The Military Workshop
1st Lieutenant
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2005
- Messages
- 4,778
As part of the Annual Visit by Andy Neilson we run a diorama competition for local collectors. This was the third year of the competition. The competition has evolved from when he had our Annual Dinner in Nudgee College where a group of collectors (ie. including Jack, Fitzgibbon, Waynepoo and Mark IV) created and set up some large dioramas (Lighthorse, WW1 trench, Napoleonics and Zulus, WW2 etc, in the school museum where Jack fortunately happened to be the curator. From these dioramas came the idea of the competition.
Due to space and setting up time restrictions the size of the dioramas have been kept relatively small. This year the size was 350 x 350 x 350mm. The smaller size also allows entrants to fit them into their cabinets at home. There are some rules such as no painting / converting of the actual figures and only brands sold by the local shop. The competition is judged in the following way :
Judges Choice : This is chosen by two Judges and is based on the diorama work involved.
Peoples Choice : Each attendee gets to vote for their favourite diorama.
King & Country's Choice : Chosen by Andy Neilson and not surprisingly he usually chooses ones with K&C product.
Display : This is chosen by attendees voting. This category was introduced in the 2nd year to encourage some who were not confident in their diorama making abilities but gave them an opportunity to join in.
This year the competition was amazing and it was extremely difficult for the judges and attendees to choose. There was a very good variety of subjects and all who entered did great work. It was good to see those who attended appreciated the work put in and some already seem to have been inspired by what they have seen.
One trend I did notice was the "sneaky sniper" popping up. Most of the pics to follow are mine and may not do all the dioramas justice so apologies if I missed a good angle or some particular aspect. If a forum member has another view I did not get please add to the thread. There were a pair of dios where the maker requested they be put together due to the subject matter but they were still judged as seperate entries.
The first batch of pics are just general shots of the tables and two displays that were not in competition. The large US cavalry display was brought along by Mark IV and is where he hopes to put more cavalry in the future. The Rorkes Drift display was not allowed in the competition as some figures had been painted over. Once we get into painting and converting figures then we are entering the realms of a modelling competition which favours some much more than others.
Andy also brought along his Australian Vietnam Patrol diorama and not surprisingly there was a lot of interest. During his talk he mentioned his interest in Vietnam going back to a visit 20 years ago and his initial Vietnam series followed soon after. He mentioned Vietnam is going to be a big series with lots of possibilities for US Marines, Australians, vehicles and the enemy. Being an ex Royal Marine Andy expressed an affinity with the US Marines. Much of his inspiration comes from images by British photographer Don McCullin who covered the Marines in Hue during the Tet Offensive.
Hopefully the first batch of images will follow soon.
Due to space and setting up time restrictions the size of the dioramas have been kept relatively small. This year the size was 350 x 350 x 350mm. The smaller size also allows entrants to fit them into their cabinets at home. There are some rules such as no painting / converting of the actual figures and only brands sold by the local shop. The competition is judged in the following way :
Judges Choice : This is chosen by two Judges and is based on the diorama work involved.
Peoples Choice : Each attendee gets to vote for their favourite diorama.
King & Country's Choice : Chosen by Andy Neilson and not surprisingly he usually chooses ones with K&C product.
Display : This is chosen by attendees voting. This category was introduced in the 2nd year to encourage some who were not confident in their diorama making abilities but gave them an opportunity to join in.
This year the competition was amazing and it was extremely difficult for the judges and attendees to choose. There was a very good variety of subjects and all who entered did great work. It was good to see those who attended appreciated the work put in and some already seem to have been inspired by what they have seen.
One trend I did notice was the "sneaky sniper" popping up. Most of the pics to follow are mine and may not do all the dioramas justice so apologies if I missed a good angle or some particular aspect. If a forum member has another view I did not get please add to the thread. There were a pair of dios where the maker requested they be put together due to the subject matter but they were still judged as seperate entries.
The first batch of pics are just general shots of the tables and two displays that were not in competition. The large US cavalry display was brought along by Mark IV and is where he hopes to put more cavalry in the future. The Rorkes Drift display was not allowed in the competition as some figures had been painted over. Once we get into painting and converting figures then we are entering the realms of a modelling competition which favours some much more than others.
Andy also brought along his Australian Vietnam Patrol diorama and not surprisingly there was a lot of interest. During his talk he mentioned his interest in Vietnam going back to a visit 20 years ago and his initial Vietnam series followed soon after. He mentioned Vietnam is going to be a big series with lots of possibilities for US Marines, Australians, vehicles and the enemy. Being an ex Royal Marine Andy expressed an affinity with the US Marines. Much of his inspiration comes from images by British photographer Don McCullin who covered the Marines in Hue during the Tet Offensive.
Hopefully the first batch of images will follow soon.
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