Necessity Is The Mother

Few things are more iconic than the handmade Culin hedgerow cutters when it comes to the savage battles of the French hedgerows.

Designed by Sergeant Curtis G Culin III, the device was cobbled together largely from cut up beach obstacles. It was demonstrated to General Bradley and he ordered hundreds of them built before the opening of Operation Cobra. There was quite a bit of variety in how each one was assembled, as well as several other designs that materialized subsequently. I was looking to build something that sort of encompassed the ‘Battle of the Hedgerows’, but really wasn’t interested doing the usual Sherman or Panzer routine. As it happened, I was rooting through my figure drawer and came across a couple of Royal Model figures depicted carrying out some welding and an idea was formed. I thought I could tell the story of desperation and ingenuity in one small scene. To make it even more special (read: challenging), I decided to try and replicate an arc welding effect.

I began with a section of 3-inch PVC pipe as a base. My personal preference is to have quite a bit of height to a scene to help set it apart. I found a PVC fitting that went snuggly into the bottom of the base to serve as a foot and also to hold the electrical components. I needed only to sand the PVC parts smooth in preparation for painting. One end of the PVC base was plugged with green floral foam and this was roughly shaped with a knife to start the groundwork. Aves Apoxie Sculpt was added around the edges to blend the foam in with the base, as well as to form a slight lip that would eventually contain the groundwork.