Dioramas: Campaigns
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The Somme 1916
zontar
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Posted: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 - 01:17 PM UTC
Alan: This is coming along very nicely. Looking forward to the "division" showing up!

Happy Modeling, -zon
hofpig
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Posted: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 - 09:33 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Hi Paul,

Yes, tree stumps might well be the way to go.

I did a little more work on the left hand trench, lowered it down a bit and made it into a weapons pit for some kind of weapon as yet unknown .

Also added some paint and mud to get an idea of what it might look like overall, alwasy hard to tell when evrything is a bit bitty.



I can see where it's going now more clearly so I can think about individual bits and adding some detail.

Cheers

Al




Had a thought on our weaopons pit, how about a trench mortar??

paul
AlanL
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Posted: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 - 09:39 PM UTC
Hi Zon,

Thanks, - the Division is still recruiting although some are packed and ready to go! Several are in transit too!

Hi Paul,

I found one of the Mr Models Trench Mortars at Accurate Armour, hence the change in layout on the LHS. It should be arriving in the next week or so.

Thanks for looking in guys.

Cheers

Al
AlanL
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Posted: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 - 11:45 PM UTC
Hi folks,

Some of you may have noticed that the ends of the base are slightly unbalanced.





When I built this chap:



one of the thoughts that occurred to me was he looks like he might have just come out from the Latrines . So in order to balance the base a bit more I was thinking of extending it slightly to accommodate this idea?

The other thought that occurred to me was to open up the back wall of what was the middle tunnel and construct some form of underground chamber? The idea occurred to me earlier in the planning with the thought of a tunnel running forward towards the German lines but got shelved due to the length of the trench, Sap and Gas Alert Post. This would give the caves a purpose, one for storing equipment and the other as an entrance to the cavern. The original caves got superseeded by the addition of those in a more viewable place at the back of the hill.

This would also help break up the blank look on that side of the dio.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Al
newfish
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Posted: Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 01:00 AM UTC
Still 'figuring' things out then Al? I was following this on the great war campaign until I found this thread. I look forward to the duckboards and the water. I think adding part of a ruined building would be a cool idea...Great work on the base and terrain I will keep up with this now..

Cheers.

jaymes


asmodeuss
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Posted: Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 01:16 AM UTC
Looking fabulous Alan!
I'm really enjoying this thread, thanks for sharing.

Phil.
garthj
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Posted: Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 01:17 AM UTC
Hi Alan,
I really like the idea of looking inside the tunnel area, in the form of a cutaway effect..?? This would give you a lot more insight into what is going on underground, so to speak. Its looking great, BTW. Keep up the excellent work!
Regards,
Garth
AlanL
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Posted: Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 04:34 AM UTC
Hi James, Phil and Garth,

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Here we are with the beginning of the extensions and tunnel:





Cheers

Al
geogeezer
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Posted: Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 07:34 AM UTC
Hi Alan,
Your diorama is coming along fabulously. If you keep adding to it, you'll be at the Swiss border in no time. A suggestion from my own area of expertise regarding the timbering in your tunnel. The transverse horizontal pieces (miners call them caps) which rest atop the posts should have shallow notches at the ends to keep the posts in place and the bases of the posts should be spread outward slightly to help brace the timber set. You also want longitudinal horizontal braces between the tops of each timber set, and they should butt against both cap and post, to keep the caps from being dislodged. This is particularly important in an area subject to concussion from artillery bombardment. If the ground is loose, you would have lagging, usually planks or small poles, possibly corrugated sheet metal, above the caps to keep dirt from falling in.
Another thing is that tunneling generates an enormous quantity of waste (spoil) which has to be disposed of. I'm not sure what sort of ground underlay the Somme battlefield, but I know that in Flanders, they tunneled through beds of chalk, the same beds which form the white cliffs of Dover. An alert aerial observer seeing a quantity of white chalk appear on the surface around a trench would immediately conclude that tunneling was underway, and steps would be taken to counter it.
Looking forward to seeing the final product. Cheers,
Dick
AlanL
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Posted: Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 08:37 AM UTC
Hi Richard,

Thanks for the infomration, I will do what I can. The current posts are not glued in, just set to support the new roof structure until it hardens as I had to add a bit onto the edge of the original hill. I was going to take the sharp edges off the posts for a bit more interest and I'll see what I can do about making a proper joint when I replace them.

Interesting information, thanks a lot.

Cheers

Al
AlanL
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Posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 - 04:26 AM UTC
Hi folks,

Well the Mr Models 9.45 inch Trench Mortar kit turned up this morning from Accurate Armour. Speedy delivery.

