1:35 Radiators

Cast-iron heating for a building interior

The cast-iron sectional radiator spread at the end of the 19th century and its shape then barely changed for the whole of the following century. It stood in apartments, schools, railway stations, offices and barracks, usually under a window and connected by a thick pipe run along the wall. That is exactly why it is such a rewarding accessory: a viewer recognizes it at once and needs no explanation for it.

Where it comes into its own on a model

Most often in a cross-section through a house, in a bombed-out room with an exposed wall or in a command post set up in a residential building. In such scenes the interior tends to be half empty and looks uninhabited; a piece of furniture and a heating unit by the wall will give it a lived-in feel. It also works well as a foreground through which the viewer looks into the depth of a scene.

Painting and aging

The finish of radiators tended to be cream, light gray or oil green, often painted over again and again. It is applied with a brush so that the strokes stay visible, and oils are then worked over the dried base: a dark glaze picks out the gaps between the sections and a lighter dry brush pulls out their edges. Flaked paint and a rusty trickle below the valve give away that the room has not been heated for a long time.

A note on the build

Before gluing, degrease the parts and have thin wire ready for the supply pipework, which usually needs to be run to the wall. The unit always belongs under a window sill or in a recess, never in the middle of an open wall; with this object the placement matters as much as the workmanship. If you are building a room after a hit, leave the radiator torn from the wall and twisted, with render and rubble piled around it.