I made a start on a model of Essling cemetery by
irregularly rounding the corners of a scrap piece of
2mm MDF with a file to use as a base. I wanted to
capture some of the character shown in the plans of the
cemetery (see the last post) but even a necessarily
oversized model wouldn’t be much more than a wall
around a 25mm infantry base.
Since the cemetery had been a defensive position worth
some hard fighting, I decided that it most probably had
a stout wall, whether brick or stone. I cut some pieces
from a Peco N-scale stone walling sheet. I made the
walls the height a 10mm figure could fire over when
mounted on a 3mm base. The French hadn’t initially
planned to hold Essling and when the time came
didn’t have much opportunity to create defensive
positions and loophole walls. As a result, it’s unlikely
that the cemetery on the far outskirts of the village
was altered much.
I used a mix of PVA glue and dark brown grout to
cover the insides of the walls and add texture to the
base. The cemetery ground itself, I only sprinkled
with fine sand as this area would be covered when in
use. I gave the lot a coat of emulsion paint to seal
everything before using Milliput putty to sculpt over
joins and add rough stonework to the tops of the
walls. I also added some memorials to the graveyard
walls and gave one wall a Milliput buttress structure.
Making Essling Cemetery
POST 111
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