Strelets-R - Military Miniatures of Distinction

Our thanks go to Thomas Oliver for sending us the following contribution.

Suitcase Battles

Rorke's Drift

This is my sculpture art work based upon Rorke’s Drift; I painted all the figures and made the buildings in the scene. Upon the roof of the Rorke’s Drift hospital you can see British Infantry scaling the buildings. The image I wanted to recreate was of red-coated British troops facing superior numbers of brave but poorly equipped natives.

I then used a background to best suit the scene I have created and adhered it to the sides of the suitcase. I then drilled holes in the side as if they were bullet holes. Upon the suit case lid I attached lights to illuminate the inside so that when you look through the holes in the suitcase you can see the miniature scene.

Battle of Waterloo

This piece here I based upon the Battle of Waterloo. I built the farm and painted the figures. In the photos there are the Highlanders in the bottom corner where a farm building has been bombed, 'Scots Greys' British Cavalry charging towards the French. In the farmyard there are British infantry and the French Imperial Guard, plus British Artillery. These photos were taken once the scene has been placed in its suitcase and the background scene has been added. Again holes in the side to look thru once the suitcase is shut and lights inside to illuminate the scene.

Battle of Thermopylae

I based this piece upon the Battle of Thermopylae in which the Persian’s battled the Spartans. I wanted this piece to take place on the cliffs next to the sea, so I used polystyrene and modrock to create the rock face.

I wanted this scene to be different from the others; I wanted the cliff to appear as if they are rising up through the holdall. You can see the Persian’s trying to advance on war elephants along the cliffs and the Spartans pushing them back.

Romans versus Celts

I decided to use the suitcase differently this time and had it standing up to give me height and I thought the perfect piece to put in it is a Roman temple. I made the temple and painted the figures.

You can see the lights clearly in this picture at the top. In the bottom you can see the Celts charging against the Romans who are standing on the temple steps. The scene I wanted in the background was a roman village and I think it works quite well.
Samurais versus Ninjas

For my samurais versus ninja’s scene I wanted to develop three separate scenes but within the same scene, this is the first one I did and I wanted the ninjas to be ambushing the samurais.

The Honjin

The second piece of this series was the Shoguns in a honjin. This was an enclosure surrounded by curtained screens from which the commander directed operations.
The Execution

Within this last scene I wanted it to be an execution. You can see in the scene one man has already been executed and the other awaiting his fate. At the very front you can see servants carrying severed heads.

Here we have the scenes Completed in its suitcase i used the suitcase stood up for this piece and the scene I wanted at the background of it was a Japanese castle.
Cowboys. Indians and 7th Cavalry

I wanted this piece to be based upon the battle of Little Big Horn but I wanted to bring cowboys into the mix. I made the rock face using polystyrene and modrock, the grass is made from a nail brush.

On this picture you can see the Indian’s wigwams upon the cliff. On the other side you can see the cowboys and in the middle there is the cavalry passing through. The background I used for this scene is of the Wild West.