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Making Modern Concertina Wire

Making the Wire

If you examine actual concertina wire you will see the spikes are almost square. This is the look we will be trying to get. To get this we will have to cut off most of what will be the spikes. Unfortunately we will not be able to simply cut down the middle of the material between what will be our strips of wire. Both sides will have to be trimmed to keep it to scale. If you where to cut it down the middle it would look more like wire with a thick 1” nail attached to it.

Now lets get to work. The first thing you will need to do is even out the end of your role of screening. It will come cut at an angle and you will want a full 3-foot length so cut the waste off the end by using step one below. Once this is done we will start on our first strand of concertina wire. I will put each step in its own paragraph in hopes that it is easier to follow.

Step 1
It is easier to trim the material while it is attached to the role so we will take advantage of that while trimming the first side of the wire. I call it the outside of the wire since that it’s the outside of the role (I am such a genius). As you can see from picture #1 you run the blade along very close to what will be the body of the wire. Most of the material will be trimmed off. Basically you’re looking for the spike that’s left to be as long as it is wide. Anything much longer is just too long for 1/35 scale in my opinion. It won’t take long to figure out that this is not hard, but you do have to take your time and be careful. Backtracking and trimming the material again is much harder than going slow and getting the right length the first time. If you do cut it too short for a short distance it should blend in just fine, but too long tends to stick out.

Step 2
This will take a little more concentration. In this step you will be cutting the actual material loose from the main role. This makes it just a little harder because your trimming a part that is now moving as you cut it. (See picture #2). You will find that once the part is cut free it is just about impossible to trim because it twists. The good news is once your done you have your first 3’ strip.

Step 3
Go back to step one. When you cut the material loose from the role in step 2 it leaves long spikes on what will be your next piece of concertina wire. Simple start at step one again. Like I said earlier it would be nice if you could cut down the middle and not trim both sides of each wire, but that’s not the case.

I probably made that sound harder than it is, but I wanted to be thorough and get you off on the right track. It’s really quite simple.

Copyright ©2002 - Text and Photos by Andrew Johnson (drewgimpy). All Rights Reserved.

Project Photos
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Step 1. Notice the left half has been trimmed.


Step 2. Notice the wire starting to twist. This makes it much harder to go back and trim so get it right the first time.


 



About the Author

About Andrew Johnson (drewgimpy)
FROM: UTAH, UNITED STATES

I mostly build armor models, but also dabble in some sci-fi and aircraft.


Comments

Nice article! It made me wanna go do some concertina wire although i have no use for it right now! Riddle me this Batman, as I haven´t tried doing this myself, is it possible to use a solid metal ruler to cut the whole lenght with one precise cut? That´s the way I cut everything from foil to paper and if precision is needed , the error can be less than 0,1mm. But I don´t know if this material stays put during a long single cut...any experiences? And one vocabulary question. Is window screening the material that´s used to keep insects outside the house? That´s what it looks like. Thanks Andrew! Toni
AUG 13, 2002 - 12:54 PM
Thanks Andrew; a great article and great timing. Two days ago I picked up a roll of screening (2'x7' Ace Hardware, $4.99) with the idea of trying out this method. Now, with your assistance, I am assured of success. Mike
AUG 13, 2002 - 07:16 PM
Great idea and article. I have one item of discussion and that is choice of color. I cannot comment on color for WW2 & Korea. And I do not know the shade of gray color of screen. I would recommend gray for modern razor wire. The razor wire I had to place along the bottom of a gate in my motor park had a medium gray protective coating and now has a pale orange patina from sitting out in the humid Tennessee summer. Just an comment, still love your concept and thanks for sharing it Now I know what to do with scraps after repairing window screens.
AUG 14, 2002 - 12:35 AM
While rummaging in my garage earlier today I found something that could work. I'm not really sure want it's called or what it is, but I am pretty sure that it is used for connecting two pieces of drywall together. It comes in a roll like duct tape. It is, however, kind of sticky, but not much, they may be helpful or not so, but painting it may take away from some of its stickiness. Just trying to help, though I don't really know much about what I'm talking about.
AUG 19, 2002 - 09:17 AM
Great article... made me want to whip some up.. so I did. I am a little less discerning, and with a bit of twisting, turned it into rolls of barbed wire. (or not.. you decide) I love learning new techniques! Thanks Mike
FEB 22, 2003 - 11:01 AM
Great article Andrew!!! I will be using this for the dio project I'm currently working on.
FEB 22, 2003 - 03:20 PM
I know this is a very old post; but I'm hoping there might be someone around who might be able to help. I'm thinking of using this method to make section of perimeter in 1:35 scale. Does anyone know where I can find some T-posts to stake the wire onto?
AUG 30, 2018 - 02:33 AM
Evergreen? I know they make “I” channel and you could slice off one side? Or Plasruct too.
AUG 30, 2018 - 03:04 AM
Thanks Top!
AUG 30, 2018 - 03:10 AM
Evergreen also do an sngle iron profile in various gauges/sizes.
AUG 30, 2018 - 04:02 AM