Skull and Crown: Wooden Wars: Infantry Assembly Guide

An example of a built and painted Wooden Wars infantry.
This uniform is based in the Isemburg Regiment.

Welcome to the tutorial on assembling Wooden Wars infantry figures. The Wooden Wars rule book has a chapter devoted to assembly, but due to space I couldn’t add as many images or comments as I can here. These general assembly guidelines cover the basics in tools and skills needed to assembly any Wooden Wars model. This particular tutorial features the infantry soldier, but is germane to any foot soldier model, such as foot officers and artillery crew.

You can also download PDF versions of this and other tutorials on the Skull & Crown Webstore under the free downloads tab.

www.skullncrown.com

Assembling a Wooden Wars Model

Part of the fun appeal to a Wooden Wars is assembling your army. This brief guide provides some handy tips for assembly of an infantry model.

Remember, Wooden Wars models are designed for ages 14+, but should always have parental supervision when assembling, especially when sharp objects are involved.

Tools

Remember you will need a sharp knife, a suitable cutting surface, some fine grade sand paper, and a bottle of carpenter’s type wood glue. I find the chisel type blades are best for cutting the models from the sprues.

First, gather all your tools you’ll need for the job. Flip the model over the back side and identify the tabs where the pieces are being held onto the sprue. They usually have one or two tabs. Using a sharp craft knife , make a cut on the tabs on the back of the sprue, then flip it over and cut on the front to remove the pieces.

Remember- Be very careful when handling blades and always cut AWAY from any fleshy parts!

Sanding

After you have cut and removed all the pieces, sand down the tabs that attached the model to the sprue, if needed, using a medium or fine sand paper (150- 220 grit is fine). I find that it’s a lot easier to lay the sand paper flat and move the piece to be sanded.

After sanding the tabs, lightly sand all the model pieces. This makes them easier to paint later, if you should wish

PRO TIP: you can sand all the fronts and backs of models pieces on the sprue before cutting them out- it saves time and the chance of dropping things.

Test Fitting and Gluing

I find it best to start with the largest pieces and work down toward smaller, fiddlier parts. With many models you will have choices of arms, hats, weapons, plumes, etc. so play around first the models and “pose” them a bit until you get something you like, before gluing. Remember, that if these guys are going to be lined up together you don’t want too many sword arms whacking the guy next to him.

Save any extra bits for later conversions!

PRO TIP: My kids love the sprues and use them for drawing templates!

After testing poses and piece fit, begin to glue, using “yellow” carpenter’s glue. I stuck mine in one of those smaller “kid-sized” bottles for easy handling. Be sparing with the glue to keep the pieces clean, and spread it evenly across the parts to be glued. Hold the parts together firmly for about 10 seconds go get a good bond. If you don’t you may find that in battle a plume or an arm may come off! ( Wisdom is the knowledge that I’ve made this mistake before… If this does happen, simply glue the piece back on and send them back into the action!

Basing

When fitting the figure into the base, test fit the slot first as there are sometimes subtle differences in the thickness of the wood, it’s best to make sure the pieces fit well before gluing; if necessary, sand the tab of the soldier slightly then glue the model firmly into place. On larger models like horses and giant robots, I’ll lean a couple of paint bottles up against them to keep them standing straight while the glue sets.