I am running low on all my crafting supplies, I didn’t have any popsicle sticks. So what did I do. Cut up a cardboard box. For 90 mins these docks turned out great!
Also recorded the whole process if you want to snag any ideas for your next crafting project.
Considering the incredibly sparse list and amounts of components you used for this crafting project, you got an impressive amount and variety of different details incorporated into your final result in a relatively short time frame. You were able to create some really interesting features and textures.
As an alternative method using only corrugated cardboard that is very effective and even more efficient in terms of time, effort requirements, and material usage, you could have made the top deck for each dock section out of single piece of corrugated cardboard with the flutes running perpendicular to the long dimension of the dock, slicing in parallel between each corrugation flute with a sharp craft knife using a metal ruler as a guide. This creates a very convincing planked surface quickly and easily without any extra gluing, especially when you trace your cuts with a dull pencil to widen the gaps. The “planks” wind up about 1/4” wide, which looks very much in scale with typical 28mm miniatures.
Glued down to another cardboard structural layer for strength (flutes running perpendicular to the “planks” to maximize rigidity) and painted up with vertical pilings added as you see fit, you have a very sturdy, very efficient, surprisingly realistic elevated dock. This is an homage to an old DM Scotty flooring technique, reimagined and repurposed in a seaside context. Something to think about the next time you don’t have much time…
