Two Styles of Acheson Creations Barricades Painted Up

    Concrete barriers from Acheson Creations manned by some of my post-apocalyptic survivors

My favorite terrain manufacturer for many years was Acheson Creations. Through my decades of miniature gaming, I've bought many buildings, walls, scatter terrain, and more from this company, which unfortunately has stepped back from active production. There are a few companies out there, such as Miniature Building Authority, that carry some of their scatter terrain. Another was a regional vendor at local conventions, Armory Hobbies. At Drums at the Rapids this May, he also decided to hang up his business and was selling his remaining Acheson products at 50% off.

    I got 8 of the barriers for 50 cents each -- an awesome deal from a vendor going out of business

I snagged two types of barricades up there, among other items. I figured it was time to get them ready for the tabletop. I had no pressing need for them in an upcoming scenario, but these concrete barriers and tire and oil drum barricades are generic enough they'll fit with just about any modern, post-apocalyptic, or Sci-Fi period. The one thing you have to know about Acheson Creations products when painting them, though, is to beware the very strong mold release agent. I have always been able to remove it by placing the pieces in the dishwasher and running them on a quick cycle. This time, I made the mistake of not adding soap because we had switched from the powdered to the "pods," and I didn't want to use up a full pod. As Short Round said in my favorite quote, "Big mistake, Indy!"

    Concrete barriers can be used in various modern, post-apocalyptic &  Sci-Fi games -- you name it!

I detailed that a couple posts back when talking about the Acheson Sci-Fi building I had painted. Once taking them out of the dishwasher, I spray painted them with Krylon Fusion Acrylic Matte Black. I followed that up with my usual 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water. However, I noticed quickly that any light scratch or rough handling of the barriers was removing the black layer. D'oh, not again! I touched them up and decided to be even more careful handling them during the painting progress. I would definitely NOT be using the same clear coat sealant on them as I did on the Sci-Fi building!

    What are the barriers keeping out? Zombies? Rival gangs? It's up to you and your scenario...

Anyway, painting the concrete barriers was easy and quick. I did a medium to dark gray wet brush, then a lighter gray dry brush. I went over them with my black wash, and then did the bases my usual brown ground color. I painted the surface of the ground with white glue and then sprinkled on Woodland Scenics Blended Earth Turf. After it dried, I did a couple green grass patches and glued in some clump foliage, as well. I went back and forth whether to put graffiti on the barriers. However, I felt this would make them a bit less generic, so decided to keep them plain. Finally, rather than spray sealant on these pieces, I painted them and the flocking with a 50/50 mix of white glue and water. Hopefully, that does the trick on protecting them from wear and scratches!

    I bought six of the tire and oil drum barricades at Drums 2024 - should I have bought more?

The tire and oil drum barriers took a few more steps, of course. I prepped them exactly like the others (yes, they were in the same dishwasher batch as the Sci-Fi building and the concrete barriers). Once ready for the brush, I did a wet brush of a dark gray over the tires. I followed that up with a medium gray dry brush. Finally, I painted the rims on the tires in Iron Wind Metals Steel. 

    It was a great idea to design these pieces as Acheson did -- they look realistic and convincing!

Switching to the oil drums, I pulled out six colors: pale blue, pale green, Parchment Yellow, terra cotta, tan, and a lighter gray. I did the math. There were four oil drums on each barricade piece and six pieces. That's 24 drums to paint. So, I used each color on four drums -- never using the same color twice on a single section. I tried my best to mix it up, so the green and blue ones weren't always together, and so on. I let them dry overnight and then dry brushed them in an appropriate lighter color.

    I was happy with the rust effect on the oil drums -- these are very handy and versatile terrain pieces!

Finally, it was time for a rust effect on the drums. I pulled out my brown Rust color (appropriately enough), and did various splotches and speckles and lines of rust to match what I saw in some Google Image searches. Once dry, I used my bright international hunter orange and dabbed specks of it inside the rust. Finally, the drums and tires got a black wash. This was followed up by flocking them with just the blended turf. Both the flocking and the paint was sealed in with a 50/50 mix of white glue and water. I'm thinking this worked. I believe I have averted the disaster of not sufficiently getting rid of the mold release agent before painting.

The pieces look great on the tabletop. It was nice to be painting Acheson products, again. I understand Craig Acheson's desire to retire -- heck, I'm retired! I just miss his excellent, easy-to-paint, affordably priced terrain...!

What's up next? I have six 28mm Sci-Fi figures that I have begun sitting on my desk right now. They're meant to be random figures that could be used by a number of factions. They're definitely unusual figures, so I'm looking forward to how they turn out.

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 226
  
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 208