The first post looks at two beautifully
modelled diorama's one credited to a Tim Ryan (1980) and the uniforms/paint-work
of the other looks similar, so I suspect he did both.
First you have to find those recalcitrant
native citizens who have shown so unwilling to subjugate themselves to the
Great White Queen's Blue (?) Jackets! This requires going a' campaigning; a
tedious business which involves yomping, tabbing, marching and wandering about
in the uloo, bondu, sticks or boondocks, basically going for an organised walk
in the woods - well; a disciplined camping holiday . . . with the odd ambush!
This is a lovely model, the greenery is
superb, I feel there's probably a kakapo or two in there somewhere, watching,
curiously! 'What are the pink-monkeys
doing now?'
In the rear of the column is a GS (General
Service) Wagon, this carries all the 'camping equipment', which often makes it
a target for some of those pesky ambushes; as 'Tommy' likes his creature-comforts,
he's quite keen to hang back and guard it! While the Maori are just as keen to
separate him from any comforts!
"Why are
you men falling behind Corporal?"
"Guarding
the wagon Sir!"
"Oh, Yes!
Very-good; carry-on!"
Officers like their creature-comforts too!
I tried to collage the two to give a better
impression of the whole, if I lined the kneeling sentry up the horses were
tailless, so this is the best compromise! It really is a lovely diorama, well
laid-out and with lots happening, yet without it being too busy.
Once you've found the Pā or fortified village, there's nothing for it but a full-frontal
assault to force the palisade and gain entry to the entrenchments, easier in
those [claimed for the Great White Queen] countries where the locals hadn't
provisioned themselves with modern firearms! Consequently; Afghanistan and New
Zealand proved to be tougher nuts than others!
This is also a superb example of how adding
uniform-equipment and headdresses and giving all the figures a matching
paint-job can bring disparate figures together as a homogenous unit, in the
centre I can see a Timpo-solid
stabbing downward (Imperial Guard or 8th army?) along with Herald, Deetail and Timpo-solid ACW's! And is the
being-shot-guy at the back a Lone Star Russian?
Another Herald
ACW instantly recognisable here with 'multi-pose'
kits in the foreground, but Napoleonic or FFL? The loader two is familiar (far
left, I'm not sure they were still using ramrods in the Maori Wars, but the
atmosphere is there - maybe he's clearing a stoppage!) however, is he Deetail or Airfix? Again, at the risk of repeating myself; the use of all
these figures is both intriguing and instructional as to the secrets of the
dioramists' arts - a few added items of similar accoutrement, straps and a
matching paint-job (not to forget the headdresses) bring them all together
beautifully.
The sense of chaos in the moment, yet of
organised urgency in the face of opposition (on both sides) is got-across
magnificently and this model is a joy to behold; It may have been an act of
attempted genocide, or at the very-least; misguided dogma and doctrine on the
part of the incomers, the 'illegal immigrants' and their 'state', or - on the
other hand - an act of 'futile', too-late resistance or rebellion by the
locals, but (as the late David Bowie put it) each man can be a hero, just for
one day.
Can you hear the splintering of dry
sappling-wood under the weight of rushing (or falling) bodies . . . the screams
of the wounded and dying, the manic yells of frightened men, the shouted orders
of command or warning, all over the cacophony of firearms, and - out of shot - artillery
. . . can you smell the cloying, devil's breath of cordite, dust, fresh blood
and fear, burning the nostrils?
Thank you Mr. Berke. It was a rare treat to
find these in my inbox . . . and - quite by accident - due to the contributions
of Glenn and yourself; 2019 seems to have become 'New Zealand Year' here at
SSW!
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