An Old Paling Fence

[Ember]

Although they don't seem to be made much any more, there's not much that's more back yard Australia than the old 6 foot high paling fence. Some may choose to paint them mission brown. Others may stain them black or green. But I love that soft silver colour of natural weathered hardwood.

 

Measurements:

6 foot scales down to around 56mm

Panels are about 10 foot long - at scale around 96mm

 

I couldn't think of a better way to get a paling fence that looked right than to use the same construction methods used in the real thing.

 

Tools: Ruler, scalpel, craft saw, PVA glue, paint brushes & acrylic paints

 

I've used spruce for the supporting structure. The uprights are cut from 5mm square section. The rails are 3mm square. Palings are of balsa. I split mine from 10mm square section that I had to hand, hence the uneven thickness. My palings are actually too wide, but they look ok.

 

Step 1: Cut all wood to appropriate lengths. Cut notches in uprights to house rails.

These have already been stained. The unstained wood can be seen in the background. I used equal parts ultra-marine blue, raw umber and black. But as I want the effect of a stain rather than a paint I've mixed in a clear glaze medium (available from art supply shop). As the same stain has been used on the balsa palings, I didn't want too much water in the mix, hence the glaze medium rather than thinning with water.

 

Palings cut and stained. And some broken palings as well. It is an old fence, afterall.

 

Step 2: Glue railings into uprights using PVA glue (undiluted).

 

Step 3: Glue palings to rails.

This will be a double layer 'privacy' paling fence. I've used a strip of cardboard cut a few mm narrower than the paling width to keep spacing between the palings constant.

 

Step 4: Add second layer of palings.

First a fine bead of glue on either edge of the first layer.

 

Then the paling goes on top.

 

Step 5: Admire the finished job while waiting for the glue to dry.

The outside face.

 

And detail of the inside.

 

To mount the fence in place I'll insert pins in the uprights (which I should've done first but I couldn't find my fine drill bits).

 

It's easy.

 

Cheers

Embs

[miveson]

Crikey Embs - you've outdone yourself on this one, that fence looks sensational, love the look of it and the random pailings.

 

Well done - I sincerely hope it's raining where you are, if it's sunny then I'd be very concerned.

 

Bravo.....

[KarKraft]

Very nifty.

 

I think I can see where you are going here. Old sheds, old paling fences...

[Ember]

Thanks boys.

 

It started as drizzly Miveson. But I spent a bit too much time in the sunshine yesterday playing official hanger on at the regional games yesterday. I figured I'd be best staying out of the brighter sun this afternoon. Got to scurry out tonight to assist with official medal presentations at the disabled netball in half an hour and again for the ballroom dancing at about 10pm. Fun, fun, fun. His Lordship is Games Patron for this year.

[manimmal]

all you need now is some kids hanging off it. nice work embs, you need a hobby :sleep2:

[Ember]

Kids climbing over it and a big orange cat sauntering along the top. :sleep2:

 

I don't need a hobby... I need a life!

[Mobbzee]

awesome job ember

:sleep2:

[knoath]

That's a great job Embs... you've done it again!

But where will it go on the layout?

 

Can I suggest a rusty old piece of corrugated iron to replace some of the broken palings...?

 

Nice work,

Dick

[Ember]

There's no room for anything structural on the layout. So, there is an offshoot, side project, photo diorama, test piece thinggy bubbling away in the background. It's part of the house yard of the farm that belongs to the gate in the corner of the track.

 

Sorry about the convoluted explanation there.

 

Gives me the opportunity to work at something a bit more lively than rocks for a bit. And gives me the opportunity to test some things, like grass, before I attempt them on the track.

 

Thanks for the patch idea. Might do that on the other fence.

 

When you did the General Store, what size balsa did you use for the weatherboards?

[knoath]

Oh.... umm... ah.... I think it was 1.5 or 2mm thick and I just cut long boards at 10mm wide then cut again to length.

One of the easiest and most effective things to add to a structure, just remember to use a thin slice (2mm x 2mm) at the bottom and then lay your boards from bottom to top.

I used PVA on Foamboard, and painted once completed.

 

Should be a sinch for you Embs.

[Slo]

Great work there Embs' !!

Baltic pine (Norway spruce) and cedar weatherboards are around 175mm-180mm wide to give a cover of about 150mm-165mm after the overlap.

Around 5mm scale down to 1/32. 19-20mm thick on the thick end. Baltic was commonly used back in the day. Then again some of the old hardwood weatherboards were around 100-125mm cover(3.5-4mm scaled down) like a lot used on the miners huts and the like.

[Ember]

Hmmm... I've got all sorts on my place. Some 100 years old. Some newer. Some rotten. Some squared edge. Some rounded. Some rotten. So many choice possibilities from just one cottage.

 

The ones on my place seem largely the narrow variety. But they're largely 100 y/o baltic pine. Will check them this evening.