place your statue or memorial. Mark out a center "plaza" and connecting sidewalks (be sure to make your sidewalks intersect with the gates!). Make sure the MDF base has warped. If it has you can apply slight pressure to reshape it and/or recoat the concave side with gesso. If the base is good, glue the fence bases down with CA glue and apply downward pressure. When dry, apply a thin coat of flat spray sealant. Assemble the brick fence posts. To simulate mortar, paint all sides of the post with white paint and wait a minute or two. Then, place your d ry index finger at the top of the post, apply slight pressure, and swipe your finger down the surface. This should remove the white paint from the brick surface and leave it in the crevices. If you're pulling off too much paint, less the pressure; if you're not pulling off enough, increase the pressure. Glue the fence posts to the bases, alternating gluing in the wrought iron sections. When complete, drybrush some white paint on the fence post caps and glue them to the fence posts. Assemble, paint, and glue down your statue or memorial. I used an OLD statue I'd assembled years ago and found little use for. It was made from plasticard and a Reaper Dark Heaven Priest miniature. Paint the base colors for your groundwork in black and/or brown acrylic. Allow to dry. Spread some white glue on these sections and sprinkle with flocking or static grass. Allow to dry (1hr at least, overnight is best). Pull off small portions of your clump foliage and glue down to the park to simulate bushes.

You're done! This is a quick project you can do in a day or even in several sittings during a weekend. The Kibri fences are really nice and save so much time, I really highly recommend using them. Here I used the fences as is, but shellholes and damage could easily be added with just a little more work.