several questions for my dio

I use sandpaper for shingles. The texture is great.

Ray,

I'm pretty sure that I know what you're talking about with the PE wire. Citadel (Games-Workshop) released some PE barb wire for their miniature line. I currently have 4 of the sets, and believe me, they're great to work with. It all comes in one strand of about 10', and is very easy to work with. The only drawback is that it's designed for their line of models, which are about 1/35 scale. If you can still find them, I highly recommend picking up a set. BTW, I found mine in the clearance bin for $4 each. They usually go for $10.

Hey duckman,

I just stopped in at the local 'gaming' store today. You know, RPG's, D&D, and all that sort of stuff. They had a package of PE barbed wire in there. I don't know who makes it or what scale it was or anything but that would be another option for you to check out.

Ray

Thanks, it even works for 1/35 scale, just not as well.

Airbrush, indeed, that is a great idea!

For the roof shingles, if they are flat, just cut up thin plastic card or cardboard (or thicker paper!). If they are not, create a template (a male mold) for a single unit, or a section, and press a thin sheet of lead or a thicker kind of alu foil into it. Glue into place, prime then paint and weather.

That was brilliant Airbrush! What a cool idea. I know for 1/35 I've made barbed wire by streching wire between the arms of my spare hands jig and tied either wire or thread in intervals, touched glue to it and trimmed it to size and then moved along to the next section. Your way seems infinitely easier.

As for shingles, I fear I'm old school. I make the shingles from really thin balsa wood. But I cheat making sections of 3-4 and then staggering them. The overall effect looks pretty good but under close scrutiny you can tell. I wet the wood so it warps a little and the result is "ye olde european or country style shingled roof" The rest is paint and weathering like I would do on a model.

As for weathering buildngs etc. That dependent on the environment the scene is in. (Not much I know, but the land mass of europe and North america are pretty big, so I would look at photos and match the environment)

Mike

I can help you with the barbed wire atleast. Take a very thin metal wire that your local hobby shop would sell in the RC area. go to a brake repaire shop and the some iron shavings. take some super glue and squeeze a line of glue on the wire and then quickly and carefully run it through the iron shavings. repeate till you have a long enough barbed section. let it dry for about 10 minutes to insure that all the shavings dont come off and then paint it a rust or burnt sienna color. let the paint dry and then bend the wire into the way you want it. repaint if needed and you have barbed wire.