military modeling in scale 1/72

Warka 1656 - The deluge (Making of)

2026-11-09T10:11:46.974+01:00

Hello!

In this post I would like to show you how the diorama "Warka 1656 - The deluge" was made - in a very detailed building report. For all pictures: click to enlarge.

Step 1 - The Idea

I wanted to use my Zvezda Polish winged hussars and find the opponents in the Revell 30 years war sets. The figures are quite the same size, so no problem here. To find a suitable battle was a little more difficult, as the uniforms don't fit exactly in the timeline. The only possible conflict therefore was the Swedish invasion of Poland and I picked the battle of Warka in 1656. (Wrong horses in the picture)

Step 2 - The base

An old picture frame (33 x 26 cm), a little styrofoam and plaster. And that's all for the basic structure.

The next step was to createsome small pits with a screwdriver into the plaster - for figures, which won't stand without their base (horses often has only one leg on the ground, glueing is not the safest way). The purpose of the numers is for the correct positioning of the figures.

After that a priming with a cheap acrylic colour from the hardware store. This should minimize the white colour effect of the plaster for further steps on the groundwork. The pits are left uncovered.

Step 3 - A little bridge

As a a next step I built a small, very simple bridge. It consists of a few parts of wood, fixed with white glue and afterwards "weathering" with a mini cutting disc and a diamond cutter/polisher.

Painting as follows:
1. dark brown (a little thinned, not fully covering)
2. black wash
3. in some deep cuts/holes the black wash a little highlighted with dark grey
4, drybrush with medium grey
5. drybrush with light grey (on the edges only)
6. below and on the sides a little green wash to hint some moss (with some scarce highlights with a lighter green)

A small part of the diorama, but more complex and time consuming than expected. The colour difference on the last picture is from a different incidence of light.

Step 4 - The river

Large stones (from an old aquarium - I guess so)

Small stones (tea!!!)

Even smaller stones (track ballast H0)

The edge of the bank needed a little detailiing (for example slightly overhanging soil, sealing holes, trimming of edges, ...). For this purpose I used Vallejo White Stone Texture, every similar product will also do.

Then I wanted to created a few roots in the upper part of the river, for this I made use of some leftovers from a H0 product (pruducer and title unknown).

Finally a coat of dark brown acryl colour for better durability and visiblity of the structure.

Time for a quick "coffee break"

It's time for painting!

The whole area covered with coffee powder was painted over with dark brown acrylic colour for better durability and for further painting.

The riverbed got a very liquid colour mixture of ocre, medium brown and khaki (let the colour run into each other).

The banks of the river receives a dark brown colour.

Followed by a black wash below the overhanging soil.

The stones were painted with dark grey.

A layer of medium grey over the stones and afterwards drybrushing them with a very light grey. From right to left you can see the three steps.

And so it looks afterwards.

The riverbed was improved using several colours.

All other soil was covered with several colours using a bristle brush, mainly dabbed, to create a non uniform look (left). With a dry-brush-brush a light khaki was added (right). The used coffee powder gives a good ground texture, ideal for dry brushing.

That creating realistic looking water is one of the most difficult parts of our hobby was nothing new to me. But so difficult ...

I filled the finished riverbed with Vallejo Still Water (slightly coloured) in a first layer (ca. 2.mm). Some hours later it looked like thiis.

As it doesn't get any better after several days I had to do something radical.

I don't know what happened exactly. Something on the diorama created a heavy chemical reaction and so there was no chance for a clear water.

Since then I recreated the riverbed and corrected some errors from my first try (see arrows). In the middle part I flattened the riverbed a little, as the water course went nearly upwards. In the upper part I inserted some gradients to give the water a more natural way.

What do we learn from it: Mistakes can happen, but most often they can be corrected.

To avoid the mishap with the water, I painted a few layers of clear acrylic colour on the bottom of the stream. Afterwards several layers of Vallejo Still Water (with a minimal amount of green colour, still a little too much). While drying a white veil still occours on some points (no matter how thin the water layer is), but after a quite endless time it disappears.

Then the waves are made with MIG Acrylic Water and a little white colour.

That's the final result, the riverbank layout still needs some vegetation.

As the next step I worked on the path across the bridge and the area behind it. A few stones as well some gravel on the path improved the overall picture extremely. Materials and colours were the same as on the riverbed, additionally a sandy brown drybrushed on the path.

Then it was time for something green around the riverbed. Faller turf and afterwards some green colour variations with a brush did the job well and gives a quite realistic look.

Step 5 - Horses

Now it's time for the first figures or better said horses. Wonderful beasts by Zvezda, but for a cavalry charge unfortunately too few poses.

Therefore some conversions by bending or cutting off and glueing on of the legs. Too much work is not necessary, as most of it can't be seen at the end. Small differences can make interesting effects.

Some testing with the converted horses had to be done, to ensure that the scene really works. The holes in the ground now make sense.

These things I did to the horses (fine tuning):

1. Flash removed
2. Size of bases decreased
3. Four missing pistol grips modelled with putty
4. Two armour piercers (overlength swords) removed
5. All holes for the riders filled with putty
6. Size increased of ten ears (definitely too small)
7. Reigns bent for positions of the riders
8. Some legs bent or cut off and newly glued
9. Three heads slightly bent to the side
10. Decorations on the reigns altered (tassels, ...)
11. Small holes and gaps filled with putty
12. Smoothing of cut off parts with putty
13. Basing with Humbrol 30 for seeing still existing problem areas

And so they look after all this is done.

Painting a horse - my way.

1. Priming with Humbrol 30 (any colour will do, but I prefer green or brown)

2. Vallejo 143 leatherbrown as base colour, then a wash with Vallejo 149 chocolate brown and finally highlights again with Vallejo 143 leatherbrown

3. Several layers of diluted Vallejo 169 black and Vallejo 4 offwhite for the legs

4. Saddle- and holstercloth with Vallejo 100 blackgreen as base and then Vallejo 82 medium green

5. Fringes and decoration with Vallejo 179 gun metal and afterwards Revell 90 silver

6. Saddle based with Vallejo 149 chocolate brown, then Vallejo 141 english uniform and decorations Revell 90 silver

7. Bridle and straps as in point 4, the bit with Vallejo 179 gun metal and some decorations with Vallejo 178 natural steel

8. Horsetail and mane with Vallejo 149 chocolate brown as base, wash with Vallejo 169 black and highlights again with Vallejo 149 chocolate brown

9. Pistols and holsters done with Vallejo 149 chocolate brown, Vallejo 141 english uniform, Revell 90 silver and Vallejo 169 black

10. Hooves are made with Vallejo 164 dark grey and a wash with Vallejo 169 black

And now the horse painting is finished.

Now the base has to disappear.

1. Some dirt on the horse with Vallejo 115 khaki and the base covered with a coat of acrylic dark brown.

2. To get the horse in the correct position and plane to the ground level some small sheets of paper are glued to the ground.

3. Horse glued in and gaps filled with Vallajo Ground Texture.

4. Base covered with coffeepowder and gravel (same as used for the ground).

5. Ground painted (Colours are the same as used for the already covered ground).

The base has disappeared - mission accomplished!

And after all horses have received this treatment, the diorama looks actually like this:

Step 6 - Riders

Every horse needs a rider and here they are (Polish winged hussars by Zvezda).

As you can see the wings are detached, also some lances and not all figures carry lances. As I need 12 riders with lances I had to make them by myself.

In reality the lances were very large (up to 6 m) but very lightweighted as they are hollow. Lance pennons are also extremely long (up to 4 m). These enourmous lances are mostly used on parades. In battle smaller versions were carried so I decided to make the lances 4,1 m (= 5,7 cm in 1/72) and the pennons 2,6 m (= 3,6 cm) - still very large and impressive.

I made the lances from 0,75 mm rods from Evergreen. The top is flattened with a plier and the basic point shaped with a knife and a grinding wheel.

The pennons are made from paper of an old writing pad. The material will be moistered for shaping in one of the following steps and this paper takes it (copy paper don't work so well).

The lance guards are rudimentary made of wire from a very old cable.

Finally putty from Vallejo will made the points and the guards smoother. Then again trimming with a knife and a grinding wheel. After covering the treated areas with a Humbrol enamel coat for better visibility of the work done (and made corrections if necessary) I am quite satisfied with the achieved results.

