Shipping container

For building:

For painting:

A couple of pictures are better than a thousand words.

Only when creating the third one have I realized I could make a better variant. I thought about making a box, so that it can be used for storing things like …​ a real container.

The easiest way to make the box is to make it so you can open it by removing the lid from above, and make the lid as high as the box itself.

The bottom part does not need to get any details or texture. My first two containers have corrugated cardboard also on the floor side, and I got confused every time which side was up and down (granted, there is little to no difference).

After building the containers, I applied a layer of white glue mixed with water with a brush. I did it in otder to make the corrugated cardboard would more robust, as in my cases it was corrugated paper from a cookie package.

Again, a couple of picture for showing the final result I got:

As for most terrain elements, I’ve used cheap acrylic colors instead of the costly ones made for painting the miniatures; in particular, the shipping containers have big areas to be painted.

The bottom part does not need to be painted; for consistency, just using the base layer is enough.

I’ve used a black base, and did not use a spray can. Probably a dark grey or grey one would have been better, and a spray can would have saved me a lot of time.

Yellow works probably best on a white base; I’ve used a black one and did multiple passes.

After giving an initial layer, use a dry-brush or semi-dry brush with lighter variants of the same color.

Once the faces are done, I’ve painted the bars, first with a dark grey, also in order to clean up the pieces i dirtied, and then a lighter grey.

At the end, I did a lightweight dry-brush on everything with white.

Containers are things that are used multiple times, in different environments. The layers with dry-brush (hopefully) will give the idea that the painted metal of the containers is worn.

A container can be part of a mission; it could contain some unknown treasure, a weapon, or be something that has been lost during a journey and needs to be recovered.

Depending on the game and gameplay, you can use the container differently, like higher ground, instead of being only an obstacle. For example, at the end of the game, whoever controls the container could get victory points. If you want to have some effect during the game, then models reaching it can get an upgraded weapon, better armor, recover injuries, or some other resources.

If you feel adventurous, the container could also contain a monster that decided to use it as a home, and unlucky adventurers have to fight it instead of getting some benefits.

Easy and fast to make, they do not require anything special or buying something dedicated. Even the container that can be used as a little box does not really require special care.

One could add further details, like some grass, terrain, mud, footprints on the top, blood splatter, and so on.

I actually wanted to add labels, but failed in doing something legible; writing on the corrugated cardboard is more difficult tan expected, even when using a stencil. I suppose that with an airbrush, combined with the stencil, would make the job easy-peasy.

The first container I did is the biggest one. One I realized how much color I’ve used, I decided to make the next smaller. After building and painting the second one, I’ve realized that making a box would have been a smart thing. And thus the third one is slightly longer.

It would make most sense if they have all the same size, not only the same style, as containers are often stacked in real life. At least the have the same height and width.