1:35 Wine bottles and crates

Wine bottles and wooden crates 1:35

The set imitates wine bottles together with the crates in which they were carried. The castings have thin walls to the crates and a legible shape to the bottles, so once painted they stand up even in a detailed photograph taken close up.

Wine in the rear and at the front

In France and in Italy wine was part of the ordinary daily diet and the armies met it at every turn. Cellars under houses served as shelters, inns as command posts, and crates of bottles moved into vehicles and into trenches. A number of period photographs from Normandy in 1944 show soldiers with a glass in hand just a short way from burning equipment. It is exactly such small things that set a scene which merely shows equipment apart from a scene that tells a story.

Glass, wood and labels

Dark green or brown glass is mixed from translucent varnishes laid over a light base and finished with a gloss. The wood of the crates needs grayish rather than rusty tones, because unprotected planking bleaches in the open air. Labels can be suggested with a scrap of thin paper or a drop of light paint; in the chosen format a hint is enough, as legible text will not come across anyway.

Where the set belongs

• in cellar and tavern scenes from France and Italy
• on the bed of a vehicle or a cart as a supplementary load
• beside figures of civilians and resting soldiers
• for modelers who finish a vignette with small items

Everything is unpainted and unglued; you obtain the glue and shades needed yourself.