Gamers enlist for World War I diorama
Alistair Mundell started off sorting out some Turks, then dealt with some Anzacs before taking on some Turks again.
The New Plymouth man is one of five members of the Taranaki Miniature Warfare Society who have joined dozens of other war gamers around the country to paint 4000 figures for the Gallipoli diorama in Sir Peter Jackson’s Great War Exhibition.
War gamers, who recreate famous battles of history with tiny figurines, have been recruited for the task because of their skill in handling little things.
‘‘The figures are 54 millimetres high. That is double the normal size of war game figures and most of our guys are used to painting 15mm figures so it’s quite a jump from 15 to 50,’’ Mundell said.
Though the painting calls for exacting detail, each painter will bring a different shade and intensity of colour to each figure. So while all figures may look alike, no two will be exactly the same,.
‘‘There will be variations. Which is actually quite good for the Anzacs. They were nowhere near as regimented as the English,’’ Mundell said.
Their uniforms were not only in various states of wear and tear but individual soldiers often augmented their clothing from home. ‘‘The Anzacs were known as quite a fearsome bunch despite a rag tag look about them,’’ Mundell said.
Now 58, Mundell has been painting figures since he was a teenager and said it took about 10 hours to paint a unit of 12 soldiers. Officers took a little longer, but whether one of those officers is Stratford’s own Colonel William Malone, Mundell can’t say. He us under strict orders to keep the battlefield top secret.
The Great War Exhibition opens on Anzac Day in Wellington’s former Dominion Museum building.