"The Battle of Gettysburg - Miniature Model Diarama" Topic

Spotted this item on the wargamer website had to go look.
You can buy it on ebay.
auction

Hand made diorama of The Battle of Gettysburg. Constructed over a period of 5yrs, with the intention of depicting the entire 3 days of fighting. A must see and own for any model enthusiast or Museum. The model is complete and the website will be updated with current pictures very shortly.

Website: memlane.com/nonprofit/mhmma (updated regularly)

9 – 8ft x10ft tables and 1 – 8ft x 16ft table
Contains 31, 500 hand painted Infantry, 860 Horses, 230 Canon, 10 Buildings, 70 Waggons
There have been over 10, 000 alterations to the original model pieces used for the display.

This came up on TMP a couple of days ago.
The general consensus, with which I'd agree, is that the diorama is way over-priced.
Steve.

Is it just me or are none of the pictures on the website in focus?

If I was trying to sell something for damn near a million dollars I would have some pretty slick pictures and write up.

PJ

Absurd! Once again, absurd!

Where you can see close-ups, the figures don't look either decent sculpts or particularly well-painted. And on the funding section is says it cost $60,000 originally!

I think he just really wants to keep it

For me, this equates to one of those Buffet retaurants.

Plenty of food, just not very good quality.
Sure you get filled up, but you don't really feel satisfied.

There definitely are ALOT of figures, but none look too good.
The scenery is straight out the box woodland scenics stuff, which looks too 2-dimensional unless you really work it. Instead it appears he just dropped down flock, gravel and lichen. It looks like an average model railroad layout.

He would have been better served making a smaller diorama of a higher quality.

Did anyone else notice the seller is named Cathy?
I suspect his wife is forcing him to sell it and there were some silly calculations performed to derive the selling price.

"Ok honey, so you worked on this for 5 years, at $50,000 per year, plus cost of figures, plus supplies,(tap-tap-tap). That comes to $300,000. Hmmmm… Let's just round up to a cool 3/4 of a mil and see if anyone will fund that around the world, 1st class trip we always wanted. I mean, heck, surely a museum would want this right?"

Nutty.

Pictures are out of focus.

Cost of $60,000 does seem a little high as 620 boxes of plastic figures even at the outrageous retail (no volume discount?)price of $15 USD only comes out to $930 USD + 7% GST (tax), call it $1,000. USD Say $10,000 for scenics (again, probably an excessive estimate).

I built my own 4-tier 8'x 4' for $200 USD including 40 2'square pink extruded foam modular terrain boards, and others for hills etc, plus all scenics to provide a variety of theatres. So assuming my cost times 26 (the area covered by this diorama is 26x32 square feet), you come up with $5,200. USD

Let's add on a generous $10K for miscellaneous incidentals,
you come up with $26,000, but we'll reound it up to $30,000, and assume no sponsors.

$750,000 divided by 5 years gives an income of $150,000 per year – nice money to do your hobby.

An impressive project certainly, but a bit of a silly price.

If anyone is seriously considering buying at that price though, I painted ten WW2 Matchbox British Infantry last night which I'd be prepared to sell at the bargain rate of $200…….

Has anyone considered that a museum or government department might purchase a diorama like this at some point.(as mentioned in the auction)

Due to the lack of pictures, I cannot say that this project is worth it, but such a huge project could be worth it to the right type of buyer.

Obviously to us individual wargamers, it is not worth that much, but why do we try to minimize the value of what we do in our craft?

If you spent years working on something and it was to a grand scale and beautiful, why should it not be worth something?

Personally, I would spend a much longer time studying, gazing at, enjoying, etc… a huge diorama at a museum than some abstract piece of art that my infant daughter could do. And those museums spend more than $750K on some of that "art"

Is this one worth $750K, I don't know.
Could one in the future be? We should all hope so.

Quantity not quality. It looks like junk to me. Just some six pack nut without the plastic thing holding it all together in where is it? Medicine Hat? You gotta love those Canadians…

>Cost of $60,000 does seem a little high as 620 boxes of plastic figures even at the outrageous retail (no volume discount?)price of $15 USD USD only comes out to $930 USD USD + 7% GST (tax), call it $1,000.

620 * $15 USD = $9300….still, I agree $750K is probably 10-15X a reasonable price, assuming anyone wanted to purchase it.

