The American Civil War Diaries (3 Viewers)

[Spitfrnd]

Excellent work again Bob. I was hanging on each separate photo and narrative. An extremely welcome post Thanksgiving surprise. As I expected from your review, my Bond experience left me much in need of enjoyable artistic stimuli; I will comment more about that in the QoS thread. Suffice it to say your post here was well time and much appreciated mate.

 

[UKReb]

Splendid job Reb. I always love coming into the forum and finding something new from you.

By the way... is the scene of Grant and his generals based off a famous photo? I think I recall a picture of Grant standing around a table with maps and his generals. On the other hand, of course Grant would stand around a table with his generals and you wouldnt need a photo to know that. But maybe you had inspiration for that setup?

Harris

You have a keen eye Harris. There are a number of photos taken of Grant during this campaign due mainly to the fact that the people of Washington and other cities in the East did not know this new Lt General who now commanded the Army of the Potomac and all were very keen to see photos of him in the field. Grant hated having to pose for these shots and rarely did consequently, most of the shots taken of him were impromptu and depict him at meetings with his staff rather than him posing.

The particular photo you refer to was taken during this campaign and by Matthew Brady himself. Following that meeting with his general staff Brady persuaded Grant to pose alone outside of his tent with one hand clutching the tent support-which has become a famous shot of the General and why I included the tent behind him in my dio.

Reb

 

[Deitz]

I started reading this thread from the beign again, while watching Ken Burns's Civil War series.

UKReb this is a wonderful thread.

 

[UKReb]

Bob

Your Civil War Toy Soldier Collection is unbelievable !!

You must have every figure that has ever been made ?

Great THREAD - THANK YOU !!

Guys
Thanks for all of your very kind comments-kinda makes it all worthwhile that there is an appreciative audience somewhere out there in cyberspace.

Ron
LOL I think you're right I got 'em all except that early Britain's figure of Longstreet-Hope to hell you're still searching for him Stateside
Although on reflection as I'm sure you know and for those following the story Old Pete Longstreet is now truly hors'd'combat and I wont need him until almost the fall of Petersburg where he rejoins Lee. And accurately depicting and building a diorama of The Battle of the Crater now that sure will be a mammoth task

Reb

 

[Capitolron]

LOL - The search will continue !

Bob - if you have a picture of him - you should post it here to see if anyone might have him ? Just a thought ?

 

[VanguardFC007]

And accurately depicting and building a diorama of The Battle of the Crater now that sure will be a mammoth task

Reb

That brings me to a question, how much time does it take you normally to put these dioramas together in the magnificent detail that you do? Im also curious as to what happens when you've built them and begin the next one. Did you get that lucky house with the closet that never ends?


Harris

 

[Njja]

Yes wonderful questions! How do you do it Reb?

Unless of course it is a trade secert! I imagine a wonderful room filled with

shelves full of wonderful figures. A large table set in the center with lots of

indirect lighting and a photographic crew at the ready!

You must have a team of landscapers, a couple of set designers, a few key

grips and an electrician or two all standing by........hmmm I wonder are you

paying Union Scale?

However you do it, keep them coming, we all can't wait for the rest of the

battles!

 

[UKReb]

That brings me to a question, how much time does it take you normally to put these dioramas together in the magnificent detail that you do? Im also curious as to what happens when you've built them and begin the next one. Did you get that lucky house with the closet that never ends?


Harris

Harris/John LOL. No I converted the loft-Trudi my good lady is very tolerant of my hobby but would not put up with two thousand miniature Yanks and Rebs fighting like hell in her Art Deco home. The loft of our current abode is quite extensive and me and a couple of chums did a full conversion with a multitude of strip and spot lighting plus a pretty good sound system but like an idiot I did not put in a sky-light robbing me of natural light.

I think you guys have basements we don't have too many of those over here due to the fact that for 300 days of the year somewhere in Britain it's raining. The old Victorian houses had what we called cellars where they kept the coal and the mice but newer properties did away with them.

How long do the scenes take?-sometimes forever-but I have four scenes set up on turntables so you can shoot from all angles-one for example being the Wilderness woods which was originally built as a trial run for the FIW dios I posted awhile ago knowing that I wanted to to have a crack at Grant's Overland Campaign. Figures are stored in glass cabinets Yanks one end Rebs the other makes for easy selection after the scenics are built.

