1:35 British Dispatch Rider With A Basket Of Pigeons

Willow wicker as a transport crate

A pigeon basket had to stand up to more than it seems at first sight. Wicker sprang, let the air through and weighed little, which was what counted for the man who carried it for miles across a muddy field. Two to six birds traveled inside, perched on a bar, and the flap on the top could be opened with one hand. A crate of boards would have shattered when dropped and a canvas bag would have smothered the birds, so willow it remained.

Equipment nobody would expect

With the basket went a pad of forms on thin paper, a pencil, a watch and a small aluminum tube clipped to the bird's leg. A slip with the message and the time of sending was rolled into it. The time mattered, because from it the staff could tell how old the message that had flown in actually was and whether it could still be acted on.

Attitude and character

The casting catches the man at the moment when he holds the basket against his body and concentrates on his load, not on the way ahead. Such a small turn of the gaze gives the figure a character and in a diorama works as a counterweight to figures looking into the distance. It can be placed at the edge of a trench, beside a parked vehicle or on open ground behind the line. It also stands up well to being displayed on its own on a small display platform.

The woven structure of the basket calls for a different approach than the wool cloth of the uniform: a lighter base, a glaze drawn in between the withies and finally a fine picking out of the edges. Take the sprue nubs off with a scalpel or a saw, sand the area down and degrease the whole thing before spraying, otherwise the primer will not take.