Model Military International – September 2019

September 2019 - Model Military International 49

FURNITURE

The choice of 1:48 scale for this project meant that I had to face the issue of the limited range of figures and

accessories available on the market, especially as I needed a few less-common items, such as the piano.

The first step of building the latter was to create the rear wall of the wooden case. For this purpose, I glued

a number of lengths of styrene strip to a piece of 0,5 mm styrene sheet, at an angle. The entire element was

then cut to a rectangular shape, and its edges were levelled with a metal file.

The remaining styrene residues were removed

using a scratch brush pen with steel bristles,

from Green Stuff World.

I attached the rear wall to a cube that had been assembled

from a few layers of a thick styrene sheet and started

adding further details.

The latter were to be created from lengths of very thin styrene strip
(approx. 0,25 x 0,25 mm). I didn’t have any strip of this size at hand,
so I had to make it myself. This is a rather easy task, although a thin
strip made by cutting a styrene sheet with a knife along the ruler, has
a tendency to bend or even twist.

The solution is simple: one needs to put the edge of a large knife at

the cutting line and hit it with a hammer from above. The knife will cut

the plastic evenly and cleanly as did the guillotine with the necks of

French aristocrats.

If one needs more lengths of stripe of an identical size, he/her can

prepare a template that will stabilize the knife edge and styrene

sheet. I used the lengths of strip to create the ornamentation of the

wooden case.

The keyboard required quite a lot of attention. Firstly, I glued tiny
lengths of 0,75 x 0,75 mm strip to a piece of styrene sheet.

The smaller keys were made from lengths of 0,25 x 0,5 mm strip. Afterwards, I had to cut off the excess, sand the edges and add the

remaining details of the board. It sounds easy and actually it was

easy, but also very time-consuming.

I progressively added further details. Most of them were made from various styrene bits, but the fancy
supporting legs of the keyboard were created from lengths of toothpick that had been soaked with cyano.

The last step was to scratch build the open keyboard lid.