Crowd Control Barriers
When I asked about these, Mad Mecha Guy said
that he was reviewing how he makes them. I said that I didn't mind any
changes, so instead of the pack of 40 that I ordered, I received 60 -
but cut from 2mm MDF instead of 3mm. They've obviously been redesigned
slightly too, he said he was planning to reduce the number of uprights
from the originals in order to reduce cutting time but mine appear to
have the same number. The little feet have been redesigned to take the
thinner 2mm thickness. I think that this reduction in thickness is a
good thing, I wonder if they'd look a little too thick in 3mm MDF.
I'm
extremely pleased with these. The original pack of 40 would provide
1.2m of barrier, my pack provided 1.8m! I can't see anyone ever needing
to buy more than one pack, there are enough that you can paint them in a
range of different colours. I've done the first 10 blue for my
Colonial Security team to use but I intend to do some more of them in
orange or red (safety/construction barriers), grey (civic barriers to
delineate parking bays etc.) and rusty metal (marking areas in
scrapyards, shanty-towns).
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| 60 barriers! |
All 60 are undamaged despite their
delicate looking construction. I've assembled the first 10 with no
difficulty, any remaining blank areas between the bars pressed out
easily. I might need a sharp craft knife to gently separate the blank
section from some of the others where the cutting residue has held them
in place, but only as a precaution to ensure I don't snap anything by
accident.
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| Barrier and feet ready for assembly |
They assemble easily, the little feet have a small
cut-out where the base of the barrier rests. I brushed a small amount
of PVA into the gap on the foot and place a tiny smear on the base of
the barrier then just popped the parts together and left them to dry for
a few minutes. I found it easiest to line up several sets of feet on a
cutting mat, brush the glue into them all (use a very small
paintbrush!), then press the base of each barrier into them on an
assembly-line process. Easier than trying to use tweezers!
These
barriers had a stickier finish than most of the other parts, presumably
due to the more intense cutting in such a small space. They painted
easily with the MDF primer and after this had dried all traces of the
stickiness had vanished. A quick coat of Humbrol Matt 104 oxford blue
followed by a lighter coat of Humbrol Matt 24 blue completed my security
barriers. I imagine they'd take drybrushing very well if you wanted to
paint them as rusting metal.
A few ideas of how they could be used...
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| Safety barriers - move along citizens, nothing to see here... |
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| Marking traffic lanes |
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| A very controlled crowd. |
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| A less-controlled crowd. Barriers aren't so good at keeping out zombies! |
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| Parking bays marked. |
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