This vignette depicts one of the many banzai
charges that the Americans had to contend with as they cleared Manila of
Japanese. The American patrol has walked up to a gutted ruin within the old
walled city, and is shocked to discover that they have disturbed a hornets' nest
of Imperial troops. As a break from my usual aircraft modelling, I had long
wanted to build a diorama. I finally chose one that is set in the very city I
call home.
The Liberation of Manila was a violent maelstrom of aerial bombardment,
artillery barrages, and close-quarters fighting in which the 300 year old city
was almost completely destroyed. Over 100,000 Filipino civilians are said to
have perished, many being executed by the Japanese, who were ordered to treat
anyone left within the city as an enemy combatant. Tough luck for those who had
nowhere else to go. The battle is still quite significant to many Manilenos, who
have "Liberation" stories told and retold by their families. Here's
ours: When news of the Americans' approach seemed definite, my grandfather
sent his family (including my dad, who was then 12 years old) off to a nearby
province, but stayed behind to keep an eye against looters. Soon enough,
Japanese patrols arrived, looking to round up all men and boys. My grandfather
had heard that there would be no good in accepting such invitations, so he chose
to hide between two large pianos on the ground floor. For his personal defense,
he had an antiquated rifle with one bullet in the chamber. A couple of Japanese
marines came in, searched all the rooms and, finding nothing, lit an oily rag
and threw it into the house. As the wooden house caught fire, my grandfather ran
out the back, and into a group of women whose menfolk had just been rounded up
and taken away. They covered him in a skirt and shawl, and he made his way out
of the stricken city dressed as a woman. It is fortunate that my grandfather got
out when he did. During the peak of the battle, their neighborhood of
Singalong, Manila became the site of numerous atrocities committed by an army
who had been ordered to annihilate everything in their defense of the
city.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The vignette is constructed of a
considerable number of kits. The soldiers are modified Tamiya and Dragon
sets. WES resin sets provided the food bags and sacks. The twisted bicycle
is form Tamiya. The building and low wall are made from sculpey modelling
compound, while the charred timbers are basswood charred over a candle.
Everything rests on a base of bathroom tissue mixed with white glue and
mashed to a pulp. The groundwork is made up of crushed brick and cement
from our yard, while garden store dried moss is handy for the touches of
vegetation scattered around the scene. I do not regret following modelling
guru Shepherd Paine's advice to spray a bit of ground color onto the
figures' legs, to give the scene a certain visual unity and realism. A
spray of clear flat also helped tone down shiny spots on the paintwork for
added realism.
Thanks for dropping by to look!
Micah Reysio-Cruz
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