Hi,
Can somebody help me?
I'm trying to locate some very very fine chain for a model artillery piece I'm building in 1/35th scale.
I have some good reference material & would like to find some very small chain for it. I'm not really looking for PE chain but some real proper chain!
I do have some here which is 40 links per inch but I'm not sure I like it so is there a manufacturer out there that does anything smaller?
Thanks in advance.

Joe.

Joe;

Hi!

About the smallest real-link chain you can get will be that brass stuff which model RR guys and ship folks use - smallest I have found is around 44 - 45 lps - which of course makes the links around 3/4 of an inch in 1/35... a bit big maybe for the wire chain used on captive stoppers and the like, but ...

Sure looks better than any PE piece, IMO!

For really tiny wire-chains, such as the keepers on US "jerrycan" lids, I use a piece of wire pulled from a fine-mesh metal coffee filter - it comes out with tiny kinks spaced ca 1/50 inch or less - looks OK for those sorts of tiny apps.

Check the model RR shops and web-sites for that tiniest real link chain. The RR folks will sell it "more for less" than you'll get from most model AM suppliers, in my experience.

Cheers!

Bob

Ola Joe
There is some really fine chain available on the market. The Suggestions that Bob posted about are good points to start looking. There is another alternative which gives you great control over your link size. It is not exactly chain but in that size you can't really tell the difference. Basically you take some very thin copper wire. like what you can find in coils of electrical appliances. Twist 2 strands together and hammer it flat. What you end up with is a flat chainlike strip which works pretty convincing.

don't know if this helps, but I have fine chain at the dollar store.

Your local craft store may carry some. I know that here the major craft stores have some in their jewelry department.

As Robert pointed out you can make your own when you need the smaller stuff. Rowan gives us a SBS here:

Making Miniature Fake Chains and Springs

The twisted wire trick does indeed work - at least to the degree that you can create a tinier "chain" - in practicality, you can get "links" as small as maybe 60 - 70 lps (when using very very fine wire)- so good for those tiny chains on the gas-caps, etc.

Link size is limited by the thickness of the wire, with a minimum link-size being 3 - 4x the width of the wire used. So, if you have some wire say 5 - 7 x 0.001 inch (5 - 7 thousandths of an inch), a smashed-wire link will be maybe - 15 - 25 thou...

But- it will be actually very much like PE in that it will be flat! (which is why I just use the kinked screen-extract wire...)

But... IF you are willing to do the additional labor, both PE and smashed-wire "chains" can be made much better with a little 3-d appearance by taking the chain in a tweezer and using another plier or tweezer to sequentially twist links about 60 - 90 degrees. Always twist the same rotation - especially if you are working the smashed twisted wire thing!

Do beware! Tinier "links" foul easier when painted! This is where a very fine enamel, such as Floquil RR colors made with ultra-fine pigments, shine!

Cheers!

Bob

Thanks for all the tips, fellas!
I tried out the technique of twisting thin wire with a pin vice & clamp method as shown in the link provided above.
I have to say it really works for what I need!
Thanks once again!

Joe.

try these guy's I bought some for use as snow chains its good stuff.

http://www.modellingtimbers.co.uk/1.html

paul