A review of Poppy's Woodtech Fencing and Gates
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| Poppys Woodtech | Anthony Garton |
| Braintree | Email: poppyswoodtech@sky.com |
| Essex | Web: http://www.poppyswoodtech.co.uk/ |
Purchased, reviewed and photographed by Bob Lawrence
My local club had a dilemma when they tried to assemble the proposed club layout Sprittlesmith Junction, named after two of our deceased O gauge members. It is supposedly set between 1948 and 1960. Once we had finally sorted out the track and pointwork, we found that one of the lines on the station was not really usable as a running line. We decided to use it as a derelict line coming from a derelict engine shed. As it ran alongside one of the platforms we wanted to put a barrier there, in the form of a fence. After several discussions we decided to use Poppy's Woodtech Fencing. Although MR style, it suited our purpose.
Three packs were purchased along with the jig that is an optional but essential extra. Along with this and the gates this came to £37.50. Each pack contains enough parts to create six 18ft scale lengths of wooden pale fencing. There is also enough left over for any items that might get eaten up by the carpet monster. After reading the instructions I duly placed the jig on a flat surface and attached the ends of the jig onto the main part and left to set.
The next process was to fit the 31 cleaned-up pales into the appropriate slots. All the pales were inserted pointed side up into the jig, followed by the three rails across the pales with glue on them. They were left to set slightly. I then removed the length from the jig very carefully, to reveal the picture right.
Once the glue had set off enough (one hour) I reinserted the panel into the jig to attach the posts, as shown by the notches at the top of the jig. There are two types of posts supplied with the kit. One is a wide one and the other is a slimmer one. These are represented by the notches in the jig. I glued these in place on the panel and left them to set for about 20 minutes. I repeated the process several times to create the picture you see next. That particular batch, without glue setting time, took me around 2 hours 30 minutes.
The next thing was to put the finished panels together to make a run of fencing. On a flat surface I placed two panels together, the pales uppermost. Then I added a large post underneath the joint and put the glue on each of the three joints. I next put a pale on the top of the joint to cover it, to make the whole thing seamless. After leaving it to dry and set, I joined two together. By repeating the process I got four 18 foot scale lengths of fencing, 420mm in total. When you attach the other two in the kit this will give you 630mm of fence or a scale 108 feet. As slightly fiddly as it was to put together with my large hands and fingers, it was a very satisfying process overall.
The gates were just as easy to assemble. Again the pales were inserted into the jig after applying adhesive to the frame of the gate. I then placed the frame on the pales, with an even distance top and bottom and left to set. There are two types of gate post in the kit, one for free standing or ground mounting and one for wall mounting posts. There are tips on creating hinges in the instructions as well.
All in all, the other members of the club were very pleased with the result. For the price of each pack I was very impressed at how easy it was to put together and, above all it was very satisfying to do. I used Bostik Wood glue (green bottle) in the whole assembly, with a small amount of water added to help it flow better from the bottle. We still have a pack left for other projects later as we also have another large O gauge roundy, roundy layout that needs some a lot of TLC to get it back running again.
