WIP High Watermark of Confederacy

[Renato]

Hi all! I am starting an old project for my first vignette, representing a famous event happened during the Battle of Gettysburg.

At the climax of unfortunate Pickett's Charge, General Armistead led his Virginians to carry the Union lines, crossing the Angle, the stone wall running across Cemetery Ridge with his hat hung over his sword......before being hit by the musket fire that stopped the charge and repulsed the confederate soldiers back to a slide that will bring them down to Appomattox in 1865....

I have used Shenandoah's miniature extensively, except Armistead himself (Beneito) and the cannon which is custom built by Fabio Mero.

I am struggling to assemble all the figures in a dramatic position, so I am asking for comments and suggestions.

Some notes:

• figures are partially assembled so you will miss some hands and weapons
• the cannon is from a plastic kit and I am using it as a placeholder
• the black foam strip is there to represent the stone wall
• the central figure (right behind Armistead is picking up a flag from his wounded comrade on the ground so I will have a Confederate Battle Flag right in the middle
• the dead on the left and the wounded close to the cannon are Union figures, all the rest are Confederate

Any comment??? Thks in advance!

 

[Ferris]

Looking excellent! These charging dioramas are always impressive, and yours looks like it will be a stunner.

Suggestion I would make is to tighten the outer dimensions a bit, about 2 cm on the left and on the right. This enhances the impression of a mass charge.

Will be following this.

Adrian

 

[Renato]

Looking excellent! These charging dioramas are always impressive, and yours looks like it will be a stunner.

Suggestion I would make is to tighten the outer dimensions a bit, about 2 cm on the left and on the right. This enhances the impression of a mass charge.

Will be following this.

Adrian

Good point, my plan is to get a custom-made base as a sort of irregular triangle/arrow shaped....more or less like here below.....I am reluctant to put figures even closer to one another, I am concerned that the whole thing may look too confused.....although maybe that would be the case in a charge.... mmmmmhhhh..... I'll do some more trials

 

[Old Pete]

You could have Armistead touching the cannon wheel as he was shot as he did so
George

 

[grasshopper]

You could have Armistead touching the cannon wheel as he was shot as he did so
George

Moving the cannon into focus of action with Armistead hand touching makes the climax jump out…and the slope might be a bit uphill?

 

[David Spencer]

One to watch...
I wish there were more ACW figures on the market.
Especially 54mm or thereabouts, and gun crews with cannon.

 

[Warren SMITH]

Be very interesting to watch this evolve...

 

[Oda]

This is going to be a real stunner.I will follow with great interest.

Oda.

 

[sd0324]

I've been to the exact spot this happened many times. Always leave with a great sense of sadness, it's still there. Really looking forward to progress on this. Thank you for posting pics Renato.

Steve

 

[Renato]

You could have Armistead touching the cannon wheel as he was shot as he did so
George

Moving the cannon into focus of action with Armistead hand touching makes the climax jump out…and the slope might be a bit uphill?

You are absolutely right! he was shot near the cannon and actually cannons were not really that close to the stone wall as I am "depicting"....... my choice was driven by my concern that if I put cannon in the middle, I will end up with figures on its right and left and this may give a more "dispersed feeling to the vignette......

I will give this a try!

 

[Taouletta]

Hi,
Very good sketch !
ENJOY !

 

[Renato]

So here we go with Option 2!

To previous observations, I centered the cannon (a little off to the right to be honest ) but I kept Armistead just close to the wheel (the figure has a running stance and I am not willing to go and modify it so much to make it standing and with hand on wheel.....) so I would pretend the snapshot is taken few seconds before he is hit.

The 3 figures on the right feel a bit isolated from the scene in comparison to the Option one where they were all together......but overall I do like the way it looks!

What's your view????

 

[grasshopper]

Better for sure..could usefully tighten everything up on smaller footprint..look at some of the masters at this- Mike Blank and so on..they use very tight settings..creates tension and focus..and possibly more how it went down.

 

[JasonB]

I would move Armistead further forwad toward the end of the cannon trail. Move flag bearer with him. Swap positions of guys on other side of cannon making wounded man closer to cannon trail. Move shooting guy to other side of cannon between barrel and wheel, firing over wounded guy. I would keep the dead guy and place him where flag bearer is now, keep the crouching guy around where he is and lose the other figures as to keep it tighter. All of this should tighten it up, move the cannon into the center of the scene a little more, and make Armistead the tip of the triangle of figures and therefore the focal point. It also converys the feel of the Rebel tide flowing around the cannon.

A very quick and dirty Photochop:

Edit:I won't change the pic, but the firing guy might be better on the other side of the barrel, portrays that he is using it as cover from whatever he is shooting.

 

[grasshopper]

And tighten the spacing…bit too uniform

 

[Nap]

Hi Renato

Catching up on things ...great idea for a diorama , the only thing I might suggest is to have the cannon damaged , making it less prominent highlighting the action around it more

You might find once some groundwork in place it changes your thoughts ....but some great advice from those that know so much better than me ....being a bust painter !

I watched the fabulous film Gettysburg recently so this is great to follow ...marvellous film as well !

Following with much interest

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Old Pete]

Fyi you may know this but as Armistead fell mortaly wounded he cried out Will no one help the son of a widow and Union officers and men ran to help him as they were all Masons.There is a statue of this at Gettysburg by the late Ron Tunison with Armistead handing his watch and a package to a Union officer whose name I cant at the moment recall to be given to his great friend General Handcock who had been badly wounded earlier.The package was found to contain his bible.I hope I hav,nt bored you all
George

 

[grasshopper]

Not bored…he was captured, took two days to die, and likely Capt Bingham the surgeon looking after him received his belongings..however we judge the ACW, there is no denying the dedication of so many of the combatants to their respective causes.

 

[Steve Ski]

If I can "throw my hat in the ring", you're on a roll. This looks like a really good scenario, so keep moving, let it flow how you feel it should. There's always a ton of logistical aspects to consider in a layout, IMHO, but this flows quite well, Ruck On! You'll make the apporpriate changes as they arise. If it looks wonky, it probably is, so just adjust accordingly. I see success!

Great work so far, Renato!

 

[Renato]

Thks to all for the sound advices (and the photoshop effort!!!).....this week in Euroma 2022 I will meet some other "expert eyes" and will get more inputs.

I will start with the figures even before figuring out the final layout.......surely I will make Armistead the focus figure and will see how to make him "live" with the cannon without diverting the attention of beholders of the vignette.

Anyway, considering that I am a slow painter, it's lkely this post will last for a couple of years before it sees the end!!!!!