TIM’s Memory Monday (No: 13)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Memory Monday, Uncategorized

At the time when I did this post back in July 2017 I didn’t think I would get quite so involved in WW1 themed figures and little dioramas.  I went on to produce my own timeline all of which will be revealed in future Memory Monday posts.  I also didn’t appreciate how much I would deviate from the Old West genre which had pretty much dominated my work up to that point.  How times change!

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28mm WW1 Diorama (No: 1)

Although most of my models follow an “Old West” theme I do occasionally deviate from the genre.  Sometimes I do so because a model or figure comes along which simply takes my fancy but sometimes there are other reasons for doing so which is the case in this instance.  I shall explain.

Modelling for many of us who are interested in the hobby is often a solitary affair; a great thing to do on a wet and rainy day, of which there are far too many in England. Whilst I am happy to spend hours indulging in my pastime I am if I am being honest more extrovert than introvert and decided I need to engage more with the wider community.  To this end I made the decision to a) create a blog and b) find a nearby modelling club and join it.

The blog is doing OK despite my lack of computer know how and I am aware it takes a while to get these things up and running.  I’m also aware that this is a niche area so I’m not anticipating a life style change anytime soon!  I do now have a couple of followers, you know who you are and I am both flattered and grateful for your comments, thank you. So, objective number 1 is in hand.

So on to objective number 2 and its relevance to the diorama featured in this post. I managed to track down a club in Plymouth and a few months ago went along to my my first meeting.  They meet a couple of times a month with the second meeting being a club competition evening.  There are about 19 members, most of whom I have now met and they are a friendly bunch.  Modelling is a diverse subject made up of various genre’s many of which are represented by the club members.  That said few of the members are figure painters so my work has brought something new to the club.

At this point I should perhaps explain to those who do not know that Plymouth is a Naval and Royal Marine city and I think this has influenced many of the clubs modellers who specialise is WW1 and WW2 military planes, ships and vehicles (I on the other hand am a Londoner a who wanted to be a Cowboy!)  The club also holds its own annual Modelling Show in the City and for 2018 they aim to hold the event on the same day that the City holds its Armed Services Day.  As next year will be the hundredth anniversary of the last year of the Great War 1914 – 1918 the club thought it would be a nice idea if everyone produced a model with a WW1 theme.

The images of the diorama below represent my contribution to next years model show.  Military uniforms are not my speciality so apologise in advance for any inaccuracies.  The model was fun to do but I don’t think the era will dominate my future work. Although having said that the idea of doing more diverse subjects has captured my imagination.

A final few comments on the club I joined.  Firstly, I would encourage anyone who is not in a club to join one.  It’s great fun engaging with fellow enthusiasts even if you aren’t into the same genre.  Most, if not all, modelling skills and techniques are transferable and so much more can be learnt in this environment. Secondly, assuming this to be true of most clubs, there is a wider audience via the attendance and participation at other shows.

I went to my first show a few weeks ago and took along some of my own work to display.  To be honest I was a little afraid of what people might think of my work but having had a lot of positive feedback at club nights, and competition nights in particular, I went along with a positive out look.  It turned out to be a great day, met and spoke with a lot of new people, picked up some great tips and received a few accolades along the way.  One chap even took photo’s at the event and put them onto a YouTube video.  If anyone wants to check it out then search for “Helicopter Museum Model Show 2017” there is a part 1 (which features 7 images of my models which blew me away) and part 2.

Images of the diorama – in progress to completion – below, hope you like it.

TIM

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19 thoughts on “TIM’s Memory Monday (No: 13)”

  2. Even though i have seen ths before i think its good to have a re-run, not because i have been following you for ages, ( i haven’t been doing the blog long) but because i searched for your WW1 stuff when doing my LImber, it ans absolutely stunning portrayel of a very sombre time, nobody could fail to recognize what this is all about and as sad as this sounds actually brought a lump to my throat, i never was very good with boiled sweets..

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    1. Cheers Steve. The WW1 genre really took me by surprise and I got into it in a way I would never have anticipated. Although I did a few stereotypical mud and trenches models I also tried to come up with a few more relevant but unusual scenes. Just found myself on a role with it. At some point I would like to add to it I think.

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      1. Would be good to see something on the lines of victorious escapees emerging from holes in the ground as in Colditz style, but I’m sure your head is full of ideas..

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      2. It is full of ideas but it didn’t include that one and that has a lot of appeal. The thing is I don’t sculpt figures and do very little by way of conversions so key for me is finding figures I can work with in the first place. I’m sure there is something out there, just a case of finding them. 😊

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      3. i must admit, the odd sprues i buy the more i am getting towards the Napoleonic Wars, so many armies and uniforms, we will see..

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  3. Another cracker, and another one I hadn’t seen before. I didn’t spot the poor dead tommy under the wire at first, it had quite a powerful shock factor when I did (by which I mean I found it moving rather than it being gratuitous).

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    1. Thank you. This turned out to be a series I really got into as you will see in the weeks ahead if you missed them first time around. What I tried ro do was tell a little story with each one but away from the run of the mill trench scenes, albeit that I did a few of them too.

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      1. I’m looking forward to it – so much so that I’ve had a sneaky look back into the archives (or should that be reading ahead?). There’s some good stuff coming up for memory monday 🙂

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    1. Glad you like it and that you missed it. When I started blogging my following like everyone else’s was built slowly so a lot got done which people did not get to see. Hence memory Monday is really aimed at them in the hope they like what they see. I’m also lazy and they make for an easy post! 😉

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  5. I haven’t seen this one mate, it must have been just before I started blogging because you are one of my originals !! Really well done and thanks for going back over your work .

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    1. Glad you like it Pat. Our blogs grow and as a consequence we get a new audience so putting out some older stuff does feel worthwhile. Have you considered doing the same? I’m sure many of your followers would love to see some of your excellent earlier dioramas at some point. 😊

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  6. Pingback: TIM’s Memory Monday (No: 21) – The Imperfect Modeller

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