The following conversions I made on the riders:

1. Sharpening of spurs (2x)
2. Bending of legs and arms, some cut off and glued in a different angle
3. Cutting of the sabre from the hand (4x)
4. Creating of a sash with aluminium foil and putty (1x)

5. Creating of animal fur with aluminium foil and putty (6x)
6. Drilling holes in hand for lance (7x)
7. Modification of wings with nails (for model train tracks N-gauge) and a little putty (18x)

8. Making of a sabre hilt (1x)
9. Bringing the lance pennons in shape with water (12x)

10. Lots of putty to make smooth transitions
11. Cutting off a shoulder bag (3x)
12. Cutting off a musket (2x)
13. Cutting off head and glued in a different way (6x)
14. Variations and minor deocrations on helmets with putty (8x)
15. Feather (from the leftover box)) on helmet (1x)
16. Boot for lances out of paper and a little putty (12x)

Finally the hussars are now ready for painting

Painting a rider - my way.

1. Armour: Revell 91 iron as base, then a wash with Vallejo 169 black and finally Vallejo 795 green gold for the edge coverings (bearly not visible on this pic) and Revell 91 iron for other metal parts

2. Coat: Vallejo 146 dark red braun, wash with Vallejo 31 red and highlights with Vallejo 31 red undiluted
3. Trousers: Vallejo 164 dark grey, wash with Vallejo 158 light grey and highlights with vallejo 158 light grey undiluted

4. Belts on armour: Vallejo 149 chocolate brown, higlights with Vallejo 143 leather brown
5. Eyes: Vallejo 4 offwhite with dots for the eyes in Vallejo 164 dark grey

6. Face: Vallejo 132 brown sand, wash with Vallejo 21 medium flesh and highlights with Vallejo 21 medium flesh undiluted
7. Hair, beard: Vallejo 169 black, highlights with Vallejo 164 dark grey

8. Belts für sabre: Vallejo 169 black, highlights Vallejo 149 chocolate brown
9. Scabbard: Vallejo 169 black, highlights diluted Vallejo 164 dark grey
10. Sabre hilt and metal parts of the scabbard: Base Vallejo 179 gun metal then Vallejo 795 green gold
11. Grip of the hilt: Vallejo 149 chocolate brown, highlights Vallejo 143 lether brown

12. Leopard skin: Base Humbrol 63 beige, wash with Vallejo 141 english uniform and highlights with Vallejo 127 ochre
13. White parts of the skin: Vallejo 4 offwhite, wash with Vallejo 158 light grey and highlights with Vallejo 4 offwhite
14. Pattern of the skin: Vallejo 169 black

15. Shaft of wings: Vallejo 146 redbrown and Vallejo 31 red (base/highlight), Vallejo 115 khaki and Vallejo 16 yellow as well as metal parts Vallejo 179 gun metal and Revell 91 iron

16. Feathers of the wings: Vallejo 159 medium grey, Vallejo 164 dark grey, Vallejo 169 black and Vallejo 152 silver grey (in several layers, partly diluted and final touches directly highlighted)

17. Lance and pennon: Vallejo 146 redbrown and Vallejo 31 red (base/highlight), Vallejo 115 khaki and Vallejo 16 yellow as well as Vallejo 138 light grey and Vallejo 152 silver grey

18. Metal parts of the lance: Vallejo 179 gun metal with a little Vallejo 169 black added and Revell 91 iron as well as Vallejo 795 green gold (nails for fixing the pennon)

19. Gloves: Vallejo 141 englisch uniform, Vallejo 115 khaki (base/highlight)

20. Boots: Vallejo 169 black and Vallejo 149 chocolate brown (base/highlight)
21. Stirrups: Vallejo 179 gun metal with a little Vallejo 169 black and Revell 91 iron
22. Boot for lance, straps for stirrups: Vallejo 149 chocolate brown, Vallejo 34 redbrown (base/highlight)
23. Dirt: Vallejo 115 khaki drybrushed

And here all 15 painted riders (lance pennons still not in the final position):

Before the riders can be glued to their horses some groundwork has to be done - otherwise no space for that. For this I used Noch static grass (first time done with an electric grass applicator by MIG, one to three layers of grass), Faller turf, some iceland moss (base for little bushes), yellow flowers by Woodland scenics. To bring in more variety I drybrushed over all with some colours.

After this treatment the stream looks like this:

Now it's time to put the riders on their horses.

The finished "Jan Zamoyskis Crown Hussar Banner":

Step 7 - Pikemen

Now the work on the opposing troops began. I used the pikemen of the Revell sets Imperial and Swedish Infantry 30 years war.

These are the 28 figures before doing anything:

And this has been done (quite the same procedures as by the cavalry, otherwise stated):

1. Cut off the base (28x)
2. Removing all flash and undercuts (28x)
3. Replacing the lances with scratch built ones (28x) - too short and no point
4. Replacing heads with helmets instead of heads (16x) - pikemen mostly wear helmets
5. Changing position of arms (3x)
6. Cut off most feathers on helmets or hats (23x) - in the field normally not worn
7. Making a flag out of paper (1x)
8, Making a sash out of aluminium foil and a some putty (2x)
9. Adapting the collar with putty (18x)
10. Improve the metal armour with putty (28x)
11. Creating a jacket/coat underneath the metal armour with putty (25x)
12. Additional equipment like ransacks or small bags with putty (18x)
13. Head bandage with putty (1x)

After this alterations and a coat of priming it looks like this:

I decided to give the pikemen the uniform of the Regiment Västra Viborg (now in Russia). Uniforms were introduced in Sweden in 1655 but this was merely for the colour of the coat and the trousers (same or different colour) and a sometimes for the stockings. The information I got are for the Viborg regiment wearing dark blue coat and trousers as well as medium blue stockings. Possibly the coat was lined with red or dark red.

As in the field the uniform parts had to be replaced soon and with whatever was available I made some variations in colouring the pikemen.

As the painting follows the basic style already given in the previous postings I took only one figure to indicate the used colours (all Vallejo as not stated otherwise).

1. Helmet and body armour: Humbrol 53 gun metal as base, 169 black as wash, 179 gun metal for scratches and highlights, AK 776 satin varnish as final coat
2. Buff coat below body armour: 141 english uniform, 115 khaki, 127 ochre as wash
3. Belts of body armour: 149 chocolate brown, 143 leather brown
4. Jacket: 50 prussian blue, 54 dark blue
5. Trouser: 164 dark grey, 58 blue grey
6. Scabbard: 169 black, 149 chocolate brown
7. Scabbard belt: 149 chocolate brown, 143 leather brown
8. Satchel: 149 chocolate brown, 141 english uniform, 115 khaki for the cord
9. Shirt collar: 158 light grey, 152 silver grey
10. Eyes: 152 silver grey, 164 dark grey
11. Face: 132 brown sand, 21 medium flesh
12. Hair, beard: 141 english uniform, 115 khaki
13. Stockings: 146 red brown, 31 red
14. Trousers cords: 50 prussian blue, 54 dark blue
15. Pike (wooden part): 149 chocolate brown, 141 english uniform
16. Shoes. 169 black, 146 chocolate brown
17. Metal parts (Pike, sword, scabbard, buttons): 179 gun metal mixed with 169 black, Revell 91 iron
18. Hilt of sword: 149 chocolate brown, 143 leather brown
19. Gloves: 141 english uniform, 115 khaki
20: Dirt: 115 khaki

After all that the figure looks like this (front and backside):

And the whole pikemen section like this:

The flag can be disputed. As I haven't found any source for it I give it the coat of arms of Viborg (upper and lower triangle), a blue field with the initials of the king (left and right triangle - Carl X. Gustav) and a yellow St. Andrews cross seperating them.

The pikemen are finally in place:

And after adding a little groundwork:

Overall view of the diorama at this point:

Step 8 - Musketeers

Each pike formation is normally covered by musketeers on the edges. Also a few irregular infantrymen (mercenaries/volunteers/armed peasants) on the other side come into play.

Here the first batch:

The usual conversions were made:

Cut off the base / Removing all flash and undercuts / Some head swaps (musketeers normally wore hats) / Changing position of arms and legs / Cut off some feathers on the hats / Making a sash out of aluminium foil and some putty / Adapting the collar with putty / Exchange of swords against sabres / Creating a headgear with putty / Exchange of drumsticks with nails / Pistols made of nails and putty / Cutting off a flag / Some minor changes ...

The painting of the Swedish musketeers is much the same as for the pikemen, the Polish irregular musketeers have no uniform and can be completely freely painted:

Some more complicated conversions now in detail:

Drummer (left): Drumsticks replaced with N-gauge nails for railways / Collar adapted / Arms cut off at shoulder and elbow and glued together in different positions / one leg only bent the other completely cut off and glued in a different position / All gaps filled with putty

Officer (center): Flag cut off / Sash out of aluminium foil and a little putty / Hat feathers taken from another figure / Pistol made of N-gauge nail with some putty / Lower legs cut off and replaced with that of the right figure, as they were a little too short, two nails and putty made them longer / All gaps filled with putty

Musketeer (right): Hat cut off and another headgear made of putty / Bag cut off and glued to the backside, carrying belt also cut off / Sword replaced with a sabre from the hussars / Lower legs replaced with that of the center figure / One upper leg completely cut off and glued on in another position / All gaps filled with putty

Conversions are always a fragile work - the more complicated the more fragile, sometimes hard to paint without damaging the figures.

