Looking into a Rorkes Drift Dio/Vignette

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JonG

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Aug 20, 2010
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Hi all,
I am looking into the viability of creating a diorama/vignette of the battle, but I am not sure of whats available out there.I am an AFV/dio builder of 1/35th scale stuff primarily, so yeah I am a little lost here.
I so far have seen 2 scale routes I can go down, 1/32nd or 28mm.Basically I just typed "Zulus" into Ebay and looked through what figures was out there.
The 54mm- 1/32nd option is all toy like stuff, which kinda dissapointed me as I thought at least 1 high quality figure manufacturer would have produced a set.Or one thats still in production.

So what are my options?
I can't sculpt all the figures, but can/will convert to get the numbers I need.I am just needing a good base figure or 2, I can maybe make copies of, and then get as many figures as I need from those maybe?

The 28mm stuff, is also doable, as the numbers of kits/sets available is appealing, but thats not really a scale I am too keen on, as I have never worked in it before, or seen the stuff up close.
But I do like the fact I can get 25 Infantry guys for around £15.

Any advice/ideas would be appreciated.
Jon
 
The Red Lancers carries a line, Morningstar Miniatures--54mm resin figures by Alan Ball of 24th Foot personalities and soldiers at Rorke's Drift. I have not yet purchased any, but they look nice.
 
The Morningstar Miniatures are very nice and the line has the accessories also. They are also carried by Glory Guys.
 
Thanks for the information guys.
I think I am going to go down the 1/32nd scale route, the Morningstar Miniatures look very nice, I never knew they existed.
 
Call to Arms do a range of 1/32 plastics - 2 sets of British and 2 sets of Zulus. They're the preformed plastic type (like Airfix so perhaps they are the toylike stuff you have already seen) but the poses are really pretty good and probably easy to convert too with a bit of knife work.
I'm not sure but I think Conte may also do a range of Zulu War era 1/32 plastics.
For inspiration try and see Ed Surens diorama in 30mm at the National Army Museum London. (or photos). It's a bit dated now but gives a good mass effect and one I always looked at for hours as a boy - great stuff.
Cheers Mat
 
Hi Mat, those and the 28mm stuff was all I could find in my initial searches.
I ain't keen on either routes to be honest, but I may have to use the Conte or the Call to Arms Zulus and try and re sculpt as much as possible, they maybe a good base for converting, plus they are pretty cheap, around a fiver a box.
I'll pick up a box and see what they are like.
 
Hi Jon, thought they might be what you had seen already. I recommend getting some and taking a look. I got a box of Call to Arms American War of Independence era British Grenadiers and they were really good, very realistic poses and anatomy, not toy like at all. Not sure if the Zulu stuff is exactly the same quality. I think the Conte figures can be a bit cartoony but they have lots of action and variety to them.
I just thought, another option are the prepainted figures from W Britains which don't look too bad but at £25 - £30 a figure you'd probably have to drastically scale down your plans!?!
Keep posting any decisions or progress - I'd be interested.
Cheers Mat
 
Hi Richie,

They look quite decent, and maybe a better option for converting.I'll have to email him and see whats available.
I did stumble across a seller, that 2 months ago, sold a large amount of the Hinchcliffe sets, with the same 2 people winning , for £7-9 each figure.And these were quite a lot of figures too.
I am rather depressed about this to be honest lol.
I am still determined to get somewhere with this.
Thanks for the help so far guys.
 
Jon, I am almost certain that the Britians you won on eBay were sculpted by Alan Ball, who also did the Morningstar figures. I have never seen or heard this, but it seems to me that the Morningstar sculpts might (my speculation) be items offered to Britians by Alan, but were not selected to be part of their line. In any event, the Morningstars are excellent figures, with great animation and detail, smartly engineered, and well cast. They are a dream to paint.
Best of luck on your project. One approach might be to consider a series of vignettes - imagine snapshots, rather than the whole panorama - that could stand alone, or be designed to "link" together in some fashion to form a larger tableau. In this way, you could have the joy of accomplishment more often - easier to do a 3 - 5 figure group than a 30-40 figure mega-diorama - without getting distracted or burnt out. In my opinion, the Morningstar figures lend themselves very easily to this approach.
Again, best of luck, and please keep us posted! Best regards, Don
 
Alan once mentioned to me that the RD figures he does for Morningstar are at the request of the owner. I don't think they are figures not selected by Britians.
 
If the original poster is watching this thread, I have a couple of Zulu War figures in my "for sale box", and I had sent you a PM to that regard.
 

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