Everyone, appreciate all the positive posts. Mike, I really like the details in dioramas and can't help myself putting them in mine. Sometimes I think it is a bit much. Like using real metal rails in the diorama for the guns.
Mark, to answer your question, yes, I have used Military Miniature Warehouse and Cottage Industries for a number of my projects. They have a wide offering and have fairly good inventory. Scales are always difficult to match when dealing with kits and various companies so I keep a list of ones that are similar to WB. That is why I have to calibrate the pieces in the diorama first to a standard scale, than block the diorama by positioning pieces closer or farther from the camera to give the impression of matching scales without hiding the points of interest.
I will start to mention the suppliers for purchased kits or details and when things are scratch built or modified to help anyone who would like to duplicate this diorama. Here are some images from the beginning of this weekend. I included a few where I was doing some blocking with WB figures and had some detail pieces such as hammers and shell boxes, which maybe too small to see in the pictures. Finished making the Verlinden kit guns for the battery, formed the scratch built rails for the emplacements, painted the Value Gear resin sandbags and placed them, dry brushed and detailed the wood within the battery, finished the scratch built signal tower and the scratch built light bonfires. Planning to go to production next week with the final version of the diorama.
Ken, Brad and Mark, appreciate the compliments, was working on lighting tonight with the foreground lights. They are made up of the bonfires, the signal light tower and some lamp boxes. Most of the scene will be back lit from the direction of the river. Overall, not too bad. Will need to work on the position of the lamp boxes as they need to project light but not look too modern so they will need to move towards the battery. The signal tower and bonfires came out as expected. Thought you may enjoy a hint of what is to come this weekend. Thx Chris
Scenario Two, “Water Battery Number 12”, it is the spring of 1863 and the third year of the rebellion, a city on a bend in one of the largest rivers in the United States has become one of the last bastions in the hands of the young Confederacy on that vital waterway. Once called the “Queen City of the Bluff” by its residents, it is a rich city which was built on commerce from steamboats and railroads. The Confederates have set up defenses for the Queen City of the Bluff on the river and inland. The river defenses are a series of batteries in two lines, the lower water batteries and the upper water batteries. The Federal army has found it necessary to move men and supplies down the Mississippi past these dangerous batteries. A number of land routes and canals have been attempted but all of them have proven to be ineffective. Time was running out for a Spring Offensive so it fell to Porter’s river squadrons to escort the transport past the Vicksburg batteries. Hearing rumors that General Pemberton had ordered a grand ball for the senior Confederate staff and most of Vicksburg’s citizens, Porter chose the night of April 16 for the run. The convoy would consist of 12 ships, 200 hundred yards apart and leaving in darkness. The ships exhausts were vented in to the paddle wheel housings to muffle the sound to avoid detection. Porter even ordered all pets and livestock ashore. The captains were told to stagger the line so that if a vessel in front of them was hit, they could steer around them. The sailors even stacked cotton and hay bales on deck as added protection along with grain sacks logs. Men below decks men were ready with plugs and wads to plug any shell holes. They set off at 9:15 PM down river with General Grant, his wife and two sons, who were visiting, watching with General Sherman sitting down river waiting. The little fleet did not get far when they were spotted by Confederate pickets in skiffs in the river. The pickets set off the alarm that was spread through the city and batteries protecting it. Federal gunboats and the lower river batteries began to exchange fire as spotters in the upper batteries identify targets.
The ball came to a hasty close with officers and soldiers quickly getting to their posts. This included men selected to act as "fire control". These men would include slaves from local plantations. Directed by their officers, the batteries began to select targets in the river as they came in range along the four mile long defensive line.
The batteries on the bluffs quickly loaded and started to fire on the fleet. One of these was Battery Number 12 of the Upper River Batteries mounting three 32 pound rifles and a 10 inch Columbiad which is depicted in this diorama. One of the more powerful batteries, it was manned by men of Captain John Peyton Lynch’s Tennessee Artillery Company that was attached to the 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery. The Confederates would receive counter fire from the gunboats as they passed.
The Confederates illuminated the river by setting bonfires, setting on fire houses in Federal occupied De Soto, barrels filled with pitch and signal lights directed at the river.
One of Grant’s sons said, “The River was lighted up as if by sunlight.” The Confederate crews would work at a feverish pace firing almost 525 rounds in two and a half hours.
