Hazdrubal's Wargaming Blog: Tutorial

I was asked how I made the Sabot I was using, and thought if there is one person interested there will be others.

So here we go. This tutorial will be for the infantry sabots.

Materials:
Craft Sticks, also known as Popsicle sticks
7mm Bass Wood Strips (coffee stir sticks will work but they are 6mm wide)
Bristol board A.K.A. Art board (card stock will work, but is more pricey)
Scissors
Craft Knife the sharper the better
Clear Packing tape (Optional, but recommended)
Glue, I use both a Glue Stick and PVA A.K.A White glue
Sandpaper or emery boards
Template of the size base you are making the sabot for (I am using one 60 mm x 30mm)

Very Very Important!

Make sure your Popsicle and coffee stir sticks are both the same thickness. Mine are 2mm.

Cut your Bristol board in rectangles 75mm x 50mm. your size may vary


Make sure your Bristol board is the exact correct width, it makes construction much quicker and easier, depth does not need to be too exact.

Glue a Popsicle stick to the front edge of the card. I use the glue stick for this and the next step.

Place your template snugly against the Popsicle stick you just glued in place.

Glue your second Popsicle stick into place, use your template to make sure your base will fit, be careful not to glue your template to the Bristol board, that is why the glue stick works best, apply it to the Popsicle stick and then affix it to the Bristol board.

The template is 6cm x 3cm the area taken by 6 infantry bases.

If your Bristol board is a too deep you can trim it flush the second Popsicle stick.

This is my 7mm wide strip of bass wood, a 5 pack each strip 3' 9" long for $3

Take your 7mm wide strip and cut it to fit each side.

This shows how I measure the side pieces, I butt the strip against one Popsicle stick and sscore it at the other then snap it off.

Use the white glue so you can get a more solid join where the strip joins the Popsicle stick.

Flip the sabot over, using a metal ruler and the craft knife cut away the excess Popsicle stick, flush with Bristol board. I score the Popsicle stick 6-7 times and snap it off, then use the emery board to tidy up any rough edges.

Bam! You're done.

After using them in a game, I found they need a little more reinforcement, so here is what I did to reinforce the construction,

I cut through the Bristol board where the base will go.

Using the white glue, attach another piece of Bristol board on the other side of the sabot,

The final product

Ready for painting and flocking

I use removable labels sticking out the back of the sabot, that I attached with tape. I was removing them after a game, the tape I used starting tearing away the outside of the paper, so now I cover the bottom of the sabot with 2 " wide packing tape.