For the first time I tried to simulate smoke of a firing musket:

The smoke was made by some filling material from an old scrapped sofa and a little liquid plastic glue.

The figures are put in place on the diorama to watch the actual effect and I see that there is a second batch necessary ...

The final bunch of figures (two additional horses from old Airfix sets):

Converted (quite the same as above) and base paint coat:

Fully painted (see above):

Some minor and major conversions:

All figures in their final position:

Step 9 - Forest

To create a tree we need some partly very interesting stuff.

Let's begin with old calenders which are taken apart in wire (that's what we need), paper and cardboard (always useful).

From the shutters for freezer bags I cut out the fine wire.

The calender wire is winded to get a basic form of a tree (ca. 10 cm high).

The finer wire from the shutters are perfectly suited for smaller twigs.

A coat of Vallejo white stone texture for covering the winded wire and with a small brush a bark structure is created. Additionally it adds mor stability.

A base colour of cheap medium brown acryl paint is applied.

And then a wash with chocolate brown, a wash with black, drybrushing with dark grey, drybrushing with medium grey and finally some highlights with ochre and light earth. And as a final touch on some places a small wash with russian green to imitate moss.

Foliage is made with a foliage fleece by Faller. Cut in small pieces and the clued on the tree with white glue.

And after repeating that process another 11 times, all trees are ready. You have to be carefull that the trees have a natural appearance and that there are no large gaps between them.

Now it's time for the forest floor. I used some small parts of a piece of wood from a floral arrangement, several flocking material and grass, some moss and for the fallen leaves on the floor crushed pieces of rubbed basil.

You can be very creative what you use, here is my finished version:

Step 10 - Inscription

The inscription shield is made principally of cardboard (you may remember the calender) and a printed leaf of paper.

The paper is glued to the cardboard and cut to the required size. Afterwards painted in brass and the letters in black.

That was the last step and after nearly 2 years of work (with large breaks) the final diorama looks like that:

Link to the finished diorama

Warka 1656 - The deluge

2026-11-09T10:09:28.586+01:00

Historical background

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth faced between 1655 and 1660 a Swedish invasion that is still remembered as "deluge". The Commonwealth was already in a bitter war with Russia, which cost them half of their territory and Sweden wanted to capture the rest. The Swedish invasion swepted away all Polish forces and the Commonwealth ceased to exist. But resistance was forming by the Polish magnates which fielded armies to expel any foreign soldiers. In April 1656 one such army confronted the Swedes at Warka (modern day Poland, some 50 km south of Warsaw). The Swedes were ca. 2.000 strong (mostly infantry), the Poles ca. 7.500 (mostly cavalry). The Poles attacked three times frontally and only the last one (with the famous winged hussars) succeeded to break the Swedish lines, which results in a crushing defeat and a big slaughter afterwards. The battle was the first Polish victory in this war, in which later Austria, Brandenburg, Denmark-Norway and other countries became involved. Finally the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was restored, but was very weak and never again was a major European power.

The moment depicted is the final Polish charge against the Swedish battle line. Polish winged hussars (Jan Zamoyskis Crown Hussar Banner) and irregular infantry attempts to cross a little stream and shatter or annihilte any enemy formations.

The diorama

The figures are from Revell (Infantry) and Zvezda (Cavalry). As there were only a few horse poses available and I want to make them riding/jumping over the little stream, there was a strong need for conversions. Originally I intended to accompany the Polish hussars with some other Zvezda cavalry, but they are much too big - so I changed my plan to some irregular infantry.

For a detailed description of the creation of the diorama take a look here:

Warka 1656 - The deluge (Making of)

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (YouTube)

Sources

Richard Brzezinski - The army of Gustavus Adolphus 1 (Osprey Men-at-Arms 235)

Richard Brzezinski - The army of Gustavus Adolphus 2 (Osprey Men-at-Arms 262)

Richard Brzezinski - Polish armies 1569 - 1696 1 (Osprey Men-at-Arms 184)

Richard Brzezinski - Polish armies 1569 - 1696 2 (Osprey Men-at-Arms 188)

Richard Brzezinski - Polish winged hussar 1576 - 1775 (Osprey Warrior 94)

Keith Roberts - Matchlock musketeer 1588 - 1688 (Osprey Warrior 43)

Keith Roberts - Pike and shot tactics 1590 - 1660 (Oprey Elite 179)

Gertrud Gerharti - Belagerung und Entsatz von Wien 1683

Simon Millar - Vienna 1683 (Osprey Campaign 191)

Chris Honeywell & Gill Spear - The English civil war (Recreated in colour photographs)

C. Jörgensen, ... - Fighting techniques of the early moden world 1500 - 1763

Dioramica in Heilbad Heiligenstadt 26. - 27.9.2026

2026-09-29T13:57:36.583+02:00

My fourth visit to the Dioramica and the usual long journey from my hometown to the location in Heilbad Heiligenstadt in Germany (over 800 km). The event is a presentation of the local museum "Geschichte in Miniaturen" (www.dioramica-museum.de) with it's perfect dioramas combined with a meeting place for 1/72 figure enthusiasts (as well as a small second hand fair for figures and dioramas in this scale). People who knew each other mostly from forums or see each other very seldom met here and talked about their hobby, showed their latest work or tried to get some inspiration.As its predecessors it was a great event with the cream of the cream of 1/72 diorama builders (unfortunately not all could come) of middle Europe. Again I took some of my dioramas along and presented it to the public for the very first time. Some visitors already knew me from this blog or my YouTube-channel and long talkings and questions/answers followed - others only enjoyed watching.

For the first time I showed my working skills in creating a wood live to the public and it was a hit. Many people take a break and watched or asked for some advice which I gladly gave.

There was also a competition in which I took part with two of my dioramas - as usual: no risk, no fun.

And I started some new friendships with some of the other builders / exhibitors and met some friends which I haven't seen for a long time - all crazy people like me (and we are proud of this fact!!!)

Best quotes:

"I'm a fan of your work" - Visitor

"The best phalanx I've ever seen" - Another exhibitor (and a very good one!!!)

"I'm from your fan-club" - Visitor (I have a fan-club!?!)

The long trip was a complete success, even more as I finally was able to sell some of my dioramas and therefore have now space for the next projects.

Last but not least: A great compliment to the organisation and to all who took part in making this happen.

Photos (click to enlarge)
Only a very small overview - really!

1. The museum (new dioramas)

2. The exhibition

3. Yeah!!! Won two medals!!!

Bronze for Gaugamela 331 BC - the phalanx

Silver for this mysterious project of mine, which is not completed yet.

(Pictures for the finished diorama as well as an extensive description of the creation will follow soon.

To held the suspense high I make the picture a little unrecognizable)

Gaugamela 331 BC - The phalanx

2024-11-29T21:13:00.000+01:00

Historical background

In the year 334 BC Alexander III of Macedonia (later called "the Great") started the invasion of the Persian Empire. After victories in the battles the Granicus and Issus he faced the whole might of Persia in the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. The odds were completely against him as the Persian army outnumbered him greatly (exact numbers vary: Macedonian army ca. 50.000, Persian army: 90 - 120.000, in ancient sources even 250.000 up to 1.000.000). With superior tactics of his phalanx and his cavalry he outmanouvred the Persians and put them to flight with only slight losses to his own army. The results of this battle were enormous - the Persian king Darius III was killed by his own men and Alexander was in full control of the whole Persian empire.

The moment depicted is the fight in the center, a Macedonian phalanx against Persian infantry.

A phalanx usually consisted of 256 men in square formation (16 x 16), which required highly trained and disciplined soldiers. The main weapon was the sarissa, an approximately 6 meter long pike, therefore much longer than a spear of the period, which kept any enemy at bay. The phalangist was armoured with a bronze helmet, a linothorax (stiff linen upper body protection) or muscle cuirass (hard leather or bronze) and bronze greaves. Also a wooden shield with a bronze coverage was carried. This made the man a hard to hit target. On the other side the Persians infantry men were much less protected. Their shields were made of wicker, upper body armour was of minor quality if worn, the main offensive weapon was the bow - sufficent for the warfare against the usual enemies, but not against the Macedonians.

As a phalanx is nearly invulnerable from the front and normally protected on both sides by light infantry, hoplites or another phalanx, the Persians had simply not the means to defeat it although they were in much superior numbers. The Macedonians lost only 100 to 500 out of 31.000 heavy infantry men, the Persians in total 40.000 to 90.000 men.

