1:35 Necky

Washtubs as the small thing that gives a scene credibility

Wooden washtubs belonged in every country farmyard. Laundry was washed in them, children were bathed in them, livestock was watered from them and in winter they were stood upside down against the wall of a barn. It is exactly objects like these that set a diorama scene apart from a mere display case of hardware: a viewer knows them from ordinary life and their presence confirms to him subconsciously that he is looking at an inhabited place.

The set is laser-cut from wood. The material has a grain of its own, so once stained it looks like real wood without the grain having to be painted in.

A wet surface and how to make it

The most effective use is to leave a vessel filled. Paint the inside first in a matte color a shade darker than you want the finished water to be, because depth is read from the darkness of the bottom. Then lay on a thin layer of clear gloss gel or two-part resin, and do it in several passes: one heavy layer draws up and forms an unnatural ridge at the walls. Draw the last layer out with the tip of a toothpick into small waves and, once dry, go over the crest of each wave with white paint dry.

Do not flood the wood with water before painting. It will soak it up, warp and the joints will let go; staining with an alcohol- or oil-based color does not have this problem.

Do not stand the finished vessel in the middle of open ground. Lean it against a wall or a fence, or lay it upside down beside a well, or put a piece of cloth from a handkerchief soaked in diluted glue into it. Only a relationship with the objects around turns a small thing into an intelligible part of a story.