I've been working away at the diorama and am quite pleased with my progress. Here are the results:
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| Five squares have been added: 79th Camerons, 28th Glosters, 27th Inniskillings, 32nd Cornwalls and 8th KGL. |
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| I've begun to add the 1st/95th Rifle Brigade |
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| The cottage which the CO of 1st/95th stayed the night in before the battle |
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| 8th KGL in the foreground |
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| The cottage from the east looking west |
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| More of the Rifles behind the hedge |
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| The sandpit would have been a hard feature to defend |
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About half the 95th are in place.
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My principal source for the project remains the two Siborne models. However, they do present a dilemma: while the field systems match exactly, the colour scheme is decidedly lighter for the Royal Armouries model. Given that it was extensively restored one wonders whether the colours altered in the process.
Wow!! Was worth the wait to see this!! Wonderful work from all involved. Interesting observation about the 2 Sibourne models. I have drifted to the more recent version in the Royal Armouries museum, simply due to the possibility of new evidence coming to light. Also being a rural person who has also worked on estates etc, I can perceive the idea that there was some variation in grass/crop shades evem in June. I also read somewhere that there was some tall rye crops on the battlefield, so the "hay/straw" shade would work for that.
ReplyDeleteThanks Roger, I tend to think the rye would have been greener (as in the NAM model). I'm suspicious that the RA model has been quite significantly changed.
ReplyDeleteThere is an article from an old issue of Miniature Wargames (No 91 December 1990) by a fellow named Julian Humphreys about the restoration of the model in the National Army Museum. It's a great article with informative background about Siborne, how he came to make the model and descriptions of it. In the bit about the restoration he notes "It is apparent that the model had undergone a number of ill-considered and poorly executed 'facelifts' since its completion. In particular it seems that the landscape had at various times been smothered in large amounts of dark green and brown paint. A dark green '1894' painted on the side of one of the model's sections suggests that a repainting took place at that time. Bees [Bees Modelmakers of Sunbury on Thames] cleaned away the later accretions to discover the original colours of the fields Siborne was at such pains to portray. These colours are mainly shades of green, brown and yellow together with one bright shade of green. Viewed from the distance of a few feet away they blend perfectly into the impression of cultivated countryside."
ReplyDeleteYou are most likely aware of all this already, but I thought that I'd post it for justin' (just in case). I'm happy to scan and send the article to you (email and or post) if you'd like (james dot fisher65 at iinet dot net dot au).
Regards James