The kit is an old style resin and white metal job with no build instructions

At first I though I'd build it from the box cover but that was a bad idea. I did find a picture from IWM Duxford that at least allowed me to sort out the base. You'd think that would be simple but the parts are misleading!!

Anyway some pics;

The Basic Kit





With no instructions this is trial and error!! Best I can work out is that the two small cross beams connect to the base and side beams. This means that the side beams are lifted slightly off the ground, which can throw you. Then the larger cross beams, the ones with the 'nuts' get added to the top and these in real life would then be screwed/bolted on top of the other two. At least that's what my one reference picture indicates. There are small holes in the large side beans on the inside. Across this should be added two metal bars, (yet to be done in my case).

The mortar barrel sits on to elevating arms but I have yet to determin where to make the final cut on the lower end of the barrel. Additional fittings are provided and I'm stil working out where these go.

At least the kit fit the space I left for it which is a plus. The resin parts are nicely done, but there is quite a bit of clean up on the white metal parts.

















If anyone has any additional reference pictures for this beast that would be great.

You also get two bombs in white metal, again clean up is required.

Cheers

Al

Edit there is some fotage here of one being fired.

Critical Past Live links

Clearly a mallet is required lol, lol.




hofpig
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Posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 - 04:54 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Hi Alan,
Your diorama is coming along fabulously. If you keep adding to it, you'll be at the Swiss border in no time. A suggestion from my own area of expertise regarding the timbering in your tunnel. The transverse horizontal pieces (miners call them caps) which rest atop the posts should have shallow notches at the ends to keep the posts in place and the bases of the posts should be spread outward slightly to help brace the timber set. You also want longitudinal horizontal braces between the tops of each timber set, and they should butt against both cap and post, to keep the caps from being dislodged. This is particularly important in an area subject to concussion from artillery bombardment. If the ground is loose, you would have lagging, usually planks or small poles, possibly corrugated sheet metal, above the caps to keep dirt from falling in.
Another thing is that tunneling generates an enormous quantity of waste (spoil) which has to be disposed of. I'm not sure what sort of ground underlay the Somme battlefield, but I know that in Flanders, they tunneled through beds of chalk, the same beds which form the white cliffs of Dover. An alert aerial observer seeing a quantity of white chalk appear on the surface around a trench would immediately conclude that tunneling was underway, and steps would be taken to counter it.
Looking forward to seeing the final product. Cheers,
Dick



From what I know of the underlying soils were a mix of chalk, sand or blue clay.

Paul
AlanL
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Posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 - 07:31 AM UTC
Thanks Paul.

Al
darreng
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Posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 - 08:10 AM UTC
Superb work Alan. Look forward to the next detail packed instalment
Murdo
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Posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 - 08:21 AM UTC
What do you use to make the soil Alan?

Sorry mate, questions galore here. I've never made a dio before.
steph2102
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Posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 - 08:26 AM UTC

good evening,
ALAN, here are some links, if this can help you.
steph

http://canonspgmww1guns.canalblog.com/archives/2007/03/31/4486331.html
http://www.lochnagarcrater.org/Albums/L%20-%20General%20Great%20War%20images/slides/Australians%20Loading%209%2045%20Inch%20Trench%20Mortar%20Somme%202%20August%201916.html
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:9.45_inch_mortar_loading_demonstration_WWI_NLS_74548338.jpg
http://www.fyjs.cn/bbs/read.php?tid=87276&page=3&fpage=7
geogeezer
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Posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 - 09:00 AM UTC
Hi Alan,
I confess to being fascinated by the "Flying Pig" mortar and researched it a little bit. Easy to see how it got the name, as the muzzle velocity was quite low, and at the apex of its trajectory, that big round bomb could be seen in flight and probably did resemble a pig. One of Steph's links shows Australian troops loading the mortar using a chute, and that looks like a very good idea. The bomb weighs 150 pounds and would be very difficult to handle without some sort of cradle. The chute would allow screwing in the fuse just before firing, which makes a lot of sense. You wouldn't want a couple of men struggling to load a 150 pound fused bomb in a tight space where there was a chance of bumping the fuse.
Another point of interest is the use of a Lee-Enfield receiver screwed into the lower end of the mortar tube as a firing mechanism. A special .303 blank cartridge was used to ignite the propellant charge. I don't know if that part was included in your kit, but I did find a site where someone built a similar kit, perhaps the same one. www.mortarsinminiature.com/British9.45inch.htm The builder mentioned cutting down a 1/35 scale SMLE and attaching the receiver to the mortar tube.
Cheers,
Dick
cestus72
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Posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 - 09:18 AM UTC
This work is really interesting
AlanL
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Posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 - 12:49 PM UTC
Hi Darren,

Thanks, things are moving along.

