Desert Rock Outcrop

Hello There! While looking through a number of desert photographs I noticed the rocky features that played an important part in many of the clashes that took place in North Africa.

Especially in the Gazala battles these higher areas were seized by the Axis forces and caused the Commonwealth forces countless headaches and losses as they used penny packets of, sometimes, untrained and unacclimatized forces to recapture the high ground.

I wanted to avoid making some special to type terrain, as this may have been very large and caused me some real storage problems. I would also have been unable to change the size and shape of the high ground and could not change the high ground to include or exclude trenches or dug in positions.

I thought out a system of modular tiles which could allow replacement of the type of high ground or, if no high ground was needed I could use as a back ground.

This a basic plan to show what I envisage. The two central, plain squares are 600mm x 600mm flat desert tiles which can easily be replaced with times with trenches or positions in.

Each of the surrounding tiles are 600mm x 300mm and have a rock face along all or part of one side. Each of the four corners have a turn in the rock face and can match up with the tile next to it. They can also be swapped round as they are modular.

Three of the above tiles have slopes to aid access.

Here is a cross section of the tiles. The central higher tile on the left sits on a 2" thick sheet of polystyrene. The surrounding tiles have the timber edge extended to the same height as the raised central tile.

I have started to make some of these already.

One thing I have learnt, is how to cut the plaster rock face moulds. I did not want many repeated rock formations and I was limited to four Woodland Scenics moulds. After experimenting with layers of the smaller rock moulds, here. I decided to use the larger rock casts but cut them to the required height. At first I scored a line with a craft knife and continued during this until the cast snapped. Then I realised I could cut them with a general purpose saw and it was a lot faster.

I have started from one side and worked across to the other. I also try to over lap the castings to make them look more natural.

This close up shows that more clearly.

I deliberately model a curve into the face of the styrene so that the rock face does not look flat and unrealistic.

This tile includes one of those access slope I mentioned earlier.

The slope is also bordered by rock castings but cutting the larger rock casting down to the height that is required means that you now have double the shapes to build up you scenery.