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The Somme 1916 - Part 2

The Figures and The end Result

The figures are a mixed bag coming form Resicast, Ultracast, MasterBox, MiniArt, Warriors, Tamiya and a few of unknown origin. With the exception of the new MasterBox Somme 1916 figure set the remainder had minor or major conversions done to adapt them to the WW1 setting. Along the way a horse got added which was a new experience and a couple of Commonwealth troops appeared to broaden the scope .of the scene. I’m not the worlds best figure painter but I got a lot of experience converting these chaps so I hope the result is pleasing.

Equipment in the form of ammo came from Resicast, the same with many of the boxes and loads for the Crewe Tractor wagons, although I used a broad range of sources to add the detail one might find around a staging area such as this.

One gem that popped up during the build was the release of the Wounded Wagon from Resicast which added another element to the build and helps bring home the pain of war.

You can decide the success or failure of the battle for yourself, the action takes place around September 1916 after the battle had been raging for 3 months and just before the rains arrived to turn things into a mud bath. Set in an rear area a bit of a log jam has occurred with supplies coming up and wounded soldiers and prisoners returning from the battle. As with the first Somme diorama people are going about the business of war in an unrelated but combine way as so often is the case.

My thanks to the many who contributed thoughts and ideas for the build as it progressed and helped keep the motivation going. As you'll be aware I've been patiently waiting for ICM to bring their new British Infantry but perhaps that's an add on project for a later date.

My thanks also to Graham Sellar of Resicast and George Moore without whom this build would never have happened.

References

Imperial War Museum Photo Archive

Osprey (Men at Arms) The British Army 1914 - 18

Osprey The British Army in WW1 (2) - (Men at Arms)The Western Front 1916 - 1918

Osprey (Campaign) Somme 1 July 1916 Tragedy and Triumph

Somme Mud - EPF Lynch

Forgotten Voices of the Somme J Levine

Osprey (New Vanguard) - British Artillery 1914 - 1919

Osprey (Warrior) British Tommy 1914 - 18

Osprey (Men at Arms) The New Zealand Expeditionary Force in WW1

The Pity of War - selected poems of the First World War - J Balcon

Part 1 can be found here:

The Somme 1916 Live links

and the original build blog here:

Build Blog Live links