Hi Murdo,

I use pollyfiller mixed with garden soil and for hairy bits compost and filler.

Hi Steph,

Thanks for the links, I've seen the Mortars in miniture one, very cool and it's a great site. I had already tapped into most of the others, but thanks as I did find a new pic.

Hi Richard,

Yes, they used the same kind of mechanism on the exterior turret mounted mortars on the Sherman. The kit is very basic and doesn't contain such an item but I can easily make one.



On the tunnel supports I made a test example tonight so I'll have that up for approval tomorrow. The filler is still drying out so I'll need to leave it until tomorrow or later before I start to add the supports.

Hi Augusto,

Glad you're enjoying it.

For Reference Only I used this pic from IWM Duxford as my build reference. Unfortunately not one of the items I photographed on my various visits but there is alwasy this year



You can see the two cross bars running side to side and and how the upper timbers are bolted and compresson onto the lower one. I would think they dug a small pit for the base and that the main side timbers were then secured to the ground but a hook type arrangement, although that is only speculation. I'll need to think of something for eye bolts.

Thanks for the feedback and information guys, most useful.

Cheers

Al
AlanL
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Posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 - 07:57 PM UTC
HI folks,

This is progress on the Mortar. The only additions made at this point are the wire ties across the side beam and some new joints for the winding handles and a new handle on one. As you can see there is a gap between the top cross member and the main side board and it is my intention to add in the missing part of the tie rod and some additional detailing around the elevating mount.

Based on the IWM pic I don't see any other way the parts fit or make sense, unless you want to get to making you're own arranrements.

I dug a small pit for the weapon to sit in and have no idea what the large metal bit is meant to be.










Dick on the tunnel suppports this is what I had in mind:



and I've been making some picket posts for the barbed wire.



Thanks again for all the help and ideas.

Cheers

Al
bill1
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Posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 - 09:35 PM UTC
Yo Alan,

Nice progress. The mortar is a very nice kit, that will give so much more detail to the scene.

...I will say it again...your trench work is truly spot on!

Maybe on top of the trenches you could put a remain of a tree...in order to give the project some hight.

Keep up!

Greetz Nico
AlanL
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Posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 - 11:12 PM UTC
Hi Nico,

Thanks, it's moving along. Yes, some tree stumps on top are a must. Just going to spend some time adding some detail to the mortar. The tunnel has had a little more work done and I've added a bit more soil to the LHS. The overall ground work is nearly done, I need some depth above the Tunnel but that will build up slowly. I need to create 5 or 6 more figures going about their daily business, then paint all the internals of the trench and add appropriate detail. A few more months work yet I would think but the Campaign doesn't end untl 11/11/12 so hopefully that will give me enought time to get it finished.

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Al
AlanL
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Posted: Saturday, May 12, 2012 - 01:03 AM UTC
Hi folks,

Update on the trench mortar. I made and added the lifting rings and through bolts for the cross sections. Added some nut detail around the bottom of the elevating mechanism so for now I'm about done. I'll be up at Duxford in a few week time so I will try and get a good look around the mortar and capture some more pictures although the land museum isn't that good for photographs.









Then I'll find out I'm way off

Cheers

Al
AlanL
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Posted: Saturday, May 12, 2012 - 03:44 AM UTC
Hi folks,

Last of the updates for today. With a little paint on although when covered in dust and mud it may look a little different.

Cheers

Al








geogeezer
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Posted: Saturday, May 12, 2012 - 07:46 AM UTC
Hi Alan,
Yes, your timber joint looks perfect.
On the subject of the "flying pig"mortar, I came across a fascinating group of sites dealing with excavations on the Ypres battlefield in Belgium: www.mausershooters.org/diggers/E/activiteiten/.../welkom.htm Among many other things, there are a lot of photos of recovered munitions, including a 9.45 inch mortar bomb which is described as German and was under someone's bedroom. They actually flattened one of the fins with a hammer when they laid the floor, not knowing it was attached to a 150 pound bomb! Another photo shows little cylindrical bundles of cordite which were propellant charges for a two inch mortar, along with some blank .303 cartridges. I'm guessing that similar but larger bundles might have been used to make the pigs fly. You might be able to model something like that from bits of styrene rod or soft wooden dowel by finely scoring the outsides and stippling the ends.
Cheers
Dick