# Alamo diorama/playset



## iamweasel

Though this isn't totally accurate, mainly as an 8'x6' table would be a bit much to lug around, this is 4'x 6' as it is. I went with as much as I could by studying Mark Lemons Alamo diorama. 
My son is a huge Alamo fanatic, so I decided to build him this.
This is made with carved and engraved wood, 100 Imex Texans and roughly 200 Imex Mexicans. I still have dozens of more hours left on it before I am anywhere near done with it, though my son gets to use it for play in between my work times.


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## Zorro

Wow!! My first playset as a kid was the MARX Alamo and this is 10 times better than that. Your son is very lucky. Nice job!


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## iamweasel

Thanks Zorro, I appreciate the kind words. I had and have my Marx Alamo and my son got a reissue one from me several years ago and he always said he wished he had one more like the real mission.
Sure feels good when you do something for someone and they have tears roll down their cheeks when they get it.


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## mcdougall

Wow that is very Cool :thumbsup:
Mcdee


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## tomhocars

Looks great.Poor Davey Crokette.


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## iamweasel

Thanks guys for the kind words. I'm more used to building furniture...which requires far less aspirin intake to complete.


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## MBXJimbob

totally impressive!!! great detail! Nice work!!


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## Diomakr

that's really cool- i don't do "people" in my set-ups and I'm not really familiar with the figures- what is imex? is that just a figure brand?


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## iamweasel

Thanks. Yes Imex is model company and considering them being 1/72 in scale the detail is very good.


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## Diomakr

thanks- they are very detailed for that scale


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## roadrner

Great looking build. When I went to the 1:1 version, I was so surprised how small it actually was. Guess I was thinking it was going to be as big as the one John Wayne and Richard Widmark had to play with in the movie. :freak:

Thanks for sharing! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: rr


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## iamweasel

Thanks! I haven't had the chance to actually get to San Antonio to see her yet but hopefully that day will arrive sooner then later.
It's really a shame that most of such an important historical site is buried under roads and buildings. Its a disgrace to the memory of the men who died there, and those that may have surrendered, if some people are correct.
Maybe someday enough people in Texas will demand it be reclaimed. At least some are trying and I back them 100%.


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## 69Stang

Silmpy stunning!


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## djnick66

Have you checked out all of the Alamo stuff offered by Classic Toy Soldiers? They have repops of the old Marx figures, accessories, etc. You can get things like furniture, scaling ladders, even scenery.


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## iamweasel

Yes, I have actually bought a lot of things from them for the Marx sets we have.
At some point I am thinking of making the chapel in that scale as well, which means it would actually be really, really big, though much easier to detail. 
At 1/72 scale the chapel is in the area of 11" x 16" and Marx is around 1/35.


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## djnick66

Oh somehow I thought this was 1/32 scale... Imex makes 1/32 figures as well. 

FYI you can use French Napoleonic Light and Line infantry for the Mexicans... The uniforms are very similar especially in 1/72.


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## iamweasel

Shhhh.......if my son hears that, that would be more itsy bitsy guys to paint! 

Thanks for the info, I really may look into that so he has a bigger lot of poses and it helps keep the aspirin companies in business.


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## Seadragon7

While my father was stationed in Texas at Bergstrom AFB in Austin from '76-'80, He took me down there to see it. While my mind saw the area as seen in the movies, it didn't look that way after the city grew all around it. Darn shame they couldn't have left some land around it to give it a sence of real scale and understanding as to what transpired there. Your diorama does that very well. Great job!


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## iamweasel

Thank you for the kind words. I still think if the Alamo is so sacred to San Antonio most of it wouldn't be under the Avenue out in front of the chapel.


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## lilstomper

I lived in Texas most of my life and served in the military for 17 years. I was fortunate to visit the Alamo a few times. I am not aware of anything being buried underneath the city, everything is available for the public to view, "The Alamo", the Soldier Quarters, the Church and ground including all of the cannons used in the last stand. In the Historical Museum they have the Jim Bowie knife and the States Flags representing of all the Soldiers that died there. I am not sure exactly what you might be refering to that may be buried there


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## iamweasel

Here, as on the different Alamo forums, that is referring to the Alamo grounds, as very little of it isn't covered with roads or other buildings.


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## MitchPD3

tomhocars said:


> Looks great.Poor Davey Crokette.


Ah yes, Davy Crockett's long lost cousin!

Was at the Alamo about 15 years ago and was initially disappointed. I grew up with John Wayne's Alamo so it wasn't what I expected. It was history so I enjoyed the visit.

Yes, the Alamo is sacred to Texans. The have a Texas Ranger stationed at every corner of the property "on Guard".


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## spideydroogy

This is very cool. Well done, sir! I started painting toy soldiers a few years ago but they have taken a backseat to model building. This makes me want to revisit them. Your building construction looks awesome.


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## iamweasel

Thank you very much, I still wish I had been able to be more historically accurate.  This is one of those things that I most likely will never fully finish as I keep going back and changing and redoing things.
As much as I love doing regular models, I find I spend more time doing soldiers these days. My son, several of his friends and myself do a lot of gaming like Gobal Axis and Allies, Battle cry (A civil war game) and I must be near to a thousand figures, tanks, artillery etc. etc. etc. by now and even though it can get tedious, it is a great deal of fun painting them.


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## bucwheat

Now I really like that,great detail.


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## Pete McKay

I grew up in San Antonio and actually lived about 4 blocks from the Alamo downtown in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Much of the structure in from of the building was removed during the urban expansion in the 1920's and 1930's, and for many years the building was a derelict. When they built the Hemisphere Worlds fair in 1968 there were actually plans to bulldoze it and put in a parking lot. The Daughters of the Texas Republic, of which my grandmother was one, stopped that in it's tracks. 

There is a decent diorama at the Alamo of the final battle but there is a better one (or was 30 years ago) at the Institute of Texan Cultures at the Hemisphere Plaza area. It will cost a little to go in but it is a pretty good museum with plenty to look at. Up until a few years ago you could still visit the movie set at the Alamo Village in Bracketville about an hour and a half west of San Antonio, there were rumors that it had closed but last visit to the website showed it was open at least up until last year. Not sure what's happened to it since but I believe it's still used privately as a movie set.


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## iamweasel

BRacketville is open again, after the mother died the family did close it for a bit and either they reopened it or hired a managing company for it.
Glad to see it's back.
Mark Lemon made what looks to be the best scale Alamo I have yet to see. He actually put out a book with his model in it...still haven't gotten it yet but I will shortly.


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