1:35 Německé granáty a miny

A depot under the open sky

The supply points of German units looked different close up from the way one imagines them from maps. Ammunition was stacked wherever there happened to be room: along a wall, under trees for concealment, at the edge of a forest track from which individual crews drove it away. A mixed heap in which different kinds lie side by side is therefore more faithful than a carefully aligned row of one type, and it is exactly that situation this set serves.

Why a combined set

While single-type sets aim at a particular firing position, this one builds on variety. Thirty-five resin castings make it possible to put together several separate corners on one base without the shapes repeating, and they help even where it is only a matter of two or three pieces laid on a load bed.

Recommended procedure

• Glue the washed and dried castings with super glue; cement for plastic will not help here.
• Protect the fine edges when cutting off the pour lugs; they round off easily.
• Spray the base coat first and only then build up the color layers.
• Apply dusting and greasy smears only once the arrangement is finished.

The make-up of a scene

It works most strongly when a trail leads away from the heap. An opened piece, a tool set down, trampled grass between the wagon and the dump. That creates the impression that somebody has just come here and will be back in a moment, and that is exactly what sets a diorama apart from a static display of castings. Three or four pieces placed with thought are enough.