The Rorkes Drift Redoubt, where the 24th ft held off the final Zulu charge. (1 Viewer)

[EPGallagher]

This is my first First legion diorama I just made for one of my clients-these figures are St Petersburg quality and the painting detail is stunning-nothing like it on the market today, and the sale price makes them an incredible bargain. I managed to get 40 plus figures on a 12" x 12" base that weighed 20 lbs when finished. I repainted all the bases to fit where they are standing on the base, and added hundreds of shell casings cut from brass rod. The dead zulus are from a variety of kits and my own sculpts I've collected over the years as I've always wanted to build this after I first saw the movie "Zulu" lo those many years ago and multiple times since. I hope you enjoy it as it was a fun project to do.
Pat

 

[Horus]

Well done Pat, the diorama looks amazing and full of great details like the empty cartridge cases and the weave on the Mealie bags. :salute::

I suppose that there won't be many repeats of Zulu on tv now though with it being deemed colonial and racist. Shame

Steve

 

[ccdc11]

Pat you do such great work.

 

[Nicholas V Hall]

I have been a Zulu nut since 1964, saw it when I was 9 and it sucked me in. I even have a uniform from the film and have been to Rorke’s Drift twice. I got a Sony Walkman and went up onto the Oskaberg hill that looks down on the site and listened to the last 25 minutes. Your diorama is fantastic, certainly one if not the best I have seen. I am doing one myself curtesy of the FL sale. I only hope it looks half as good as yours. At the moment it has about 55 figures all FL and a bit of TG, their Zulus are I think on par with FL and you need lots of them to create the effect.

[/QUOTE]

 

[mikemiller1955]

Pat...just like the movie...all you need is the bugalar with no spittle to blow the bugle...very nice!

 

[mestell]

Jaw dropping nice . . . Very well done Pat.
Mike

 

[EPGallagher]

Well done Pat, the diorama looks amazing and full of great details like the empty cartridge cases and the weave on the Mealie bags. :salute::

I suppose that there won't be many repeats of Zulu on tv now though with it being deemed colonial and racist. Shame

Steve
Actually you can if you have a smart TV-its on TUBI-I watched it several times again while building this, although the Politically correct crowd must have done the info part that explains what the movie is about...."Swedish missionary and his daughter watch warriors attack a fort....." Talk about understatement!!

 

[EPGallagher]

Pat...just like the movie...all you need is the bugalar with no spittle to blow the bugle...very nice!

Thanks Mike-tried to figure out how to model that but came up short
Pat

 

[EPGallagher]

Pat you do such great work.

Thanks C. I'm also a car nut to and love that Ferrari picture on your profile-If you haven't already, visit WWW.Bringatrailer.com which is an auction for interesting cars that I look at every day and drool, but the cool thing about it is very knowledgeable people from all over the world comment on each car which is the best part. Hot cars and toy soldiers-what could be better in life??
Pat

 

[ccdc11]

Thanks C. I'm also a car nut to and love that Ferrari picture on your profile-If you haven't already, visit WWW.Bringatrailer.com which is an auction for interesting cars that I look at every day and drool, but the cool thing about it is very knowledgeable people from all over the world comment on each car which is the best part. Hot cars and toy soldiers-what could be better in life??
Pat

Pat yes bring a trailer is a weekly stop.
Thanks again for the gift of the tree at Chicago last year. It fit so well in a clash of empires dio..

 

[Gebhard]

Beautifully done, that looks FANTASTIC :salute:::salute::

 

[mikemiller1955]

Thanks Mike-tried to figure out how to model that but came up short
Pat

wait a minute Pat...

I see him now...
middle column on the left...
there he is!

VERY NICE!

 

[villagehorse]

Such a stunning intense diorama, a museum piece. Robin.

 

[egonzinc]

Looks fantastic!

 

[Andanna]

This is great. Because of its limited size, it looks very intense.

 

[wayne556517]

Great work Pat as usual

 

[The Military Workshop]

Great dio of a favourite subject for many collectors.

Pat might be interested to know Australian soldiers I have spoken to were shown the movie before deployed to Vietnam. Probably the popular war movie at the time. I asked one was it because of the drill and discipline (ie. front rank and rear rank fire type stuff). No he replied "because of the bayonet fighting "!. Just what I would not want to hear before being sent overseas. Luckily no Zulus with assegais in Vietnam.

 

[EPGallagher]

I have been a Zulu nut since 1964, saw it when I was 9 and it sucked me in. I even have a uniform from the film and have been to Rorke’s Drift twice. I got a Sony Walkman and went up onto the Oskaberg hill that looks down on the site and listened to the last 25 minutes. Your diorama is fantastic, certainly one if not the best I have seen. I am doing one myself curtesy of the FL sale. I only hope it looks half as good as yours. At the moment it has about 55 figures all FL and a bit of TG, their Zulus are I think on par with FL and you need lots of them to create the effect.

[/QUOTE]
Hi Nick
I too visites both battlefields when I was in South Africa on a consulting assignment almost 30 years ago, as I was also inspired by the movie. I'd love to see your diorama when done, but don't hesitate to ask me for any ideas when under construction. I used air dried clay to do the wall over a foam base. I would use at least 2 or even 3" foam for the base as these figures are heavy-The only reason I used 1" is my client had a very limited space height wise to put this in, but at 20 lbs could potentially break if lifted even with a fiberboard base I put on the bottom. Thanks also for the kind comments
Pat

 

[EPGallagher]

Great dio of a favourite subject for many collectors.

Pat might be interested to know Australian soldiers I have spoken to were shown the movie before deployed to Vietnam. Probably the popular war movie at the time. I asked one was it because of the drill and discipline (ie. front rank and rear rank fire type stuff). No he replied "because of the bayonet fighting "!. Just what I would not want to hear before being sent overseas. Luckily no Zulus with assegais in Vietnam.

Funny you say that.....I was at a USSF NCO club one night in Vietnam with some guys from my team when someone at another table on the other side of the club shouted Asssutooooo (sp?) the zulu war cry. My table and the one next to us, a mixture of USSF and Australian SAS broke out into "Men of Harlech" while the other tables (now 2) continued with the Zulu chant, then got up and started to do the Zulu shuffle step in a group toward our tables, all the while quaffing beer and holding chairs up as their shields. All ended in a mock charge and laughter-I thought everyone was F'n nuts, but always remember it as one of the funniest and surreal moments of my life-now I know why it happened so thanks for the info
Pat

 

[Corpsman]

I'm the recipient of Pat's Zulu diorama-an amazing work of art. Within 12 square inches, Pat capture exactly what I was looking for from the famous scene in "Zulu" where Michael Caine commands 3 British rows of troopers holding off a Zulu regiment. The artistry, intensity, & historical accuracy is spectacular!!!!! Thank you Pat-you far exceeded my expectations. :salute::