Thanks for your kind words, Frank. [:D]
The fence posts were made from Evergreen .080" styrene rod - that scales-out to just over 7" diameter in HO.
Wayne
Around my area of New England a 7" fence post would be pretty big, unless in a yard where cattle were crowded in for some reason. Most of my pasture posts are 2"-4" round cedar posts with barbed or electric fencing. The barnyard is 4" square posts with board fences.
For modern layouts: on my 1:1 farm I currently use a single strand electric fence held onto 3/8" fiberglass posts with a screw on insulator. They would be very small in HO, posts would be .004". A 4" post would be .045".
I know in different parts of the country folks build fences differently, due to soil type, what’s available to make posts out of and what type of livestock operation the fences are for.
I’m afraid any wire that can be seen is going to be out of scale to the real thing. The heaviest barbed wire fence I have seen is two strands of #12 wire twisted together, don’t think it is even 1/4" then. Woven or welded wire panels are something like 3/16" maximum diameter wire.
For plowed fields I have seen a credit card (or similar) cut with pinking shears and the serrated edge pulled over wet plaster, ground goop or whatever to give a freshly plowed field look.
Good luck,
Richard
Richard, I agree that a 7" diameter is pretty large for a normal farm fence, but I tried using .060" rod and it just looked too small - might be okay for sheep or as a barnyard fence, but most of the posts which I’ve set were about 6" diameter, with 3’6"-4’ of the length below grade to prevent frost heave - I’m guessing that the length needed for that might have something to do with the diameter, too. [swg]
Wire fencing is, as you note, oversize in HO and smaller scales, and the closer you get to scale sizes, the more difficult it becomes to see it.
Split rail fences, both the type with thin paired-posts trapping the alternately-stacked rails, and so-called “snake” fences were common in my modelled era and locale, and I’m going to try to include both types on the layout. If I get really ambitious, I might try a stone-and-rail type, too, or even a loose stone fence - not quite as finished-looking as a dry stone wall, but very common where stones were a plentiful “crop”. [(-D]
Wayne