WW1 Tunnelers. (2 Viewers)

[NicktheBaggie]

Hopefully there are plans in the pipeline to honour the brave tunnelers and miners that made a major contribution to the Great War with such feats as La Bossielle. I think they'd make great sets.

 

[ivanmoe]

Hopefully there are plans in the pipeline to honour the brave tunnelers and miners that made a major contribution to the Great War with such feats as La Bossielle. I think they'd make great sets.

Wingnut Wings has a set called "Under the Line" that would appear to fit the bill:

The figures and tunnel are prepainted. It's listed at the WW-website for $149.

-Moe

 

[Rob]

Excellent set. Would be a great idea for some figures. They did a very dangerous job indeed and knew they could be killed at anytime by counter mining or raiders bursting into their tunnelers, very much unsung heroes those guys.

Rob

 

[jazzeum]

The Wingnut set has been out for a few years and looks remarkable.

 

[Rob]

Some hand to hand fighting figures in combat underground would be something else!

Rob

 

[Fitzgibbon]

Wingnut Wings has a set called "Under the Line" that would appear to fit the bill:

The figures and tunnel are prepainted. It's listed at the WW-website for $149.

-Moe

I saw the Wingnuts model some time ago but it inspired the method of presentation of the Turkish Trench on the left hand end of our Gallipoli Dio (Brisbane Diorama 2015 thread around page 5). Having now dabbled with the ants nest cutaway in league with the 'wrap around angular table', I feel we could do justice to a dio of "Beneath Hill 60" if some enterprising figure maker would tackle the miners. This method also leaves open another of my favorites - the French Forts of Verdun. On a recent expedition, I visited the Ouvrage de Falouse just south of Verdun where a group of private individuals is grappling with the economics of recovering this 'unbombed' compact example from the ravages of time, the Nazis who stripped it of metal parts, and nature itself. They are making a strong effort with a scale 1:1 dio with the aid of contributions from local people who uncover 'lost items' and sporadic contributions of money - it is well worth a look if you happen to be in that area, and the small entry fee also goes into the project. I also chanced upon the lost Fort de Dugney built in 1875 and now overgrown at the back of a local farm - awesome to trek through at 9.30 pm in semi-darkness...children have used one the still turnable Turelles as a playground toy for years...but that's another story. 2016 marks the Centennial of the Battle of Verdun. There's time and a reason to do this project.
On the same trip we toured the Museum under Albert (starting to one side of the old Cathedral famous during WW! for the leaning Madonna and Child statue. This, along with many other examples of tunnel life, shows just how much of survival depended upon being able to 'live' underground away from the incessant bombardment. There is potential here for exploring a wide range of subjects in the undeground world of WWI.