|
|
Post by edwardsutorik on Sept 14, 2019 12:42:54 GMT -8
I just wrote the following as a review for the Free-mo group. I thought others here might be interested:
I have just finished trying out EZ Line for a barbed wire fence on a module.
The good:
If you are trying to simulate a newish well-maintained barbed wire fence (which I was/am), the lines keep nice and tight (being as they're made of very stretchy stuff). If you hit it, it springs back--a very good thing for a Free-mo module.
The stuff didn't really stay on a post very well when I just tacked it on with ACC, as it passed by. I very quickly decided to loop around each post. I snugged each turn up, one at a time, and ACC'ed each. It worked nicely, then.
The bad:
EZ Line is a flat strip (.002" x .005"). And you can see that as it twists. I thought about untwisting it during installation for about a second. I just thought it would be hellish to untwist (perfectly) while wrapping around the posts, and etc.
When it's in, it seems like sometimes you notice the twisting, and sometime you don't. Which got me wondering what someone would see who hadn't been informed about the twist: Would they just miss seeing it? Dunno. It wasn't bad, I think. Just not-good.
Another problem is UV sensitivity. As delivered, the color is a kind-of-bright rust color. Maybe not the best, but pretty acceptable.
But:
I installed the lower strand of wire last weekend, with the intention of continuing this weekend. When I flopped my module up on the bench, the strong orangish-brown had turned to a transparent green. NOT what I was aiming for. I had left the module outdoors, and it got direct sun for maybe 5 hours a day, and indirect the rest of the day. A week later, the color was gone. It might even have happened earlier.
This kind of blew it for me. If I was working on an indoor layout (and didn't use fluorescent lighting), I expect the color would have taken years to change, if ever. But for a Free-mo module, that doesn't hold. It MIGHT be set up out in the sun for a little while. It MIGHT be in a room with a window "aiming" at it. It MIGHT by under fluorescent lighting.
The color got nailed so quickly that I have decided not to use it on my module, and am warning my fellow Free-mo people of the problem.
IF someone were to deliver a light-fast version that is round, I'd definitely go for it.
Ed
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2019 17:56:36 GMT -8
And very important to note that EZ line gets very brittle after only a couple years then the lines no longer stretch but raher breaks over and over again!! Thats the biggest downside of using EZ Line.
|
|
|
|
Post by edwardsutorik on Sept 14, 2019 19:44:22 GMT -8
As disillusioned as I am about EZ Line, it's hard to imagine it could break more than once.
How would that work, anyway? Do the pieces lying on your layout start snapping, or something?
Ed
PS:
Lose the big letters!
|
|
|
|
Post by edwardsutorik on Sept 15, 2019 9:03:36 GMT -8
Welcome to the forum.
I'm sure we're all looking forward to your future contributions.
Ed
|
|
|
|
Post by alcoc430 on Sept 15, 2019 9:06:48 GMT -8
Would some sort of sealer help with the uv sensitivity?
|
|
|
|
Post by edwardsutorik on Sept 15, 2019 9:16:16 GMT -8
Would some sort of sealer help with the uv sensitivity? Big I-doubt-it there, I think. It would have to be UV opaque and very stretchy and be able to bond to something that likely doesn't like to bond to much of anything. To do that bond, the "stretchability" would have to closely match the EZ Line material, I think. Mr. EZ Line is the one with the most to gain for solving these problems. And he has more experience and access to solutions than we civilians. Perhaps we will be hearing about EZ Line II, in the future. |
|
|
|
Post by edwardsutorik on Sept 15, 2019 9:20:28 GMT -8
A comment about what our new member posted:
It appears he is saying that EZ Line becomes brittle with age. He did not clearly state whether or not the line he was describing had significant UV exposure, and perhaps is unable to do so.
I have assumed that EZ Line would work nicely IF it avoided UV exposure.
PERHAPS it also has an independent aging problem of embrittlement.
I just tested my line for stretchability, and it still stretches quite nicely, even though the color has pretty much "evaporated". My guess is that the two problems are unrelated. But both are significant.
Ed
|
|
|
|
Post by Mark R. on Sept 15, 2019 9:29:33 GMT -8
The Berkshire Junction EZ Line does not deteriorate over time (if at all). I know of a couple installs using EZ Line that are well past ten years with no trouble.
That being said, there WAS another company making a similar product whose line did break down and crumble after a few years. That was NOT EZ Line.
