1:35 G.B. Cardboard Boxes

Supply is half of every wartime scene

Combat vehicles usually get photographed on their own on a scene, but a real unit moved in a sea of crates, sacks and cardboard boxes. British and Allied logistics in the Second World War rested on cardboard packaging: rations, ammunition in its outer wrapping, spare parts, canned food. A pile of boxes on a truck bed or stacked along a wall gives a scene volume and at the same time fills the empty places that would otherwise look artificial.

How to work with the sheet

According to the supplier these are paper boxes in 1:35 scale on a sheet measuring 16 x 11 cm. The individual parts are cut out along the marked edges, and it is a good idea to score the folds in advance with the blunt side of a knife against a straightedge, otherwise the card will break irregularly at the fold. Glued boxes gain their shape once filled with a small piece of strip or card, because an empty shell gets crushed while it is handled.

Arranging a pile so that it looks casual

A convincing pile is never squared up into a block. Turn a few boxes a different way, leave one half open and one dented or damp along its bottom edge. A thin deposit of dirt where the pile touches the ground is the last step that ties it to the scene. A slight irregularity in color helps too: card fades in the sun while card in the shade stays richer, and two differently aged boxes side by side look better than ten identical ones. If you build the pile tall, it is worth denting the bottom layer slightly, because real card sags under weight.

Classification

An accessory for a scene, not a vehicle kit. The package contains neither a vehicle nor figures.