Materials

Construction

Prepare Template
Save the template above by right clicking and select 'Save Picture As' Then print it out at A4 using software such as Irfan, Photoshop or Paintshop Pro. Irfan can be downloaded from www.irfan.com

Cut out pieces
Stick the paper template to a piece of mounting board with masking tape. Then cut out the pieces using a steel rule and a scalpel. As you cut them the paper will be slightly pushed into the cuts by the blade, which will stop the template moving, even when cuts have been made all over it. To enable this to happen, don't be tempted to lift up the paper up halfway through.

Assembly
It should be fairly obvious where the pieces go, just stick them together with PVA (or if you are impatient use UHU, which dries a bit quicker). The thin strips make the edges look more substantial than they otherwise would.

Contents
The contents of the skip tend to take longer than the skip itself. First pack out the bottom of the skip with scraps of foamboard, or modelling clay. Stick some large bits of debris in - a few offcuts of mounting board, chunks of plastic torn from an old floppy disk with pliers etc. Finally cover any of the packing which is still visible with PVA and sprinkle with coarse sand. It is best to paint the contents before you paint the skip itself.

Painting

Basecoat
Most skips are yellow, but they are also often seen in dark green, dark blue or white. If you are using yellow then don't use a really bright yellow like this.

Instead use more of a yellow ochre such as this, which will look more natural and weatherbeaten.

Shading
To shade yellow, wash it with a leather colour like this. Then drybrush over with the original basecoat.

Highlight
Finally drybrush on a highlight of the basecolour mixed 50/50 with white (make sure the wash is completely dry or it will smear horribly.

Weathering
Thin vertical streaks of different coloured browns can be painted on to look like rust and mud (see TIE-fighter for details). You could also just take an old brush, put a little paint on (standard consistency) and make some random splattery marks around the base of the skip.

Markings
To add detail to your skip you could print out a logo and then stencil it on, like the logo on this tank. You could also print out markings (particularly the classic industrial diagonal striping and glue them on).