It was rather cool, as we got to see some of the other models and gear the WETA folks were working on, for other movies.. but having had to sign confidentiality agreements while being there I cannot elaborate... but lets just say it was certainly eye opening!
I was anticipating a day touching up paint chipped models from the packing and delivery returns... or maybe getting to help out sticking clump foliage to the diorama board ... how wrong I was...
On opening some of the returned boxes of figures from the various clubs, one box contained the entire Maori battalion of about 200 figures that hadn't even been touched. 200 shiny silver figures needing filing, trimming and assembly! And then painting... So I was quickly involved with that... it was just a fluke I'd brought my knife and files along too... just as well!
We quickly got our selves positioned and I had brought my little portable work station with attached light to work by, so I got power, and set to...
All pics on this post courtesy Roly Hermans official blog - "Mustering the Troops" :
Rhys Jones, left, (Retired NZ Senior Defence force) inspects our progress...
Yours truly hard at work, but has a moment to grin for the camera...
Mid morning a TV1 news crew also showed up to film us and chat to us. I think my little portable light rig caught their attention as they seemed to have the camera pointing my way from time to time. So who knows, I maybe on the news, indirectly at some point!
So I spent most of Saturday helping with the trimming , filing and assembling the Maori battalion figures. Towards the end of the day I also got to start doing the Kiwi HMG teams, which were rather fiddly as you had to assemble the crews and HMGs themselves with their slender fiddly little tripod legs... yes super-gluing your fingers together is always great fun!
Other guys near me were hard at work with painting duties, either doing touch ups, or starting fresh figures that guys in the spray booth had been spray under coating en-masse... this was turning into a real paint-a-thon...
The assembled crew at the end of Saturdays work...
Things wrapped up that night at 5pm and many of us then met afterwards in town with the Perrys for beers and nibbles. I stayed for a short while but felt I had abandoned family long enough for one day so headed home after a short time.... I got to enjoy some pizza, wine and a movie together, once I got home. Simple pleasures...
Evening out at Macs in Wellington...
Sunday was more of the same... though a slightly later start... I had more machine guns to sort out and a steady stream of models that needing fixing with broken or missing parts, or gaps that hadn't been properly filled with model putty...
The painters were often hard out, either painting up new figures, or many were doing re-work, where submitted figures were judged as being too bright and needed toning down, or too dark and needed dry brush highlights so they would all work well en-masse together...
Lunch time on Sunday I got the chance to go round the full exhibit at the museum that was still very much in progress, not just our diorama board, but the whole museum is being kitted out in PJ's vision of an immersive visitor experience in all matters WWI... It's going to be truly mind blowing when finished ... and not just visually, but also sound effects and even smells... fascinating!
After the museum visit we were back to work for the afternoon... and I continued my filing trimming and prep work until I called it a day at 4pm...
There's still lots to do, but there's guys that can devote more of their time through the week... but for myself I am back to my own mundane normal working life, so wont have any more time to be involved...
Its been a fascinating experience... and I really can't wait to see the completed exhibit!
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