1:35 Cow Carcass [No.2]

Fallen cattle, the second position, 1:35 scale

This follow-up part by the German brand RT-Diorama extends the motif of dead beef cattle with a second position. The sense of such a pair is to avoid repeating one shape: in a larger scene two identical castings next to each other give away at once that this is a production part, whereas two different positions come across as natural.

Composing a larger tableau

In a tableau whose base measures more than twenty centimeters it pays to work with several focuses of attention. The equipment or a group of figures makes up the main motif, and the elements of the setting then lead the viewer's eye across the area. Fallen animals belong to that second group: place them near the edge of a road, among the wreckage of a pen or in wheel ruts, where they explain the situation and at the same time do not drown out the main theme.

How to tell two pieces of the same subject apart

Even though it is the same animal, it is worth painting them differently: the patches of markings laid out differently, a different ratio of light to dark tones, a different degree of dust. To one piece you can add more mud on the underside, to the other more marked fading from the sun. Emphasize the difference in the position of the head or the limbs further by seating each piece into terrain of a different shape.

When to reach for the second piece

• When building more extensive rural scenes
• When more than one animal is to be in the frame
• To complete the first variant of the same subject
• For competition work, where repeated shapes are noticed

The piece is sold unpainted, and uniting it with its surroundings you achieve with your own patina.