Nile River Gunboat Diorama with Trophy Figures (1 Viewer)

[ucla1967]

A fairly new member of our little informal group, the Southern California Toy Soldier Collector Society, has a special talent. You may have run into Gary Fournier in the Toy Soldiers of San Diego rooms at the recent Chicago show. He is the one who made the Alamo buildings for Nick. He also helped Jim Hilestadt several years ago with his museum displays.

Gary sent me the attach photos of A Nile River Gunboat that he scratch built. IMHO, it is the best one I have ever seen. The frosting on the cake is that the dioeama is populated with Trophy of Wales figures, some of which I have never seen before. Does it get any better than this?

 

[ucla1967]

Here are some more photos. Note the level of detail in the boat house and the boiler area.

 

[mikemiller1955]

Mr. Fournier does great work...that is one good looking gun boat...probably the best I have seen also...

 

[marco55]

Could one of these babies be your next project?
Mark

 

[jazzeum]

Martyn and Lawrence may be drooling after they see this

 

[thebritfarmer]

Martyn and Lawrence may be drooling after they see this

I think you are right there Brad! Amazing, thanks for sharing the photos with us.

 

[Andanna]

Unreal.




If the photos did not come from a reputable member of this forum, I would doubt their authenticity.

 

[mikemiller1955]

Could one of these babies be your next project?
Mark

That's way beyond anything I can do...

 

[tdubel]

WOW, awesome dio and pieces, really cool!

Tom

 

[Louis Badolato]

That's as good as I've ever seen. Unbelieveable.

 

[mikemiller1955]

I'm curious...

the figures on the boat...

their bases are white...

is that how they were issued or is it a repaint by the hobbyist...

 

[ucla1967]

I'm curious...

the figures on the boat...

their bases are white...

is that how they were issued or is it a repaint by the hobbyist...

I believe Gary said something to the effect that he was suppose to be getting somne figures from Len Taylor, but that it didn't work out so he painted some Trophy castings himself. I was not aware that you could get Trophy castings, but that would explain the white or light gray bases. I'll ask Gary for the full story next time I see him. I may have garbled this somewhat. Sorry.

 

[boerboy]

The white Trophy bases are always belong either to the gunboat staff or X-mas figures at best of my knowledge.
Great gun boat and display, one of the best I have ever seen, I just concern about sandbags for a canon: they look good but would go right into the water on any sharp boat stop. I also have seen the gunboats with armor plates, they must weight a ton but Sudan gunboats operated mostly on shallow waters and plates would not help the a lot
IMHO.
Al

 

[glossman]

Hi Mike,

Thanks very much for posting a very interesting Trophy Nile River diorama.

There are some very nice early Trophy Egypt/Sudan sets.

In addition to the white based figures on board the boat, there are quite a few oval based figures too.

Raymond.

 

[W T Allison II]

Mike: Really neat gunboat! Mine is a paddlewheeler P

ier is from Tedtoy and some of the civilians are Marlborough.

 

[ucla1967]

The white Trophy bases are always belong either to the gunboat staff or X-mas figures at best of my knowledge.
Great gun boat and display, one of the best I have ever seen, I just concern about sandbags for a canon: they look good but would go right into the water on any sharp boat stop. I also have seen the gunboats with armor plates, they must weight a ton but Sudan gunboats operated mostly on shallow waters and plates would not help the a lot
IMHO.
Al

Actually, I was not aware that Trophy's gunboat staff figures had white bases. Was that just the crew itself or did it also include the naval personnel manning the guns? I originally thought that Gary may have painted them white to match the color of the deck. However, I am positive that he did tell me that he had painted some of these figures himself---which ones, I do not know. I also don't know whether the figures he painted himself were just as Trophy would have done them or whether he took some artistic liberty.

I wonder if anyone has seen any historic photos of the Nile gunboats with sandbags. I also have no idea how fast they could go or whether they could make a sudden stop as to opposed to a more controlled , slower stop.

 

[mikemiller1955]

I'm sure if Martyn sees this thread...he will clear things up about the Trophy bases...I would consider him as the best resource for Trophy...

 

[W T Allison II]

Mike:

Trophy gunboat but no white bases.

 

[maddadicus]

Actually, I was not aware that Trophy's gunboat staff figures had white bases. Was that just the crew itself or did it also include the naval personnel manning the guns? I originally thought that Gary may have painted them white to match the color of the deck. However, I am positive that he did tell me that he had painted some of these figures himself---which ones, I do not know. I also don't know whether the figures he painted himself were just as Trophy would have done them or whether he took some artistic liberty.

I wonder if anyone has seen any historic photos of the Nile gunboats with sandbags. I also have no idea how fast they could go or whether they could make a sudden stop as to opposed to a more controlled , slower stop.

When I was doing research to make my ship, I did not find photos with sandbags, but it seems likely that they were used, especially to protect sensitive areas, such as the exposed boilers. The bags also could be secured with netting and rope to keep the emplacement together. Look at Sand Pebbles movie and you will find bags used for forward mg placements ,during the boom cable attack scenes.....Michael

 

[W T Allison II]

Hi Mike: Trophy Nile paddlewheeler but no white bases.