King & Country
Captain
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
- Messages
- 5,027
Hi Guys,
Although it’s not been a secret that we’ve been working on several major new projects it’s perhaps not so well known why…how…or what exactly is going on.
So let’s start at the beginning…About 18 months ago a gentleman in San Antonio visited Kings X and saw Gordon’s 24 square foot diorama of the Alamo which is the centerpiece of the store.
He explained that he wanted a similar model about double or three times as big. Both Gordon and yours truly realized P.D.Q. that we could not construct such a large dio in HK. Fortunately we had a contact in the States…Mr. Mike Harris of Oklahoma who could do what we required and could complete it in about 6 months. So, we sent Mike some of our Alamo figures in order for the scale to match up and between us worked out the layout and angle of the model. Unlike our store model this new diorama could accommodate a lot more of the surrounding landscape to be occupied by Santa Anna’s Mexicans.
That brought another potential problem to light…the number and the weight of the figures that would populate the dio. Our Kings X store has about 350 figures on board…This new dio could possibly require up to 1500!
We quickly realized that 1500 metal figures would create quite a weight problem. And so we opted to design and make a whole new Mexican Army in resin plastic which would weigh a fraction of the metal one. At the same time we had already been thinking about making soldiers in less expensive materials that both collectors and tourists might like to buy in our Kings X store. “Remember The Alamo” was and is our first venture into this new way.
However I’m getting ahead of the tale…Once we completed the model itself and Mike delivered it in 4 separate adjoining sections our client told us it was actually to be installed in a brand new museum in San Antonio…The Briscoe Western Art Museum. All of us were thrilled and delighted for the work to be shown there. The client further stated that originally he intended it to be the centerpiece of the Museum Gift Store. However now that other senior members of the Museum had seen it they were putting it into the “Conflict Gallery” which covers many if not all of the many wars and campaigns that have been fought throughout Texan history.
Anyway it was decided that the model would be installed in a special custom-made case and Gordon and myself would return to San Antonio after the 2013 Chicago Show to do the final landscaping and “fixing-on” of almost 1500 figures…approximately a month before the Museum opening.
On Wednesday 25 September at 7:30AM Gordon and myself arrived at the Museum with all our paints, glue, accessories and other bits ‘n’ bobs. Waiting for us on the 3rd floor, in the “Conflict Gallery” was the bare diorama on top of its case plus four giant boxes of model soldiers from Hong Kong…both resin and metal. At the time we reckoned it would take two to three days to complete the scene…Little did we know! Prior to arriving we had decided that the moment we wished to portray was when the Mexican Soldados had penetrated the North East corner of the defense wall and were spilling into the main interior compound. Most of the defenders were still manning the perimeter walls which were already being assaulted by advancing columns of Mexicans.
With the help and able assistance of Adam our new King’s X store manager we unpacked all the soldiers and began their distribution around the exterior of the old mission. It was a daunting spectacle to see this huge Mexican Army and the relatively small defending force of Tejanos, Texians and other volunteers. And so we got down to work…patiently placing and discussing the exact position of each figure before finally agreeing and gluing it into its place. Apart from a brief 45 minute break for lunch each day we kept working until 6PM every night. It was actually pretty exhausting but one of the most satisfying and enjoyable projects either of us and K&C has ever been involved in! Throughout the day visitors would come and go enjoying the growing display – constantly marveling at the quality of Mike’s work and Gordon’s additional diorama details. In addition the sight of hundreds and hundreds of little soldiers which few had ever seen before was a major WOW factor for many of the viewers…All seemed to agree that this would be a major “draw” for tourists and collectors alike. Believe me it made Gordon, myself and the whole Kings X and K&C team very proud.
On our final day as we fitted on the last Mesquite tree…the remaining Mexican soldiers and just one more Alamo defender Gordon turned to me and said, “No bad for two wee guys from Scotland eh?” I had to agree…”It’s a long way from Renfrew to the Alamo!” I replied.
All the best and happy collecting.
Andy C.
