The Magazine For Slot Car Enthusiasts
Building Guard Rails - Joe Aquino makes some beauties for The Dragon
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Inexpensive Steel Rail Fencing 101.

When it came time for something more pleasing to the eye for fencing I came up with this idea. Not only do they look good, they also work.

You will need the following items:
1) Wire cutters (good sharp ones)
2) A building board (This is just a bread board size piece of wood with 1/4" cork glued to it.)
3) Modeling paint brushes various sizes.
4) Balsa wood strips 3/8 "X 3/16" X 3'
5) Liquidtex Acrylic paint in Brown, Light Gray and Dark Gray.
6) T-pins (a couple packs)
7) Tape measure
8) Miniature Square
9) pencil
10) 5 min epoxy
11) Heavy gauge speaker wire (Monster cable) or heavy gauge extension cord.
12) Masking tape.
13) Miniature miter saw
14) 120 grit sand paper
15) Push pins (any color)
16) round tooth pick
17) small clamp or clothes pin
18) Super glue gel
Before painting the wire clean it up really good to remove all oils, make sure it's dry before painting it Light Gray. It will take a couple of coats to fully cover the wire. Make sure the paint is fully dry before applying another .This usually takes a couple of days to totally dry. I painted up the wire a week before I started any building, and hung the wire to dry with a clothes pin While the wire is drying you can start to make a template. Start by first taking the masking tape and tape it across the long side of the building board right along the edge. Now take the tape measure and mark off every inch with a small line just big enough for you to see. Using the square draw in the lines on the tape. This is your template.

You need to decide how you will be mounting the post in order to figure out how long to cut them. I made holes in the light weight spackle and inserted them with some Elmer's glue to hold them in place. You want the wire to be the same height as the plastic fence, normal bumper height. I will give you the size I used but you may have to make some adjustments for your layout.

I cut the Balsa wood to one and a half inch pieces and sanded the edges smooth. Lay the balsa pieces on edge over the pencil lines on the masking tape. Make sure they are straight and the bottom lines up with the masking tape. Use the T-pins to secure the balsa to the building board, it's best to go in at an angle through the side about mid way.

Next mix up some epoxy and working quickly spread it along the top facing edge the width of the wire on all the balsa strips. Carefully lay the wire over the balsa strips using the push pins to hold the wire to the balsa while it the epoxy dries. (Don't worry the holes disappear after a few days) After the glue has fully cured remove the push pins buy twisting them out slowly. Remove the T-pins making sure you hold down the balsa while pulling them out
Paint the balsa brown and repaint the wire one more time. When the paint has dried its time to add the bolts to the metal rail. Cut the round toothpick in half and use the cut end to dip into the dark gray paint. You only want enough paint to cover the end of the cut edge, practice a few bolts on a piece of paper using a slight touch until you get the hang of it. Then add two bolts at every post and let it dry. Cut the fence to the length you need trimming the wire as close to the cover as you can. After the fence is installed trim the wire again and super glue the ends leaving a small blob of glue, when it dries paint it light gray.

While cleaning my track for the first time with the new fence rails, I dragged a rag across one and it caught the edge separating the wire from a few posts. The quick fix was super glue and a clothes pin clamp to secure it until dry. You can email me, if you have any questions and I will be happy to help or you can drop by web page THE DRAGONS LAIR and maybe see something else that you like. Well, that's all folks! Joe Aquino