Making 1/35 Scale Barbed Wire

In an upcoming model that I have planned I wanted to create my first diorama with some barbed wire added to it. After browsing the Intertubes I came across this method: Armorama.com

Let's see how I did.

I first clamped this down to the edge of the table. These clamps are awesome for holding model stuff together because the feet are rubber and you can set the pressure by hand. I need to get more of these! They are available for about $5 at Home Depot.

I started with about 24" of 32 gauge brass wire I picked up at Michael's. I used the spring clamp to hold on to one end to create a twist. I learned that if you only turn the spring clamp, the wire closest to the clamp that is turning the twist will be tighter and shorter. The twist at the immobile opposite end will be longer and looser. Twisting both ends is preferable to get an even twist all the way down...or maybe I just needed to keep twisting.

I added a touch of super glue at each end to hold the twist.

I attached the spring clamp end to the other clamp.

With another long piece, make two wraps at short intervals around the braided wire. In real life the distance between barbs is about 4-5", about a hand's width. Each barb got a touch of super glue before trimming.

With some snips, take off the excess.

I found a kitchen utensil to wrap the wire around to get a coil. I was away from home when I worked on this, so when I got back I pulled out this 1/35 scale dude to see how it scaled. His hand just fits between barbs. It's pretty close to scale, but I think the barbs are a touch big.

After the wire was coiled, it turned a roughly 12" length to about 3-4" coiled. The next time I make a go at barbed wire, I'll do a 6' length, doubled for twisting would be 3' and maybe I'll end up with 12-14" coiled. I also want to speed up the twist process by putting it in the end of the Dremel. I also need to find a dowel that is the correct width for creating a consistent distance between loops. The wire will either get a coat of German Gray with a rust wash, or perhaps I wonder if burnishing fluid would work? On to more experimentation!

The End: Spitfire PR.IG

"This is the End, beautiful friend."

The Spitfire PR.IG story has reached the end.
Over the many months and through trials and tribulations.
Many disappointments, and small victories.
This Spitfire remains where it is and where it always will be.

The tone of the opening verse was a little more serious than I was going for, but I'll just leave it there and segue without a real segue into what this post is about. Weathering and final assembly. Can a segue be a segue in itself?

The underside all nice and clean.

Look I haven't broken the pitot tube yet!

I added a little UMP Dark Dirt wash here as a test.

With a damp paper towel it just wipes off.

This could go great or very, very badly.

Before I took the plunge on the topside. I had some rougher areas I was concerned about, but I just went with it to see how it turned out. The rougher areas were near the wing root and on the elevators. You can't think and ponder forever.

After a lot of rubbing and wiping with damp paper towels and Q-tips. The areas that were a little rough were a bit difficult to clean up. I had some discolored areas that I can't explain. If the gloss coat was flawless, this method probably would have worked out better. I'm on the fence about it at the moment. Maybe I should have just used it as a pin wash and not put it all over? Maybe I should have gone with an enamel wash? Maybe I need a different gloss coat? Maybe the paint job was too rough?

Attached landing gear.

At last, in the final stages and now on its own three feet! The canopy didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped. I don't know what happened to the front windscreen, there is some paint damage or something I can't get rid of.

Almost there....

Now for the moment you've all been waiting for, the final pictures of the PR.IG.


"This is the End... of our elaborate plans."

The finish coat was done with Winsor Newton Satin acrylic varnish. It came out a little more matte than I was hoping. Maybe I put it down to heavy? Maybe that's what it should look like?

Let's see if I can remember some things I learned.

• I'm done with AK primer. I think this may be part of my paint roughage problem.
• I'm suspicious of Model Master Acryl paint for covering large areas. The coagulation I experienced with the custom mix shouldn't have happened.
• I'm dubious about the value of pre-shading. I may explore other techniques.
• Perhaps the entire model should have been coated with pink and a camo-tint pink applied on top. Coverage with a white based paint is quite challenging. If I had to do over, I would use Tamiya white and red or something else.
• I'm not sure how necessary the bottom resin piece was. Next time I try this again, I will drill holes for the lower cameras and build something behind it.
• Along with the above bullet, I'll use a clay or Milliput to craft the extra gas tank and cameras. They are mostly internal and what you see is very limited.....how hard can it be?
• Milliput is actually really great for gap filling, not so much for scribing, but a layer of CA can assist with that.
• I think I will buy resin seats for almost every kit I do.
• Humbrol Maskol does get weird and leave marks on clear parts if you leave it there for months.
• I think I dropped the elevators too much. Next time I'll do a little more research and reduce the hang.
• All the little PE I added to the interior of the cockpit, tough to see....but I know it's there.
• I don't know why it's so hard to find bigger pin vise bits.
• I need another Spitfire.

That's it, this project is wrapped up as far as I'm concerned as it's been dragging on since July 2015. It's nice to have this off the shelf so I can focus on other things. I've already got my eye on getting another Tamiya kit so I can build another PR.IG, but this time it will be a bare metal finish.

"This is the Ennnnnnnnnnd."