Preparing my next very small scale Operation Sealion battle I need barbed wire to slow up those pesky German chaps. Everything I have is far too big, so what to do?
Searching the toy cupboard for inspiration I found some items originally bought to indicate musket smoke. You can get these pipe-cleaner like objects in any store devoted to the hobby of “crafting”. Never try to use them for cleaning pipes!
Take a cigarette lighter and find a wind-free spot outdoors. Carefully and without breathing light one end and burn off all the fluffy bits. When the remaining wire is cool enough to touch, wind it without much care and not too tightly around the thinnest thing to hand (I used a large paperclip after trying several alternatives). For extra effect, occasionally back-track and wind over a previous coil.
You will get filthy in the process, but the result is pre-aged coils of scale wire, as seen below with some 3mm models yet to be painted. I know that to scale the wire is about six inches in diameter, but it works for me.
The photo shows some over-large first attempts and the final solution (not Mr. Hitler’s one, but my own).
Next task: Beaches.
General Whiskers' semi-historical wanderings 