Club member Jeremey takes us through construction of his new measure for the game Saga.
I’ve been playing Saga for a number of years now. My original cardboard measuring rulers are long since gone being old and tatty; so needed to either buy new ones or make my own. I had some 5mm thick foam card that seemed ideal for the job.
I created a simple set of measuring sticks in a similar way to the official ones. A 12″ ruler with Long and Medium distances and a second showing Short and Very Short measurements, these served me well for quite a while; but during a moment of boredom I felt I could come up with something more visually pleasing.
![](https://i0.wp.com/brigademodels.co.uk/mws/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spear1.png?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1)
I still had some of the 5mm foam card so dug out a piece and cut it to the standard 12″ length. I had already decided to create a spear as a measuring stick and cut a piece wide enough for the spear blade.
![](https://i0.wp.com/brigademodels.co.uk/mws/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spear2.png?resize=800%2C323&ssl=1)
I then cut out the spear shape after measuring the foam so that the blade was the same length as the normal ‘Short’ measure. I didn’t try doing any fancy curved lines for the blade spear, I kept it simple.
![](https://i0.wp.com/brigademodels.co.uk/mws/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spear3.png?resize=800%2C439&ssl=1)
Next to provide a way of measuring the ‘Very Short’ length I decided to use a thin EVA foam sheet cut into strips. I superglued the end to the spear piece and stretched the foam round the shaft.
![](https://i0.wp.com/brigademodels.co.uk/mws/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spear4.png?resize=800%2C314&ssl=1)
I now had a way of measuring all of the distances required. The strapping for ‘Very Short’, the blade for ‘Short’, the remaining shaft for ‘Medium’ and the entire spear length for ‘Long’.
![](https://i0.wp.com/brigademodels.co.uk/mws/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spear5.png?resize=800%2C369&ssl=1)
Next up I turned to painting the spear, the blade was painted with a standard Silver colour with a splash of black ink to give some contrast to the flat silver blade.
For the shaft I painted it dark brown and then with increasing lighter brown shades drew lines down it like wood grain. Finally I decided to paint the strapping as well, I used the darker brown paint watered down to add some shade.
![](https://i0.wp.com/brigademodels.co.uk/mws/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spear6.png?resize=800%2C236&ssl=1)
Here we have the finished spear next to the old rulers. As this would be handled during games I also covered the whole spear with a brush on Matt Varnish.
![](https://i0.wp.com/brigademodels.co.uk/mws/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spearend.png?resize=800%2C575&ssl=1)
With luck the spear went into action sooner than I expected with the re-opening of the club. It also worked as a good omen with me winning both games of Saga played on the day.
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