1:35 Lampy I

The village green when the lights come on

Light is the quiet narrator of a diorama. A single post with a lantern on a corner is enough for the viewer to know at once that the scene is set in a village, not in a field. The four resin parts in this set are exactly that kind of unobtrusive device: you put them by a plastered wall, by the entrance to a yard or in the middle of a ruined village green, and the scene gains both scale and orientation, because the viewer's eye follows the highest point.

The numeral in the name is no accident

The Roman one refers to the fact that the manufacturer released the lamps in two separate sets with different lamp shapes. Anyone building a larger town scene usually buys both and alternates them, so that the same piece does not repeat three times in a row in one street. On its own, this set is made up of four resin parts according to the manufacturer.

• four castings, which is enough for a short stretch of street or for the corner of a yard
• the thin arms of the lamps are fragile while unpacking, so go about it carefully
• the glass of the lantern can be suggested with a drop of clear glue or a piece of transparent film
• suitable for both civilian and military scenes, lighting was often blacked out during the war
• a post sunk into the paving holds more firmly than one merely glued onto the surface

An interesting effect comes from leaving a lantern broken. A cracked pane and a bent arm tell the story of an air raid more convincingly than charred beams, because it is a detail the viewer connects with everyday life. In terms of color, a dark green or gray with a hint of corrosion where the water runs down is enough.