Barbed wire for 6mm

Following on from the Scenery for Tarawa post, I wasn't quite happy with my barbed wire.  Thinking on it, barbed wire usually comes in twisted / rounded form rather than straight lines (which seems a bit more WW1).

Luckily I was getting some provisions from Asda and came across some gardening twine (£1 for 50m) which I think could do the job.




By tightly twisting this stuff and then wrapping around a paintbrush it produces an effect roughly similar to barbed wire.

Before we do that though, we need to paint it black then drybrush with a metallic paint.

So I wrapped 6 lengths around an old paintbrush then opened them up a bit before spray painting them with Matt Black primer.  Opening them up allows the paint to get to all nooks and crannies.  I sprayed them in an old plastic tub as they tend to 'run away' if not corralled.


Green wire (pre twisting) wrapped around the paintbrush.

The twists - opened up a bit to let the paint get at them.

Spray painted in the tub.

Part-painted to show the contrast.  You can also see the twist that appears to give the wire a spiky finish.

These are then tightly twisted to create the barbed wire effect (note this is only an effect - its not possible to get little barbs at 6mm!).  Then they are wrapped tightly around the paintbrush again and dry-brushed with Gun Metal paint. 

Once dry, the coils are then opened up and cut to length to fit around the vertical poles.


A rough idea - the base needs painting (as do the posts) and needs ballast adding.  The wire also needs to be a lot longer and more coiled.  But that's just down to trial and error now.

And there they are!