1:35 City Stairs

Stairs that are a scene in themselves

Stairs are a rewarding motif in a diorama. They divide the area into two levels, they make the viewer raise his eyes and they offer an obvious place to stand a figure. This section captures a piece of public stairs of the European city type: steps with worn edges, a side wall and flat adjoining surfaces at the top and the bottom, onto which the paving or asphalt of the rest of the base can be carried.

Which family the piece belongs to

The family is called Vallejo Scenics and behind it stands the Spanish house Acrylicos Vallejo of Barcelona, a manufacturer most modelers know above all for its acrylic paints. Its diorama range is divided into numbered lines by type of goods. The stairs fall into the very first of them, the one with twelve items, where they stand alongside old brickwork, a village gate, a ruined street corner, a Second World War bunker, a section with room for a heavy tank and a pair of bases cut for a light off-road car.

How the part is worked with

Before painting, the cast part is washed in lukewarm soapy water and left to dry thoroughly, otherwise the paint will not hold on the surface. It usually pays to level the bottom edge with sandpaper on a board so that the part does not rock on the base. Then comes a dark base coat, lightening of the face of the steps and a dry brush on the edges, where stone would be rubbed light in use. Weathered patches and deposits in the joints move the scene up a level. Figures and vehicles are set out at the very end.