1:72 Concrete panels 300×100 16pcs

Panel fencing as the backdrop of the middle of the twentieth century

Fencing of prefabricated concrete slabs set between posts with a groove is the most common enclosure of industrial yards, barracks, depots and vehicle parks in central and eastern Europe. It spread from the 1950s on, because it could be put up quickly, without skilled labor and out of parts that were carried on a single truck. In a number of places it still stands today, only with crumbled edges and exposed reinforcing bar. It is precisely the wear that turns an ordinary enclosure into a rewarding subject, because every panel ages differently.

For building a view this element has a special value: it establishes the place and the period at once, without anything else being needed. At the same time it forms a flat vertical surface that the viewer's eye rests against and that separates the foreground from the background, so a small view closes off visually. Without such a background, small scenes tend to be flat and the viewer has nowhere to fix his eye.

Sixteen parts and what to do with them

According to the name there are sixteen pieces in the package, so a continuous stretch of fence or a crumbled row with gaps can be made out of them. On a model, concrete is usually primed in light gray, darkened from the top down according to the running water, and the edges are sanded through to white so that they look scuffed. Cracks and exposed reinforcing bar made of thin wire are the detail that decides in a photograph of a view. The maker's diorama branch builds precisely on these elements of surroundings, which are never found in the boxes with kits.