1:35 Německá vysílačka WWII s akumulátorem

Signals equipment for an Eastern Front scene

The German army of the Second World War built the control of a battle on portable radio sets that a signals team carried on their backs in a case and powered from a lead-acid battery carried separately. Two men were thus tied together by a cable: one operated the set, the other hauled the source of power. It is exactly this pair of objects that this small set of two parts in 1:35 scale depicts.

A radio set hardly ever appears in a scene on its own. It tends to stand on the floor of a trench, on a box at a command post, on the fender of an armored personnel carrier or simply in the grass beside a seated radio operator with headphones on. The battery is usually set a little to one side, as the length of the connecting cable required, and that alone creates a relationship between two figures.

Even a beginner can handle the preparation. The parts only need washing in lukewarm soapy water, freeing of any residue from the mold and thorough drying. Then comes a thin coat of primer, a dark gray-green coat matching German field equipment and dry-brushing of the edges, which pulls out the hinges, catches and controls. Small scratches in silver and a deposit of dust with pigment give the object a well-used look.

The result is a detail that the viewer recognizes at once and that adds a story to the scene: someone is reporting the situation and waiting for an order.

The 1:35 size meanwhile allows a level of detail that would be lost in smaller scales. It is worth suggesting the scales and labels of the controls with the tip of a brush, using thin soft wire for the cable and letting its end into the socket so that the run looks loosely laid rather than pulled taut like a string.