1:35 U.S. vysílačka - WWII

A single device, but with etched metal

In the Second World War communications were what separated a successful advance from confusion. Radio sets therefore belonged to the most closely guarded pieces of equipment, and in a view they reveal at once that we are looking at a command position rather than at a chance group of soldiers.

The contents of the package are unusual against other diorama items: two parts and a photo-etched fret with them, together one finished device. Anyone counting pieces might think the package thin. The opposite is true, and the reason lies exactly in that fret.

Etched metal manages what a casting never will. Antenna brackets, fine frames, thin holders and clips are tenths of a millimeter thick when finished, which cannot be cast either from resin or from plastic. It is exactly on details like these that an experienced eye tells whether an object on a model is seriously meant or only suggested.

• A command vehicle or a post with a map table
• A trench or a bunker where a signaler works the set
• A load on a truck bed, where it is one piece of equipment among others

The decision is therefore simple. If the radio set is to be in the foreground and legible, it is worth having. If it is only going to lie half covered under a tarpaulin, the fret will not be seen and a plain block of the right shape will serve better.

Use super glue in a small amount on the etched parts and bend them on the edge of a steel ruler. Resin adhesive is too slow for thin sheet and the joint shifts.