Hi there

Here is the first pictures of my current project: A dio depicting the defense of Rorke's Drift in 1879.
The missionstation at Rorke's Drift were under attack by more than 3.000 Zulu warriors short after the British defeat at Isandlwhana. The Zulus turned their attention and proceeded their counteroffensive against the British by attacking the missionstation. The station were only defended by some 150 British soldiers together with a handful of native "vortrekkers" - boers that is. The British decided to stay and defend the station. For almost two days the Zulus kept coming in attack after attack after attack, and the British held the station. The British won the battle as the Zulus retreated - it had been to costly in lives for them, and for the British as well. Nevertheless the British won and 11 Victoria Crosses were awared after these dramatic days.
The story is facinating and after seeing the formidable "Zulu" (with Michael Caine and Stanley Baker) I found out, that I had to do a dio with this event.

The missionstation were defended - as mentioned - by some 100 men, behind walls of mealiebags and biscuitboxes. A so called kraal were also used as defensive line as well as the two buildings: The hospital and the storehose. Next to the storehouse, a redoubt of mealiebags were build as a final defensive perimeter.

So here it is.
The dio will be in 1/72nd scale.
I started this summer (2007) and by now I have completed almost 40 British soldiers, some 40 Zulus and the hospital building which saw a very dramatic and heroic defense and evacuation. The storehouse and kraal is on the workbench. The defensive lines of bags and boxes are almost done aswell as two wagons which also were thrown into the defense.
The diorama-base is 40cm x 80cm and will depict the entire station. The British figures are a mix from Italeri (old Esci kit) and A Call to Arms. As vortrekkers and British in alternative uniforms than redcoats I have used Confederate Inf. from Imex.
The Zulus are also from Italeri (old Esci kit) and A Call to Arms.
The wagons are from Imex and the boxes are from Rocco.
Buildings are made from polystyrene and plaster with doors and windows from railwaymodel-manufacturers. The thatched roofs are made from old brushes.

My idea is to keep this thread open to further updates on the project. I hope you'll stay tuned and please: Enjoy the pictures and feedback is ofcourse welcome.

Simon


First group of British soldiers. Note the one vortrekker.


The hospital building with two figures for scale comparison.


The back of the hospital building.

The figures look really nice. That type of figure are really tough to get a nice coat of paint on.

I have to say I'm not a huge fan of the roof. The thatch is too long, in scale it's about 12 feet long. I'd like it more if it were shorter.
I can't wait to see the piece coming together on a base.

Hi Scott, and thanks for your reply. Quick as always.

This may sound odd: The roof actually looks a lot better than the photo shows! I was rather amazed of the look of it because it really doesn't look that good. Anyway, I have placed a crossbar/lath on the roof and I may add more laths to make the straws shorter. Perhaps that'll do the trick. Still, the building needs some finishing here and there so "repairing" the roof is just another little job to do. And the roof may need some paint too.

Anyway, thanks for our reply once again.

Simon

Here's a picture of the first group of finished Zulus. All of them are Italeri (Esci's old kit).
They aren't historical correct because of their headdresses. At Rorke's Drift they had headbands and not the big ostrichfeathers. I have removed some of theese headdresses on some of the figures and left some of them be - just for the look of them. They are quite spectacular in their equipment and differ from the British with their red jackets, blue trunks and white helmets.



As you might have noticed, none of the Zulus have their shields. They'll be attached later as they'll find their place on the dioramabase.

Nice start for the Drift dio, amigo. Don't forget, many of the Brits wore beards and by this time, they had been incountry for some time, so their uniforms would not be parade ground clean, nor their helmets, many of which would be stained and dusty as would be their trousers.
I'd check to see about the shield colors of the Zulu as these warriors had not fought at Isandalwana the day before and they were older warriors to boot.
1/72nd is a tough scale to work with but it has promise. Go for it and keep us posted.
Both Chard and Bromhead wore full beards, btw, at this time.
Ironmike

Simon - I believe you, harsh flash photography can wreak hovoc on a model.
One thing you may be able to do if you want to at all is to add a bit of airbrushing to add layers of darker colors.

keep up the good work. I love seeing these megga braille scale dioramas coming together.

