1:35 Sáňky

A sled for a winter scene

Winter on the Eastern Front turned an ordinary child's sled into a serious means of transport. When the roads turned into drifts, patrols hauled ammunition, jerrycans, cauldrons of food and casualties on them, because a wheel will not turn in deep snow and a sled will. The same sled, however, also belongs to a peaceful scene in the yard of a country homestead, where it merely waits for the first fall of snow leaning against a shed.

Three castings, one gluing

The set holds three resin parts. Assembly is therefore a matter of moments, and all the more attention is deserved by getting it flat: both runners have to lie at the same height, otherwise the sled will look twisted in the terrain. Once glued, leave them to cool on a flat support and only then move them. Remove the flash from the mold with a knife drawn flat; sanding easily bends a thin runner.

Snow that looks like snow

A winter scene gives away every shortcut. Paint the runners metallic after the rest of the model and leave the polished surface bare, because ice runs over them and the paint would not hold on them anyway. Tone the wood warm, so that it stands apart from the blue into which snow falls in shadow. Apply the layer of snow a little at a time and let it dry between coats; press a narrow groove around the runners and a drawn-out track behind the sled, which you dust lightly with a dust shade. Lash the load with thin thread and leave it slightly tied over the edge, which gives the sled weight. Run the pull rope to a figure or leave it lying loose in the snow, so that it is clear somebody has just set the sled down.