King and Country Brisbane dinner Report and comp pictures part two. (1 Viewer)

[waynepoo]

Magic photo's thus far Wayne mate, keep'em coming.......

Appreciate the review notes too!:salute::

Mate, what was missed the most last night was your smiling dial and a Kiwi who we couldn't pay out on, for those hoping for some Kiwi Nam figures I asked Andy on Toddy's behalf if he was considering doing any and his reply was they wore the same kit as Aussie's and thus not likely and besides who want any Kiwi figures anyway.....^&grin I jest.... Missed you Toddy hope you will lob next year, always can kick Lucy out and you can have her bed mate...:tongue:

 

[Normandy1944]

Many beautiful dioramas and good news for every collector!

Thanks for the photos



Harry

 

[TomNT]

Mate, what was missed the most last night was your smiling dial and a Kiwi who we couldn't pay out on, for those hoping for some Kiwi Nam figures I asked Andy on Toddy's behalf if he was considering doing any and his reply was they wore the same kit as Aussie's and thus not likely and besides who want any Kiwi figures anyway.....^&grin I jest.... Missed you Toddy hope you will lob next year, always can kick Lucy out and you can have her bed mate...:tongue:

Probably a good thing young Toddy wasn't there Wayne, he would have been cranky as hell because his Kiwis lost the Cricket by a four! ^&grin

Tom

 

[mikemiller1955]

Wayne...thanks for the pics...this looks like a really fun event...you guys in Australia produce some very nice displays!

 

[Horus]

Very high standard of work on all the dioramas here. Well done everyone ! {bravo}}

Steve

 

[tmanthegreat]

Very nice displays! I like how they’re all a bit smaller... Nothing against the huge dioramas, just I personally think a smaller setup enables a greater focus on a specific subject or scene without it getting lost in something bigger.

 

[OzDigger]

A very enjoyable night, I even won a lucky door prize...my only win in the 11 years history of the dinners. The number and quality of the Dioramas was very impressive. My favourite Diorama was the Aussies entering the Vietnam tunnel. And best Display for me was the knocked out Iraq tank in the desert, sand obtained from a local beach.

 

[The Military Workshop]

Firstly thanks to Wayne for putting up the images. Looks like he got them all :salute::

The results of the diorama competition (33 dios in competition)

Judges Choice (chosen by two independent judges with modelling background)

1st Germans surrendering to Russians Berlin 1945 - by Wayne (Waynepoo) featuring K&C figures
2nd Hougomont - by Ian - featuring Britains figures
3rd Jungle WW2/Vietnam (Dio 17) - by Gary - featuring TG WW2 Australians Pacific and K&C Vietnam Australians

King & Country Choice (chosen by Andy Neilson)
1st Vietnam tunnel - by Greg (Sapper) - featuring K&C Australians and Viet Cong.
2nd Vietnam Huey - by Ian - featuring Collectors Showcase Huey and K&C Vietnam Aussies & US Marines.
3rd WW2 German occupation Paris - by Lee - featuring K&C buildings and figures.

Special mention to : Cavalry and Apaches by Greg (Sapper) and Japanese v Russians WW2 by Matt (Norman508)

People's Choice (chosen by attendees)
1st and 2nd were same as Andy's choice. It should be noted Andy had made his choice prior to People's Choice being known.
3rd Tight Squeeze German vehicle in ruined building - by Matt (Norman508) - featuring K&C.

Display category - judged by attendees (5 in competition)
1st American Civil War Union camp - by Russell - K&C figures
2nd Arnhem landing - by Kevin - K&C figures
3rd Wirra's crashed plane / capture - by Kevin - K&C figures

Note the display category is one where nothing has been made and using bought bases / mats.

Just like last year it was very difficult to choose a winner due to the quality of entrants. The biggest subject was WW2 but there were 5 featuring Vietnam (3 of which won something).

Sapper, who won two categories, had four dios all of which had two levels. His Vietnam tunnel and Cavalry and Apaches both had a below ground element. His other was the D Day scene with Germans in town with the US figures walking along the lower level river bank. Similar two level in his WW2 British Dio with the canoes. There were two interesting dios which were "split" scenes. Wayne had one WW1 scene with Jenkins Australians running alongside of a wall with TG Germans on the other side. The third choice in Judges category also had a "split" scene but featuring WW2 Aussies in the jungle with their Vietnam "sons" on the other side of the jungle.

Other dios of interest were : Vietnam Australian base Nui Dat Counter Penetration Force which was made by a Vietnam veteran who commanded the unit depicted (very good backdrop blending in that one). Mark IV"s Medieval fort, Glenn's Ancient Egypt interior which featured silhouettes of the K&C dancing girls. WWI scene featuring Jenkins motorcycles was entered by female collector Carole and had interior detail inside the hut. As mentioned Matt's son Paul again entered and had three good dios.

There were some larger dios just for display. Mark IV had the large Light Horse and the Mussolini displays. Mark is a bit of a modeller as well as a collector. Wayne had another larger Berlin street scene which featured Berlin in 1945 with Russian and Americans with civilians. Farmer Tony brought in a large FIW fort he has built and had it displayed with a mixture of KC and JJ. Thanks to those three for bringing them in.

