1:72 Mattresses

Mattresses for dioramas in 1:72 scale

A small prop for builders of scenes in 1:72 scale. Mattresses are among the objects that turn up everywhere people live temporarily: in an attic, in a cellar, on the bed of a truck or on a pile of things carried out of a house. It is an accessory for a scene, not a model in its own right.

The narrative power of an ordinary thing

It is exactly such everyday objects that decide whether a scene reads as lived in. A mattress laid against a wall or rolled up on a cart reveals at once that someone is moving out from here, or on the contrary sleeping here temporarily. The viewer fills the story in without anyone explaining it, and in a diorama that is the most valuable shortcut of all.

Finishing tips

Fabric is painted differently from hardware. Use soft transitions without sharp edges, keep the base lighter and build the shadows up as glazes in several thin layers. The stitching and the folds will stand out with a dark wash that runs into the recesses. Apply stains and soiling irregularly, because a regular pattern gives away artificially applied dirt.

For modelers who

• build interiors and makeshift dwellings in a small scale
• put together scenes with an evacuation or a move
• fill vehicle load beds with civilian cargo
• are after civilian props to go with 1:72 figures

Because of the size, paint the elements before fitting them; in the scene itself a brush reaches them only with difficulty. When stacking them, it is also enough to tilt the top piece slightly, so that the pile does not look like a carefully squared stack but like things put down in a hurry.