1:35 Cardboard Boxes - BIG SET 1

Cartons that give a scene everyday life

An empty drinks box leaning against a wall or a small pile stacked by a dock does more for the credibility of a scene than one more figure. It is exactly such small things that separate a static display case from a scene that looks as though something was going on in it a moment ago. This combined item brings together five subjects that are also available individually from the maker, so that when you are building a shop, a warehouse, a supply point or a postwar street you have the whole range at hand and do not have to add one variant after another.

Subjects in the package

• plain boxes with no printing, usable in any period and any country
• beer cartons for a pub, for supply or as a load on a truck bed
• coffee packaging, which suits a warehouse as well as a field kitchen
• water packs, a typical link in the supply chain
• soda boxes, which give a scene a civilian splash of color

The printing is on paper, so you cut the pieces out, fold them along the edges and glue them. It takes a sharp scalpel, a metal ruler and patience with the first few pieces; until your hand finds the rhythm it pays to start with the ones that will end up at the back.

The finished boxes take the same treatment as real cardboard. Sand the edges lightly, squeeze the corners between your fingers so that they bevel, then dust the surface with pigment or brush on a thinned brown wash. Leave some of the pieces open and scattered, otherwise the scene looks like a warehouse before a stocktake. The scale matches figures about five centimeters tall.