1:35 Dřevěný sud

The wooden barrel, the furniture of every yard

Oak barrels stood by barns, in cellars, on cart beds and beside field kitchens, and their shape hardly changed over the centuries. For a model scene that means one thing: a barrel belongs to no particular period or army and suits a setting from the Thirty Years' War as well as a wrecked village of 1944.

There are three pieces in the package, so it is a supply for several places rather than a single object on its own. Three barrels standing side by side also make it possible to play with height, to lay one on its side and to sink another partly into the terrain.

The most important piece of work is preserving the hoops. The hoops stand out above the shell only slightly and coarse abrasive will wipe them away before the builder notices. Take the surplus material off at the ends and on the top face, therefore, that is where there is no hoop, and touch the shell only with fine paper run round and round.

The texture of the wood can be brought out with the point of a needle run vertically along the staves, but only gently. A groove that is visible at first glance on a model corresponds in reality to a hollow wider than a finger. Once the base shade has dried, a dry brush with a lighter color helps, because it catches precisely on the edges of the staves and the grain comes out by itself.

The difference between hoop and wood is made by a dark glaze run into the joints. Leave the metal darker and flatter than the shell, and add a patch of damp to the lower part of a barrel that stands on the ground. The barrel then looks as though it had stood in the place for some time and does not read as a part just out of the box.