1:35 barbed wire.

[Nutsabout]

I seem to be forever asking questions, but it is your own fault, your all too helpful.

I want to make a diorama with a barbed wire fence. Any tips on what type of wire to use please?

Thanks

Ian..

Edited February 6, 2017 by Nutsabout

[Richard E]

Ian

 

Perhaps unsurprisingly you can buy photo etched barbed wire, however unless you want to replicate modern razor wire you may be able to use a threads cut from a square plastic mesh where you cut adjacent to every other horizontal thread leaving a short vertical threads to represent the barbs - hope that makes sense !

Edited February 5, 2017 by Richard E

[pigsty]

Photo-etched barbed wire will look like all PE - flatter than it ought.  Using mesh is ingenious but you'll miss one key feature of barbed wire, which is that the two ends of the barbs aren't opposite each other.  Also you might find the plastic too stiff to allow you to curve the wire the way you want.  Metal mesh would be the obvious alternative - but ruinously expensive.

 

I'd look at fuse wire (or florist's wire if you can find any fine enough).  It's perfectly malleable, so it'll take up any shape you want, and it's quite easy to wrap a short strand three or four times round to make the barbs.  You even get the benefit of chamfered ends when you cut it to length.  Having said that, I'd give serious thought to using fine thread for the lengths and save the wire for the barbs.  To make authentic barbed wire you need to wind two strands together and press them together with as few gaps as possible.  This is surprisingly tricky with actual wire, but not with thread.  You may be thinking, isn't thread hairy, and how do you keep it in shape?  The answer to both is to coat it with slightly thinned PVA glue.  It flattens the lint and adds just enough stiffness.

[Nutsabout]

I thought about fuse wire, but wasn't even sure if you could still buy it.

I'll have to experiment with thread,  but howe do you make it look metallic? 

[BIG X]

7 minutes ago, Nutsabout said:

I thought about fuse wire, but wasn't even sure if you could still buy it.

I'll have to experiment with thread,  but howe do you make it look metallic? 

Fuse wire - ASDA - about a quid - you get about 1M of 3 amp / 5 amp / 13 amp wrapped around a very traditional looking piece of cardboard.  Do some maths (each set of barbs is about 12" apart in reality) - knot a bit round the main thread at the appropriate distance & then cut the knot back to get the spikes.  secure with a tiny blob of PVA.  Very fiddly - I would go for photo etch myself - unless you are looking at it with a microscope it will do the job.

 

Alternatively try this stuff...

 

it does the job a treat - just like the real thing - but not sharp (Jarvis barbed wire)

[pigsty]

2 hours ago, Nutsabout said:

I'll have to experiment with thread,  but howe do you make it look metallic? 

Well, metallic paint, I suppose.  I swear by Mr Metal Color, especially their Stainless.  If you start with gunmetal thread (I still have a spool from donkey's years back) that's half the job done for you.

[Darby]

I made some using very thin jewellery wire. It was a first attempt at it so really an experiment to see if it worked. I got a length of the wire, doubled it over then using a twist drill at one end and holding it in a small clamp at the other gave it a few turns to replicate the twist in the wire. Every so often I go a smaller length of the wire and wrapped a couple of turns around but leaving the ends sticking out. Dab a bit of CA to hold it then once dry snip the two ends of the wire you've wrapped close to the long section. Do as many as you need but it is a little tedious. Paint as desired. Next time I'll use PE wire though.

[Ian Suds]

Also check out YouTube for ideas.

[Nutsabout]

18 hours ago, Ian Suds said:

Also check out YouTube for ideas.

 

Thanks Ian,

Some great ideas there, some of his other videos ave given me some ideas too