My model phong lighting is flat. How do I make it smoother? (pics included)

[dabmasterars]

After compiling a fence model, it has flat shading. Which shader parameters do I use to make the lighting smooth?

Spoiler: Current VMT parameters

VertexLitGeneric
{
$basetexture "tools/toolsblack"
%keywords "tf"
$model 1
$phong 1
$bumpmap "dev/flat_normal"
$phongexponent 5
$phongboost 1
$phongfresnelranges "[0 0.5 1]"
}

The model in question:

 

[dabmasterars]

still flat in-game

 

[dabmasterars]

well it's been more than a week since the creation of this thread and no one answered, so i'm just gonna assume this is some propper jank.
maybe the brushes aren't connected so phong doesn't smooth them... i could probably fix that in blender.

 

[dabmasterars]

i think i need to get rid of the blue lines on top. if only i knew how
edit: these are sharp edges
edit2: i did it (ctrl+e, remove sharp)

 

[dabmasterars]

after compiling with blender source tools, it didn't work. the edges are still sharp

 

[dabmasterars]

bruh moment