Reader Gallery
Barry L. Siler
Loveland, Colorado
Barry’s unique 1/35 scale diorama depicts a scene from the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648): It is late summer 1631, in Upper Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire, and the army of Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly is moving camp. “Not surprising, scale model figures and items for this period are rather scarce,” says Barry. “So, I had to kitbash a couple of commercially available kits.” He converted the wagon and team from Master Box’s Somewhere in Europe, 1944, kit with new sides and load. Although hardly visible, he even added nailed rims to the wheels. The teamster started life as a Dragon German Cossack Cavalry figure and Barry added a cap, cape, and long skirt to the girl in the cart. The cheval de frise gate, some of the wagon’s contents, and the items in the garbage dump (not pictured) were all scratchbuilt.