Zoukei Mura SWS-VB01 Tenorama City Stone Staircase - Summer

Zoukei-Mura Tenorama: stone staircase, SUMMER (a diorama scene)

Tenorama is a range of small diorama bases and scenes from the Japanese brand Zoukei-Mura. This particular package is a piece of stone staircase, a resin kit that you assemble and paint as the base of a scene. It is not a model kit and not a figure: there is no soldier, no airplane and no car inside. You have to have the model or the figure you will place on the steps. The base is supplied unpainted.

Why modelers buy a diorama base

There is a simple but fundamental thing in it: a figure or a model standing on a bare board still looks only like a model. The same figure on stone steps looks like a scene. A scene gives a model context, scale and a story: the viewer knows at once where it is happening. A stone staircase evokes a European town, a church or an old courtyard, so it suits soldiers and civilian figures alike. And making believable steps from scratch is a job for long evenings; here you have them as a finished starting point.

Summer, greenery and the contents of the package

The SUMMER designation refers to the summer form of the scene, that is living green vegetation between the stones and along the edges of the steps (the sister variant of the same scene is treated as autumn). With this range material for grass tends to be included in the package; please check the exact contents in the package, and if you want a lusher growth, moss or fallen leaves, count on buying modeling greenery. The base is given as 1:32 scale; it is, however, a landscape element without a fixed scale key, so it works with figures of nearby scales as well: hold your figure up to the steps and judge the proportions.

Building and painting tips

• Resin does not bond with cement for plastic models. Use super glue (cyanoacrylate).
• Wash the parts before painting in water with dish soap: there tends to be residue of mold release agent on them and paint would not hold.
• Resin dust is harmful to health: do not inhale it, sand wet and use a respirator.
• Give the base a coat of primer; the stone then comes alive with a wash and a dry brush: a dark glaze runs into the joints and a light dry brush brings out the edges and the chipped corners.

Who the scene is for

For modelers of figures, soldiers and civilian subjects who want to place their model in a setting and turn it into a scene.

The diorama accessory is supplied unassembled and unpainted. A figure, a model, paints and glue are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.