1:35 Benzínová pumpa

A pump by the road where the asphalt ends

A fuel pump of interwar cut is a blessed object for a diorama builder. For one thing it is unmistakable at first glance, for another it settles the place of the action at once: where a pump stands there is a road, and where there is a road, columns drive past. A whole stop can be built around a single pump, from a parked motorcycle through a soldier with a jerrycan to the owner of the station watching his supply disappear from the tank.

Thirteen parts, one landmark

According to the manufacturer the package holds 13 resin parts. That is a lot for a single object and it matches how articulated the real subject is: a separate body, a dial, a hose, a nozzle and small fittings. It is precisely this division into so many parts that makes it possible to build the pump open, with the hose run out to a vehicle, and that is the sight such accessories are made for.

• the extensive division allows the pump to be assembled with the hose in the working position as well
• the glass cylinder or the dial can be completed with a piece of transparent film
• advertising lettering is best suggested with hand-painted panels, decals are not included
• the real subject suits scenes from the 1920s all the way to the postwar period

Set aside time for the painting, because this is where it is decided. Fresh paint in a rich color with scuffed edges and a faded upper section says more about the age of the station than the best surrounding terrain. Traces of oil at the foot of the pump and a worn patch around it add the last missing piece of credibility.