1:35 Church pews (long)

Church pews in the long version, 1:35 scale

This is not a kit of a vehicle but a diorama accessory from RT-Diorama in 1:35 scale. It fills the inside of a church, that is the space that is hardest of all to deal with in a scene: a nave without pews looks like an empty hall and the viewer sees at once that something is missing from it. The attribute long in the name sets this item apart from the shorter version of the same range.

Why it pays to fill the interior with pews

Rows of pews give an interior its rhythm and above all its scale - the eye converts the height of the columns and of the vault from them immediately. They are also a rewarding carrier of action: overturned, pushed aside against a wall or piled into a barricade, they tell a story by themselves. In churches that were turned into dressing stations or improvised quarters during the war, the pews were commonly broken up for fuel and for makeshift beds, which is a rewarding subject for a narrative scene.

Where the accessory fits

1:35 scale matches the usual figures and vehicles for dioramas of the Second World War and of later conflicts. The pews come into their own in the interior of a damaged church, in a chapel and in a small cutaway of a wall where only a piece of floor with a few rows of seats shows. They follow on well from the other elements of a sacred interior in the manufacturer's range, such as portals and window fillings.

Who the accessory is for

• For builders of dioramas in 1:35 scale with sacred architecture
• For modelers who place figures inside a building rather than only in front of it
• For narrative scenes from fighting in built-up areas and from behind the front
• As an accessory for the church bases and ruins of the same brand