Landships II

Hello Gentleman

   I have typed out a rough article on making Devils Rope (Barbed Wire).

I have also threw in a few sketches, not very good or extremely accurate, But all of you are smart enough to figure it out I am sure.

Making 1/35 scale *Devils Rope* Barbed Wire

Items Needed:

1.      Wire Pliers

2.      1 piece of sturdy wood

3.      3 nails, paneling nails will work great for smaller scales, i.e. 1/72

4.      Small gauge wire (Telephone cable works great, Thanks Paul)

5.      Scale ruler 1/35, 1/72 etc.

 First thing you will need to do is make yourself a simple jig.  Take your piece of wood

 {I used a 1 foot section of a 2x4} and nail a nail into each end of the piece of wood..

Twining the wire, <fig. b.>this is accomplished, by taking each individual strand of wire, and performing the following  twining technique:   take your third nail, wrap the loose end of the wire around the nail. While pulling the third nail, tight {NOTE, not tight enough to break the wire} start to twist the wire, depending on which countrys wire you are trying to represent, determines how tight each strand should  be. Repeat technique as needed on your extra strands. Once you are finished twining your wire, you will start you braiding it.

Braiding  the wire. <fig. c.> This part is simple, take your strands of wire, and braid them as you would some ones hair, back and forth {over and under} until the desired effect is accomplished.

Barbs.  This is where an extensive collection of resources is very handy.  I recommend, studying period photos and buying this book:  Delbert Todds; WARWIRE,  The history of obstacle wire used in warfare from past to present

http://delberttrew.com/books_published.htm

it sales for $18.10.

Barb making. < fig. d.> This is fairly easy, take your strands that you have braided, and tie them off on to the second nail of your jig.  After determining how many barbs you need per square foot, take your wire, and wrap around the braided wire at the right intervals, and cut it at an angle with your pliers.  Now this is where the collection of information will help, as I stated above, you will need to know how many times you should wrap the wire around the braided section, and whether or not the barbs are intertwined with the wire or just wrapped around it.

Standard WW1 wire has two twined and braided wires, with at least 3 to 4 barbs per standard foot.  Each barb should be wrapped twice, some later wire circa 1918 had 2 to 3 barbs per standard foot, and each barb was wrapped once.

Now I know, its just barbed wire, but some people really care if the wire they make is as close to the genuine article as possible. And to some studying Devils rope is boring, but if you are very particular about your model, then you should be a particular about what surrounds it.

Well I hope this helps, If I can be of any assistance to you with photos more information, etc, please let me no.

All the best

Tim R