A durable, nice looking fence kit, but the fence posts and rails are too large for N Scale.
I recently picked up a Woodland Scenics N Scale Chain Link Fence kit to use on a 17"x30" layout project. I've used fence kits from BLMA, Alkem Scale Models, and Walthers before, but this is my first time using the new Woodland Scenics product. You can see the package above and what the individual fence sections look like below. Note that you get four different types of fence sections in the package, one section with a single gate, one section with a double gate, two sections of fencing with end posts, and four sections of fencing without end posts. I forgot to measure the full length of all the fencing, but I'd guestimate that it makes about 20" or so if all sections are used.
The fence material itself is a laser-etched metal, while the posts and rails are all plastic. The posts, and fence frame in general, are too large for N Scale, and look closer to HO scale in size. The mesh of the fence is closer to scale, but also a little large. However, the larger diameter of the posts does make the fence sections quite sturdy. Other fence kits require you to attach the posts to the fence material, and that can be tricky to do, especially in N Scale. The assembled fence sections are very easy to install, and much easier than the BLMA or Alken Scale Models kits, though those two do look better if care is taken during installation.
Directions are included in the packaging material and you can see those below. Installation is pretty simple, just drill or poke holes in your scenery for the fence posts, and then glue the posts to the ground and the fence sections together.
I used a small screwdriver to poke holes in the scenery for the fence posts, then used some super glue to attach the fence sections to each other as well as to the scenery. I had some trouble getting the long section of fencing shown in the photo below to align properly since I didn't have all the holes for the fence posts in a perfectly straight line. I should have glued those three sections together first, and then attached them to the layout as one unit.
Here is a closer look at the installed fencing material. Despite the posts being a little oversized for N Scale, the fence still looks really nice and the extra durability over some other products should make it a great option for many modelers. The ease of installation is also a huge benefit with this product and so I do plan to use more of this fencing in the future. However, I really do wish they would make a version with barbed wire on the top of the fence.
Overall, I recommend this fence product for anyone who doesn't want to deal with the added hassle of the more prototypically scaled fence products, or is attempting to install a fence for the first time. While I haven't used the HO scale version of this fencing, my assumption is that the posts in the HO scale version are probably closer to scale. Making a durable product and one that is true to scale in N Scale is challenging, and I think the choice of going for a more robust product instead of a true to scale production is a good one for the N Scale version.
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