P.S. The new figures will be available in a couple of month’s time.
Although it’s not been a secret that we’ve been working on several major new projects it’s perhaps not so well known why…how…or what exactly is going on.
So let’s start at the beginning…About 18 months ago a gentleman in San Antonio visited Kings X and saw Gordon’s 24 square foot diorama of the Alamo which is the centerpiece of the store.
He explained that he wanted a similar model about double or three times as big. Both Gordon and yours truly realized P.D.Q. that we could not construct such a large dio in HK. Fortunately we had a contact in the States…Mr. Mike Harris of Oklahoma who could do what we required and could complete it in about 6 months. So, we sent Mike some of our Alamo figures in order for the scale to match up and between us worked out the layout and angle of the model. Unlike our store model this new diorama could accommodate a lot more of the surrounding landscape to be occupied by Santa Anna’s Mexicans.
That brought another potential problem to light…the number and the weight of the figures that would populate the dio. Our Kings X store has about 350 figures on board…This new dio could possibly require up to 1500!
We quickly realized that 1500 metal figures would create quite a weight problem. And so we opted to design and make a whole new Mexican Army in resin plastic which would weigh a fraction of the metal one. At the same time we had already been thinking about making soldiers in less expensive materials that both collectors and tourists might like to buy in our Kings X store. “Remember The Alamo” was and is our first venture into this new way.
However I’m getting ahead of the tale…Once we completed the model itself and Mike delivered it in 4 separate adjoining sections our client told us it was actually to be installed in a brand new museum in San Antonio…The Briscoe Western Art Museum. All of us were thrilled and delighted for the work to be shown there. The client further stated that originally he intended it to be the centerpiece of the Museum Gift Store. However now that other senior members of the Museum had seen it they were putting it into the “Conflict Gallery” which covers many if not all of the many wars and campaigns that have been fought throughout Texan history.
Anyway it was decided that the model would be installed in a special custom-made case and Gordon and myself would return to San Antonio after the 2013 Chicago Show to do the final landscaping and “fixing-on” of almost 1500 figures…approximately a month before the Museum opening.
On Wednesday 25 September at 7:30AM Gordon and myself arrived at the Museum with all our paints, glue, accessories and other bits ‘n’ bobs. Waiting for us on the 3rd floor, in the “Conflict Gallery” was the bare diorama on top of its case plus four giant boxes of model soldiers from Hong Kong…both resin and metal. At the time we reckoned it would take two to three days to complete the scene…Little did we know! Prior to arriving we had decided that the moment we wished to portray was when the Mexican Soldados had penetrated the North East corner of the defense wall and were spilling into the main interior compound. Most of the defenders were still manning the perimeter walls which were already being assaulted by advancing columns of Mexicans.
With the help and able assistance of Adam our new King’s X store manager we unpacked all the soldiers and began their distribution around the exterior of the old mission. It was a daunting spectacle to see this huge Mexican Army and the relatively small defending force of Tejanos, Texians and other volunteers. And so we got down to work…patiently placing and discussing the exact position of each figure before finally agreeing and gluing it into its place. Apart from a brief 45 minute break for lunch each day we kept working until 6PM every night. It was actually pretty exhausting but one of the most satisfying and enjoyable projects either of us and K&C has ever been involved in! Throughout the day visitors would come and go enjoying the growing display – constantly marveling at the quality of Mike’s work and Gordon’s additional diorama details. In addition the sight of hundreds and hundreds of little soldiers which few had ever seen before was a major WOW factor for many of the viewers…All seemed to agree that this would be a major “draw” for tourists and collectors alike. Believe me it made Gordon, myself and the whole Kings X and K&C team very proud.
On our final day as we fitted on the last Mesquite tree…the remaining Mexican soldiers and just one more Alamo defender Gordon turned to me and said, “No bad for two wee guys from Scotland eh?” I had to agree…”It’s a long way from Renfrew to the Alamo!” I replied.
All the best and happy collecting.
Andy C.
P.S. The new figures will be available in a couple of month’s time.
