NZ NMM is for New Zealand's National Maritime Museum - Dioramas

Closing a day-long trip to New Zealand courtesy of Brian B, but with him shouldering the expense of the trip, we pop-in to the National Maritime Museum for a look at a couple of dioramas, civil in nature, but interesting for being boxed-dioramas with forced perspective to give a lot of atmosphere in a small space.

Late Victorian/early Edwardian period dock-scene, with a funnel in the background and an iron-clad merchantman to the right. Merchandise from all over the empire is unloaded and spirited away to warehouses or customs sheds, while a bustling market or retail district seems visible in distance.

'Stu's Express Freight' seems a little reluctant to get going, whether it's due to the size of the load he's expected to pull or the erratic behaviour of the crane operator, only the modeller knows, but that horse is 'thoughtfully stationary'! Note the little rat, seagull and semi-relief figure glued to the background image.

A couple of close-up shots of the two main elements of the diorama, I particularly like the trundle-crane with its cast-iron wheels; we used to have a set of heavy-duty scales in the barn for weighing multiple sacks of stuff and it had the same wheels, given how hard it was to perambulate over bare concrete, I hate to think how hard that crane would be to manover on wood-planking or -god-forbid - over cobbles!

The cranes mechanism seems to have been modelled to a degree of mechanical accuracy, using watch or clock parts. The sand box is well greased on a slopping tray/channel, and attached to a drum by a wire cable, as you lower the crane, the box slides back maintaining a counterweight balance.

The human figures are entirely scratch-built by the looks of it, but the horse is a more commercial element maybe, but with hand-made furniture, mane and tail.

A modern container port is the subject of the other diorama shot by Mr. B, and it's even more forced in the perspective, with different scales of shipping container used to throw the foreground into the background. Two customs officials check out a container with a robot and a sniffer-dog, while the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchild of the seagull in the previous diorama looks-on!

Meanwhile the Rat's descendant looks a bit like a pangolin?!!!

A close-up shot shows the dog to be a rubber 'in my pocket' or rack-toy toob/bag type, giving an idea of the scale of both these dioramas. The safety-vest (gillet jeune!) also seems to be the finger of a washing-up 'gladdi' glove!

If you are a child, going round the museum, you would be shorter and view this from an angle where the perspective would make more sense, I think the idea is to be looking up at the seagull with the concrete apron more level model-to-photograph?

Cheers Brian - a New Zealand Day!