STUART JORDAN suggests ways to use these military kits in a non-military fashion on your layout.
Later in 2020 will see the release of three slightly different kits in the Fordhampton series. Usually, the Gaugemaster Structures range deals with subjects relating to town, railways, and industry – but these three kits are designed for much more military matters...
Although the Tents, Barbed Wire, and Sandbags are described as military, we know that modellers are always on the look out for ‘things which could be used as other things’ – so, in this vein, let’s take a quick look at each item in turn and see what other uses there are for them.
This set contains seven tents – four small, two medium square, and one large.
This is probably an easy one, as there are many different uses for tents. Rather than a military encampment, they could be used as a scout/guide camp. Painted garish colours (as all camping tents seem to be) they could form the basis of a campsite on your layout, or even a music festival. Painted white, some of the larger tents could be used as marquees for weddings or other events – just don’t glue on the chimney for the field kitchen!
GM440 Fordhampton Military Tents
This set contains enough parts to make fifteen of the barriers shown in the image.
Although this kit has many uses as part of a military facility or roadblock, there are a few others that I can think of as well. It can be used in conjunction with the Jail Kit from Faller and fencing to make a larger complex. It is also extensively used (as was its original function) in the countryside and rural areas to keep livestock where it needs to be. Without using the stands, it can be used to detail fences and walls to enclose areas.
This set contains 200 individual sandbags, which can be used to build up to any shape required.
This is another extremely versatile kit with many uses away from military scenarios. Although billed as sandbags, they can be used to represent anything that is transported in bags – cement, flour, potatoes… This means that they can be added to scenes on platforms or by buildings around your layout, as well as used as wagon loads. They can also be used next to waterways on your layout as flood defences.