Final Assault on the Alamo (3 Viewers)

[Paul J. Lyon]

It is nearly 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 6, 1836, across the river from the town of San Antonio de Bejar.

The final assault on the Alamo has been timed to gain the cover and surprise of darkness without risking its confusion, the danger of friendly fire, the opportunity to flee to the rear.

The north wall is broken down by artillery; in the northeast angle, three cannons on a ramp built into the dilapidated adobes; a thousand men mob into the breach...

Once they break through, they are seen to swarm into the plaza "like sheep."

The units are mixed, and include the Zapadore battalion reserves, brought up to push the mass through the wall.

The NE angle artillery position cleared of defenders...

 

[Paul J. Lyon]

 

[Paul J. Lyon]

The Mexican army storms into the Alamo plaza as the sun rises.

Clearing the plaza of defenders.

The north wall behind the first soldiers to gain the interior.

The ruined adobe houses along the east wall that were fortified by a double palisade on the outside.

 

[Paul J. Lyon]

Taking the initiative and turning the defenders' cannon into the plaza and against the stone buildings.

 

[Bottlesoldier]

{sm3} Paul, that is bloody fantastic mate. It looks like stills from a movie. I do love a dio and the era that is set in. Well done, it's a credit to you. Cheers, Johno.{sm4}

 

[29 Let's Go]

Paul,

Thanks for sharing the final action of the Alamo. You really captured the action well. Love the lone Alamo defender on the wall.

Steve

 

[jac28]

Excellent job.. looks great!

Jim

 

[mestell]

Very nicely done Paul . . . .
:smile2: Mike

 

[GICOP]

That is excellent :salute:::salute::

Cheers

Martyn

 

[wds0855]

Fantastic, thank you!

Walt

 

[Paul J. Lyon]

Thank you everyone. My plans are to go all around the fort this way; by the time of this scene, the Mexicans had already taken the SW angle and were taking rooms and killing defenders along the south wall-- more on that later.

 

[Napoleon1er]

{bravo}}{bravo}}As I think we have all come to expect from you, these are beyond incredible pictures! Your Alamo is truly great, and...I mean just{eek3}.{bravo}}{bravo}}
-Sandor:salute::

 

[desk11desk12]

Paul

Outstanding work and excellent photography.

You might try doing a video/ photo slide show with music background.

Just a thought.

Carlos

 

[Denver]

Paul
This is truly an excellent presentation.
It must have taken a time to complete it.
Are all your figures metal ? How many ?
Who made the buildings and accessories ?
Thank you for posting your action packed photographs.
It will be a reference for my Alamo ?

 

[wds0855]

Paul, how did you accomplish the smoke effects?

 

[breslau]

Paul, how did you accomplish the smoke effects?

It's a brilliant diorama and I too like the smoke effects. I'm hoping I'm not insulting you, but is it cotton wool? Whatever it is, it's most effective!

 

[Halo]

great job

 

[Paul J. Lyon]

Paul

It must have taken a time to complete it.
Are all your figures metal ? How many ?
Who made the buildings and accessories ?

The smoke is pulled-apart synthetic cotton pillow stuffing, sprinkled with debris and sand sometimes.

Most of the figures are plastic, but these Conte and King & Country Alamo figures are great and I get as many as I can afford-- they come fully painted and cost 25-35 dollars apiece. I also use some Britains Napoleonic figures.

I have about a thousand plastic figures and I've painted about half of them. These cost about 50 cents each when I first started buying them about 20 years ago, and there are a number of fine lines now to supplement the old Marx -- Conte, Barzso, Classic, Imex, A Call to Arms, etc.

I used to worry about not finding enough cannons; now you can get all you need, including a full plastic set of Alamo cannons from Barzso. You can get a complete fort from Toy Soldiers of San Diego and Conte.

I made all of the buildings except for three or four Formtech adobe houses and the blacksmith shed-- these structures cost about 20 or 30 bucks each.

There are so many barrels, benches, stools, crates, handcarts, etc., made by different companies. The best thing to do is to consult the catalog in Michigan Toy Soldiers website. The cannon ramps, stockades, and other features are all hand made.

 

[Mitch]

superb
Mitch

 

[Halo]

Yes....superb