1:35 Německá nádoba na vodu - 18 l

Six containers from one package

German field units carried drinking water separately from fuel and used sheet metal containers of established capacities for it. The eighteen-liter one was among the larger ones and on a model it is told apart from a fuel jerrycan by the height of the body and by the arrangement of the top cap.

There are six pieces in the package and it is precisely that number that decides whether the set is worth it. An experienced builder will sand a single piece out of plastic profile in one evening. But nobody will make six absolutely identical shapes by hand, and identity is exactly what the eye notices on a stacked load sooner than the shape of the container itself.

• A supply truck or trailer where the water is meant to be visible repeatedly
• A store under a tarpaulin, a field kitchen, a dressing station
• Filling a truck bed that would otherwise stay empty

The rule is simple. When you need to show water only once in a scene, a six-piece package is needlessly large and a smaller capacity from the same range is more suitable. But as soon as you are building an area where the containers repeat, this item will save you several evenings and the result will be more even than you would achieve by hand.

For the finish, reckon on a dark base, a matte metal shade and a faint hint of corrosion around the edges and the seams. The containers are glued loose, so you may turn each one differently and break up the regularity of the row. Anyone building a longer convoy will appreciate that the same set is enough for two to three vehicles at once.

The ratio of number to effort is sharper here than it seems at first glance. You get six finished shapes that would otherwise cost tens of hours of sanding work at the bench.