Kudos to Ed for actually seeing the 0.010" "wire" isn't actually round !!! I had to used my reading glasses along with my opti-visor AND a magnifying glass to verify his claim. Hell, I had to change from black wire to green because my naked eye couldn't even SEE the wire against the hillside, let alone if it wasn't round ! LOL
Mark.
|
|
|
|
Post by SOMECALLMETIM on Sept 15, 2019 9:59:00 GMT -8
My guess is Al is back with a new profile... Welcome to the forum. I'm sure we're all looking forward to your future contributions. Ed |
|
|
|
Post by ncrc5315 on Sept 15, 2019 15:48:28 GMT -8
|
|
|
|
Post by Mark R. on Sept 15, 2019 16:31:09 GMT -8
I found regular door screen (not the metal kind) can be cut into individual "strings" quite easily. The little cross-hair remnants look just like the barbs on barbed wire fencing. Miles of the stuff for pennies. Mark. |
|
|
|
Post by edwardsutorik on Sept 15, 2019 16:52:54 GMT -8
I went there, 'cause I thought I might try their "thread". I'd like to do it by hand, instead of spending $100. I DO have some experience, now. But they don't list the "thread" separately. So, what do ya do when you run out? Spend another $100? |
|
|
|
Post by edwardsutorik on Sept 15, 2019 16:56:46 GMT -8
I found regular door screen (not the metal kind) can be cut into individual "strings" quite easily. The little cross-hair remnants look just like the barbs on barbed wire fencing. Miles of the stuff for pennies. Mark. That's gonna be way too coarse for what I'm doing. I think I'd rather do without the barbs than have them way too big. Which is just what I was doing with the EZ Line. It DID look pretty acceptable, before it changed color--good enough that I was gonna string the rest of the lines. Ed |
|
|
|
Post by ncrc5315 on Sept 15, 2019 18:23:38 GMT -8
I found regular door screen (not the metal kind) can be cut into individual "strings" quite easily. The little cross-hair remnants look just like the barbs on barbed wire fencing. Miles of the stuff for pennies. Mark. That's gonna be way too coarse for what I'm doing. I think I'd rather do without the barbs than have them way too big. Which is just what I was doing with the EZ Line. It DID look pretty acceptable, before it changed color--good enough that I was gonna string the rest of the lines. Ed If you run out, that's a lot of HO scale fence, as each kit has 375' on each spool. I believe the thread is available at Michaels, or one of the other craft stores. |
|
|
|
Post by edwardsutorik on Sept 15, 2019 20:50:50 GMT -8
I believe the thread is available at Michaels, or one of the other craft stores. Great. What should I ask for? I don't think "HO barbed wire" is gonna work. Ed |
|
|
|
Post by Christian on Sept 17, 2019 5:55:12 GMT -8
So, what do ya do when you run out? Spend another $100? Between the four rolls, there are one thousand, five hundred actual feet. How big is this Free-mo module?  |
|
|
|
Post by edwardsutorik on Sept 17, 2019 6:22:30 GMT -8
Christian,
Good point. Maybe I should ask them to provide the $100 tool for free, since the amount I would use is negligible. I could just return it, (almost) unused!
Ed
|
|
|
|
Post by simulatortrain on Sept 17, 2019 6:27:34 GMT -8
I bought EZ Line to use for power lines but have not done so yet. I've used it to tie down a flatcar load, though, and was very pleased with how it turned out. It's a real pain to tie knots in!  |
|
|
|
Post by Christian on Sept 17, 2019 6:33:14 GMT -8
The Berkshire Junction EZ Line does not deteriorate over time (if at all). I know of a couple installs using EZ Line that are well past ten years with no trouble. I have some uses from last century that are just fine. Below is about ten years old. 1:250 scale PAPER model of the USS Commodore Perry - part of the Union Navy's James River blockade fleet. Masts are brass. Queen posts are wood. Rigging is Berkshire line. All the rest is paper. Yes, it fades fairly rapidly. I color with a permanent marker and that lasts. The boats lines are Prismacolor marker brown with an unknown source of white coloring "pigeon poop" splotches. Flat? Yes, it is. But I don't tell anyone and my eyes are long past seeing the flatness. It does show in photos I haven't posted here.  |
|
|
|
Post by Christian on Sept 17, 2019 6:37:03 GMT -8
I've used it to tie down a flatcar load, though, and was very pleased with how it turned out. I really, really like this flatcar. But I can only click "like" once. But I can type it a lot! LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE |
|
|
|
Post by edwardsutorik on Sept 17, 2019 7:31:22 GMT -8
Yes, it fades fairly rapidly. I color with a permanent marker and that lasts. I'll give that a try. I'm glad I didn't snip the stuff out, yet. But it still has to tolerate some UV exposure, which I will be testing. Later. Thanks for the info! As far as the "twisty flatness", I find it relatively easy to notice. But IF no one else can see it: "It works for me!" Ed |
|
|
|
Post by edwardsutorik on Sept 19, 2019 12:40:35 GMT -8
WOW!
I applied a brown and a black permanent marker to a couple of strands of EZ Line.
Less than two days later: the untreated sections has turned a "clear green"--the permanent marker sections stayed their color.
Since I already have the lower stand of three of "barbed wire" installed, I think I'll try this method out. It might get a little tricky where the EZ Line meets the posts. They're already painted, and they aren't all a matching color to the marker color.
Ed
|
|
