ATA 1/72 scale models

As some of you know I'm a volunteer painter doing models for a Waterloo diorama that will ultimately have 1 model for every soldier in the battle; roughly 150,000. 1/72 scale means 1" = 6' making these figures about 1" tall. Many of those are dead or injured so one of my jobs is to create figures for that niche. I'm having a lot of fun doing this but it can be challenging to make your imagination come to life (or ruin as the case may be!). That said, most of these are actually conversions to create special poses to stand out visually.

* DO NOT VIEW IF IMAGINARY BLOOD AND GORE BOTHER YOU*
* NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH*
I save the worst for the end of post.

Dutch (Red) Lancers of Napoleon's Imperial Guard:


Trooper of the 1st French Cuirassiers caught in a stirrup:


Left: 12th French Cuirassier falling from horse, R: 5th French Cuirassier tries to escape battle


Left: 5th French Cuirassier comforts his wounded horse, R: 2nd French Carabinier dismounts dying horse.


A few of the various French casualties and stray horses


What does a horse look like after being hit with a 6 or 12lb iron cannonball?


Plenty more to come in the next installment including tubs full of amputated limbs for a field hospital. All part of real battlefields requiring representation to show the true cost of war.

Anyone interested in seeing the actual diorama can check it out here: www.abovetopsecret.com...

We are currently working on the final phases of the project which is the massive French charge of over 10,000 cavalry attacking the British and Allied squares on top of Mont St Jean ridge.

A talent one is born with.

a reply to: Asktheanimals

wow this is Awesome , really nice work

STOP MOTION!!!!!!

originally posted by: Timber13
STOP MOTION!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by all.

a reply to: Asktheanimals

Thanks for the follow up, I forgot about the previous thread.

originally posted by: Bigburgh
a reply to: Asktheanimals

Thanks for the follow up, I forgot about the previous thread.

This project is entering it's final phase which will be the French cavalry in their mass charge, many figures are done just needing placement on the terrain etc. James Cowan began work 20 years ago until gradually becoming convinced it would be possible to actually finish such a project. So he assembled over 50 of us volunteers and after 5 years we're at the current point.

It's hard to describe how fortunate I feel to be part of this but I know once this is done and in a permanent display people will be able to truly understand the scale and brutality of Napoleonic warfare. With digital photography the entire thing can be put online for people to see whatever parts interest them or take guided tours. Most of all in this day and age it is a work nobody is getting paid to do by volunteers doing work by hand, this on a scale that I doubt will be replicated anytime soon, if ever. Hand crafted anythings are becoming scarcer and scarcer and to me it will stand in defiance of the machine made environment we live in today. That is a legacy I hope people will be inspired by and perhaps amazed at what can be done by human hands joined together in a cause. It makes a nice coda for anyone who strove to be an artist.

Damn, those are REALLY graphic.

Do they have to create a mold for each one, or are these hand carved? (sorry, first thread about this I've seen)

So much detail!

originally posted by: chiefsmom
Damn, those are REALLY graphic.

Do they have to create a mold for each one, or are these hand carved? (sorry, first thread about this I've seen)

So much detail!

These all start with injection molded plastic figures then get their head or limbs chopped off and I'll make new parts with modelling putty. Somebody has to sculpt the masters these are made from, very specialised skill with the best being in Italy, Russia and the Ukraine (of all places).

a reply to: Asktheanimals

So a true labor of love, with the amount of time invested into each one.
And the massive scale.

So impressive!

Ever seen Happy Nappy?


Jumping your own dead




Falling down on the job

a reply to: Asktheanimals

Very detailed work.

I used to build 1/72 models and use them as props for an HO scale train set.

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Poor horses. They took a lot of abuse in wartime, close to the present day as well. Thousands of them stampeded off a cliff in Crimea by the Germans in 1944 because they didn't want them to be captured and used by the Soviets.

Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

Funny you should mention horses as I wrote a short piece about their relationship with humans and how that extended in to war unlike any other mammal. The suffering of the horses need to be displayed for any realistic rendering, they died right alongside humans in about every conflict fought for the last few thousand years.