1:35 Plechové sudy s vozíky

A drum and a trolley, a pair from the loading dock

A sheet metal drum of about two hundred liters weighs so much when full that it cannot be handled without an aid. Hence the low trolley with a long handle, which is pushed under the drum and tips it onto wheels. The pair of drum and trolley therefore explains at once on a diorama what was going on in the place, and it is far more eloquent than a container standing on its own.

Thin sheet metal cast in resin

The shell of a drum is in reality thin sheet metal rolled into a cylinder and clamped by pressed hoops. A casting has to have a substantially thicker wall, otherwise it would crack, and that is why the whole effect takes place on the edge: the upper rim and the hoops are pulled out so that the eye reads thinness, even though the wall does not have it. For the modeler a practical consequence follows from that. When a casting is sanded down, the rim disappears and the drum starts to look like a solid pipe. Only the parting line and the sprue gate remnant are therefore sanded, never the whole shell.

Rust belongs with these goods

Resin takes pigment more readily than smooth injection-molded plastic, because its surface is more matte and finely porous after washing. Dry pigment catches in it and a rusty bloom holds even without a fixer. That comes in useful precisely with sheet metal drums, which stood outside: the lower third tended to be rusted through, whereas the top end stayed relatively clean and kept even the remains of lettering from the decal sheet.

Assembling the trolley

The trolley is the finest part of the whole package. It is recommended to cut its parts off only at the moment of gluing and to assemble the frame on a flat support, so that all the wheels sit down in one plane.