Making an Apocalypse Explosion Marker (Tutorial)

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After appearing on the BoLS Oct 7th 2010 wargame pic of the day (http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2010/10/wargames-gallery-10-07-10.html) a number of players requested a tutorial on how I constructed the Apocalyptic blast marker (mushroom cloud).

Now bear in mind the one I made is constructed of PVC pipe, Styrofoam, and pillow batting. This is by no means the only way to construct one. I have heard of one other player who used expanding spray foam over a cardboard tube, but have never seen it so I cannot comment to how it compares to mine.

One of the things I focused on was how was I going to store and transport the blast, so I decided to make it fit inside a box for copy paper. The box measures 17” long by 11” wide and is about 10” tall. These are very close to the final dimensions of the blast.

Anyways, on to the instructions!

Materials:
Bag of Polyester Fiberfill (aka Pillow Batting, available at Wal-Mart or fabric stores)
2 1/2” PVC pipe cut to 14”
2” thick pink Styrofoam insulation
1” thick pink Styrofoam insulation
Jug of Carpenters glue (I use this because it goes on thick and adds additional support to the piece)
Silicon caulking (used because it cures quickly i.e. 2 hours)
Styrofoam cutter
Medium sized paint brush
Bright yellow spray paint
Bright orange spray paint
Flat black spray paint

Refer to Pic 1 for Materials

Foam Cutting:

Using the foam cutter cut an 8” circle out of the 1” thick foam and three 8” circles out of the 2” thick foam. You will have four pieces total when done.

Center the PVC pipe over each foam disc and mark a circle. For two of the 2” thick foam circles taper the sides towards the center.

Cut the marked circle out of all the pieces except for one of the 2” thick tapered pieces of foam using the foam cutter.

The 1” thick foam circle is now circle #1.
The 2” thick foam circle with center hole and with tapered sides is now circle #2.
The 2” thick foam circle with center hole and without tapered sides is now circle #3.
The 2” thick foam circle without center hole and with tapered sides is now circle #4.

For sake of the instructions I’ve provided an edited pic so you know what I’m talking about.

Refer to Pic 2 for the circles after cutting

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Continued...

Now take a piece of 2” thick foam and cut a 4” circle out of it. Again center the PVC pipe over it and mark a center circle. Cut out the center and taper the sides. This will be used to form the central part of the blast as it moves upward and is now circle #5.

Refer to pic 3 for the central part of the blast

Using scraps from the 1” foam you need to cut tapered pieces to form a circle roughly 9” in diameter and an inch across. These will be used to form the blast radius on the base.

Refer to pic 4 for the expanding explosion

Assembly:
Insert the PVC pipe into circle #1 and silicon it in place.
Place circle #5 (the 4” tapered piece) halfway up and silicon in place.
Flip circle #2 upside down and place over the PVC near the top of the pipe.
Place circle #3 on the PVC pipe and make it flush with the top of the pipe.
Place circle #4 (tapered without a center hole) on top and silicon the three pieces together.

You should now have a column that looks like pic 5.

Refer to pic 5 for assembly

The last assembly step is to silicon the small pieces onto the base to create the expanding blast cloud. The ring should be slightly larger than circle #1 when complete.

Reinforce the column as needed with silicon to make it more solid as the column may have a tendency to wobble a bit.

Refer to pic 6 for reinforcing the base

Allow the silicon several hours to cure completely before moving on.

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Continued....

Gluing the polyfil:
Now its time for the messy part. Starting from the top I “paint” the carpenters glue onto the upper part of the explosion. The glue will add some rigidity to the column and well as adhering the polyfil to it.

Refer to pic 7 for the messy glue part

Taking polyfil by the handful attach it to the glue so it appears as small “puffs” on the upper part of the explosion column.

Refer to pic 8 for the polyfil adhered to the upper part of the explosion

After allowing the glue to dry for several hours now you can “paint” the glue on the column and base of the explosion.

Refer to pic 9

Attach the polyfil to the base first, then start on the central part of the explosion (circle #5) beginning underneath and curling the polyfil up and over the tapered portion. Remember the polyfil on the PVC and flat 1” circle should be deliberately thin. The tapered sides of the base should be balls of polyfil to simulate the expanding base of the blast.

Refer to pic 10

Allow several hours for the glue to dry again.

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Continued....

Your covered explosion should now look like pic 11.

Painting:

Starting with the yellow spray paint cover all of the inner areas. You’ll want to spray it on a little thick, but remember to avoid spraying it on so thick it drips. The spray paint helps keep the polyfil in place.

Refer to pic 12

Once dry using the orange spray paint cover the outer areas or “puffs” of the explosion. Do not spray all of the inner details as you want some of the yellow to show through.

Refer to pic 13

Once dry spray the explosion with black spray only on the outer areas of the “puffs”. This will create the impression of fire in the main blast and smoke towards the outer edges of the explosion.

Refer to pic 14

Once dry your explosion is done. Now go out there and apply liberal amounts of explosion to your enemies models!

There are pics of this marker actually used in a game. They can be found at stcloudwargaming.com (shameless plug). :-)

Well, that's it. Questions and Comments are welcome!

[MarneusCalgar]

Good tutorial!!

Thanks from Spain!!

[JBMallus]

Hey, I had to make one of these...

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/5646/nukeg.jpg

It might need more paint...