the 20th anniversary of the Tian An Men incident in China, a significant watershed in the social-political history of modern China happens today.

As one of the most recognisable and famous photos of the late 20th century, i was inspired to build a model kit version of that famous photo taken by Mr Jeff Widener.


kits used are trumpeter t-54A, with a type 59-II providing the 105mm gun barrel for casting.







and ever wondered what it is like to stare down a colum of tanks? or looking down at a civilian blocking your path?

more pics!









that's all. thank you for looking. any comments and critiques will be welcome. i really had fun with this build, i think one of the few crazy enough to build such a massive diorama (more than a meter long)

have a nice day!

kevin

hi, i really like your dio, but it was indeed a horrific moment in history, lets hope it never happens again. but those chinese tanks look alot like the russian ones, are they copies of them? any way great work.

Hi Kevin, i like the idea to build a dio about this event.
Perhaps it would have been to border the dio somehow, with a fence, a boardwalk or perhaps a few hundred spectators :-)

I am also mildly protesting against your statement that this is a massive diorama!
This are only 4 tanks and one figure!


Greets to Singapore!
(Do you know Jimmy Ngo, a modeller friend of mine from Singapore?)

Claude

Hi Kevin
You did a very surprise and nice dio.I think this subject is very hard to find in Chinese modeler's works.
I expect you to build TianAnMen!

@ Char, Good to know that the Network hasn't been blocked by the Chinese authorities. As I understand, Twitter, Facebook and even Hotmail have been experiencing some 'difficulties' today for Chinese users.

I do wonder why....

Ah! maybe the Diorama above is a 'clue'?

Jim I wonder

Intereasting diorama a very diverse subject

A very thought provoking and reflective diorama there, very impressive.

I have put a link to your build here. I hope you do not mind.

Chas

Excellent diorama you have there. I wonder what happened to the man in the photo?
M4A2Sherman

he got ran over, and no im not joking....

I'm pretty sure he wasn't run over, but other than that, his fate is unknown....

Your diorama is great, Kevin. Its a really powerful scene.

SCOTT

I saw a short video on this incident the other night on yahoo's news page, the identity of the "tank man" is unknown to this day but Chinese officials state that he is alive and well though they won't say where. My guess is he survived but is under government surveillance some place.

There was a head-hunting firm out here that used that photo to advertise itself as a recruiting outfit. The caption underneath was two words: "You're Hired!"

Very nice diorama. Thanks for the photos,
Matt

The end of this video shows him climbing onto the tank and perhaps losing his nerve? I don't know... it would have taken some nerve and courage to do that in the first place.

Chas

A gallery from our local rag: http://www.theage.com.au/photogallery/world/tiananmen-square-20-year-anniversary/20090603-bv5m.html. Photo 5 is particularly moving.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=13805581&ch=4226714&src=news

Hi Jim
I don't know why....I seem...maybe it's not easy to understand.
Char

Terrific model of an important event. The "Tank Man" will go down in history as one of the most inspirational people. Solitary man versus Mechanized State.

I want to model this scene myself - my parents were living in Beijing when the Massacre happened - and have bought the Trumpeter T-59B tank model. I'm wondering why you used the T-54 with modifications instead? Is it a better kit? You did a very nice job - you even got the missing front fender on the lead tank and the tarp-covered machine guns. And very nice paint jobs!

Another question: Where did you get your figure? Is it maybe a railroad model figure? It's very hard to find any suitable figures.

Congratulations! If and when I ever finish my model, I'll post pictures as well. May not be until the 30th anniversary.

Got my answers from your other article - the figure is a modified General MacArthur. Very nice job!

The guy got arrested if my memory serves me right.Dunno what happend to him afterwards.

that guys ballsack is the size of a large continent.

Great work!!

I was thinking of doing something similiar with all the talk of the anniversary the last few weeks..

..great honor to that guy in the suit, shame we will never know him or whatever happened to him, he got carted off never to be seen again shortly after the incident

i think the tank driver was ordered not to stop, but he wouldnt run him over, despite orders.

Well the Chianese gov't censors anything and everthing about the incident. The latest polls on current students have not a clue as to what happened. That is why twitter,yahoo,etc. have problems when looking up this subject inside China. I believe this to be a great build, and hope subjects like this will be never forgotten.