1:35 Dřevěná vrata - kulatá

A closed gate as the back wall of a view

A gate is one of the elements that most change the impression of depth in a diorama. Closed leaves shut off the view and everything happens in front of them: the hardware, the figures and the small things line up in one plane, which the gate supports from behind. The arched top moreover draws a soft line above the angular silhouette of a vehicle and the eye slides along it back into the middle of the scene. In the end even a shallow base works like a piece of a real yard.

The arch that sets the character of a place

The shape of the top edge is not merely an ornament; it gives away the type of building. Arches closed off the entrances of farmyards, mills, smithies and old town houses, where an arched passage had to take a loaded wagon. Stand a field kitchen, a motorcycle or two figures in conversation at a gate like that and the view gains a country or small-town character at once, without your having to build a whole house. A piece of wall and some earth at the foot of the threshold are enough.

Building and surface

The set is cut by laser, so the edges of the boards are sharp and the joints regular. Before gluing, try the leaves dry and check whether they hang in the same plane, or the arch above will be asymmetric. Remove the smoke left by the burn on the edges lightly with a sanding sponge. Painting works well from the bottom up: a dark base first, then dry brushes and finally gray-green glazes in the joints, where damp and moss usually hold. Glue the finished leaves against the perpendicular edge of a table, because the slightest deviation shows on the arch at once.