#135 ~ Silver Gates

 Modeling Gates For the Class 1 Cars

Considering different materials to simulate the chain link construction.

Invented in the mid 19th century and brought to the United States in the 1890's, I suspect that chain-link fencing may still have had a novel quality about it when these cars where built, before becoming somewhat of a blight on the landscape by the mid 20th century.

I had some Precision Scale Brass Screen left over from previous projects so I decided to use that.

I cut the screen to size and then painted it silver.

And glued it to the car. I tried using CA (super glue) but found it too difficult. I settled on using white glue. That gave me plenty of time to position it before it dries and gives me the opportunity to remove it later.

But I'm not real pleased by how dense the screens look. It should have a more of a see-through quality about it.

So I might try something else.

Several different model manufactures offer screen material in various size meshes for modeling. Somehow I would need to determine the mesh size needed. Clover House lists scale conversions for their mesh sizes. Available in brass or nylon.

Another inexpensive option is Tulle from fabric stores. Tulle comes in a wide variety of sizes and materials.

I think I'll leave it as is for now and reevaluate when the construction of the car is complete.  If it still bugs me I'll swap out the gates with one of these other materials.

Yes sir! If it still bugs me!

Dandy