Constructing A Refinery Set

I tried my hand at my first real piece of terrain so that the kids would have something to put in the middle of their battlefield. The intent was to create a large piece of LOS-blocking terrain that would also provide some elevation. I decided on a set of 2 storage tanks connected by piping. Access over the pipes and up to the top of the tanks would be provided by ladders and a short staircase. The two storage tanks would be connected with a catwalk, which is still to be done.

Materials

• 1/4 inch MDF ($3.98 for a 2 x 4 sheet)
• 2 x 4" PVC drain caps ($1.44 each)
• 2 x 4" PVC couplings ($1.13 each)
• 1/2" PVC T-junction ($0.27)
• 1/2" PVC L-joint ($0.94 each)
• 3/4" PVC pipe bushing ($0.37)
• ~20" 1/2" PVC piping (unknown)
• Nylon screen mesh (unknown)
• Dollhouse staircase ($5.00, only used part of it)
• 1 package of 10 0.020 x 0.250" styrene strips ($2.99, used all 10 strips)
• Various pieces of sprue or plastic I-beams, L-beams, as desired.

Step-by-Step

Sand all of the logos and lettering off the PVC and then join each drain cap with one of the couplings with Superglue. Once dry, you'll have to fill the gap between the two pieces and then sand flat. I used spackling paste for this.

Cut the PVC pipes to fit. I ended up with 4 pieces. The long back pipe, 2 short sections that fit into the back T and the last section, with runs out of the T-joing and into the L-joint. Test fit these and file as necessary and then glue with Superglue. I also had to cut the end off the 3/4" pipe bushing and then hammer into place. This is where your pipe will look like it goes into the ground. Superglue the top and bottom sections of pipe together.

Once your storage tanks and pipe sections are assembled, set them down on a piece of MDF and trace out how large of a section you'll need. Cut this out with a jig saw and then use a rasp to bevel and smooth the edges.

Make your ladders and top catwalk. I used some plastic I-beam and cut pieces of styrene rod to pretty much make these from scratch. There is one ladder for the front and one for the back. I'm currently rethinking the catwalk because it has to be strong enough to support a figure. My current version is not and the dimensions have to fit the tanks just right.

Here's the back view. The original piece of MDF I cut was too big, so I cut it down a bit to give it a more reasonable footprint. Made 2 ladders (one is shown). The other one will go on the other side of storage tank 2. There is a small set of stairs up to the top of the pipes and I will make a catwalk to connect storage tank #1 and 2. I've spent a fair amount of time filling the gaps between the bottom and tops of the tanks. I was originally thinking about scribing the lines to make the sheets of the tank, but I think my next step is to run down to the hobby store and pick up some thin strip so that I can make bands for my tanks instead of scribing lines.

Use some 0.20 x 0.25" sheet styene to make the horizontal and vertical bands and then glue them onto the tanks. Cut out a buttload of rivets and glue them on the banding. Here's a shot with ladders, banding, and rivets attached

I used greenstuff to make 2 plates to connect the tanks to the pipes, but probably won't glue everything together until everything is primed, since the pipes, ladders, catwalk get primed a different color than the tanks.

The tanks got spray primed with Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer that is a nice red-brown color. The pipes and ladders were spray primed black, then given a heavy drybrush of Citadel Tin Bitz and then a lighter drybrush of VMC Gunmetal.

Once everything was primed, I assembled it on the MDF board, added the sand and grass, and weathered the piece with some rust and spilled oil.

And here's a top view.

Anyways, hope you enjoy.

Post Mortem

I should have used a slower acting glue to allow repositing of strips. The super glue simply dried too fast. I should have also done a better job of measuring pieces of banding for fit. Had I done that, I wouldn't have ended up with pieces being just a little bit too short. Lastly, I should have marked the placement of strips with a pencil to ensure proper spacing and alignment of vertical strips and the ladders.

Notes

Last updated	9/11/08
Author	Michael Kan
Pre-requisites	None
Related Articles	None