The diorama

The challenge for this diorama is the posing of the tight Macedonian ranks to get a realistic picture and not to hinder the single figures to fight or to injure their companions - on the other side the Persians in lose formation with attempts to break an unbreakable formation. Limited poses on the Macedonian side results in much conversion work, also the Persions need some trimming.

The figures are all from Zvezda and offer the usual high quality. The Macedonians need some assembly, which creates some difficulties when painting (reaching some spaces with the brush). If there was any uniformity in appearence of the Macedonians at the beginning of the campaign, after 3 years of marching and fighting it was definitely gone (except for the sarissa). Therefore I made them a little more divers and colourful, as replacements of any kind of equipment was at least partly obtained from local resources. The sarissa ist absolute straight, but when held vertically owing to its length it tends to slack and swing a little, therefore the slightly bend pikes are quite correct.

Groundwork is made of coffee powder, paint, some moss from the garden and a little bit of marjoram. For the Persian attack with their feared chariots some parts of the battlefield were cleared, so that no obstacles can interfere with the attack (large stones and bushwork was removed and uneven ground was flattened), so all the ground on the diorama is quite flat and with only few vegetation.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (YouTube)

Sources

John Warry - Alexander 334-323 BC (Osprey Campaign 7)
Michael Thompson - Granicus 334 BC (Osprey Campaign 182)
Jack Cassin-Scott - The Greek and Persian wars (Osprey Men-at-Arms 69)
Nicholas Sekunda - The Persian army (Osprey Elite 42)
Nick Sekunda - The army of Alexander the Great (Osprey Men-at-Arms 148)
Waldemar Heckel/Ryan Jones -Macedonian warrior (Osprey Warrior 103)
Nicholas Sekunda - Macedonian armies after Alexander (Osprey Men-at-Arms 477)
Christopher Webber - The Thracians (Osprey Men-at-Arms 360)
Nic Fields - Tarentine Horseman of Magna Craecia (Osprey Warrior 130)

Kevin F. Kiley - Uniforms of the Greek world

Simon Anglim/Phyllis Jestice/Bob Rice/Scott Rusch/John Serrati - Fighting techniqes of the ancient World 3000 BC - 500 AD
Paolo Cau - Die 100 größten Schlachten

Dioramica in Heilbad Heiligenstadt 28. - 29.9.2024

2024-09-30T13:36:00.000+02:00

My third visit to the Dioramica (www.dioramica.de) and the usual long journey from my hometown to the location in Heilbad Heiligenstadt in Germany (over 800 km). The event is a presentation of the local museum "Geschichte in Miniaturen" (www.geschichte-in-miniaturen.de) with it's perfect dioramas combined with a meeting place for 1/72 figure enthusiasts (as well as a small second hand fair for figures and dioramas in this scale). People who knew each other mostly from forums or see each other very seldom met here and talked about their hobby, showed their latest work or tried to get some inspiration.

As its predecessors it was a great event with the cream of the cream of 1/72 diorama builders (unfortunately not all could come) of middle Europe. Again I took some of my dioramas along and presented it to the public for the very first time. Some visitors already knew me from this blog or my YouTube-channel and long talkings and questions/answers followed - others only enjoyed watching.

There was also a competition in which I took part with two of my dioramas - as usual: no risk, no fun.

And I started some new friendships with some of the other builders / exhibitors and met some friends which I haven't seen for a long time - all crazy people like me (and we are proud of this fact!!!)

The long trip was a complete success, even more as I finally was able to sell some of my dioramas and therefore have now space for the next projects.

Last but not least: A great compliment to the organisation and to all who took part in making this happen.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Only a very small overview - really!

Hurray!!! I won again two medals!!!

(Bronze for Chakirmaut 1204 and Bosworth 1485)

Waterloo 1815 - Blood in the evening

2023-12-09T22:23:00.000+01:00

Historical background

After escaping from his exile on Elba Napoleon returned to France and again gained imperial power. Most of his former enemies as Austria, Prussia, Russia and Great Britain declared war on him personally (not on France!), but Napoleon made the first move and pushed his army northwards to confront the opposing armies nearest to the French border - a British/allied force under the so far undefeated Duke of Wellington and a Prussian force under the old Fürst Blücher, both in Belgium. Napoleon succeeded in driving both armies away from each other and defeated the Prussians in battle at Ligny while Marechal Ney hold the British at bay at Quatre Bras. Two days later at Waterloo (or better said Mont St. Jean) Napoleon wanted to strike the decisive hammerblow to Wellington's multinational army (British, Dutch/Belgians, Nassauers, Brunswickers, Hanoverians). It was a hard struggle with the odds changing several times. By early evening it looked bad for Wellington, but than the remnants of the Prussian army arrived after forced marches on the battlefield after escaping the French persuing troops under Marechal Grouchy and the battle was finally decided. The French had to retreat and Napoleon had again to go to exile, this time to the isolated island of St. Helena in the Atlantic ocean where he died in 1821.

The moment depicted is the aftermath of the battle - wounded and dead French guard artillerymen around their destroyed gun and some retreating French guard foot chasseurs,

The diorama

The figures and the gun are from Esci, the dead horse from Airfix. The figures are all in very static and not very lifelike poses, so much conversions had to be done. As the gun is very simplified (a problem with most soft plastic artillery) a lot of details had to be added to achieve a more realistic look.

Groundwork consists of plaster, MIG light earth ground, some colour variations, Faller grass, puddles are made with Vallejo still water with a little colour added. After a very hot day the ground was much dryer than in the morning, but there were still some puddles.

The cornfield is made of reed (H0-scale from an unknown manufacturer), spice, Faller grass, glue and paint. The height of wheat was about 1,6 metres, much higher than today. Contrary to many paintings the wheat was still green, becoming fully bright yellow only one month after the battle.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (YouTube)

Sources

David Chandler - Waterloo, the hundred Days

Geoffrey Wootten - Waterloo 1815 (Osprey Campaign 15)

John Franklin - Waterloo 1815 (3) (Osprey Campaign 280)

Frank Bauer - Waterloo 18. Juni 1815

Mark Adkin - The Waterloo companion

William Siborne - History of the Waterloo compaign

Andrew Uffindell, Michael Corum - On the Fields of Glory

Ugo Pericoli - Uniformes des Armeés de Waterloo 1815

Philip Haythornthwaite - Unfiorms of Waterloo in color

Stephen E. Maughan - Neopleon's imperial guard (Recreated in colour photographs)

Stephen E. Maughan - Napoleon's line infantry and artillery (Recreated in colour photographs)

Andre Jouineau - Officers and soldiers of the French Imperial guard (1)

Ludovic Letrun - Artillery and the Gribeauval system (1)
Robert Wilkinson-Latham - Napoleon's artillery (Osprey Men-at-Arms 54)
Philip Haythornthwaite - Napoleon's specialist troops (Osprey Men-at-Arms 199)
Terence Wise - Artillery Equipments of the Napoleonic wars (Osprey Men-at-Arms 96)
Rene Chartrand - Napoleon's guns 1792-1815: 1 field artillery (Osprey New Vanguard 66)

Waterloo 1815 - Mud in the morning

2023-06-30T11:01:00.001+02:00

Historical background

The moment depicted is the hard work of French guard artillerymen to get their gun in position. The night before it rained heavily and the ground was very muddy, therefore a difficult and exhausting process.

The diorama

The figures and the gun are from Esci. The figures are all in very static and not very lifelike poses, so much conversions had to be done. As the gun is very simplified (a problem with most soft plastic artillery) a lot of details had to be added to achieve a more realistic look.

Groundwork consists of plaster, MIG dark mud, some colour variations, Faller grass, puddles are made with Vallejo still water with a little colour added.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (YouTube)

Sources

David Chandler - Waterloo, the hundred Days

Geoffrey Wootten - Waterloo 1815 (Osprey Campaign 15)

John Franklin - Waterloo 1815 (3) (Osprey Campaign 280)

Frank Bauer - Waterloo 18. Juni 1815

Mark Adkin - The Waterloo companion

William Siborne - History of the Waterloo compaign

Andrew Uffindell, Michael Corum - On the Fields of Glory

Ugo Pericoli - Uniformes des Armeés de Waterloo 1815

Philip Haythornthwaite - Unfiorms of Waterloo in color

Stephen E. Maughan - Neopleon's imperial guard (Recreated in colour photographs)

Stephen E. Maughan - Napoleon's line infantry and artillery (Recreated in colour photographs)

Andre Jouineau - Officers and soldiers of the French imperial guard (1)

Chakirmaut 1204 - The rise of Genghis Khan

2023-04-02T10:41:00.001+02:00

Historical Background

The battle - also known as the battle of the thirteen sides - was the concluding battle of the unification of the Mongolian tribes under Temujin, later more famous as Genghis Khan. It took place at the foot of Mount Naqu in the Altai mountains (modern day Mongolia). Temujin was faced by a coalition of Mongols, Naimans, Merkits and Keraites under the command of Tayang Khan, his son Kuchlug and Jamukha (Temujin's main rival). The forces were enourmous, Temujin could field approximately 66.000 men, the coalition even more. Temujin tried to evade the fire of the enemy archers making a swift frontal assault to pin the center down and let his light cavalry encircle his adversaries. The opposing warriors were pushed back and pressed against the mountains behind them - their fate was sealed. Tayang Khan died in battle, Kuchlug fled with a small force and Jamukha escaped but was later captured and executed. Two years later Temujin was proclaimed Genghis Khan (= universal ruler) and afterwards created one of the biggest empires of all times.