They would sink one transport and 2 barges as well as hit a number of the gunboats inflicting minor damage. This “running of the batteries” was a success for the Federals and would play a large part in tightening the noose around Vicksburg. As for Battery Number 12, Colonel Higgins, commander of the Confederate heavy artillery for Vicksburg, in reporting on the bombardment of the enemy gunboats on May 27, in which the ironclad gunboat Cincinnati was sunk, stated: "Great credit is due to Captain Lynch and Captain Johnston for the handsome manner in which their guns were handled during the engagement." Captain Lynch and the men of Battery Number 12 would surrender on July 4th, 1863 with the rest of the Vicksburg garrison. This is a photo of the location of Upper Water Battery Number 12 today:
Hope you liked this scenario and stay tuned for Scenario 3. As always, any feedback on improving these scenarios is always appreciated. Let me know if you would like to see pictures of the battery diorama in normal light. Chris
Chris, this is an absolutely brilliant sequence of pictures of your dio. The nighttime setting is just so well represented with the subtle lighting and so well highlighted by the cannon fire that it is hard to imagine this could have been done any better. I would love to see 'daylight' shots just to see all the details that are hidden in the darkness and shadows. This is the most unique dio I have seen. Well done, sir! -- Al
One of Grant’s sons said, “The River was lighted up as if by sunlight.” The Confederate crews would work at a feverish pace firing almost 525 rounds in two and a half hours.
Just an overall outstanding job of both creation and photography . . . . I think these are some of the best ACW photos I have seen in a while on the forum and in MHO are certainly the best "night" photos that have ever been shared anywhere on this forum . . . . . just marvelous . . . .
:smile2: Mike
Al, Ken and Mike, appreciate the positive comments. As I found out by doing this one, night time dioramas are a lot tougher than they look. It is a unique scene and took more planning because the low light created problems of distortion and depth in the images that needed to be overcome. I tried using back drops for the artillery blasts and shell bursts but they lacked the depth I needed so had to get creative as you will see in the pictures. The story caught my attention when I tried to find Battery Number 12 and it is literally on the street corners in the picture. Per your request, here are some photos that were taken right before I turned off the lights to capture the night time images:
A couple of details to note, the shell bursts and cannon blasts are one of three clear plastic balls containing 2 lights each to illuminate the center and then coated with white, gray and black inter mixed cotton. They are then supported by clear plastic stands to allow lighting from below to shine up on the bottoms to help with the effect. The balls are in front of the battery at different distances to provide variety. By positioning them in front of the battery, I can use different camera angles to give the illusion that they are either shell bursts or cannon blasts. One thing to note is that it was difficult for Federal gunboats to reach the upper batteries because the guns could not be elevated enough to get them. There are a number of accessories for the battery and various barrels and boxes positioned in the back of the batteries to hide the bases. Here are more and some taken in daylight right before I started to take the diorama apart for storage:
Some other points of interest are of the fifteen water buckets to help with fire control and five grease buckets that were done for this diorama. There is also a battery forge made from a kit and painted grey for variety. Some of these pictures are from the same camera angles as the night time shots for comparison. You can see how just moving the camera can portray either a shell burst or cannon blast. Here are more pictures:
Last set of pictures and more of an aerial view in daylight. You can see the space between the back drop and the diorama allowing me to create the back lighting to mimic the fires near the river. I have also converted one of the older WB figures to an artillery officer and you can see him in the fore front of one of the pictures. Notice the blackened area in the gun port to represent residue from the guns firing as an additional detail. The sand bags and low vegetation is from period images of works around Vicksburg and it's fall. The one section that was damaged and repaired contains more sand bags to illustrate hasty repairs done during the siege. You can also see a spotters ladder used in ACW forts. It was made wider to fit the figure on it. You can also see the finished signal light that kind of got lost in the night time diorama. I also made stands for the bonfires to elevate them into the pictures and mark the scene limits and a bomb proof for an additional point of interest. Let me know if you have any questions. Chris
Chris, all I can say is 'Wow'. This is an unbelievable dio. So well done. Thanks for posting the daylight shots. The detail you have incorporated into this creation is just remarkable and the creativity to achieve your lighting effects is so professional in result it is kind of mind-blowing. Again, congratulations on this beautiful piece of work. Your skill in creating this moment in time is something to be proud of. You are a true artist. -- Al
Al, appreciate the positive comments. I really like trying new things in the dioramas and creating those "moments in time" images. I always wanted to try a night time diorama after doing the Franklin series and especially creating the "Shoot out at the Carter Buildings" images in the dusk setting. I thought I would try something a little more dramatic. Once I looked at the battery in the daylight, I almost switched to a day time action to show all of the detail but decided to save that for another time.
From the workbench, well the battery is put away in storage and on to scenario number 3. I am going to switch to the American Revolution and focus on the war on the western frontier of Pennsylvania. I will have to wait for the new figures coming out this fall in the Clash of Empires line to complete the scenario. Here are a couple of images from the workbench trying to create one of a number of new effects for this scenario, this one being a special water effect to go with the script. It will need to be created but not permanently affect the figure as I need them for future scenes:
Again, hope you enjoy this and let me know if you have any feedback. Chris
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