I is for It's all Happening Down at Pirate Cove!

So, ITLAPD last year was barely cold when these arrived in the eMail from Brian Berke in the 'States, and they are facinateing, although the link with pirates is tenuous, as their recorded activity occurred before the current stone fort was built, but it's (the diorama) redolent with pirate 'stuff'!

Brain has been building a diorama of an action involving the redcoats evicting some pirates from a lair based on Fort Matansas, which guards the rear-approach of the former Spanish city of St. Augustine, now in Florida (. . . now in America, it was always in Florida and isn't something you could move an inch as the British found out; twice!), and while I can't add much blurb, I've sorted it into planning, finished model and real fort - well, that's how they were sent to me!

Italics are Brian's words;

 

The background story is the Royal Navy decided to capture the Fort held by pirates by landing at dawn.

To the Marines dismay the pirate lookouts were alert enough to see their approach.

The fort's defenses cannot lower their swivel guns to the shore and the boat crew cannot fire until they have reloaded with grapeshot. If fast enough the doors may be blown before canon are brought into play.

Using the Revell pirate ship (recently re-issued as the Black Pearl) to plan the layout.

Starting to place the larger elements.

The display case from IKEA the diorama was planned to fit in turned out to be too small once the boat was assembled. It took a while to find another which for the moment will do to protect it.

I think there may be a basketball display case that would be better suited.

The . . [next three] . . pictures show the Marine officer leading the sailor with a barrel of gunpowder to blow the doors.

The brown dinghy on the shore to the left is an old Tri-ang item originally on a clockwork cabin cruiser back in the 50's. The three long boats at the galleon stern were from Revell's HMS Bounty and Endeavour which were the same model in different boxes also back in the 50's. They had been in a box of bits from my 50's railway. The Dory's are from the PYRO Schooner.

The two cannon on the shore outside the walls were RIPMAX, a company that made marine model accessories. They had a shop in Camden Town that I used to buy kits both plastic and Balsa at. I bought them to convert a Merit kit of a Chinese Junk into a pirate vessel back in the 50's.

In-situ, if only a temporary display-case.

On the stern is the Long John Silver figure with a green parrot on his shoulder.

The pirates are mostly Peter Pig. No idea where the others originated they were part of a bid on mixed metal figures of various scales on eBay many years back.

The actual Fort Matanzas; you can read-up on it here.

Cheers Brian, a brilliant idea, well-executed and thanks for sharing it with the rest of us!