The moment depicted is the fighting of the heavy cavalry in the center at the start of the battle.

The diorama

The figures are all from Zvezda (top quality, espacially the chain mail is impressive to me). The appearance of the warriors on both sides are very similar, so no further changes had to be made. The only tricky problem was to place the bowmen into the close quarter fighting.

The groundwork was made of plaster, MIG light earth ground, gravel, coffee powder, some colour variations, Faller grass and a some Faller foliage (with putty for the flowers).

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (Youtube)

Sources

David Nicolle & Viacheslav Shpakovsky - Kalka River 1223 (Osprey Campaign 98)
Stephen Turnbull - Genghis Khan & the Mongol Conquests 1190 - 1400 (Osprey Essential Histories 57)

Stephen Turnbull - The Mongols (Osprey Men-at-Arms 105)

Stephen Turnbull - Mongol Warrior 1200 - 1350 (Osprey Warrior 84)
M. Haskew, ... - Fighting techniques of the oriental world 1200 - 1860

Megiddo 1457 BC - Through the Aruna pass

2022-11-14T21:32:00.001+01:00

Historical Background

In the first year of his reign the young pharaoh Thutmose III. was confronted by a large revolt in the northern provinces of Egypt (mostly modern day Syria and northern Israel) under the leadership of the king of Kadesh. The pharaoh decided to crush the uprising in person to stabilize his own position and lead his army north to Megiddo, the center of the revolt. In front of the city lays the Carmel mountain range, which blocks the way. There were three possible routes, to the east or the west of the mountains or - the most dangerous - through the small Aruna pass directly over the mountains. As Thutmose predicted that the easy paths around were blocked by the enemy he decided for the gamble on the direct route. The pass is very narrow and the Egyptian army had to cross it partly in single file for several hours, with the danger of getting ambushed every second. But it didn't happen. So the Egyptians come out of the mountain directly in front of Megiddo, where only a part of the enemy army was around - the blocking forces still on the other routes. The resulting battle was a victory for Thutmose but not a total one, so the city had to be put under siege, which lasted for several months. Finally Megiddo capitulated and the pharaoh showed considerable mercy when not killing the enemy leaders.

The moment depicted is the march of the heavy Egyptian infantry through the narrow defiles of the Aruna pass. Every moment the enemy can appear and defeat the army in detail.

The diorama

The figures are from Zvezda, the mule from Matchbox. As I had only 4 infantry poses available a little creativity was necassary to achieve a satisfying marching column. Much is unclear about this battle, even the exact year (also possible 1482 or 1479 BC). The equipment of the heavy infantry was maybe somewhat lighter - without upper body armour, which was slowly beginning to appear. The famous striped head cloth (Nemes) was definitely a later invention and had to be removed on every single figure.

The groundwork was made of plaster, MIG light earth ground, gravel, coffee powder, some colour variations, Faller grass and a little reindeer moss.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (Youtube)

Sources

Mark Healy - Quadesh 1300 BC (Osprey Campaign 22)

Mark Healy - New kingdom Egypt (Osprey Elite 40)

Terence Wise - Ancient armies of the middle east (Osprey Men-at-Arms 109)

Nic Fields - Bronze age war chariots (Osprey New Vanguard 119)

Nic Fields - Soldier of the Pharaoh (Osprey Warrior 121)

S. Anglim, ... - Fighting techniques of the ancient world 3000 BC - 500 AD

Bosworth 1485 - Bloody will be your end

2022-10-04T21:51:00.005+02:00

Historical Background

The struggle for power in medieval England culminated in the Wars of the Roses (1455 - 1485), the name derived from the badges of the two leading parties - the house of Lancaster (red rose) and the house of York (white rose). In the year 1485 Richard III. of the house of York was the king of England and had to deal with Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, of the house of Lancaster. The two armies met at Bosworth for the decisive battle. After a bitter fighting Richard lost his life and throne and Henry became the new regent, founding the house of Tudor (the badge being a white rose within a red rose), which ruled England for the next 118 years.

The moment depicted is the charge of the Yorkist cavalry with Richard III. leading. After the setback on his right flank Richard was induced to charge directly against Herny Tudor in person and kill him, to end his claim once and for all. At the head of his cavalry he attacked downhill and he nearly succeeded when killing his standard bearer, but this was the high water mark of the charge and the Yorkist having many casualities had to retreat, where Richard was killed.

The diorama

The figures are from MiniArt, some of them very flat and therefore difficult to convert. So the positioning of the figures was essential for not creating a strange looking effect owing to their flatness. Conversions on this flat figures is very difficult and I avoided it whenever possible - simple headswaps and changing of the weapons was mostly sufficient. Except for the horse furniture - only 6 horse poses need a little diversification. The cavalry lances had all be replaced by self made ones because the original lances are too thick and too short and interestingly are not thick enough to fit in the given holes on the figures.

The banners are Richard III. and Henry Tudor, the flag in the background is Rhys-ap-Thomas. All flags are made of paper and are handpainted.

The groundwork was made of MIG texture dark mud, some colour variations and Faller grass.

The subtitle of the diorama is the second line of a quote of Shakespeare's play "Richard III.".

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (Youtube)

Sources

Christopher Gravett - Bosworth 1485 (Osprey Campaign 66)

David Nicolle - European medieval tactics 2 (Osprey Elite 189)

Michael Hicks - The Wars of the Roses (Osprey Essential Histories 54)

Terence Wise - The Wars of the Roses (Osprey Men-at-Arms 145)

Terence Wise - Mediaval heraldry (Osprey Men-at-Arms 99)

Christopher Gravett - English medieval knight 1400-1500 (Osprey Warrior 35)

Clive Bartlett - English longbowman 1330-1515 (Osprey Warrior 11)

Gary Embleton - Medieval military costume (Europa Militaria Special 8)

Jens Hill, Jonas Freiberg - The medieval fighting man (Europa Militaria Special 18)

Liliane u. Fred Funcken - Historische Waffen und Rüstungen

M. Bennet, ... - Fighting techniques of the medieval world 500-1500

Dioramica in Heilbad Heiligenstadt 28. - 29.5.2022

2022-05-31T21:26:00.000+02:00

My second visit to the Dioramica (www.dioramica.de) after 2018 and it is still long way from my hometown to the new location in Heilbad Heiligenstadt in Germany (about 800 km). This event is a presentation of the local museum "Geschichte in Miniaturen" (www.geschichte-in-miniaturen.de) with it's perfect dioramas combined with a trading place for 1/72 figure manufactorers and a meeting place for 1/72 figure enthusiasts. People who knew each other mostly from forums or see each other very seldom met here and talked about their hobby, showed their latest work or tried to get some inspiration.

As its predecessor in 2018 it was a great event with the cream of the cream of 1/72 diorama builders (unfortunately not all could come) of middle Europe. This time I took some of my dioramas along and presented it to the public for the very first time. Some visitors already knew me from this blog or my YouTube-channel and long talkings and questions/answers followed - others only enjoyed watching. My best moment was, when a young girl with her father said, that one archer shot an arrow and hit a man on the other ship - this was exactly what I intended to depict.

There was also a the competition in which I took part with two of my dioramas - without seeing a real change of winning a prize. But no risk, no fun.

And I started some new friendships with some of the other builders and exhibitors - some crazy people like me (and we are all proud of this fact!!!)

The long trip was a complete success, even more as I finally was able to sell me Mylae diorama and have now space at home for creating a new large diorama (definitely smaller than Mylae - it has to fit in my car).

Last but not least: A great compliment to the organisation and to all who took part in making this happen.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Only a very small overview - really!

1. The museum

2. The exhibition

3. Surprise, surprise - I won two medals!!!

(Bronze for Raphia 217 BC and Silver for Mylae 260 BC)

Bosworth 1485 - Bloody you are

2022-03-20T22:06:00.005+01:00

Historical Background

The moment depicted is the clash of the main battle lines at Richard's right flank. The Yorkists under the command of the Duke of Norfolk holding the high ground and the Lancastrians under the Earl of Oxford had to advance uphill. After an exchange of long distance weapons (bows, crossbows, handguns, cannons), the battle lines made contact. It was a brutal combat without mercy in which Oxford got slowly the upper hand. This incident induced Richard to his final charge on the other side of the battle field.

