Walthers Chain-Link Fence Material?

[Trucklover]

Is there a way to straighten the "mesh" they provide with there fencing materials? The pieces i have are all wrinkled and it makes it dang near impossible to cut straight and fasten to the fence

Anyone have any suggestions? I would like to continue using this stuff if i can since i have a bunch of it and money is tight right now.... I just cannot for the life of me cut a straight piece, and when i do get a semi-straight piece, when i go to glue it, it does not lay flat and then i have to use a ton of white glue to hold it in place, and then when i paint it, it looks like crap cuz you can see where the excess glue was used, it covers the mesh in some areas and looks terrible Its really frustrating

Any help or suggestions are appreciated, thanks in advance

 

[Rico]

I haven't opened my box yet so I'll be watching this thread!
All I can think of is sliding in a shirt when your wife does the ironing??

 

[John P]

There was a thread about chainlink fence just a few days ago:

http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12070

Consensus was, you can do better than the Walthers product.

 

[jbaakko]

Is it fabric? Maybe an iron?

 

[Trucklover]

Thanks guys for the replies.

Josh, it is fabric, it feels like tulle. I was thinking maybe a hair dryer or something? Guess it wouldnt hurt to try it lol.

John, i was following that thread too, i improved my fences alot. I actually followed the article in last months MR on building a Walthers Fence and drilled holes through the sleeves on each fence post, man was that a pain lol, but biy did it make it WAY stronger and WAY sturdier lol

I also tried mounting it to tape, spraying it, and then cutting it and peeling off the tape, but this just seemed to curl the material even worse when the tape was removed....

 

[kylewoody]

Hey Josh,

I had the same problems. Here's a couple pieces of advice from mine.

I sprayed my mesh down before cutting it - just used a cheapie WalMart rattle can of Silver paint.

To cut it, I placed a straight edge (a ruler could work too) on top of the mesh, and use the edge as the line I wanted to cut down. You have to push down hard on the edge, to keep the material from pulling out from under it.

I just ran a sharp new X-Acto blade down it, and that seemed to cut straight and good enough.

Here's a pic to help you visualize... I use the same hand to pull tension on the mesh while cutting.

For gluing, I only did one post at a time - with two, small drops of CA on the top of the post, and on the bottom (right where the horizontal bars are). Then, lay the mesh down on the post, and put some weight on it (like the CA bottle worked well for me). After a few minutes, you move another 1 1/4" down the line to next post.

Very slow, but that was the only way I could get a reliable, solid build out of it. Good luck!

Kyle

 

[Trucklover]

Hey thanks Kyle for the tips and the pics. Cutting it isnt my problem, i doing great with just a pair of scissors and marking where i want to cut with a sharpie lol

Ill have to try your method of gluing.... The pieces im doing right now are not big at all, 6-7" long at the max, and most are smaller like 2-4"

Thanks again

 

[Bread&steel]

3 m

Here's a short section. I've done much longer.

I hold the mesh down on a sheet of white paper on top of a soft wood. I hold the mesh stretched out and held with straight pins.
I build my frame with super glue then I spray it with 3M Super 77. I lay the tacky frame on the mesh and cut it to fit with a fresh razor blade. Paint it and I'm done

 

[Trucklover]

Here's a short section. I've done much longer.

I hold the mesh down on a sheet of white paper on top of a soft wood. I hold the mesh stretched out and held with straight pins.
I build my frame with super glue then I spray it with 3M Super 77. I lay the tacky frame on the mesh and cut it to fit with a fresh razor blade. Paint it and I'm done

Cool thanks!! I think i have some of that 3M stuff so ill have to give that a shot

I think i got to work pretty good now using Kyle's method of using small drops of super glue, its working quite well and im going to re-do the small sections i did earlier with white glue lol. The super glue is a lot less messy and holds much better

Thanks again guys

 

[Bread&steel]

Cool thanks!! I think i have some of that 3M stuff so ill have to give that a shot

I think i got to work pretty good now using Kyle's method of using small drops of super glue, its working quite well and im going to re-do the small sections i did earlier with white glue lol. The super glue is a lot less messy and holds much better

Thanks again guys

One thing I like about that kit is they give you enough materials to fence from New York to Cleveland !

Be careful with that 3M stuff ... NO OPEN FLAMES !!!!!! ... The tacky feel will go away after a while.