55 days in peking - my project

[DintheDin]

I'd like to post these pics, showing how much effort you put for the canal 
Eh, I put a little finger there 

[FifteensAway]

Wow, love the combination of research photos and model work to recreate the "Jade" river - though way too wet for the time from my readings but, who cares, great model.  Not so thrilled with the walls - though they are great looking walls.  They just give the Chinese too much cover in a game to attack the legations - although that might be good for the Chinese players.  But hard to give the canal 'depth' without doing something like that.  One of the bigger challenges I have ahead is creating that same feature.  Would love to see Blue Moon, or someone, do appropriate bridges.  Have you found any sources for bridges or are you scratch building all of yours?

Oh, you could have made the river a lot more realistic if you'd modeled a lot of small tubular items floating about, brown in color.  Ick.      

[miltiades]

Wow, love the combination of research photos and model work to recreate the "Jade" river - though way too wet for the time from my readings but, who cares, great model.  Not so thrilled with the walls - though they are great looking walls.  They just give the Chinese too much cover in a game to attack the legations - although that might be good for the Chinese players.  But hard to give the canal 'depth' without doing something like that.  One of the bigger challenges I have ahead is creating that same feature.  Would love to see Blue Moon, or someone, do appropriate bridges.  Have you found any sources for bridges or are you scratch building all of yours?

Oh, you could have made the river a lot more realistic if you'd modeled a lot of small tubular items floating about, brown in color.  Ick.      

Thank you FifteensAway. Yes. The Canal looks perhaps more wet for the time. But take a look at the following post card of 1900; the canal is full of water in the foreground and almost dry in the background. You can also see the bridges. They look quite western. However, I will add at least one Chinese looking bridge, because I want to emphasize on the "oriental" side of the game...I keep in  mind that this is meant to be a game scenery and not a diorama.

[leadboy]

Miltiades, thank you very much for your reply to my questions. It was a couple of years ago that I researched the Legations (by book and internet) and encountered my problem - perhaps things have got much better since or my google-fu was simply weak. I shall go back and search further as you suggest. I remember at the time that a lot of the internet stuff showed the Legations after they had been rebuilt, rather than pre-Rebellion, and is was quite clear that they had not been rebuilt "as was" (e.g. the introduction of the 'glacis wall' all round the Legation Quarter for defensive purposes). As to the British Coat of Arms, it does look 3D and I never thought of 2D photoshopping - thank you and now I have the JPEG (thank you sir) I will have a go at this myself!! Oh and well done on the canal which I think is "just right" as a representation/gaming piece. I very much look forward to seeing your other Legations in due course and staying in touch with this thread for inspiration!

[FifteensAway]

While I like the color photo of a canal, it can't possibly be near the Legation Quarter based on both the nearby buildings and especially the hills in the near distance.  Though your point about near by water is understood.  My reading says canal by Legations was essentially dry (they had to dig wells during the siege) but that near the 'gate' the relief came through (via the canal) was a putrid, fetid, wet spot.  So, a bit of difference of opinion in the original sources.

Would like to know if the earlier black and white photos show the a legation wall on the left and a wall of the Forbidden City in the background, if you know?

[DintheDin]

Talking about the canal, we needed to build something quickly, so, I  decided to help Miltiades with paperwork.
My initial suggestion for the canal wall, was this:

[DintheDin]

For the canal waterbed, with the help of Photoshop, I assembled some mud holes and putrid little streams, with dirty, brown water, as follows:
I made three different pics, which you may notice that I tried to make them overlap each other,
so that the first, repeated a second time can be again the continuation of the third and so on.
On that bed, Miltiades found the time to invest and created a 3D riverbed with grass, water effects etc.

Free for anybody interested to use them.

[DintheDin]

...as Miltiades did not like a so greenish canal wall, I made another one, which he finally used (see previous canal pics, top of this page)

[miltiades]

Time for another Legation...  the Russian Legation this time. Another creation by DintheDin !!!

[miltiades]

The Russian Legation under attack!

[miltiades]

Would like to know if the earlier black and white photos show the a legation wall on the left and a wall of the Forbidden City in the background, if you know?

The first black and white photo is entitled: "Beijing Eastern Wall captured [!] by Russian troops with Russian Flag  above the gates". The flag is pretty obvious. So the answer is: No,  I dont know anything more but ... yes, it looks like the wall of the Forbidden City is  in the background and a Legation wall is on the left...

[DintheDin]

The Russian Legation under attack!

Miltiades, don't make people believe we started wargaming, please mention this was only a mock-up trial 

[FifteensAway]

"Miltiades, don't make people believe we started wargaming, please mention this was only a mock-up trial"


What, the two of you don't know that it's all over the internet the two of you invented wargaming, started it all?  You must keep up with the times!   

[WuZhuiQiu]

What's necessarily "western" about a masonry arch bridge?

[Arundel]

Lovely stuff. You both are a great team! If you don't mind my asking, which figures are you using? I don't recognize them. Keep up the great work!