The diorama

On the Yorkists side you can see John Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, with his banner and his trumpeter and in the background the flag of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey - on the other side I made two flags of John de Vere, the Earl of Oxford. All flags are made of paper and are handpainted.

The groundwork was made of MIG texture dark mud, some colour variations and Faller grass.

The subtitle of the diorama is the first line of another quote of Shakespeare's play "Richard III.", the second part will be featured in one of my next works.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (Youtube)

Sources

Christopher Gravett - Bosworth 1485 (Osprey Campaign 66)

David Nicolle - European medieval tactics 2 (Osprey Elite 189)

Michael Hicks - The Wars of the Roses (Osprey Essential Histories 54)

Terence Wise - The Wars of the Roses (Osprey Men-at-Arms 145)

Terence Wise - Mediaval heraldry (Osprey Men-at-Arms 99)

Christopher Gravett - English medieval knight 1400-1500 (Osprey Warrior 35)

Clive Bartlett - English longbowman 1330-1515 (Osprey Warrior 11)

Gary Embleton - Medieval military costume (Europa Militaria Special 8)

Jens Hill, Jonas Freiberg - The medieval fighting man (Europa Militaria Special 18)

Liliane u. Fred Funcken - Historische Waffen und Rüstungen

M. Bennet, ... - Fighting techniques of the medieval world 500-1500

Raphia 217 BC - A terrifying colossus

2021-12-05T12:48:00.000+01:00

Historical background

After the death of Alexander the great his empire disintegrates in several parts, when each of his former commanders tried to take his share. Long years of war between them followed, known as the diadochi wars. After the end of this conflict two of this successor states (the Seleucid empire and Ptolemaic Egypt) started a new series of wars - the Syrian wars (6 wars, lasting with interruptions from 274 to 168 BC). In the 4^th war the battle of Raphia (modern day Rafah, near Gaza in Israel) took place and it was one of the largest of the whole conflict – especially famous for its use of war elephants on both sides (a rarity). The Seleucids used Indian elephants and the Egyptians smaller African forest elephants. The battle started with an attack by the elephants by both sides, but the Egyptian elephants on the left flank panicked before contact and were put to flight with the Seleucids persuing them, on the right flank the Egyptian elephants refused to move at all and only excessive cavalry attacks saved them from being overrun. The decision had to happen in the center by the phalanxes, where the Egyptians had the better end. This victory ensured Ptolemaic dominance over Syria, but not for long.

The moment depicted is the attack of the Seleucid elephants supported by some light infantry on the Egyptian right flank. Egyptian cavalry tries to stop their advance, but have extreme difficulties with penetrating the heavy armour of the beasts.

The diorama

The figures are from Zvezda and this elephant also deserves a seperate praise - perfect work! I added a little detail in creating a convincing throat (only slightly visible), some small gaps between the parts had to be covered with putty. The colouring of the elephant was the same problem as in the Zama diorama, but owing to the armour not as much skin had to be done.

The elephant is according to Zvezda a forest elephant, but for the species it is too large. As the animal is covered with a lot of armour, it is exceptable for an Indian elephant. The mahout in front of the tower controls the movement of the elephant and the fighting crew tries to shield the flanks of the beast. Additional light infantry also has this job. The main function was the sheer might and weight of the elephant to disrupt the enemy lines, but it isn't possible to steer the animal directly into a wall of soldiers with spears to their front - the elephant simply stops or even worse he got afraid and turned and crashed blindly through his own soldiers. A scared elephant is hard to stop and the mahout carried a hammer and a chisel blade for this moment - to ram it down through the forehead of the animal as a final solution.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (Youtube)

Sources

Nicholas Sekunda - Macedonian armies after Alexander 323 - 168 BC (Osprey Men-at-Arms 477)

Nic Fields - Tarentine horseman of Magna Graecia (Osprey Warrior 130)

Konstantin Nossov - War elephants (Osprey New Vanguard 150)
Simon Angum, … - Fighting techniques of the ancient world 3000 BC - 500 AD

Granicus 334 BC - Alexander of Macedon

2021-09-03T18:53:00.000+02:00

Historical background

In the year 334 BC Alexander III of Macedon (later called "the Great") started an invasion of the Persian Empire. The first encounter with a Persian army happened at the River Granicus near the ancient city of Troy (in modern day Turkey). Alexander bring about 37.000 men with him, the Persians between 20 - 30.000 - the armies are diveded only by the river. The objectivs differed greatly: Alexander wanted to destroy the enemy forces to show a position of strength and getting local allies, the Persians wanted to end the nuisance of a ridicolous Macedon invasion by winning the battle or even better by killing Alexander. The battle opened with a clash of cavalry on the Macedon left flank, in which Alexander's troops gained the upper hand. While the Persians tried to reinforce the endangered area, a gap opened in the Persion line in which the Macedon infantry rushed in. This was the decisive moment of the battle and the Persions begin to flee. Alexander won his first major engagement against the Persian superpower and the Macedons were now a force to be reckoned with.

The moment depicted is an attack by Macedon cavarly spearheaded by Alexander himself and the attempt by the Persians to kill him in person.

The diorama

The first challenge for this diorama are the poses of the horses which are mostly in full charge and for a depiction of a close combat only of limited usefulness. With the right positioning of the horses and riders can this problem be largely solved. The figures are all from Zvezda, with only minor trimming had to be done.

The second challange is the river Granicus in which the battle partly happened. I used MIG acrylic water clear and added different colours in different layers. The river banks are covered with some stuff from the railway department.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (YouTube)

Zama 202 BC - Kill the beast

2021-05-22T15:07:00.001+02:00

Historical Background

In the first years of the second Punic war (218 - 201 BC) the Carthagian army under the command of Hannibal won several battles (Trebbia, Lake Trasimene, Cannae) with a terrible death count for the Romans. Only when they adapted their strategy and learn from their errors the Romans were able to turn the tides of war. After successes in Spain they finally landed in Africa to bring the war to the Carthaginian homeland. Hannibal was recalled from Italy and took command of the army, his Roman opponent was Publius Cornelius Scipio. The armies clashed at Zama in the year 202 BC. The Carthaginian army was superior in numbers, but consisted mainly of raw troops - the Romans war seasoned and highly disciplined troops and were supported by Numidian cavalry (before an essential ally and a major factor in the Carthaginian tactics), Hannibal started the fight with an attack by his war elephants but with little effect and than a terrible close combat between the two armies began. On the flanks both cavalry formations clashed and the Carthaginians were thrown back. The same tactics that Hannibal used at Cannae were now effectively carried out by Sicpio and his cavalry attacked the Carthaginians from the rear. That was the final blow and the remaining Carthaginians fled the field of battle. Scipio received for his victory the agnomen Africanus, Hannibal was on the run and left Carthage - he died between 183 BC and 181 BC (the causes are much debated and range from assassination, suicide with poision to fever after an accident)

The moment depicted is the attack of Hannibal's elephants against the Roman battle lines, the were supported by some light infantry. The Roman light infantry on their turn tried to kill the beasts or to confuse them as much as they would turn in panic. They Romans succeeded in this and the remaining elephants who effectively broke through the light infantry simply run through the gaps of the Roman formations without making much damage.

The diorama

The figures are from Zvezda and especially the elephant derserves a seperate praise - perfect work! I added a little detail in creating a convincing throat (otherwise it looks like an unrealistic hole), some small gaps between the parts have to be covered with putty. The real problem was a quite realistic colouring of the elephant. I tried many different colours and I really can't tell how I finally achieved this effect (black, light grey, dark grey, khaky, medium brown, dark brown - in several layers, partly only drybrushed).

The majority of Hannibal's elephants were young African forrest elephants, much smaller than the Zvezda specimen and most probably without towers. This exemplar is an older Indian elephant (there were a few available) with a tower. The mahout in front of the tower controls the movement of the elephant and the fighting crew tries to shield the flanks of the beast. Additional light infantry also has this job. The main function was the sheer might and weight of the elephant to disrupt the enemy lines, but it isn't possible to steer the animal directly into a wall of soldiers with spears to their front - the elaphant simply stops or even worse he got afraid and turned and crashed blindly through his own soldiers. A scared elephant is hard to stop and the mahout carried a hammer and a chisel blade for this moment - to ram it down through the forehead of the animal as a final solution.

