Modeling Chain Link Fence

[SteveCuster]

Hello everyone.

I wanted to do a quick how-to on modeling chain link fencing. I think it's a great way to box in a scene without blocking the view of the details past the fence. It's also very easy to do and pretty inexpensive. This type of fencing has been included in many kits but it was always a scary prospect to me until I tried it.

Here are a few pictures of some chain link fencing I've done on my models.









I drew out a basic drawing for how I want to fence. These are spaced 6 ft apart and are 5 space ft high.


I liked the crossbar support detail on the SierraWest fence so I used that here as well.


This is the rod material I used for the posts.


The chain link is made from a material called Tulle. If you buy it on a roll the holes are too big. You need to buy it by the yard. I got mine from Joann Fabrics. It was $.79 per yard. The SKU number is 717371410313. 1 yard is enough to do several layouts worth of chain link.




I cut a few sections of material much bigger than the fence I'm making and taped them to a piece of paper.


I painted the material with a light coat of gray primer. The paint gives the material a little more strength and stability so it's a necessary step.


I cut the brass material to the lengths I wanted and dropped them in Jax Brass Black.


Double sided tape on the template.

I stuck all the pieces in where I wanted them on the tape. I also super-glued any of the sections that touched together.

I glued the tulle to the fence just like this. I will trim it up next.

Using a ruler as a guide I cut along the top of the fence. Just make sure you use a brand new razor.

The bottom section is all trimmed up.

Here is both the top and bottom trim and glued up. After this I sprayed them with another coat of gray primer.


Here's the fence in place on the layout. It adds a little depth to a scene without obscuring it like a vertical board fence does.

Hopefully this will be helpful to someone.

Thanks for checking in.

-Steve

[ndwolf68]

Very nicely done! And, thanks for sharing!

R/,
Norm

[rpdylan]

Awesome Steve! Thank you so much for this tutorial,,,,, I'm def going to try this

[Janbouli]

Great tutorial , thanks for sharing. I really think Tutorials like this should be in a separate part of this Forum Board

[oldiron]

Nice. What kind of glue did you use to glue the tulle to the fence posts? Bob

[Jerry]

Thanks Steve and very nice looking fence.

Jerry

[SteveCuster]

Thanks everyone.

I used super glue to glue the tulle to the posts.

-Steve

[PRR Modeler]

Very nice, thanks for sharing with us.

[vinceg]

Very nice, Steve. Looks like that coat of primer adds a lot of value by stiffening the tulle. When I've done this in the past, I sometimes have problems with the "fencing" being too flexible and unrealistically wavy. I will definitely do this next time around.

[SteveCuster]

Vince, I think that's a key part of working with the stuff. Brett Gallant had recommended priming first on the Scotia Supply fence and it's my favorite one I've done. I didn't prime the Cartwrights fence and it was harder to work with. Much more flimsy and delicate.

[engine909]

Very well done Steve.
ed

[ACL1504]

Steve,

Very well done and similar to how I did mine except I soldered the brass joints, all nine feet. I made three operating gates and also used the tulle for barbed wire at the top.

You can view, if interested on page 75 of my A&S RR thread part 2.

http://www.modelersforum.com/index.php?topic=2807.1110

Tom

[adm.nelson]

That's almost how I do it but I never thought of spraying the fabric. And using brass helps to stiffen it. Thanks for sharing. Tony

[Zephyrus52246]

Great tutorial, thanks for posting.


Jeff

[jrmueller]

Thanks Steve. Definitely going to try this after I send my wife to Joann's for tulle. Jim