"Making split rail fencing" Topic

A new project normally calls for new terrain and the one thing missing from my terrain mix for my recent American War of Independence project is the very ubiquitous split rail fencing. Of course this can cover far more than the AWI and will have uses for 18th and 19th century games set in North America.

Generally you need a fair bit of this and so it seemed most economical to make my own. I've put together a tutorial on how I made these and you can see it here Making Split Rail Fencing

Making it is not hard but tedious.

Yours looks excellent.

Nice job. I too am working on more split rail fences, but doing up a bunch of Rendara. I just can't do tedious.

Keep us posted on your project.

Chris

Nice looking fences.
I had to make some for 15mm and used matchsticks but decided against giving each bar an irregular look. May have to find a quick way to rough them up a bit on the next batch.

So if you really want to go crazy, add the final top rail with the X supports at the joints:

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These are really sturdy fences in real life.

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Those look really good, I could use some of those too.

On a side note, did you paint the MDF house and add a front porch?

Excellent Work!

Outstanding!

To have the sticks look a bit less regulr I thought of giving them some cuts then, not all, passing thickish paste like heavy cement on them. Let dry then paint. Anyone tried?

I use those stick sets that BTC does. Very easy to work with, already in a nice shade of grey so you don't have to paint them.

Just gets a bit tedious but the effect is excellent.

I like the fences, and I like the house. Who made that?

Best Ive seen in a while, nice crafting.

Good job on color, I made a stain tray and dip the fences I made in it for a minute. Use Early American wood stain.
I use squared toothpicks for 15mm. I make from 2 sections to 6

So if you really want to go crazy, add the final top rail with the X supports at the joints

A well made fence also has a bread box sized stone holding the bottom rail off the ground. It keeps the wood from rotting.

On a side note, did you paint the MDF house and add a front porch?

Yes, I painted the house, but I didn't add the front porch that came with the building (see answer below and link).

I like the fences, and I like the house. Who made that?

The house is from Sarissa Precision. I've added a few more details and painted it and you can see that build here Sarissa 28mm Plantation House

I've also posted it in these folders TMP link

For those type sticks, the best graying agent, is a few drops of India ink mixed into a spray bottle full of Isopropyl Alcohol.

That's an old model Railroaders trick that ages any hobby wood in seconds. Here's an example.

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I won't hijack this thread, but I'll put my own method of making these type fences in a separate post.

Ha! Might try, if finds the ingredients this ink thing!
The hell with this pal wanting to have acw games. And expanding potentially my AwI Shrp Practice to the whole table: meed ten meters or more of those things!
Here the tooth pich sticks are yellow ochre. Even!

Nice job and thank you for your excellent tutorial. I am especially impressed that you took the time to do a bit of whittling on the ends of the pieces of scale timber. That's a big enhancement, one that I considered when making my own split rail fencing but abandoned as too time-consuming.

One can also buy basswood in 1/8 x 1/8 inch (or 3mm x 3mm) pieces which reduces the time required. If one buys multiple lengths (which one WILL need to do – as you point out, this project eats a surprising amount of scale lumber) it will come nicely bundled. I used my modelers' razor saw to cut it into the shorter lengths needed before undoing the bundle; as a result, this action took only 20 minutes to produce the individual strips for a total of 24 feet of rail fencing.

I then soaked the pieces in a medium tin of Minwax driftwood grey wood stain. I glued them up using carpenters' wood glue (applied with the tip of a straightened paper clip) and a simple jig ensuring that the angles would be uniform.

Note that it really isn't necessary to base these fences. One of their natural features is that they will stand up perfectly well on their own.

BTW a couple comments on historical accuracy.

1. The "real" fences met at 90 degrees. For gaming, I personally think that would take up too much space, and use a shallower angle just as does Tactical Painter.

2. The system of top rail and "X" supports was not typical for all-wood fences for the 18th century. I say "not typical", I do not say "inaccurate".

The "X" bracing rails hold another rail on top of them:

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I'm seeing both types in Colonial Williamsburg photos, so you may be right Rawdon. :-)

Thank you all for the great suggestions. I will be adding to my collection of fences soon!

Historygamer, thank you for your objective remarks. Based on my research of contemporary engravings, the "X" supports became more common as one went north, and also – or especially – were most common when used in conjunction with stone-based fence walls which were exceedingly rare in the southern colonies. Practical experiments have indicated that the "X" supports would not have added materially to split-rail fences laid at 90 degrees.