Help required please

[The Smythe Meister]

Hi Chaps,
Just a quickie from me. I`m after making some Engineering Stakes for my current Patton Tank ,i can`t get any hard and fast info on what they were actually made of during the Vietnam war era.I have seen some grainy b/w pics,but apart from gleaming the fact that the larger ones were about 4` long,i can`t make out whether they were,quite literally,rounded wooden stakes,or angle iron?
ANY help at all will be greatly appreciated ,
Cheers,
Andy

 

[Allen Dewire]

Mr. Smiff,

What do you mean by "Engineering Stakes"??? Stakes to make fences or string barb wire/concertina wire on??? Or maybe something else??? If it is for fences/barbed wire/concertina, then they were U-shaped pickets made out of metal with little notches on them to hang the wire on.

Please advise, over............

Prost
Allen

 

[Jakko]

He means a kind of metal posts used by the US Army for purposes like making barbed-wire fences or basic construction of whatever needs to be built. Trying to Google “US Army engineer stakes”, though, is rather fruitless … ISTR they were angle iron, though, and not that big. Probably if you go for something like 1.5 mm brass or plastic L-profile you should be OK.

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Mr. Smiff,

What do you mean by "Engineering Stakes"??? Stakes to make fences or string barb wire/concertina wire on??? Or maybe something else??? If it is for fences/barbed wire/concertina, then they were U-shaped pickets made out of metal with little notches on them to hang the wire on.

Please advise, over............

Prost
Allen

Hi Allen,
Thanks for taking the time to reply mate,
Jakko`s spot on,They were used for rigging up temporary wired screens.
Andy

 

[The Smythe Meister]

He means a kind of metal posts used by the US Army for purposes like making barbed-wire fences or basic construction of whatever needs to be built. Trying to Google “US Army engineer stakes”, though, is rather fruitless … ISTR they were angle iron, though, and not that big. Probably if you go for something like 1.5 mm brass or plastic L-profile you should be OK.

Jakko,likewise to you mate re answering the thread!
The ones i want to model were carried on the Tank Deck and used for rigging up a temporary screen,with Cyclone fencing,to protect the Tank when parked up,against RPG attack.
Your suggestion is exactly what i needed to hear,MANY thanks indeed!
Andy

 

[Jon Heptonstall]

Star pickets were used,often for field mods to AFVs and presumably for fences too.
Jon.

 

[Airborne01]

There are anti-RPG screens on the Tamiya M551 Sheridan; the framework appears to be straightforward angle iron, It seems logical to me that the same material would be appropriate for your needs - about 6 feet long (approx 3"x3" in section), cut to a basic point for ground penetration with a cut notch at the top end for wire retention purposes - as Jon says they sound absolutely similar to what we called 'pickets'

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Star pickets were used,often for field mods to AFVs and presumably for fences too.
Jon.

Thanks Jon,always good to see you pop in and give your thoughts ,
Andy

 

[The Smythe Meister]

There are anti-RPG screens on the Tamiya M551 Sheridan; the framework appears to be straightforward angle iron, It seems logical to me that the same material would be appropriate for your needs - about 6 feet long (approx 3"x3" in section), cut to a basic point for ground penetration with a cut notch at the top end for wire retention purposes - as Jon says they sound absolutely similar to what we called 'pickets'

Thanks for that Steve,
Yes,you`re right about the Sheridan kit,i have that in the stash.
I suspect you`re right,but in that kit,it displays the"Curtain" inside a custom made rectangular frame,i just wondered if the actual "stakes" were a different thing all together.
The "Cyclone" mesh supplied with the Sheridan kit is not really suitable,but i`ve found some better stuff on line..... so we`ll see how that goes!
Thanks also bud,
Andy