Let's see. A half a million dollar house and a Ferrari or thousands of 1/72 Airfix plastic poorly painted figures and huge assortment of random flocked terrain boards.(No close up photos which usually means one thing.. poor paint jobs)-TJ

Well nothing ventured nothing gained,3/4million dollars for wee plastic sodjers,ah the brass!

<<<Quantity not quality. It looks like junk to me. >>>

Wasn't it Stalin that said quantity has a quality of its own?

Surely a big project – can't comment on the paint job of the figs or even the quality of the terrain – though I have my doubts of its quality -

But for 3/4 of a million $s I'd expect the table edges to be clean and professionally covered – not raw foam and there to at least to be skirting for the 2x4 table supports if not a more prosessional looking support system

There was a group in Germany that did this very thing with 1/72 scale figures. I think they used roll up terrain and not mounted on the tables however. I would put any display of Scott Mingus or some of the other JRIII guys up against this any day of the week. Also I am going to have to tell BTC to raise there prices on terrain items. Lets see 9 tables at 8 by 10 feet is about 720 Sq Feet – about 47K for the figures (hey I am being nice they are not $1 USD a foot figs!) that leaves 700K for 720 Sq feet so that is $972 USD per foot. BUT minus the 9 tables at say $300 USD and the glass overs at $ lets say $1000, so that is another 4K off the top, so we are down to 696K Divided by 720 SQ foot= $966 USD Square foot. Gosh Doug sells the wheatfield for $54 USD and it is and it is 1' 1/2" Sq feet!

Doug you NEED to raise prices!

VR
James Mattes

Be fair, maybe the money is going for English lessons for the "hobbyist" or to buy a new "dictionary". That would be the most useful thing the money could go for judging by the home page. (Or it's a front for B.C. pot smuggling.)

I had to laugh when I noticed that the seller had NEVER sold ANYTHING on E-Bay before!! Oh yeah, here, let me send you 3/4 of a million dollars oh ye of NO feedback…get a grip!

What a bunch of hicks…course, they ARE from Alberta after all…;-)(JOKING!)

And another thing that just chaps my backside is "The Terrain" I mean it is not even correct. Gosh man go out and get a map on line of the battlefield. I do not see one worm fence on the table, LTR looks more like Mount Kenya, Not a crop field to be seen yet most are know what was there at the time. I could not Id one building that was a landmark I could ID. so on and so on and so on. Can anyone id any part of the battlefield here?
VR
James Mattes

"Stick a soldier on the board and call it Gettysburg" sing to the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy…

As a Canadian, I am embraced for my countreman. I Kan nicht explanen Y or what the prbm is with the post NG and the wab city, butt it duz look as tho some big problems aahhh forget it I can'te even deliberately parody this. What a supreme allied commander joke. Sorry guys, I wish I could say something goot about it but can't. Looks absolutely NOTHING like the video I did on Getyybsburg a few years bak. This must have been written by some kid who doesn't speech english or even know what Gettysburg is.. oh wait.. yes he does… what he learnt about it he god from the cover of the Esci box kit.

Its rubbish compared with others that I have seen, how can this guy have the temerity to even offer it for sale at such a ridiculous price

I cannot figure out what piece of the battle this is meant to represent. I know I can do better than they have. Did I see right, $ 750,000.00. I charged a guy $ 550.00 for the entire Fredricksburg board I built about 5 years ago. I this sells for even 1/2 what they are asking I am quitting my job the next day and opening an E-Bay store. I think I can sell the stuff I have right now and retire.

Bill Moreno

Yea, I was thinking, maybe $3,000.00 USD to $5,000.00 USD for the board plus the cost of figs. This REALLY makes me LOL (750,000.00). LOL.

Just goes to show that people do foolish things like spend a ton of money of figures like GW stuff. Imagine how much he would have asked if all the figures were GW? $7.5 USD million?

Wait, so he painted up all these figures, and modeled all this terrain, and then just puts a lid on it?

Not a d6 in sight.

I so don't get that.

a learning experience made by traial and error

Man, you couldn't *make* this stuff up! Too funny!

Actually, it looks nothing like Gettysburg. There's a KFC at the north end of the sunken road (now Highway 15) where Pickett's Charge was fought.

This project cost nothing but time, check out his sponsers!

link

Yea, but their Canadian dollars! What's the conversion rate these days?

