For many years I’ve wanted barbed wire and recently Games Workshop released a reasonably priced product. Although it must be said I got horribly ripped off by a local store selling the barbed wire at $25 when it has a RRP of $18! I mentioned I had bought some barbed wire on the forum and it was suggested the purchase was misguided as it’s easy to create at home. So having just bought some I decided it was the perfect time to try my hand at some home made miniature barbed wire.
I had a quick trip around the interweb for some instructions / inspiration and fortunately had everything necessary to get started. It took me about 15 minutes to create a 20cm strip of barbed wire and it wouldn’t be much harder to do longer lengths. As a first attempt I think it came out quite well the only thing really wrong is that the individual barbs are a tad long for 28mm and far to long for 15mm. Also a lighter gauge of wire would help with scale.
As a comparison I have included a picture of the GW product. Personally I think my wire is actually better. GW’s product doesn’t look that good up close, resembling nothing more than a wire spring, but as always when viewed in action on the tabletop it should look fine. I also intend to use it in 15mm terrain so the slightly odd construction should be less signifcant.
The Verdict? Another $25 needlessly thrown into the bottomless war gaming pit that is Games Workshop. This was my first attempt at barbed wire and most definitely a trial run so a little more practice will improve the overall look. I tend to be a lazy gamer and will spend $25 to save myself an hour of work but I can honestly say that the barbed wire was so quick and easy enough that I will never buy any again!