Simon,
Looks to be coming along nicely. I like the building personally. I don't know if you intend to feature the VC winners in your diorama, but if you do, bear in mind that most of the British defenders not actually part of the 24th Foot, eg Dalton, Surgeon Reynolds etc, would probably be wearing dark blue uniforms (so might Chard, the blue "Patrols" were a popular item of uniform at the time, although a contemporary picture of the battle shows him in other ranks jacket & khaki trousers). Not sure about Cpl Schiess, some sources list him as belonging to the Natal Mounted Police (the "Snuffs"), who wore black corduroy, some to the Natal native Contingent, whose white NCO's & officers probably wore khaki.
Also the Zulus shields should actually be the same colours within units, the Zulu regiments had shields that got plainer & more white with seniority, and distinguished the units like a uniform. (Not a lot of people know that!) There is an Osprey book on the Zulu War which goes into Zulu organisation in some detail.
Mike, the 2nd Battalion 24th actually hadn't been in-country very long, you are thinking of 1st Battalion, which had been in South Africa for years, but this was the unit wiped out at Isandlwhana. It was unusual for battalions of the same regiment to serve together, as one was usually the "Home Service" battalion which trained drafts for the "Foreign Service" one. However you are correct in saying that the distinctive white topees were usually stained brown with tea leaves or mud, but looking closely at Simons figures he looks to have painted them off-white.

Thanks for your (useful) replies.

Mike:
I have only left a few British clean-shaven, so most of them have beards and whiskers. Also I am aware about the dirty uniforms. It will be made. Thanks for reminding me.

Slodder:
I agree. Photographing my work is still something I have to learn in order to get better pictures - that doesn't make me appreciate the roof better . I have attached laths to the roof and it looks like its breaks up the texture of the roof as it is now - makes the brushes look like something else than brushes. And yes, I agree with the darker colors. Working on it...

Steve:
My work will depict the first Zulu-attack, so there will still be defenders inside the buildings which obviously will be obscurred.
I am always looking after alternative soldiers - thinking about getting Strelets kit with British soldiers from the Boer-war - in order to make the variety bigger than two sets can provide.
I know about the helmets - they had to dye them with tea/coffee so - it will be fixed.
Didn't know about the shields. Its taken into consideration.

Thanks again guys for your remarks. They are appreciated.

Simon

Here's some figures I have converted.

As mentioned above I have to work mainly with four sets of figures in all - two British sets and two Zulu sets. Still waiting for HäT to release their Zulu-kit.


Two Zulus - on is firing his rifle up against one of the buildings. The other is - well just a conversion . The two figures here have shifted torsos. How easy can it be?


Two British soldiers - one is bareheaded and the other has got his hands on a Zulu-shield using it as a weapon.


Three British - the one on the left is a figure from A Call to Arms. His legs are taken from a figure stabbing his rifle and bayonet downwards, and the torso is a figure standing up firing. The result is - as you might see - a soldier firing downwards.
The one in the middle has arms from here and there...what else is there to say?
The one far right is getting shot or stabbed. Originally that figure had his helmet in his left hand, cheering. Now his helmet is falling of due the impact of the bullet/spear.

I find it difficult to make these conversions because of the mould quality and scale. Its not easy to remove a head from one figure and attach it to another and make it look real. Hands are also a pain. Still - I have to try somthing just to make a variety of figures.

I've used this style of figure and you are absolutely right - conversions are Hard.
I like the ones you've done. These close shots show how much detail you're putting into it. Very nice.
Are there ankle wraps on the British soldiers?

Hi Scott, and thanks for your remark.

Yes, it is ankle raps.

I'm glad you like my paintjob. Being here on the forum has taught me to put an extra efford into making your models a little bit better than I used to. Thats great, not only for the feedback, but also for the final result.

I'm painting up to five figures at a time. Painting 1/72nd figures are a lot faster than painting 1/35th scale figures, but still I have to pay attention to painting details. It looks the best when they are finished.

