One of the things that differentiates us from our European forefathers is the use of fences. In Europe, hedges and ditches were used to separate areas of farming. Cattle and sheep were allowed to roam free or were watched by shepherds. Fences in Europe were for military purposes only. The American colonists didn't have time for shepherds, they had too many things to do. Clearing the forests for farming yielded the wood and stone they would use for fence building. These fences would lay out property lines and keep in the cattle and other livestock. I just recently began making some of my own terrain, mostly items that either aren't available from dealers or something I'm just interested in making. Fences were a little bit of both. My inspiration came from reading Eric Sloane's Our Vanishing Landscape. An excellent book on the early American colonial period, Mr. Sloane writes about, and shows drawings of four styles of fences. The New England cross- and-rail, the Virginia stake-andrail, the Virginia snake, and the Ohio post- and-rail. I made models of the first three. This article will deal with making the Virginia stake-and-rail. Once you follow the steps in making this fence, the other styles are easy to complete. Materials needed are: 1. Toothpicks, round with square center; 2. White glue; 3. Cardboard 8 1/2 " x 11 " from the back of a notebook pad-, 4. Paint and brushes. Virginia stake- and-rail: 1. Cut toothpicks into 2" lengths for the rails and 1" for the posts. It's okay if the ends are uneven. This gives a more realistic look. 2. Sand the ends to get rid of any burrs you may have. 3. Measure out a template on the cardboard 1/2" x 3 1/2". This gives you the base size and a guide for laying out the fence. 4. Lay three posts down, one at each end and one in the middle. Now lay a rail down on the bottom, each end touching an end post, and the center post. A small dab of glue is to be placed on each end. Lay a second rail down above the first rail and glue it in place. This one should touch the center post and the other end post. Now just alternate until you have eight (8) rails in height. 5. The three (3) remaining posts are now glued on top on the rails. 6. After this dries, stand the fence up. It can now be painted and mounted to a base. I grass my bases before mounting the fences. The finished fence can be seen in Figure 1. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #62 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com