Actual pictures of the Zama region shows this rather redbrown soil as the more often seen desert colours in paintings.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (Youtube)

Sources

Nigel Bagnall - The Punic wars 264 - 146 BC (Osprey Essential Histories 16)

Mir Bahmanyar - Zama 202 BC (Osprey Campaign 299)

Kevin F. Kiley - The uniforms ot the Roman world
Terence Wise - Armies of the Carthaginan wars 265 - 146 BC (Osprey Men-at-Arms 121)
Andrea Salimbeti - The Carthaginians 6th - 2nd century BC (Osprey Elite 201)
Daniel Peterson - The Roman legions recreated in colour photographs
Nic Fields - Carthaginian Warrior 264 - 146 BC (Osprey Warrior 150)
Nic Fields - Roman republican legionary 298 - 105 BC (Osprey Warrior 162)
Nic Fields - The Roman army of the Punic wars 264 - 146 BC (Ospey Battle Orders 27)
Nic Fields - Roman battle tactics 390 - 110 BC (Osprey Elite 172)
Raffaelo D'Amato - Roman centurions 753 - 51 BC (Osprey Men-at-Arms 470)
Konstantin Nossov - War elephants (Osprey New Vanguard 150)
Simon Angum, … - Fighting techniques of the ancient world 3000 BC - 500 AD

Bosworth 1485 - My kingdom for a horse

2021-03-27T11:36:00.005+01:00

Historical Background

The moment depicted is the final stand by Richard III. with his last few men. The scene happened after a cavalry charge spearheaded by Richard failed and he and his men were partly driven into marshland. After losing his horse from exhaustion and wounds the famous quote by William Shakespeare "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" should have happened here. He wanted his horse not for fleeing but for reentering combat on horseback (so the legend says). The pursuing Lancastrian foot soldiers chased after the retreating Yorkist knights and killed them one after the other. Richard's standard bearer holds his banner high till the last moment, although he had lost both legs. Finally the king was overwhelmed and perished.

The diorama

The figures are from MiniArt (very flat) and the horse from Airfix. The positioning of the figures was quite difficult for not creating a strange looking effect owing to their flatness. The horse was a major conversion as it is orginally for a british hussar of Waterloo.

I was unable to find a satisfying description how English marshland in the 15th century really looked like, so several modern day pictures were the base for the recreation. As there are many different kinds of marshes, this is only one possible approach.

The marshland was made of MIG texture dark mud, MIG acrylic water clear, Faller foliage and grass, Busch reed and some colour variations.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (Youtube)

Sources

Christopher Gravett - Bosworth 1485 (Osprey Campaign 66)

David Nicolle - European medieval tactics 2 (Osprey Elite 189)

Michael Hicks - The Wars of the Roses (Osprey Essential Histories 54)

Terence Wise - The Wars of the Roses (Osprey Men-at-Arms 145)

Terence Wise - Mediaval heraldry (Osprey Men-at-Arms 99)

Christopher Gravett - English medieval knight 1400-1500 (Osprey Warrior 35)

Clive Bartlett - English longbowman 1330-1515 (Osprey Warrior 11)

Gary Embleton - Medieval military costume (Europa Militaria Special 8)

Jens Hill, Jonas Freiberg - The medieval fighting man (Europa Militaria Special 18)

Liliane u. Fred Funcken - Historische Waffen und Rüstungen

M. Bennet, ... - Fighting techniques of the medieval world 500-1500

Mylae 260 BC - Roma Victor

2021-02-20T10:11:00.008+01:00

Historical Background

The first Punic war (264 - 241 BC) was the struggle between the two superpowers of their time for the control over Sicily. On the one side the Carthaginians (also known as Punics) were based on the Northern side of Africa (modern times Tunesia and a bit of Algeria) and are mainly seafearing community making trade all over the Mediterranean Sea, on the other side the Romans, purely land based with a strong will to expansion. A clash between the two cultures for predomination of the then known world was inevitable.

The casus belli was the plead for help of the tyrant of Syracuse against the growing pressure of the Carthaginians on Sicily. Rome was more than willing to help and therefore Rome sent troops to intervene. But the dilemma with that war was that the Romans were successfull on land, on sea the Romans had only small fleets from their allies and these are no match for the Carthaginians. So a stalemate between Roman land forces and Carthaginian maritime raids and invasions arose. In a typically Roman manner they built a fleet of 200 ships (based on a wreck of a stranded enemy warship), trained the crews and knowing that the Carthaginians are the much more experienced seafarers invented a secret weapon - the corvus (raven). It was a boarding bridge over which the Roman marines (lots of them!) can engage the enemy. All this was achieved within 6 months!

The first commitment of the fleet was at the battle of Mylae (modern day Milazzo) in 260 BC. Each fleet had approximately 130 ships, a real large encounter. The Carthaginians have absolutely no respect of the enemy navy and engaged the Romans even without making battle formations. The corvus came as true nasty surprise and the Carthaginians were for the first (but not the last) time decisevely beaten.

The war dragged on for further 13 years with several land and sea battles and finally ended with the Romans as masters of Sicily.

The moment depicted is the close combat between two Roman galleys (one command ship and one ship of the line with corvus) and one Carthaginian galley. The Roman ship of the line has just rammed the enemy vessel, commited the corvus and marines are engaging in overwhelming number the Carthaginians. The Roman command ship is in the process of supporting the own ship of the line.

Further information on the ships

The standard battleship of the period was the quinquereme, this means that each vertical section of rows has 5 rowers in 3 levels (2-2-1, variations possible) on each side.
The hull of the ship should not get wet, as this would increase weight and therefore decrease speed and maneuverability. The vessels were beached every day!
Beneath the waterline the hull is covered with metal plates and coated with wax.
The ships had a high center of gravity as they had a minor draught. This of course affacted the stability of the vessel - marines, when not in combat, had to sit or hunker down on deck.
Only water was transported on the ships and really small amounts of food. This also made beaching every day necessary.
Of course there were no toilets on board - you may not saw the galley from a distance, but you will definitively smelt it.
As the ships were closed on all sides, there was a real problem of ventilation. Some openings on special places helped a little.
The ram was not part of the hull, so it possibly could broke off.
Normally the masts are laid down or thrown overboard before battle (in the case of Mylae maybe not, as the Carthaginians attacked the Romans immediately)
Maximum speed for a quinquereme was about 10 knots (= 19 km/h) - so these vessels were very fast, but only in perfect sea and weather conditions. Waves of more than 1 meter height would keep the ship in the harbour or on the beach. The Romans lost more ships to bad weather than by combat.
Sinking of a rammed took a long, long time - some scholars even say, that the vessel run full of water and it was impossible to sink it (maybe with the exception if the keel is broken).
The rowers were not slaves, they were highly trained and paid professionals. It is difficult to get 170 rows coordinated when the crew is not well-rehearsed. Slaves in battles are too high a risk - so please forget all you have seen in the Ben Hur movies! Only in the 16th century slaves were used.
The rate of strokes was not indicated with beating of drums, instead tunes by flutes (or something similar) were used.

The diorama

All ships and figures are from Zvezda.

Ships: Greek Triera, Roman Trireme, Trireme of the Roman Emporer
Figures: Roman Republic infantry, Carthaginian infantry, Greek infantry, Egyptian infantry

The ships are upgraded with ventilation openings, sails are scratch built, improved rigging, some parts of the three ships are interchanged and some changes had to be made as some things are simply wrong (e.g. height of lowered corvus - would be difficult to climb in breast height and then you have no platform to stand on). The Roman ships are all brand new, the Carthaginian ship is a little bit worn out.

For reaching the interaction between the figures some conversions had to be made and for creating rowers and other marine personal the conversions were quite complex.

I tried to create sea water for the first time and used Vallejo Mediterranean water, MIG acrylic water and a wide mix of colours to achieve this final result.

I started this diorama back in 2006 (indeed!!!) and thought it won't be a long affair. But with every book I read and every contact I made it's getting more and more difficult. But now it is finally finished and it looks quite like as I had it in mind 15 years before - but much more historically correct.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (Youtube)

Making of

Many pictures and explanations can be found here (German language only):

https://www.geschichte-in-miniaturen.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=737

Sources

Nigel Bagnall - The Punic wars 264 - 146 BC (Osprey Essential Histories 16)
Kevin F. Kiley - The uniforms ot the Roman world
Terence Wise - Armies of the Carthaginan wars 265 - 146 BC (Osprey Men-at-Arms 121)
Andrea Salimbeti - The Carthaginians 6th - 2nd century BC (Osprey Elite 201)
Daniel Peterson - The Roman legions recreated in colour photographs
Nic Fields - Carthaginian Warrior 264 - 146 BC (Osprey Warrior 150)
Nic Fields - Roman republican legionary 298 - 105 BC (Osprey Warrior 162)
Nic Fields - The Roman army of the Punic wars 264 - 146 BC (Ospey Battle Orders 27)
Nic Fields - Roman battle tactics 390 - 110 BC (Osprey Elite 172)
Raffaelo D'Amato - Roman centurions 753 - 51 BC (Osprey Men-at-Arms 470)
Robert Gardiner - The age of the galley
H.D.L. Viereck - Classis romana, die römische Flotte
Manfred Beike - Kriegsflotten und Seekriege der Antike
Raffaele D'Amato - Republican Roman warships 509 - 27 BC (Osprey New Vanguard 225)
Simon Angum, … - Fighting techniques of the ancient world 3000 BC - 500 AD

Vamos a la Playa (British Napoleonic amphibious landing attempt)

2020-03-28T20:43:00.000+01:00

by Michael Schwab

I had got the frigate, I had got the troops. After watching "The frogs and the lobsters" in the Hornblower Series I fancied a landing operation by British troops (De Roll, Chasseurs Britanniques, Gordon Highlanders and Royal Marines) somewhere in Spain (I had got the windmill ...) during the later years of the Peninsular War. All went well for the British in the beginning, but the French must have been warned in advance, therefore being able to send quite a few troops - even artillery and some dragoons (in uniforms made from local brown fabric) - to defend the coast. They were finally able to give the lobsters a thorough thrashing, the landing failed with heavy losses for the invader. The pictures show the beginning of the encounter, the landing in full swing.

