LW HG Wells Little Wars Pp20-21

Little Wars, the Figures
Peter Dennis
Imagine you have opened your Great-Grandfather’s battered joints and weapons. It dries invisibly and seals the model nicely. For
old chest in the attic. In there, amongst the precious clutter of a assembling cannon or tripods I use supermarket all-purpose glue,
distant lifetime you find a box. By the light of your torch you are the solvent type that has a smell. It has ‘grab’ but dries quite slowly
excited to see that inside there is a copy of ‘Little Wars’ and the Old allowing you to reposition the parts until you are happy with them.
Boy’s glittering collection of Soldiers… It sets with a good strong bond, and is great for basing the figures
No, it never happened, of course, but it was this fantasy that and gluing on guns, packs and so on.
inspired the collection of Paperboys, (which is what we call our
Paper Soldiers) that you will find on the following pages. A rather The Figures
lavish gathering of stalwart warriors from a long-forgotten catalogue If you haven’t made Paper Soldiers before you are making a wise
dated around 1890. I hope you have as much fun making them as decision starting with these 54mm scale fellows rather than the 28s.
I’ve had drawing them. They are easier to cut out. You will need a decent pair of scissors
– I like Fiskar pointy craft scissors, but even cheap supermarket
Paper and Glue ones can do a good job. You will find that the detailed hand-skills
Photocopy the sheets as you require them. The pages are A4 size, required will develop rapidly! Always cut out from the front of the
which is universal in Europe, and will fit onto US Legal size Paper. figure.
If you only have US letter paper you need to reduce the sheets to I cut out the space between the horses’ legs. The Horse poses
93% to fit everything on. I have used 100 gram (28lb US) paper for are designed to give them enough support, in combination with
everything and that seems fine to me. You might prefer 120gram the ‘dust’ which helps to stabilise the basing. Mount the horses
(32 lb US) for the figures. It will make them stiffer, but more tiring diagonally across the base. This will give your cavalry an element of
to cut out. You should try both if you can. The glue layer is very head-on ‘presence’ on the battlefield rather than simply presenting
important to keep the figures stiff – and together, of course. I use your foe with a rather unintimidating paper edge. It also gives the
either UHU all-purpose (Not Multi-purpose UHU) or Pritt stick- miniature artillerist a more sporting chance of hitting them from
glue, which, if you coat both sides of the back of your sheet, works the front.
well and allows a moment or two of slippage time to line the sheets BASING is on scrap card bases 20 x 25mm for infantry and
up. In the US various scotch stick glues, or Elmer’s glue would be 20x 60mm for cavalry wrapped as shown in the basing sheet paper
fine. You might try sticking the sheets together by brushing on PVA which is copied from the inside rear cover.
glue or Mod-Podge Matt – a very useful substance we use to lick
over any part of the finished model that needs to be stiffer, like ankle
The Cannon
Print this onto 100 gram paper.
You may already have some firing 54mm scale guns, or be able
to get some, which will spare you the effort of making the ‘Thunderer
Mk 2’ as I like to call it. You would need to make several for a game,
but they get easier the more you make. It works pretty well, and the
trigger is particularly satisfying to use. I power mine with the black
and white rubber bands carried by Tesco. They are rather elegant,
and not too powerful, which is a perfect combination.
Cutting out the 2mm card pieces is the biggest task on this
model. The wheels especially need patience and a good sharp blade
in your craft knife. You may prefer to separate the wheels from the
box section and make three layers of thinner card for each that you
can cut more easily with scissors. There are lots of small supporting
wedges and fillets which are important to withstand the pressures
of repeated use. Don’t leave them off ! The trigger is a lever to prise AMMUNITION I use a 40mm square of kitchen towel
up the rear of the piston from the stop and fire the Gun. It might dabbed with PVA and rolled into a pellet. It has a desirable hardness
need extra strength from old credit-card material glued underneath and lightness when dry. Using the piston system means you can also
for longevity. fire multiple Airsoft BBs as canister, which HG Well’s commercial
cannon could not!
20
The Cannon-Maker’s Notes
1.—Glue the ‘box area’ firmly to 2mm card.
Sketch book backing card is ideal for
this. Allow to dry thoroughly.
2.—Cut out the components with a
new blade in your craft knife. Use a
cutting mat if possible. Assemble the
gun trail as shown. NOTE: Part 1 fits inside
the trail front. The trigger is held in place by the frame
Q-O – do not glue it!
3.—Blacken the back of the muzzle

end of barrel A. Roll the barrel round a
suitable pen. I use a Staedtler pen for this.
Calibre is not critical. Use all the paper A
for strength. Add breech-band B. Find a
narrower pencil and roll piston C. A loose
fit is needed. There must be no friction!
4.—Glue the barrel support G along the
barrel seam line. Add part I which holds G
firmly in place. Glue strongly. Add fillets
H to both sides of G’s ‘claw’. These hold G
firmly to the trail. Assemble the plunger.
C fits on the end of D. Glue cap to close the
piston.
5.—Glue the barrel assembly to the trail.
Use parts R and S to clamp G in place.
Glue strongly! Add edging strips to cover
raw card edges. Use a strip round barrel
and I and round trigger frame to add
strength.
6.—Darken the back of the tyres so any
edges don’t show. Make the wheels and
contact-glue to axle ends. Coat the whole
model with Mod-podge and allow to dry
overnight before sliding in the plunger
and slotting in the rubber band.
Note that the rubber band retaining slots
need to have a ‘keyhole’ shape to prevent the
band from jumping out of the slot when
the cannon is fired.
Good shooting!
Visit www.peterspaperboys.com for more

Little Wars downloads, including a Prussian-
inspired army and some buildings.
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Little Wars, the Figures

3.—Blacken the back of the muzzle

Visit www.peterspaperboys.com for more

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