Hi All

Here is one that I made about 10 years ago

http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://airfixcollector.co.uk/images/rd7.jpg&imgrefurl=http://airfixcollector.co.uk/galleriesdave.htm&h=152&w=222&sz=9&hl=en&start=14&um=1&tbnid=lNIcJi6cZufBjM:&tbnh=73&tbnw=107&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drorkes%2Bdrift%2Bmodel%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

Hi there

I just wanted to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'll be going on my holidays to day, so there won't be many updates on this thread till after New Years eve.

Thaks for your interest you are showing in my build, and for all your comments. I am looking forward to bring you more updates and pictures of the work-in-progress.

Take care

Simon

David: Your link doesn't seem to work. Could you try post it again?

I can't tell you how much I've learned on this site - it's never ending.

I'd go back and touch up the ankle wraps with a blackish/brown color. I did a bit of googling and found that mostly ankles wraps are dark color if anything.

Happy Newyear everybody!

Well, I actually had time to make a little bit more on the project.


This is part of the barricade section of mealiebags and biscuitboxes. The bags are made from putty and the boxes are a mix from different manufacturers - mainly Roco. In order to break up the rather dull appereance of just bags and biscuitboxes, I have taken the liberty to place barrels and boxes of different sizes.


The two wagons that were placed on the southern section of the barricades. According to Ian Knights drawings (made by Michael and Alan Perry) in his book "Rorkes Drift 1879 - pinned like rats in a hole" (Osprey 1996 - Campaign series) the wagons stood up right.
These two wagons are from Imex' kit "Chuck Wagon & Prairie Schooner and wagon". The wagon to the right will have some sort of fittings for equipment. I intend to "hide" this with a blanket or mealiebags. I haven't decided yet.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Thanks for your time

Simon

Here is some pictures of the overall layout of the diorama.


The Hospital is on the far right and the kraal on the extreme left. In the middle is the storehouse and the barricade with the two wagons. Down form the storehouse is part of the biscuitbox-wall, which can be seen here:




Close up of the kraal and the rocky ledge in front. The kraal is far from complete - I am drying the stones for it for the moment.

Excellent work so far Simon.
Zulu is my all-time favourite film and so seeing dio's of the epic battle are always great to see. It looks like you are really doing this one justice so congrats!
I attempted a large Warterloo dio in 1/72 once and gave up after a week as I couldn't handle the effort that goes into the small scale painting (i'm a 1/35 man usually!).

Keep up the great work, this looks to be a real eye opener!

James

P.S. I once saw a 1/32 scale dio of Rorke's Drift that took up an entire model shop (it was in North Wales somewhere), now thats some serious work!

Lookin' good, I like the details, the wagons look nice. In this scale they are great. The layout is solid, nice angle on the line of the base.

Looks good, Simon. Nice details. It is going to be one of those dioramas that one can look on for a long time and still find interesting details.

Looking forward to see it finished - thanks for sharing

Thanks for your replies.

James: I am pretty optimistic on this piece. I know that I will continue working on this one, before I turn my attention to some of my other in-progress projects, only to return to Rorkes Drift and continue working on that.




Yup, I hope so.

Scott: I know from previous work that you have commented my choice of angles in my dioramas. I am glad you appreciate this projects angles and lines.

Jesper: Ærbødigst tak. I really hope that the viewer will keep looking and discover more details. But that’s up to me innit? I expect to keep as high level of details as possible.

Simon

Building the kraal:

The kraal were part of the British defensive lines. It was well-build and according to photos in Ian Knights book about the battle, here is my interpretaion.


The stones are made from dried clay hammered to pieces in different sizes.


The stones are placed - here on paper - and glued with whiteglue.




The almost final kraal with figures as scale comparison. I intend to give the kraal a bit of paint to break up the current color. I'll also add another line of stones. The figures firing in an upright position doesn't seem to have the protection they would have needed.

Super flot Simon - looking really nice - keep e´m comming !

Well I am back at the workbench.

After a while with other projects I now return to Rorkes Drift.

No pictures yet, but as an update I can report the following:

- More than 60 English soldiers are complete
- Both the buildings has been through a much needed "renovation"
- The Kraal has undergone some changes (I really hope it looks great once it has dried )

All this means that I'll soon begin to add the models on the dioramabase.

Keep looking - I will be posting pictures soon.

Simon