Drinking Troughs

I think its the attention to detail that turns a gaming table into a work of art.  All the small extras that draw your eye into the scenery.  Which made me realise that I was in serious need of some drinking troughs for the horses.  And with an hour and a half available, there seemed no time like the present!

After looking at the scenery I had already made, and a few miniatures to keep a proper perspective on things, I decided to construct the troughs around a single piece of 5mm deep foamcore measuring 40mm x 9mm.  This would then be surrounded with card.   The total height of the troughs would be 9mm high.  Wooden panels would be inscribed into the cardboard at 3mm intervals, the same width as the panels on many of the doors.  This would leave a 4mm deep space inside them, allowing me to paint and then varnish the top of the foamcore to make it look like they are filled with water.

Here's one of the strips of foamcore with the two 9mm x 9mm square ends added.  I did this stage to all fourteen of them, to allow the glue time to dry.

Then came the long widths.  These were made in 45mm sections, allowing me to cut them flush with the edges once dry.  My wonderful daughter saw the troughs in this stage of their construction and thought I was making sofas for my little soldiers!

With both sides going on, the pile of drinking troughs begins to expand!

And here they are while they wait to dry.

Once they were dry, the sides were trimmed to lie flush with the ends.  Simple, but effective.