Photos (click to enlarge):

Tin figure fair in Kulmbach 9. - 11.8.2019

2019-08-17T18:29:00.000+02:00

Every two years the Bavarian town of Kulmbach is the center of tin figure enthusiasts from all around the world. This fair is organised by the German tin figures museum also located in Kulmach in the large Plassenburg castle (really worth to see). Flat figures are the most seen, but also lots of round figures and some 1/72 figures also. The complete fair is located in a traditional Bavarian beer tent (Kulmbach is also well known for a local beer brewery). There is also a contest with several categories in a neighbouring building.

It was a very interesting event and I saw many very good works. And I personally met two people, which I already knew from several forums - Uwe Wild and Frank Ziegler (both excellent sculptors and really nice guys). Especially the contact with Frank Ziegler brought me lots of information for my next diorama (the largest I ever made - be surprised!)

Photos (click to enlarge)

Go Modelling in Vienna 9. - 10.3.2019

2019-03-16T14:10:00.000+01:00

Every year the IPMS Austria organises a modelling event called "Go Modelling" in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna. This year I decided to give it a chance and visited it. Lots of interesting objects in all scales and for many periods and also some sellers were there.

For 1/72 enthusiasts it was a little disappointing as our scale was very underrepresented. But the few exhibitors I found were definitely worth the undertaking (to mention two names: Thomas Mayer and René Hieronymus - extremely nice guys and excellent modellers).

Photos (click to enlarge)

Vienna 1683 - Fighting in the suburbs

2019-02-25T21:14:00.001+01:00

Historical Background

In the year 1683 the Ottomans started their second attempt to conquer Vienna, the seat of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the door to further conquest in Europe. It was a major effort with a huge army (170.000 men at the start of the campaign) - too much for the Emporer, who left the city before the Ottomans arrived. After an epic two months siege an allied relief army (Imperial and Polish troops) reached the outskirts of Vienna and in the final battle the Ottomans were decisively beaten and had to retreat the way they had come.

The moment depicted is when the Poles engage Ottoman Jannisaries in one of the burned down suburbs south-west of Vienna (e.g. Hernals, Dornbach). Street fighting was - and is also today - a vicious combat and this one was no exemption. No space, limited visibility, enemies from all directions, hand to hand fighting and so on - every army tried to avoid it, but to leave an enemy outpost in the back of the own troops was no option. Most of the Vienna suburbs were burned down - either by the Imperial defenders (to give the Ottomans no cover) or by the Ottomans (to spread terror in the hinterland and leave a safety belt outside the siege lines).

The diorama

The figures are from Zvezda (Poles) and Orion (Ottomans). For reaching the interaction between the figures some conversions had to made and also the Poles had to be trimmed additionally to reach the desired appearance (originally they were Russian streltsi). Uniforms were not very developed in this period, so each figure has its own colours or colour variations.

I tried to create burned down houses for the first time and I am quite satiesfied with the result. They are made of plaster, paper, wood, paint and toner from the printer.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (Youtube)

Sources

John Stoye - Die Türken vor Wien
Simon Millar - Vienna 1683 (Osprey Campaign 191)
Richard Brezezinski - Polish armies 1569-1696 Part 1 (Osprey Men-at-Arms 184)
Richard Brezezinski - Polish armies 1569-1969 Part 2 (Osprey Men-at-Arms 188)
David Nicolle - Armies of the Ottoman Turks 1300-1774 (Osprey Men-at-Arms 140)
David Nicolle - The Janissaries (Osprey Warrior 58)

20 years - and a big leap (Evolution of British uniforms)

2019-01-11T21:42:00.002+01:00

by Michael Schwab

The period between 1792 and 1812 saw Britain nearly constantly at war with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. Nevertheless Top Brass in Horse Guards found time to change uniforms.

Let's first take the infantry:

They started with the lapeled long-tailed coat reminiscing of the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, tricorne hat, breeches and gaiters and the soft back-pack of the envelope pattern often painted in the facing colour (figures on the left from Revell).

Around the turn of the century the coats were shortened and closed with the lapels removed, trousers loose and white, the first shako model of the stovepipe pattern. The pack colour was changed to generally black and stiffened by wooden parts inside. That was the look of the British infantry at the beginning of the Peninsular War (figures second from left - HÄT).

Till 1815 the changes affected the shako (Wellington or Waterloo pattern with false higher front) and the trousers, which generally became grey (figures second from right - Airfix).

The two figures on the right take us to the 20th century - Grenadier Guards of the 1960s. one of the first Airfix sets. Appearance and weapons had changed dramatically: red tunic, dark blue trousers and the high bearskin cap (by the way - they are still made from Canadian bearskins, no other material being suitable for the special needs; re animal rights activists: there are so many black bears in still growing numbers that they can easily provide the Foot Guards with their headgears).

Photos (click to enlarge):

Gaugamela 331 BC - The cavalry

2018-12-15T15:38:00.000+01:00

Historical background

In the year 334 BC Alexander III of Macedonia (later called "the Great") started the invasion of the Persian Empire. After victories in the battles the Granicus and Issus he faced the whole might of Persia in the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. The odds were completely against him as the Persian army outnumbered him greatly (exact numbers vary: Macedonian army ca. 50.000, Persian army: 90 - 120.000, in ancient sources even 250.000 up to 1.000.000). With superior tactics of his phalanx and his cavalry he outmanouvred the Persians and put them to flight with only slight losses to his own army. The results of this battle were enormous - the Persian king Darius III was killed by his own men and Alexander was in full control of the whole Persian empire.

The moment depicted is the clash of the opposing cavalry forces on the Persian left flank. After some maneuvering the forces collided with the Macedons getting slowly the upper hand.

The diorama

The challenge for this diorama are the poses of the horses which are mostly in full charge and for a depiction of a close combat only of limited usefulness. With the right positioning of the the horses and riders can this problem largely be solved. The figures are all from Zvezda, with only minor trimming had to be done. Groundwork is made of coffee powder, paint, some moss from the garden and a little bit of marjoram. For the Persian attack with their feared chariots some parts of the battlefield were cleared, so that no obstacles can interfere with the attack (large stones and bushwork was removed and uneven ground was flattened), so all the ground on the diorama is quite flat and with only few vegetation.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (YouTube)

Dioramica in Hann. Münden 17. - 18.11.2018

2018-11-19T09:51:00.001+01:00

It is a long way from my hometown to Hann. Münden in Germany (about 800 km), but the event that took place on the last weekend was every travelling km worth it. It's called Dioramica (www.dioramica.de) and is a presentation of the local museum "Geschichte in Miniaturen" (www.geschichte-in-miniaturen.de) with it's perfect dioramas combined with a trading place for 1/72 figure manufactorers and a meeting place for 1/72 figure enthusiasts. People who knew each other mostly from forums or see each other very seldom met here and talked about their hobby, showed their latest work or tried to get some inspiration.

I don't like to talk in superlatives, but that was the best event I ever visited!!! A great compliment to the organisation and to all who took part in making this happen.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Only a very small overview - really!

Vienna 1683 - In the vineyards

2018-10-10T21:38:00.001+02:00

The figures are from Zvezda (Poles) and Orion (Ottomans). For reaching the interaction between the figures some conversions had to made and also the Poles had to be trimmed additionally to reach the desired appearance (originally they were Russian streltsi). Uniforms were not very developed in this period, so each figure has its own colours or colour variations.

Vineyards look a little different then today, the method of cultivation changed over the years - in fact it only changed after the second world war from low to high culture. The vine grapes are made of wire, glue, paint and some foliage from Noch. The grapes itself out of wire, curry powder and a some paint.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Video (Youtube)