1:35 German WWII Axe

An edge that plastic cannot manage

The axe accompanied German vehicles from tanks to trucks. It was used to clear saplings when camouflaging, to prepare brushwood under bogged-down wheels and to cut a path through woodland, and in period photographs it is usually stowed right next to the shovel and the pry bar.

It is precisely with the axe that injection molding hits its ceiling hardest. The edge is in reality a tapering wedge, but a mold needs a certain minimum wall thickness, otherwise the material will not reach into the cavity. On a model the edge therefore comes out as thick as the back of a knife and the whole tool looks like a wooden toy. A printed part gets around that barrier, because it is built up in layers and reaches a thin edge regardless of how the material flows.

Besides the sharp blade, the shaping of the eye and the transition into the handle are visible too, so the wood can be given a warm tone and the head cold steel with a hint of a polished bevel. On a finished model such a small contrast shows more than a large added part, because the eye first finds the place where the material changes.

Working with the part is undemanding. The base on the vehicle is leveled so that the accessory sits on a flat area, the joint is made with cyanoacrylate glue and painting can follow once the surface has been degreased. If you like, you can fit the axe with its clamp swung open, as if the crew were just putting it back.

A small accessory often has an unexpectedly large effect on the overall impression. A viewer is not drawn to the axe itself, but will register that the vehicle looks lived in, that work is going on around it and that it is not a clean molding. A battered edge or a hint of rust on the head of the tool works the same way. When painting, a dark base works well, out of which only the blade itself is drawn with a lighter tone.