1:32 British Dispatch Rider On A Short Break

A moment when nothing much is happening

Calm belongs in a good scene too. A scene made up entirely of figures in movement reads badly, because the eye has nowhere to rest and all the figures compete with one another for attention. A man who has sat down, leaned back and is doing nothing in particular, by contrast, gives the whole a breath and gives the other figures a measure of urgency. Experienced diorama builders therefore reach for such figures before they reach for striking poses. A calm figure will also stand being nearer the edge of the base, where a sweeping gesture would look unnatural.

A break that was not idling

With dispatch riders it was a matter of waiting, not of rest. The route between a staff and a unit could be ridden several times a day, and between runs a man waited for the answer he was to take back. Out of such waiting came the minutes when a man sat down on a roadside marker, lit a cigarette and stopped listening for a moment to whether the engine was running evenly.

What to concentrate on when painting

With a calm figure the face carries the theme. It pays to give it more time than the equipment: a skin tone with no pink cast, a soft shadow under the cheekbone, the eyes suggested rather than drawn in. The 1:32 size gives enough room for that without forcing microscopic work. Anyone still learning to paint faces will start with considerably better prospects at this size than with smaller figures.

Remove the remains left by casting by cutting and level the area with a file. Resin bonds with cyanoacrylate glue, and on a larger mating face with a two-part compound instead.