I like the barbed wire a lot. It's badly needed in the small scale! But I'm less impresssed by the picket fences... the real ones were made of twisted rod. They're easily replicated by real wire and look very realistic even in small scale, something that flat PE pickets won't ever do. My suggestion is to make 100% of the PE sheet of the barbed wire, and a set of instructions suggesting how to twist a lenght of clip wire to make the pickets. A question: were these metallic picket fences just British or Germans also used them?
I think for most the flat etch will probably be fine, it would be difficult to make 3d posts with eyes at the top from wire I think, but would be interested to see if it can be done.
Etched parts like pickets look better with one or two coats of pva or an application of thick paint. Paper clip wire may be too thick for small scale but garden tying wire is thinner and easier to bend. Wikipedia has a page on wiring parties and the use of pickets.
Nice! Entrenching tools, both from the Allied and Axis troops (picks, shovels, axes, trowels) whatever the wiring parties might have carried along to make new or to maintain their trenches and could be scattered around in a diorama. Buckets (as one part "flats" to bend and make tridimensional). A thing that is often overlooked in PE sets: a nice, clear instruction sheet. This one might include the approximate distances between each picket, how many strands were used, etc. etc. That's a great bonus for an aftermarket part, and would be of great value to customers.
I seem to recall using much smaller spools of similar design, with maybe 2 ft spool width, perhaps less, between the wooden (1"x4" planks?) cross-piece ends - the central "axle" protruding each end and which two men could run out very quickly, or one man with little difficulty, speed depending on incentive . This being a much later date but some things don't change much. Hmmm - it was then very nearly as close to WW1 as we now are to those far-off days of my youth, come to think of it - how time flies! But, no photo, no proof. To excuse my haziness, apart from the inevitable effects of the effluxion of time, we mostly used Dannert wire, which is deployed very differently (and with some care and caution).
I don't believe wire tensioning would be used for entanglements and obstacles - that is more for the lesser obstacle of "fencing" which is economical and looks nice but is generally far more easily breached. But, as always, I could be wrong.
To go with the etches as suggested by you. The enclosed a pic from one of the threads.It will be possible to do them etch (that I could not beleive !!!) but what is needed is an idea of the scale. Can anyone tell me the size of any of the cutters in the picture.
Also anything else that could go on the etch.
Cheers
-- Edited by baldwin on Thursday 18th of October 2012 10:05:04 AM
The US M1910 pliers have the most minimal grip - taking ergonomics into account, that (the more or less parallel parts) should be in the 100-110mm or 4 inches range (i.e. palm width). Looking at the carrier for same, the wire hanger hook for attachment to a webbing belt should work out at about 60mm across the shoulders (the widest extent) to fit the attachment eyelet spacings of the belts (60mm - 2 3/8 inches - centre to centre which, I think, was and remains the standard, to this day). Hopefully those more or less tie in, in a gauging sense, with Rob's measurements of the folding cutters, whatever those measurements might be, and you're in business to gauge out the whole lot.
I've carried them before and carrying three for any distance would be very uncomfortable, can't think of what the weight is (can find out if anyone likes) but if I recall correctly one picket weighs more than the SMLE rifle