Afghan bakery and ANP sangar (pic heavy)

In a previous post (see here) I mentioned that I made a few shops.  Unfortunately, the two shops looked pretty dull, more like they had been abandoned than actual going concerns.  I have started to address that with my first attempt at some detailed scenery.  This shop is a bakery, providing the famous Afghan bread, naan-e-afghani for the local populace.  Delicious stuff, and in real life tasty as anything (but eat fresh, it goes stale quickly).  I'd stay away from the naan on this table, looks like it would be about as tasty as clay.

I even made furniture.  What has come over me?

My bigger project, now nearly complete, is a sangar for the ANP.  This one is supposed to represent a sangar made from Hesco bastions, which are a kind of metal gabion basket lined with kevlar, which can be readily filled with locally sourced rocks or soil.  And a sangar is a fortified outpost (read the wikipedia article if you want to learn more).  

I looked up a few articles on line before starting this project.  This one was particularly helpful. Being me, I didn't follow the article exactly so mine is slightly different. I'm the same in the kitchen:  the recipe is the start point, more a guideline than a strict rule.

I started with a plywood based, and a selection of small wooden cubes from the dollar store.

Using white glue, I built up the shape I wanted, with a volunteer from the ANBP to address concerns about functionality.

I used modelling clay to make a layer of sandbags for the sangar roof.

I left the clay sandbags to dry overnight, and of course the material shrank a bit.  So I added another layer the next day.

I wrapped the sangar in brown paper and then with drywall mesh to replicate the Hesco bastions/gabions.  What is the correct term here? Hesco seems to call them bastions but the sure look like gabions to me.

The exposed surfaces (tops) then got covered with a mix of sand, model railway ballast and white glue, and left to dry.

I then added paint and there you go.  I need to finish up the Afghan flag (it needs the national emblem to be added in white in the centre of the flag.  I doubt I can paint it properly so I may cheat and print it out instead.