Deer - HO Scale

Game at the edge of the forest, caught in motion

The white-tailed deer is the most widespread North American deer and its name comes from the white underside of the tail, which the animal raises like a warning flag as it flees. In model form the most valuable thing is how varied the positions in the set are. A strong buck is caught in mid-leap with his body stretched out, a doe sits by her fawn, another doe with a young one grazes the growth and a second buck stands and watches the surroundings.

The leaping animal is the figure a scene can literally be opened with. An animal in flight only makes sense when it is clear what it is leaping over and why: a ditch, a low fence, a track or away from a source of noise. Setting it in the middle of an open meadow would kill the effect. It therefore pays to place it so that a visible relationship arises between it and the obstacle, and to add a trace of motion, that is empty space in front of it.

The rest of the group works as a resting counterweight. The lying doe with her fawn belongs in taller growth or under the edge of the trees, the grazing pair on a more open area and the standing buck on a raised spot from which it can see further. Game set out this way tells of one moment rather than of six unrelated figures.

The reduction ratio matches the ordinary railroad standard and the animals come painted, so nothing is assembled or finished. When setting them down it helps if they are not all aimed in the same direction: a herd looking one way reads as if cut out of an instruction sheet, whereas game turned in various directions reads as alive.