Instruction manual from the Tommy's War cavalry range demonstrating how to build this 1/32 resin model kit into a reproduction of a Yeomanry Trooper charging at the Charge at Huj in the Middle Eastern theatre during World War One.
1914-1918 in miniature
Instruction Manual
TW32C02
Trooper, Warwickshire
Yeomanry
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1914-1918 in miniature
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1914-1918 in miniature
A brief introduction to the
Trooper, Warwickshire Yeomanry
During the 3rd battle of Gaza, the British army had advanced on the
Palestinian Arab village of Huj where the Ottoman army (consisting of
mainly Turkish troops with Austrian and German support).
On the 8th November 1917 the offensive against the Ottomans had
stalled due to artillery fire from a ridge of high ground to the south.
The position was heavily defended with artillery, 300 infantry and
6 machine guns. Unable to take the ground with infantry, the cavalry
units available were called for.
Elements of the Warwickshire Yeomanry and Worcestershire Yeomanry
formed-up and advanced toward the enemy, charging from 300 yards
in to a storm of artillery and machine gun fire.
There were three separate charges that day, resulting in the capture of
eleven artillery pieces, four machine guns and seventy prisoners for the
loss of twenty six men and three officers. One hundred horses were
lost that day.
The charge allowed the British to press home their main attack
unhindered.
Major Oscar Teichman, the Medical Officer for the Worcestershire
Yeomanry wrote in 1936*;
“The Charge at Huj had it occurred in a minor war would have gone
down in history like the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclave.
In the Great War when gallant deeds were being enacted on all fronts
almost daily it was merely an episode, but as the Official Historian
remarks, for sheer bravery the episode remains unmatched”
*Rickard, J (3 September 2007), Affair of Huj, 8 November 1917,
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/affair_huj.html
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1914-1918 in miniature
Set Up
Before you begin
You will need a few tools, I recommend a scalpel with new
blade, small tweezers, glue (I used super glue) and a glue
applicator. The parts are very small so I wore optivisors for
fixing the parts and I cut the photo etch on a glass board (as
traditional cutting mats tend to bend with the part meaning
that the etch can bend with the cut).
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1914-1918 in miniature
Step 1 - Prepare the horse
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You will note that the left portion of the horse has wire
protruding from the hoof (1), it is important to cut around that
wire and leave it in the foot as it is moulded in to the horse
to provide stability when based.
I have now cut away
the resin casting block
around the hoof.
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1914-1918 in miniature
Step 1.2 - Prepare the horse
A
B
(A) By scoring around the hoof I have then worked away the
resin to leave the rod inserted in to the horse intact. This can
be trimmed later when you base the horse, but leave enough
that it can be inserted in to your groundwork. Only his leg of
the horse is planted, so this needs to support horse and rider.
(B) I now prepare the two halves of the horse to be glued, here
I’m using Roket glue by Deluxe (other adhesives are available)
with an applicator. I find this helps accuracy when applying the
glue. The plastic dish here is the lid off a long discarded tube
of Pringles. This can be disposed of, I always keep pieces of
plastic as temporary glue holders.
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1914-1918 in miniature
Step 2 - Fitting the bridle & reins
In 1914 the British army were using a mix of equipment. The
saddle was in the main the 1912 universal pattern saddle. The
bridle and bit were part of the 1902 pattern equipment.
This additional part is shown in the small photo-etch fret
provided with your kit.
I trimmed the two parts from the sprue with a scalpel
with a new blade.
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1914-1918 in miniature
Step 2.1 - Fitting the bridle & reins
The two parts were cleaned-up and placed ready.
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1914-1918 in miniature
Step 2.2 - Fitting the bridle & reins
I did trim the part to allow a better fit, see the images of
the actual horse , you can see how the individual parts fit
together - see page 10, fig 1 & 2.
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1914-1918 in miniature
Step 2.3 - Fitting the bridle & reins
Fig 1
Fig 2
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1914-1918 in miniature
Step 2.4 - Fitting the bridle & reins
There are several ways to make the reins, you can use paper
cut to size. I prefer to use Tamiya tape as it forms in to shape
quite easily. Cut on a glass chopping board with a sharp knife
and place in to shape. The string (included in this kit) creates
the tether.
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1914-1918 in miniature
Step 3 - Fix the equipment
You can see from this angle how I have applied all of the
parts. Here I used the same Roket glue, fixing the equipment
first but all the time testing the position of the rider. It is
important that the rider is shown standing in his stirrups, he
is not sitting.
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1914-1918 in miniature
Step 3.1 - Fix the equipment
Here you can see the satchel has been applied, this is
designed to look as if it is moving with the horse, so the
pack itself is not clued to the body. This gives the figure a
feeling of motion.
Note, I have not at this point fixed the water bottle (with
strap formed from Tamiya tape) or the neck protector to
the helmet.
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Tommy’s War Limited, 5 Athens Close
Hinckley, Leicestershire LE10 1FJ United Kingdom
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Tel: +44 (0) 7958 626236
Email: darren@tommyswar.com
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