My third and final post for this weekend and the background to the first post on “How to Make Fir Trees”.
One of my favourite films is The Last Of The Mohicans staring Daniel Day-Lewis and Wes Studi. I love the story, the cinematography and the sound track. A winning combination all round. Truth is from a very young age I have always had a soft spot for the Indians. There is a reason for this and it is a true story. Allow me to enlighten you.
My Grandfather on my mother’s side had three older sisters and back in the time of the Great War 1914 – 1918 the family lived in Windsor. During the war the Canadians sent over an expeditionary force who were billeted in Windsor Great Park. Many of these men were lumber jacks and native indians who were brought over to chop down trees to supply some of the timber used in making trenches. Two of my Grandfathers sisters met and later married two Canadian service men and went to live in Canada when the war ended. In the case of my Great Aunt Rose she married a man by the name Pete Commanda, a native north American Indian. They spent their lives living on the indian reservation in a log cabin on the shores of Lake Temagami, Ontario. A story which has fascinated me from an early age. For interest a couple of pictures below.
So, whilst trawling the Warlord Games web site some while ago I discovered a set of six figures based on the movie. I couldn’t resist the temptation to buy them. I decided they would make two models. One, this one, would feature Magua on his own. The other five figures would feature as the basis for a separate diorama.
One of my favourite sequences in the film is at the end when all the main characters are high up on the mountains. Somehow I wanted to create a mountain scene, albeit with a degree of poetic licence. I wanted height, I wanted rock faces, I wanted fir trees and to aid the impression of altitude I wanted snow (the poetic licence bit as none featured in the film!). I wasn’t sure how I was going to achieve this and even if I could I wasn’t sure how good a single 28mm figure would appear dominated by a 30 cm high base. As a consequence the idea sat on my to do list. Then I got some inspiration on how to make fir trees. I still wasn’t sure how the overall model would look but then decided to hell with it, let’s give it ago!
The first step was to sift through my outdoor log pile for a suitable log. This was followed by some saw work to cut away sections which would house the trees and the rocks. The photo’s below show some of the stages in that sequence. I then cast some rocks using Woodland Scenics molds. While various things were drying and doing their stuff I painted the Magua figure. The Trees were made following the “How To Make Fir Trees” article that I recently published.
Everything painted and dried it was then all about assembly, more painting and then applying the snow. My overall impression is that it came out looking OK. I think I achieved the depth of scale I wanted and if nothing else then it’s a little different.
Now to deal with the other five figures!
TIM
The Imperfect Modeller 
Another brilliant piece! Absolutely! One of my favourite films as well!
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Thank you. I think I am going to sit down tomorrow and watch it again!
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Wow mate. This is amazing. When I saw the first pic with the snow I thought it was a screen shot from the actual movie. My God man you’ve got some skills. Great idea with the log for a cliff. Fascinating story about Aunt Rose too. I think, I’m sure, I’m related to Jim Bowie somehow 😉
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Thanks IRO really appreciate your comments. I wasn’t sure just how it would turn out to be honest. As for Jim Bowie, surely you mean Ned Kelly?! 😁
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Actually YES Ned is definitely more my type of bloke but as a week tacker I loved the stories of Jim Bowie and Davey Crockett. The Alamo is one of my all time favourite movies. The John Wayne one that is.
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You have very good taste my man.
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That is really good- the use opf the log is inspired and really thematic to the piece.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Cheers Pete. I wasn’t sure it would work but on balance I think it came out OK. Glad you like it.
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Fantastic work, you’ve really captured an authentic looking chunk of nature with the base of this dio.
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Many thanks. When I started in 28mm scale I was worried about base and landscaping dominating and thus populated with more figures. Given the pleasantly surprising feedback on this model I am now starting to think less is more which is getting my mind ticking over in a different way. How that translates going forward remains to be seen.
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A really good job mate ,I just love the fir trees ,look forward to having a go at making some for my next diorama ,tell me what did you use as the snow it looks really good .
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Thank you. I’ve just made some for another mini diorama which I think are a but better and will hopefully post details in a week or two. A company called Precision Ice and Snow – you should be able to search for them on line – make great snow products. Not cheap but will last an age given the quantity unless of course you are doing something very large. Good luck making the trees!
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Thanks Dave I will check them out as I’m not happy with the current base I have made using woodlands snow , ( good product though ) not quite as good as the look you have . I will make a new one incorporating you fir trees hopefully . Your right about costs some times it pays to get the quality product , I learnt that with water effects . You have done a great job on the water effects alongside the Indian canoe particularly on the right hand side ,brill,
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Thank you for the positive feedback. Have started to follow your blog so I will be looking out for those snow clad trees in due course! Good luck and keep up the good work.
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