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Washing hung out as a sign of civilian life

Washing hung out over a yard or between windows is one of the strongest ways to bring civilian life back into a wartime scene. Where shirts and sheets are hanging, life is still going on, and the contrast with a vehicle driving past does more for the storytelling than another vehicle would.

The package contains four pieces, that is, individual items of washing modeled in a sagging shape. The line itself and its fixings are not included and have to be solved with your own materials.

It is the line that decides the result. Drawn thread or thin copper strand, which can be tensioned and gently curved, serves best. Tension the line first and only then fit the washing onto it; the opposite order ends with the parts being torn off as it is tensioned. Drill a hole in the wall or the post, glue the end of the strand into it and cut off the excess only once it is dry.

The castings are meant to have the grip of a clothespin suggested along the top edge. If a dot of glue is not enough for a firm joint, drill through the top hem with a fine drill and run the line through the part; the joint then holds mechanically and will take later handling of the diorama.

Painting has a rule of its own. White cloth on a model is never pure white; start with a light gray and use white only on the crests of the folds. A thin glaze of thinned ocher along the lower edges will suggest that the washing has not dried yet, and the whole piece gains weight from it.

Consider also whose washing it is. Children's items among a farmer's shirts will say more about the occupants of the house than any figure, and all it costs is some thought about the arrangement.