Spion Kop, Deeds That Thrill The Empire

planetFigure

Help Support planetFigure:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Great to see Steve's work again!

Love the packaging design Darren, a nice retro look. As someone bought up on the inspiring Airfix artwork from Roy Cross, Brian Knight, Bill Stallion et al, it is nice to see well designed package artwork, rather than 'what's on the box is what's in the box' type of painted/unpainted figure. Most customers would already have decided on a purchase based on an internet review, and no longer rely on box top painted/unpainted photo of a figure to make an informed choice.

Cheers,
Jon.
 
Yeeesss
this is superb, and 5 figures on such a small base is for me a plus: give intensity to the scene, the best words thet come to my mind is " fighting back to back " each one covering the others . I Like it very much
Best
 
Yeeesss
this is superb, and 5 figures on such a small base is for me a plus: give intensity to the scene, the best words thet come to my mind is " fighting back to back " each one covering the others . I Like it very much
Best

Hi Darren,
Great release and I could not agree more to the above, opinions may be divided on the composition but it gives that intensity. Good luck, hope to see more.(y)
cheers
Richie
 
Thanks for all the feedback, much appreciated. Just a few answers:

1. Tommys War won't be neglected, its far too close to my heart. The two latest figures will be announced on Wednesday this week and will be at Euro.

2. The diorama is crowded, we did originally have a larger base, but I wanted to recreate the horror on the top of the Kop for those troops. The largest depth of trench was just 16". The soldiers were shoulder to shoulder and had no water all day and were under constant attack. Most of those killed were shot through the right side of the temple by Boer marksmen and after the battle the Boers simply filled in the trench with the bodies inside as a mass grave that remains there to this day.

3. Some great ideas for future releases there, I'd considered Maiwand with Bobby the dog at the feet of the Colonel, but there are certainly plenty of options.

4. The name Deeds that thrill the Empire is an odd choice for Spion Kop and I do explain the rationale in the booklet that's included with the diorama. The name of the series is an ironic slant on how history views defeats and turns them in to victories. If we consider just some of the major conflicts and their battles then we do, as British. turn defeat in to victory., Think of Rorkes Drift and we forget Isanhlwana. Think Dunkirk and we forget the retreat through France. Also, I wanted to reflect on the actions of the British soldier, no matter what we think of his leaders there is no doubt to the courage of the British line solder and his professionalism. I want to leave the political commentary for others and concentrate on what those boys went through.

I hope that perhaps explains a little more about it.

Darren
 
I picked up one of these from Darren (y) at Euro and I have only had a quick look over the parts and it looks great. The packaging is reall attractive and the booklet provides a lot of background information and uniform details.
I think the composition of five figures in such a small area reflects the events of the time very well. As Darren says the ground was dreadful so only scrapes were dug rather than full trenches and instead of being on the summit they were on a lesser peak making them vulnerable to the Boer snipers; there was an awful lot going on and total breakdown of command and I think this group captures the atmosphere very well.
As and when I get round to putting them together I'll post some pictures.
 
Somebody please put me out of my misery, was "Deeds That Thrill The Empire" the title of a book from the early 1900's or is my memory playing tricks?
Not that I remember it being published before some smart arse suggests otherwise.... you know who you are.:D
Roger.
 
Back
Top