Friday 2 October 2015

Agincourt 600 - Royal Armouries Diorama


As most will now be aware from the coverage this week on some social media and wargames publications, as part of it’s Agincourt 2015 exhibition the Royal Armouries commissioned a large battlefield diorama from Dave Marshall and Perry Miniatures.




Here are some pictures of the diorama, taken in its almost-ready state a couple of months ago in Dave’s workshop. Although it’s about half the size of the original plan from the Armouries, it is an impressive and wonderfully made model, which we spent over an hour inspecting and gloating over.
I was aware of the commission's progress and kindly asked to make a very modest contribution (to the total of 4,400 figures) in painting a dozen of the French leaders - all of whom are portrayed wearing their coats of arms - their places marked on the table by their flags.





The final model creates an effective impression of the battlefield, the positioning and size of the two armies (with the French only marginally the larger force) and the moments just before the French nobility reach their English opponents in their attempt to kill or capture Henry V. The French cavalry are shown retiring after their unsuccessful attacks on the English wings of bowmen. The table will certainly assist visitors reimagine the battle, as [part of the overall exhibition. I believe some creative 
lighting may also be added to the final model to give an impression of an arrow storm?





I hope that Alan is able to put into production some of the extra figures done for the display – crossbowmen at ease, trumpeters and carts being unloaded with supplies of arrows. All would be really useful for the AO range. Also the additional flags designed by GMB would be great to purchase too.
Obviously the final model was determined by the RA committee – my only disappointment with the final scene is the complete lack of flags and pennons in the rear two French battles. It looks unrealistic, but I understand that the RA only wanted the French leader’s flags to be shown, nearly all of whom 
were in the leading battle, so that visitors can easily identify where they were on the battlefield.



There is an excellent article on the model’s development on the Royal Armouries blog, written by David Marshall. I’m planning a Tower visit for next month – including the Agincourt display which The Wallace Collection are putting on – and the permanent relocation of the model to Leeds next year will also be a good excuse to make a revisit there too. 

8 comments:

Phil said...

Stunning pictures, thanks for sharing!

Bedford said...

Brilliant stuff mate. The diorama is obviously the best thing I've laid eyes on probably ever! I need to get down to London and see it. Don't think I can hold out for a year before it get moved to Leeds!

Love the heraldry on those mini's to!

Darrell.

Stuart said...

I felt rather privileged to get a preview of this but inclusion here is another level !

Fire at Will said...

Splendid, even if small contribution. I'll probably wait till the display moves to Leeds to see it.

Johns Miniatures said...

Amazing!!!

Dave H said...

Simon, can you please use any influence you may have with the Perry's to encourage them to put the new figures into production!I for one would buy them! Love the detail of the artillery mounted in the wagons! Also the figures you painted are outstanding. Thanks for sharing the photos. I picked up from a couple of comments above that the display will move to Leeds? When will that be? Thanks, Dave.

armouries said...

Hello, I'm getting in touch from the Royal Armouries museum itself as a couple of you have asked when the model is moving to Leeds - it's here now! It was installed in the last 48 hours and is open to the public this Saturday, however the best time to visit is probably during our Hundred Years Wargaming weekend 23-24 April! It will be a weekend of great HYW participation games, with the opportunity to hear from David Marshall and the Perry brothers themselves! For more details please see this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1549633862018787/

Hope to see you there!
Kirsty Rogers,
Communications Officer
Royal Armouries

Unknown said...

I had the great fortune to be involved in this project as well, in total between myself (Andy Isherwood) and Rob Henson we painted 4,109 of the figures including all of the ranked French Infantry blocks over the course of 8 months. It was a great experience and given the chance we would be only too happy to get stuck into something like this again at some point.

Andy Isherwood
Painted Wargames