New N Scale Etched Chain Link Fencing with Personnel & Access Gates

[Jamesn320]

Hi all,

I've been busy again, this time I was after some N Scale chain link fencing in particular I wanted 6 foot high fencing with barbed wire on top, fairly standard stuff and I know you can get it however I wanted the chain mesh to be recessed behind the posts and I wanted personnel gates as well as double opening gates. So for me the best solution was to make my own. Not 3D printing this time but Etched Stainless Steel.



I have used 5 thou Stainless steel and half etched the mesh and details to 2.5 thou, and it looks fantastic.



It is a lot stronger than I expected as well which is nice.





It works great around corners as well!



I haven't used it on my actual layout modules yet but I will soon, once I finish the buildings! There are a lot more photos on my Blog post from last night showing the fences and how easy they are to work with if you are interested. Here is a link.

Also because of the interest I have had in them over here I am going to make then available to anybody who whats a set or sheet ect.

There are 3 types of fret

Type 1 is just 10 standard panels, 100 foot of fencing.
Type 2 is the same but every 5th panel has a personnel gate, 100 foot of fencing.
Type 3 has two large access gates with braced panels, 100 foot of fencing.

A whole sheet has 11 frets. Type 1 x 6, Type 2 x 3 & Type 3 x 2. 1100 foot of fencing.

As I am ordering several sheets for my self and some for my club and it makes sense to order more now if anybody else wants any as bulk orders bring the cost down. Normally each fret, 100 foot of fencing will cost £4.00 GBP ($5.90 USD) plus P&P.

However as I am doing a bulk order I can offer it at a discount price £3.00 GBP ($4.50 USD) plus P&P per fret or £30.00 GBP ($44.00 USD) plus P&P for a whole sheet, 1100 feet of fencing.

Please note that the £ to $ conversion rate is subject to change, and the base currency is £ GBP.

This offer is only available until 22.00 EST on Sunday the 19th April 2015 as I will be ordering my sheets on the 20th of April 2015.

Anyway I thought I'd share it with you.  You can PM me or contact me through my blog if you want any.

-James

[glakedylan]

PM sent

[basementcalling]

What's a fret?

[peteski]

James, I'm sorry to say but your fence is just another etched chain-link fence with grossly oversize links.  The openings look to be large enough for an N-scale person to stick their head right through.  And you are among a majority of manufacturers who make this mistake.

Counting vertically you have 8 links in scale 6' height of the fence.  Even just doubling the number fo links woudl make the fence look so much more realistic. I realize that scaling chain-link fencing to true n-scale size is not viable (for one, the etched wire "diameter" cannot be made to be true scale, but there is a happy medium between a caricature of a chain-link and something that actually looks to be close to scale.

I'm also not a big fan of seeing N scale barbs on the barbed wire as most manufacturers again make them look way oversize, but yours actually aren't too bad.

Out of all the N scale chain-link fence manufacturers, only one makes a passable model:  BLMA.  Their chain-link fence has the most realistically sized (smallest) links.  It looks really good - like a real chain-link fence.

I just don't understand why of all the manufacturers only BLMA comes close to making a realistic N-scale chain-link fence...

[wazzou]

James, I'm sorry to say but your fence is just another etched chain-link fence with grossly oversize links. 

Almost pains me to say this but,   +1.

[Jamesn320]

What's a fret?

Hi Peter,

A Fret is the name given to a sheet of metal that has been chemically or photo etched to leave required parts in a metal sprue.   In this case it is one strip of fencing and the surrounding border.

I hope that helps.

-James

[Jamesn320]

Thanks for your feedback Bryan & Peteski, I appreciate all the feed back I get on the products I supply for modellers. I understand not all products suit all modellers all of the time and the beauty is that I am one of many suppliers for our industry. I designed these particulars products for my railroad group and have made them available to purchase on the understanding that they will not be to everyone’s liking, we think they look good, but if you require something different thankfully the choice is out there!

If anyone's interested in buying this product please feel free to PM me.

-James

[bobthebear]

James, I'm sorry to say but your fence is just another etched chain-link fence with grossly oversize links.  The openings look to be large enough for an N-scale person to stick their head right through.  And you are among a majority of manufacturers who make this mistake.

Counting vertically you have 8 links in scale 6' height of the fence.  Even just doubling the number fo links woudl make the fence look so much more realistic. I realize that scaling chain-link fencing to true n-scale size is not viable (for one, the etched wire "diameter" cannot be made to be true scale, but there is a happy medium between a caricature of a chain-link and something that actually looks to be close to scale.

