Gern's D-day

[flyjoe180]

Going to be a busy scene that is for sure

[Alan 45]

Coming along nicely mate , figures are well painted and it's a good size base

[Gern]

I thought this modelling was supposed to be fun!

The wire I was going to use is only 0.1mm diameter. It's just about OK scale-wise, but it's too thin for me to work with. I had a look in my spares box and found about 3 feet of electric cable made from about 10 strands of 0.2mm wire. Great I thought! Just strip off the plastic and you've got more than enough. Two hours later I ended up with just four strands of any length - all the others just broke or knotted. I really, really don't like stripping wire!

I've had a play around with some of the shorter lengths and Ron's idea of wrapping it tightly round a pencil works very nicely - thanks Ron - but only for single strands. What I'd like to do is mingle the four strands I've got into a single length of coiled wire. I can't get the coils to look right either by winding them onto the pencil at the same time or by trying to thread them together when they're loose.

What I'd like to do is wind them separately but somehow fix them together while they're still wound round the pencil. What would be really cool is if I could find something to coat my pencil with which would stop the superglue sticking to it, while allowing me to glue the wires together. I suspect if I used something like vaseline, it would just coat the wires as well as the pencil and nothing would stick.

Any suggestions guys?

Gern

[spanner570]

Not quite sure what you're aiming for Dave.....

Do you mean 'platting' the strands together or joining in one long length? I suspect the latter.

If so, why bother. The single strand would look to scale anyway, whereas platted would probably be far too thick, so just join the single strand barbed wire ends loosely, sort of interwoven....That's how it would be layered for real. Then how about a second layer of wire placed on top of the first?

If the coils have too big a diameter try winding the wire around a paintbrush or BBQ skewer. When taken off the wire will spring back a bit bigger than the skewer dia.

Also, have a look at barbed wire on Google Images.....The stuff really is piled up and not very neat either!!

[Gern]

Hi Ron, I should have put some pictures in .....

Winding a single strand of wire around a pencil or similar gives this effect:

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what I'd like to achieve is this:

[ATTACH]75964.IPB[/ATTACH]


I can get multiple coils to look like this while they're wrapped round a pencil, but as soon as I take them off they spread out into three or four individual coils lying side by side. Any attempt to 'squash' them back together just flattens them out and they lose the round shape I want.

Is that any clearer?

Gern

[spanner570]

Gotcha, Try this....

Make up say 50% coils with a pencil and keep them apart. Then get a smaller diameter something - say a paint brush handle - make up some more wire, then gently thread these into wider stuff. Then ease the wire about a bit with a cocktail stick. Even try something as fine as a cocktail stick to wrap some wire around and add this at the final stage....

To stick them all together, I use watered down PVA. Try coating the ones you've got, they should stick together and not roll apart when released......

Sounds a bit fiddly, but it works and gives a more random effect than a single coil.

Ron

[eddiesolo]

Only other way is to do one coil then interweave along the first coils length the other coil.

Si

[Guest]

Very nice work so far Dave can't wait to see the completed, i like what youve done so far.

scott

[Gern]

Got the hedgehogs and ramps done, although I may add more weathering. Only a handful of each but the scale spacing puts them 10 - 20 feet apart which seems OK to me.

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I'm still thinking on the barbed wire, but Ron and Si have given me a couple of methods to try. I think I'm going to focus on the groundworks so I can work out exactly how long my barbed wire needs to be before I try and put it together.

Gern

[Gern]

What do you think guys?

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Not very big, but I made this from some short bits of wire left from my wire stripping yesterday. I reckon with two or three more strands, this should do the trick. If you think it's OK I'll try and post some pics showing how I did it.

Gern

[spanner570]

Spot on Dave, and with a couple of more strands it'll look excellent. Remember the stuff will have been there for perhaps 3 / 4 yrs, so when it's all weathered, and some small posts dug in to stop the stuff ending up miles inland during a good blow, it will all blend in nicely......But you were planning that already, me thinks?

You, my good buddy, have learned the top Diorama satisfaction thingy.....Having to make something, experimenting and finally coming up trumps. So Dave, are you now having fun again?

[Richi72]

I am having fun,

watching this build coming together nicely. Love the tiny (diddy) detail of the barricades and the wire. really anxious to see how this turns out.

Cheers Richi

[Gern]

Thanks guys.

Yes Ron. I will be adding some posts to hold the wire in place but I need to put the ground together first so I can get the wire the right length.

I was originally going to have cliffs on both sides of a gully which was protected by barbed wire. Any gullies on the beach would have had some sort of extra protection as they're obvious weak points. I'm having a look at some pictures to see if I can fashion some sort of pillbox for at least one side.

So much for doing my figures with just a bit of sand on a base!

Gern

PS Now I'm back to the fun bits

[Guest]

that 's looking real good so far.

[spanner570]

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Here you are Dave, the small ones are actually on Omaha Beach bluffs.....If you're feeling brave, above is another 'small'!! one we found near some woods...You can just see my missus, bottom left....