Surprise!
A GW bash in a Gettysburg, terrain, eBay, crazy canuck thread.
Who would have thunk it?!?

(Thanks John Holly)

You're welcome Crusader1988.

Actually, I was trying to point out that people will spend a lot of money on figures, even $60.00 USD for a single rare GW figure (I saw on e-bay some time ago). It just seems a little silly to criticize this guy for tryng to make a bundle in the hobby as well.

Monophagos said:
"If anyone is seriously considering buying at that price though, I painted ten WW2 Matchbox British Infantry last night which I'd be prepared to sell at the bargain rate of $200……."

If you did a half decent job on them you are lowballing and hurting your profits. For ten very well painted figures I'll take in $450 USD all day long. Not everyone likes hideous minis and lots of people understand what a nice job is worth.

You people are overly critical. I've seen dioramas in museums that look worse than this (even some of the "famous" ones people like to wax poetic about). He does say he'll consider reasonable offers. $750k means serious inquiries only IMO – and hey! if someone actually pays that for it then great!

Clearly the thing is not worth $750k, but its not as bad as some of you want to make it. I would recommend taking the figures off those nasty bases though! Ugh!

Outside of it look NOTHING like Gettysburg that is!

VR
James Mattes

At the risk of flogging a dead gee-gee…

Gettysburg battlefield is (arguably), the most studied and written about battlefield in the world.

Surely prior to undertaking an exercise like this you would have done enough research like acquiring aerial photos, gathering historical maps (they sell tons at the gift shop there), to make as close a recreation as possible.

Even if your modeling skills weren't up to snuff, the "lay-of-the-land" should at least approximate the site.

So why bash this guy?
1. He has the stones to put this up for sale for that money.
2. He has a website touting his own dedication and hard-work assembling it.
3. His website is filled with grade school grammer mistakes.
4. He has sponsors and a "team".
5. He is Canadian (always a good reason to poke fun), from ALBERTA no less!
(number 4 is a joke. I like Canadians….really).
6. Final reason. This is TMP. This is what we DO!

:-)

News Flash!

Here is a response that I received from the seller when asked about the price and accuracy of the battlefield.

I think the claim that this is the largest scale model battlefield in North America is interesting.

The SELLER wrote:
>>>"Matching up ten tables that interlock from maps was quite a feet of building and the topography and terrain are represented accuratly.I am trying to get new photos updated soon to the web site.Photos do not do the model justice it is something you have to see to appreciate fully. The price reflects the amount of man hours and materials used to build North Americas largest scale model battlefield, more than 23,000 hours painting and building by the artist alone. The specialty pieces alone make this model truly one of a kind."<<<

Are some of those figures wearing sneakers?

Are some of those figures wearing sneakers?

Hee, hee… Air Longstreet's, they are…

This guy ought to contact the Miniatures World museum in Victoria, BC. Maybe they would be interested.

Sponsors wanted!

Send me a division of painted infantry and I'll put your name on a website (Canadian or American cash donations also accepted!).

Scott glad you saw this thread. I tell you what, you build the terrain I will do the figures and the tables and we will spilt sale price of say… 500K What say you? You got game?
VR
James Mattes

Hey! Maybe it's us that are doing it all wrong?

Does anyone want to sponsor my Byzantine Skutatoi?

I'm writing to Nike offering to put their brand mark on all the shields. Failing that I reckon McDonalds might like to sponsor one of my Roman Legions, I'm prepared to replace the Eagle with some "Golden Arches"…

I read about this guy in our local paper – he apparently got interested in Gettysburg and painted and painted and painted – anyway, he has tried to donate it to a local museum, but he is in a small city in Alberta and the local museum wasn't interested – having said which, his price is about a log unit too high . . .

Ah – I forgot – the Canadian dollar is currently about 85 cents US

If he was going to donate it, doesn't the word donate mean give for free?

I had a good look at all the pictures, some parts of the battlefield are recogniseable, I am still unsure why someone would do all this work only to sell it when he didn't state that was his goal in the first place.

In any event, bidding has ended and there were no takers, Quell Suprise!

"On the left flank, the Preparation H Romans moved forward to engage the FOX News Carthaginians…"

You know, of course, that finding the sponsorship of your Trojans would be almost a slam dunk…