As mentioned by Wayne he made the Dio on which Andy displayed the Centurion.

Andy's display included all the remaining releases for this month plus the Centurion. He also brought the first Long Tan action set of 4 and these will be out before end of the year. Andy also mentioned the coming 105 artillery set which will have ANZAC bare chested crew plus a USMC crew. 105 will be sold seperately.

Thanks to all who entered the competition and joined the dinner. Interesting to note Breslau and OzDigger won something in the lucky drawer finally after 11 years with Breslau getting 1st prize.

With special thanks to Andy for coming down for his 11th visit. Always good to catch up with him and have him meet local collectors and I know he got plenty of good ideas.

 

[villagehorse]

For me this one stands out, simple but effective. Robin.

 

[breslau]

..... Thanks to all who entered the competition and joined the dinner. Interesting to note Breslau and OzDigger won something in the lucky drawer finally after 11 years with Breslau getting 1st prize.....

Yes I scored BBG048 for coming first in the lucky draw - my first lucky draw win ever.

A big thank you to Brett and Gerelou for being great hosts and especially for their generosity. There were about 10 lucky draw winners on the night and all received a K&C prize.

 

[The Military Workshop]

A word on the Long Tan figures.

Wayne put up an image (post 1) from Andy's display which shows the first Long Tan set and they are the four figures in the foreground. You will notice the kneeling figure has the Australian made WW2 era Owen gun. I have had an ex soldier tell me that is not right but it is correct that some Owen's were used in the battle and there is a picture of Lt Dave Sabben carrying one the following day. In one incident a Coy HQ soldier was carrying an Owen whilst delivering a radio and killed two VC with it. In the early days in Vietnam a lot of the gear was WW2 era.

The three figures behind the LT set are from VN51 set of 4 and they work well with them. You will note the Aboriginal scout. There were two Aboriginals at LT so it is not inappropriate to use that figure in a LT display.

For those who don't know LT is the most well known engagement of the Vietnam war for the Australians with D Company of 6 Battalion the Royal Australian Regiment (108 men) being attacked by over 2,000 NVA. Through their own fighting skills and courage plus backup from a RAAF Huey ammo drop, NZ and Australian artillery support and re-enforcement's from A Company on board M113's they were able to hold out and win. 18 were killed (most in the initial contact) and 24 wounded.

Vietnam Veterans Day is commemorated on 18 August when the battle took place.

The battle is the subject of the upcoming movie Danger Close being released in Australia of 8 August. Travis Fimmel of Vikings fame plays the Company Commander Harry Smith.

The Kiwis played an important part of the battle as the Coy had three artillery forward observers attached and the commander of the combined ANZAC artillery in base was a Kiwi Major.

The battle aftermath continued for many years afterwards as it was felt that the medals awarded were insufficient. A few days after the battle the South Vietnamese presented dolls to members of the Company as their bravery medals were not accepted. After almost 40 years of campaigning by the Coy Cdr some of the medals awarded were upgraded. There was controversy over the initial awards as some senior officers not in the battle claimed undue credit for their role. Plus there was a quota system (ie. medals per tour) which meant not enough recognition for the participants. The Coy did receive the US Presidential Unit Citation soon after the battle.

A few years later a LT Memorial Cross was erected at the site. This remained until recently when it was removed and taken to the War Memorial in Canberra.

For those interested the Wikipedia entry is pretty comprehensive and there is plenty elsewhere online.

 

[The Military Workshop]

For me this one stands out, simple but effective. Robin.

That Counter Penetration Force was set up as a direct result of Long Tan. Interestingly the commander of the small force was from the Army Aviation side of things (161 Recce Squadron). I guess that position was chosen just because the officer was in HQ but it does seem odd to put infantry and M113 under the command of aviation guys. The guy who made the Dio commanded the unit a few years after LT.

 

[Desertkiwi]

Probably a good thing young Toddy wasn't there Wayne, he would have been cranky as hell because his Kiwis lost the Cricket by a four! ^&grin

Tom

For the record Tom mate we were robbed. :tongue:

 

[Desertkiwi]

Mate, what was missed the most last night was your smiling dial and a Kiwi who we couldn't pay out on, for those hoping for some Kiwi Nam figures I asked Andy on Toddy's behalf if he was considering doing any and his reply was they wore the same kit as Aussie's and thus not likely and besides who want any Kiwi figures anyway.....^&grin I jest.... Missed you Toddy hope you will lob next year, always can kick Lucy out and you can have her bed mate...:tongue:

I think Lucy dog may have something to say about that. ^&grin

I'll do my best to paddle across the ditch next year mate.

Andy's right about the Kiwi & Aussie Nam uniform, they wore almost the same thing, but would be great to add a little 'Kiwi flavour' to the mix.{sm4}

 

[The Military Workshop]

One interesting point forgot to mention.

Last year and this year we had people who had created lighting effects. One brought his own little lamp to place by his Dio.

However one effect you can't see in the pictures and it relates to Dio 16. It is a Napoleonic Dio with Wellington in one corner on a horse with 3 infantry nearby (1st pic in post 13). That small part of the Dio was actually on a revolving thingy so Wellington and the three were turning around in a circle.

I suspect next year might see some Long Tan dioramas. I just hope the next diorama innovation is not the rain effects !