Gettysburg is set-up on a 6' X 6' static trestle and with full battle-sounds and civil war martial music blasting out from the sound-system not only brings me out in goose-flesh but most of my pals as well when we retire up there with a couple of bottles of red wine to leave the ladies to chat fashion and shoes in the lounge.

Reb

 

[Njja]

Reb

Don't feel bad about the sky lights they are nothing but trouble! I have had

them in my last two houses and they always manage to find a way to leak!

I have had the 3 I currently have replaced when I had a new roof installed,

at that time 2 of the old ones leaked on occasion.

Now many thousands of dollars later only one leaks! And only when it feels

like it!

A scary thought when you step in a puddle and you have a Boo living with

you!

 

[UKReb]

Beautiful dog John,

Here's ours- Bobby Lee on the day he came up to the loft with me and got zapped in the paw by one of those darn Yankee cannons. He quickly retired back down with his mistress to help with the housework.

Reb

 

[Njja]

Reb:

Wow he certainly is a beautiful animal!

You just have to love those wonderful puppys you can put a saddle on and

ride in an emergency!

Every day when I get up Boo has to come over and sit with me for a few

minutes.....and the wife can't understand why he refuses to come in from his

run no matter what she says or does.......until I come to the door and

whistle.

Then nice as can be he climbs up the stairs of the back deck and comes

inside!

Its a guy thing!

 

[Captain]

Thank you UKReb for the great thread. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Here is a picture of "Jackson";

 

[UKReb]

Guys

I just got these two figures off "evil" bay UK for an absolute snip with no other bidders in fact paid more on the shipping, the fellah selling them had them down as ACW soldiers-the're not- appear to me to be later frontier cavalrymen-but I do recall seeing these somewhere- although not this side of the pond- maybe here on the forum? Any help to fill the gaps much appreciated.

Pretty sure the officer is supposed to be the Duke in one of his cavalry movies as he bears an uncanny likeness to him- maybe "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" with the drunken Irish sergeant, but I'm guessing-Both figures are metal and very unusual came with no base stands just free standing?-approx 60mm scale, but very well sculpted & painted.

For those familar with the film SWAYR the text below is taken from the soundtrack and it does fit the figures

Captain Brittles: "Quincannon you got a breath on you like a hot mince pie"

Sgt Quincannon: "Ah! Capn dahlin, As you well know I took the pledge to give up the demon drink after Chapultepec"

Brittles: "And Bull Run and Shiloh and Gettysburg and St Patrick's Day and Fourth of July"

 

[marco55]

They look like the KC figures that was exclusive to Kings X.Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.
Mark

 

[Lewey Gun Vick]

Sweet figures! Reb you must have some of the best figures in the world!

Vick

 

[Njja]

Reb:

They are similar to the King & Country Figures and I'm certain you will make

good use of them!

Here are a couple of pictures of the King & Country Figures, they are quite

nice, and I highly recommend them!

 

[VanguardFC007]

Great pick up Reb. They look like theyd do well in a WBTS collection to me.

Harris

 

[VanguardFC007]

Totally off topic but I had my first drop in a couple of years. I was moving pieces around to clean and dust the shelves and I accidentally knocked one of my not-so-well-balanced Irish Brigade flag bearers over who took out a couple of riflemen. Thank goodness there was no damage. On the bright side at my current pace this wont happen again for a few years.

Harris

 

[6th Wisconsin]

Totally off topic but I had my first drop in a couple of years. I was moving pieces around to clean and dust the shelves and I accidentally knocked one of my not-so-well-balanced Irish Brigade flag bearers over who took out a couple of riflemen. Thank goodness there was no damage. On the bright side at my current pace this wont happen again for a few years.

Harris

You got lucky!! A few years ago, I was moving a display case to the side just a bit when it tipped, and my Britains CW 6-horse limber set tumbled out. It had enough damage to prompt me to buy another while there were still a very few to be found (had to because it was one of my very favorite sets). Set me back over $200 to replace.

 

[UKReb]

Mark/John

Thanks for the info on the figures am quite envious of your collection John.

As for you other two butter fingers go careful out there, both armies took enough battle damage from each other without you adding to their casualty lists

Reb