Fortress Louisbourg 1/72 scale HUGE diorama!

Whoa, you weren't kidding...awesome model.  It was seeing such things as a kid that got me into plastic models.  I loved going to the Buhl Planetarium in Pittsburgh as a youth in the 60's where they had miniatures of train sets and historical scenes.

Wow, that sure is one amazing model.

I'd love to see a step by step guide on how you build something like that.  I'm assuming most of it must be scratch built too which makes it all the more impressive. 

Chris.

I think my dream job would be to build such dioramas for museums, businesses, and such...then have my plastic model hobby to "get away from it all" in my spare time...

Yes I too would like a job building dioramas, this one would have been well paid as it was a government commission!

Its hard to tell if more than one modeler did the work as the style is very consistent. If so I would guess one was on 'figure' duty, another buildings, possibly one on the armaments. Regardless the display is very impressive.

Here is a few pictures from the restored fortress. The people dressed in period costumes never once broke character or spoke in a modern way, it really helped set the mood & tone for the era.

The muskets looked to be replicas with thinner bore barrels, most likely to save weight for the actors. The one being fired never chambered a shot, it was just loaded with a bit of black powder for effect.

I liked this street scene as a few actors in period clothing milling about without any tourists really looked out of the 1700s.

The majority of the town inside the protective walls has been restored. The admission price was a bit steep until one realized the millions spent in restoration, actors, employees & maintenance. This cost then seemed token at best.

I'm almost embarrassed to say I've not yet been to Lousbourg. If I'm heading for NS, all my relatives are in Yarmouth on the southern tip. King's Landing outside of Fredericton is also set up this way with period citizens going about their daily business, no military presence though. Have you been to Fort Anne and Port Royal in Annapolis Royal yet?

[quote user="VanceCrozier"]

I'm almost embarrassed to say I've not yet been to Louisbourg. If I'm heading for NS, all my relatives are in Yarmouth on the southern tip. King's Landing outside of Fredericton is also set up this way with period citizens going about their daily business, no military presence though. Have you been to Fort Anne and Port Royal in Annapolis Royal yet?

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Must say I have not been to any of the historical sites you mentioned Vance. I am slowly picking away at the 'must see' places in Nova Scotia at a rate of approximately two a year. The next on the list are the museums in Halifax and I hope to paddle around Hopewell rock near Moncton next year.

For the millions of tax payers dollars spent on the fortress Louisboug I must say it was a good allocation of funds compared to other federal money pits.

Here are some of the 'in character' people found around the fortress, the fellow explained the rum traded for back then was 75% or 150 proof. Mean stuff and no Coke for mix! Apparently they would swallow butter to grease the chute before taking a swig, most likely where 'buttered rum' found its origins.

Exploring the main residence these fellows were playing a game of chess. Government wadges, benefits & pensions! Apparently they had 'other duties' and sitting there all day would have been a pain in the rear.

A model of a French gun boat was displayed at the information center. The wood look was neat yet one wonders how it was painted? One of the original anchors sits in front of the information center.

Well that is about it for my pictures of Fortress Louisbourg. The rest are more 'tourist poses' of family that detract from the 1700s theme.

Thanks for stopping in the thread, if in Cape Breton do make the trip out, plan on a day to see it all.

Very cool! I've been to CB many times (I used to live in Halifax), but never went south of the Cabot trail. Maybe go there the next time. The fort at Annapolis Royale was neat to see. Always loved going on the HMCS SACKVILLE in Halifax. I also had a chance to go on one of our newer diesel subs when I was there- I think one of them caught on fire that year near Ireland.