"Anybody have a recommendation for barbed wire?" Topic

Hi all. I have recently broadened my horizons past napoleonics and picked up a bunch of the Blue Moon 15mm WWI French and Germans. One of the reasons I am attempting to jump into this period is the fantastic battlefields I've seen people construct. So, with that in mind, can anyone recommend some methods of making barbed wire, or know of barbed wire I can purchase for 15mm?

-Rolland

cut strips of fly wire (screen door type stuff).

I have been able to buy it in plastic so it is easy to cut, and then glue it around nails.

You can see photos of how I have used it for 28mm figures, but it works well for 20mm, and should be fine for 15mm:

link

And the really good thing is one roll will last you a life time – unless you have one very very big wargame wire project.

Shelldrake's suggestion is a great one. A less prickly option is thin wire coiled around a dowel rod (for shaping) then slid off and glued to a flocked /textured base.

Thanks gents, and awesome pics shelldrake.

I use florists wire for concertina and barbed wire. Since you aren't seeing the actual barbs at 15mm scale a smooth wire should work as well. I just rolled the florists wire around a pencil, snipped it to length with my wire cutters and voila! I had ready made concertina. I glued it down to some flocked and finished Popsicle sticks for a base. It's really quite easy to set up and use.

For 15mm & 20mm barbed wire I just use jewellers wire wrapped around a pencil, Base it in 6" lengths and wash it with ink to make it look a bit rusty.

Yes, it is concertina wire and not staked wire entanglements, but it is obviously 'barbed wire' and good for WW1 and WW2.

It is useful to base it in sections so it can be removed when gapped by artillery/tanks/wire cutters etc.

For deep entanglements I just put multiple bases together, which looks OK. To do multiple lines of entanglements across the whole table, you need a LOT of wire. I've got about 30' of it, and that isn't enough sometimes.

For 28mm barbed wire I use very fine wire wrapped around thicker wire. It give the textural effect of barbed wire.

For 15mm staked wire coarse black shoe-makers thread is an option.

The thin copper strands from inside old electrical cords are a nice weight.

Barry Carter sells some. You'll have to find his site online. Trench inserts and barbed wire.

Also In Grand Manner has some that works very well.

link

Engineering 'Locking Wire' is what you need. It's sold by several scenery companies as miniature barbed wire – at a considerable markup!).

We also have a "barbed wire" product

you can find it here link

Yeah another vote for florist wire. Try cobbing it up with a smear of chemical metal to give impression of rust, barbs etc