Together with David Marshall (MMDioramas/TMTerrain), who built the terrain and managed the project, this was the culmination of two years' work for a small group of painters, a top flag-designer, and us. It was commissioned by the Royal Armouries, and has been great experience for us all!
Last Tuesday and Wednesday were fascinating and surreal days for us, as we helped to install the Agincourt diorama into the top floor of the White Tower at the Tower of London.
As you can see, the diorama had to be lifted in by crane, as were the rest of the cabinets and exhibits for the exhibition, due the the absence of an elevator in the tower and narrow spiral staircases. The four parts of the diorama had to be removed from their carrying crates, as they were found to be fractionally too wide to fit through the 12th Century door on the top floor. Luckily, the heavy downpour that started as we arrived at the Tower had ceased before we needed to unwrap the terrain for its upward journey. It was slightly nail-biting as each piece went up and was eased through the opening, but we had every faith in the crane operators.
Once it was in, we eventually pushed it into its final resting place and joined all the 'boards' together, and began to seal the gaps and blend the surface detail. Then it was a matter of tweaking odds and ends, adding a few final figures to fill gaps, painting over the occasional chip, and straightening spears and lances for the last time! As we left, it was down to the cabinet fitters and electrician to box in and light the diorama. We can't wait to go back and see it when all that is in place.
The diorama is 12' x 6' and is populated by 4,500 Perry Miniatures at a 1:5 ratio. Many of these were our stock figures, but others were conversions and some were unique. There are more pictures on our Facebook page.
The new Wargames Illustrated WI 336 also covers the story of the building of the diorama in two articles.
The Agincourt exhibition opens 23rd October 2015 and lasts until 31st January 2016, after which the diorama will be moved to the Royal Armouries in Leeds next summer.