I'm also not a big fan of seeing N scale barbs on the barbed wire as most manufacturers again make them look way oversize, but yours actually aren't too bad.

Out of all the N scale chain-link fence manufacturers, only one makes a passable model:  BLMA.  Their chain-link fence has the most realistically sized (smallest) links.  It looks really good - like a real chain-link fence.

I just don't understand why of all the manufacturers only BLMA comes close to making a realistic N-scale chain-link fence...

I would like to reply to this, not because James is my son, but from a modeller who requested someone to make REASONABLY priced fencing, especially without massive shipping costs from U.S. If you look at the picture with the loco and person in it, from what you are saying then, that must be an HO figure as no way their head will go through that fence! I have seen real fencing with larger holes than that. Nothing in n scale is perfectly to scale, but I'm happy with this fencing.
We are not asking you to buy it, you wouldn't anyway, so I'm glad BLMA almost meets your critical desire.

[towl1996]

James is my son....

Don't take it personally, after all this is the railwire where you're "supposed" to point out the short comings of a model.    I'm sure some will appreciate the cost/detail benefit as you point out, after all people do have eyes. Besides people who complain about N scale items ( fences, freight car ladders, brakewheels ) being too thick are probably the same people who complain about Kate Upton being too thick in the mid torso region.    Fugetaboutit. 

[wazzou]

are probably the same people who complain about Kate Upton being too thick in the mid torso region.    Fugetaboutit. 

I think for me it is her lack of hips and her flat rear end.   

[towl1996]

I think for me it is her lack of hips and her flat rear end.   

Ahh, a Kim K. fan  , I see how ya roll playa! 

[wazzou]

Ahh, a Kim K. fan  , I see how ya roll playa! 

Ack!  Way, way too far the other way.   

[mmagliaro]

To be honest, when I first saw your photos, I thought, "Cool!" because the etching, access doors. and the barbed wire effect across the top are nice.  But the size of the diamond mesh next to anything like the mailbox or the human figure does
jump out at me.  Halving the mesh size would be about right  (there should be 22 links per 6 feet, but 16 would
be terrific).

I have a suggestion.
Is this process already set in motion and unchangeable?   Perhaps you could alter your artwork to use a smaller mesh size
before you actually have the run of these done.  I don't know if that would affect your costs, but I don't see why
the etching company would care or charge any more for it. 

I do not wish to throw a wet rag on your project.  I respect people who take the initiative to try to expand
a personal modeling effor to a larger production run in order to offer it to the modeling community.  I've been down that road.
I know how hard it is.

I think it has great potential and results could be fantastic and much more marketable if the mesh were finer.  Hence, you
might sell a lot more of the stuff and end up with a better product.  And yes, your pricing beats the competition by
a lot so it would be of great benefit.

[Bendtracker1]

Much more constructive and eloquently put.

To be honest, when I first saw your photos, I thought, "Cool!" because the etching, access doors. and the barbed wire effect across the top are nice.  But the size of the diamond mesh next to anything like the mailbox or the human figure does
jump out at me.  Halving the mesh size would be about right  (there should be 22 links per 6 feet, but 16 would
be terrific).

I have a suggestion.
Is this process already set in motion and unchangeable?   Perhaps you could alter your artwork to use a smaller mesh size
before you actually have the run of these done.  I don't know if that would affect your costs, but I don't see why
the etching company would care or charge any more for it. 

I do not wish to throw a wet rag on your project.  I respect people who take the initiative to try to expand
a personal modeling effor to a larger production run in order to offer it to the modeling community.  I've been down that road.
I know how hard it is.

I think it has great potential and results could be fantastic and much more marketable if the mesh were finer.  Hence, you
might sell a lot more of the stuff and end up with a better product.  And yes, your pricing beats the competition by
a lot so it would be of great benefit.

[peteski]

I would like to reply to this, not because James is my son, but from a modeller who requested someone to make REASONABLY priced fencing, especially without massive shipping costs from U.S. If you look at the picture with the loco and person in it, from what you are saying then, that must be an HO figure as no way their head will go through that fence! I have seen real fencing with larger holes than that. Nothing in n scale is perfectly to scale, but I'm happy with this fencing.
We are not asking you to buy it, you wouldn't anyway, so I'm glad BLMA almost meets your critical desire.

Bob,
the point here is that a fence with the twice as fine chain link would not have cost any more than the one with larger ones.   The only difference would be that the person who designed the artwork would have simply have had to make the chain-link grid finer.

That is what gets me:  a new product is designed and produced when (IMO) a better version could have been produced with no extra effort or cost.  That is all.

And yes, this is TRW where valid and reasonable critiques are usually welcome and even encouraged.