For those of you who are modelers and or gamers, you know the feelings about your hobby work – to do a good job recreating a scene, a vehicle, terrain, or just a figure such that others enjoy it. I put this blog in the same category. I understand that for better or for worse, I am putting myself out there and my creativity to be judged up or down.
This blog post will be a bit different in that its admittedly somewhat self-indulgent. I am unsure as to how it will be received – but I hope that you enjoy it and that you can appreciate what this was for me and why I was doing this last weekend.
Last Saturday, the Historical Gaming Club of Uxbridge, MA, sponsored a road trip to the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, MA. I have posted about this museum last year (you can read about it here). It’s really great. I unfortunately also signed up for a golf tournament an hour away and was disappointed in my planning. I was however able to leave the tournament (my team lost by one stroke) after I was done and drive to meet the others (about 10 of us) at the museum. And I brought two “friends”…
Followers of this blog know that I have been somewhat tank-heavy in hobby activities and gaming since last fall. I thought that it would be cool to have the real Panther at the museum meet my 15mm/1:100 scale Panther. And as my late grandfather Marcus C. Delaney drove an M24 Chaffee light tank in WWII, I wanted to hook up one of my M24’s with a real one too.
I just thought it would be a cool thing to do – and to give my models a connection to the real deal. Of course, you can be the judge.
First stop was the Panther.
Then I moved over to the M24 Chaffee.
It felt good to do this, and I’m glad I did. Now when these are in a game, I can say that they have been with the real thing, and in actual contact.
Would you do this? Let me know in the comments section, and thanks for looking!
Mark A. Morin 
Nice post Mark, different too. So, would I do it? Simple answer would be yes. OK, probably not with tanks because I have never modelled one but given the opportunity to put an actual model alongside the real thing for comparison purposes why not? Place a model in a “real” setting would work for me too. Not sure how the “fantasy” genre figures would play out but I would be keen to see IRO and one of his figures alongside a real Ork!😉
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Thanks Dave, though you’d need to find a Western recreation for yours or a time machine…wait, you need a Delorean for Marty and Doc? That might work for you there.
Hmm, well IRO “is” Imperial Rebel Ork, so that’s a daily occurrence for him!
I was thinking of your diorama work a lot when I wrote this post. Your stuff always is great AND more importantly tells a series of stories just with a glance.
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Excellent! Very interesting.
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Thanks Per! Cheers!
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I just loved that one mate ,I just bet Caesar had something to do with this ,funny when I saw the little guys I thought you were going to leave them there as a kind of salting for others to spot ,but then if America has gone the way of Auss someone would nick them and bugger up the joke and fun ! .I reminded me of something I do when I abroad on holiday ,I take a handful of obsolete copper Auss currency along with current coins and whilst I’m wondering about I place a random coin in crevices, on walls and any low down hidden spots that only small children could see .You may be thinking this guys lost his marbles ! ,but I feel that finding these little exotic treasures would make a little kids day as well as getting the parents wondering what on earth theses strange coins are doing in such odd spots .I do like to throw old dated ones into those fountains or wells where everyone chucks coins into so the poor sod that has to sort them out for the charity gets a laugh seeing these miserable worthless coins and wondering how long they have been sitting there .
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Great story Pat! I love the concept of kids finding your planted treasure, pretty cool. Here, we have no obsolete currency. If the US government issued a coin or note as legal tender, it was good then, and it’s good now.
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Ah, that’s cool man – don’t know if I would want to do that with my stuff though… Space Orks, zombies and futuristic armoured psychopaths are best appreciated from a safe distance I reckon 😉
Question for you – have you ever been to Bovington Tanks Museum here in the UK? I have a feeling you’d be right at home there mate…
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Aww, futuristic armed zombie psychopaths need love and affection too…😁
As for Bovington, not yet, and it’s on my bucket list. My friends from the HAWKS did a trip there last year that I wanted to go on, but for several reasons I could not go. Here’s a link: http://bucksurdu.com/blog/?p=7883
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True 🙂
Let me know if you ever do make the trip mate, I’ll happily come down & spend the day looking at tanks!
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I will!
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Brilliant, Mark! Oh yes, I’d do it! In fact, it’s made me think I should be getting down to Bovington with a big box of tanks! 🙂
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THAT would be awesome!
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That is really great. Makes the model tanks look incredibly small doesn’t it?
Cheers,
Pete.
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Thanks Pete – gives you an idea of what 1:100 really means!
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Aww man I wish I could have come along too. Great post!! Love the tanks and the scale comparison haha 🤘🏼
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Tough to compete with Bali, but this place is cool!
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