This small display, set on a lawn at the Tsarskoye Selo palace complex, depicts the calm before the storm of August 1914 that would, by 1918, sweep the vast majority of the Imperial Romanov Family into the dust of history.

All figures are 54mm and painted with acrylic hobby paints.
Tsar Nicholas II is the excellent kit from El Taller - Hobby Art.
The "Lady's Governess" is an old Phoenix casting.
The rest of the figures, including the two Grand Duchesses, are from Chronos Miniatures.

A very nicely painted and presented vignette.
The interaction between the figures is spot-on.

Cheers,
Andrew

Looking great and very well painted

Mobo

Excellent vignette, Harry! I particularly like the Phoenix figure-I'm a fan of their catalog, and I think they still stand up nicely today. I have that same lady in my Kaiser's Army/Berlin 1910 collection.

Prost!
Brad

Thanks guys - glad you like it.

Yeah, I love the old Phoenix stuff as well and included some in my ongoing, and by no means finished yet, "Whitechapel 1888" display.
Also recycled the three lady's from the Russian scenario so as to make up the numbers...

Very nice..

Excellent, Harry, well done!
I take it that the carriage is a Phoenix kit, too?
I've got the Tatiyana figure kit, too, but I'm going to convert her to a German princess as the honorary colonel of an Uhlan regiment.

Prost!
Brad

It is not entirely clear why the Russian soldiers have gray uniforms, and it is not clear who these ladies are in Uhlan uniform dresses?

The figures in the top photo are all WIP.
All beginning to look a bit better by the final two snaps.
Cheers
H

Yes, the horse & carriage are Phoenix kits.
The carriage isn't too difficult to assemble - you just need to be sure the main joints are kept at a right angle while the glue is curing.
I used superglue to tack each joint, then ran a bead of 2-part epoxy down the length. Ended up being fairly robust.
Cheers
H

The two ladies are Nicholas' daughters Tatiana and one of her sisters, as honorary colonels-in-chief of 2 lancer regiments. It's a figure kit from Chronos Miniatures that came out a few years back. A very nice kit!

Prost!
Brad

Nicholas II had 4 daughters, older by birth: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia.

Olga was the patron (a position in the Russian army is equivalent to an honorary commander) of the 3rd Elisavetgrad Hussar Regiment, Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna.

She was supposed to have a hussar colonel's uniform with a skirt instead of pants in regimental colors.


Tatyana was the patron of the 8th Ascension Uhlans of Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Tatyana Nikolaevna Regiment.

She wore a uhlan colonel's uniform with a skirt.


Maria was the patron of the 9th Kazan Dragoon Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna Regiment.

Like her sisters, she wore her regiment colonel's uniform, i.e. dragoon, regiment.


Anastasia was the patron of the 148th Caspian Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Anastasia Infantry Regiment. Anastasia became the patron of this regiment on June 5 (according to the Julian calendar), 1915, on the day of her 14th birthday, at the same time the regiment was named in honor of its patron. But the First World War was already underway, it was probably not the time for ceremonies, and even more so, they probably did not order and sew the dress regimental uniform for the Princess. I haven't come across any documents or photos of Anastasia in the uniform of her under the patronage infantry regiment.

The presented diorama shows two women in uhlan military dresses, but only one of them could be in uhlan dress - Tatyana. But, at the same time, none of the women is dressed in a Russian uhlan uniform, because, the green uhlan uniform did not exist in the Russian army. A dark blue uniform with a combination of white regimental color and silver was only in the 7th Olviopol Uhlans Regiment, whose patron was the King of Spain Alphonse XIII, but at the same time the pants (and in the case of a lady a skirt) should also be dark blue, and not gray, as here - hence the conclusion that this is also not a Russian uhlan regiment.

Thus, there are no daughters of Nicholas II on the diorama, which is why I asked who these women in military dresses were, thinking that they were some other characters.

Well, you'll have to wait for Harry to clear that up. I just identified the kit; Chronos sells it as Tatiyana. I've got that figure, too, and I'm not even going to finish her as Tatiyana. I'm going to convert her to an unidentified German noblewoman as the honorary Chefin on an Uhlan regiment.

Prost!
Brad

Looking forward to seeing what you create Brad.

Thank you for your most comprehensive and illuminating post. I shall take the opportunity to respond in kind.

The three fictitious female figures temporarily included in the small vignette I posted were simply an attempt to lend some additional interest and not intended to be taken seriously. Of course, picking through absolute historical accuracy represented by sculpted and painted white metal or resin can be a hobby in itself and offers exciting opportunities to chew over minutiae by those who are inclined; which is perfectly fine, each to their own and all that. On the other hand, it’s not too much of an issue for other hobbyists as long as things are kept within reason; which is the category that I fall into as an (extremely) amateur figure modeler, and is also why I tend to focus on fantasy subjects, including this one. Having said that, thank goodness the temptation to post a photo including my equally fictitious “Otto, the Prussian Ambassador” in the vignette was manfully resisted.



Probably unknown to most members here unless they’re familiar with the splendid series of books written by the sadly-deceased George MacDonald Fraser, (links provided below);
https://www.amazon.com/Flashmans-omnibus-George-MacDonald-Fraser/dp/0214206726
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flashman_Papers
...the three additional female characters depict:-

Lady Elspeth Rennie Flashman (nee Morrison).
Ravishing and extremely clever Scottish blonde. May have been habitually unfaithful, but the truth has never been satisfactorily established.
Also a consummate card shark, being especially familiar with the subtleties of Baccarat.



Miss Selina Flashman.
Grand-daughter of General Sir Harry Paget Flashman VC, KCB, KCIE, etc. (retired), of Gandamack Lodge, Ashby, Leicester.
Her appointment as Honorary Colonel of the 11th Lancers is suspected to have been at the instigation of Albert Edward, or “Bertie the Bounder”, The Prince of Wales.

Miss Svetlina Flashski.
Illegitimate daughter of Countess Nadia Feodorovna Ignatieff and believed to have been conceived during Flashman’s unofficial mission to St. Petersburg in early 1893. Count Nicholas Pavlovitch Ignatieff himself being absent at the time while getting up to mischief playing The Great Game in Afghanistan – again.
It is unknown who paid for her to be installed as Honorary Colonel of the 12th Pavlova Grenadiers, but bearing her parentage in mind, I feel compelled to assume the appointment was hardly above board.




According to an as-yet unpublished packet of “The Flashman Papers”; throughout the mid-19th century and well into the early-1900’s, the commissariat of Imperial Russia’s armed forces took advantage of possibly illegal knock-down prices charged for military apparel originating from those satanic mills owned by a certain John Morrison, Lord Paisley of Renfrew, who just happened to be Flashy’s father-in-law. The material was so cheap and nasty that the color ran every time it got wet, especially when subjected to prototype hydraulic-powered washing machines launched on an unsuspecting and gullible public by the Singer Works of Clydebank, which were also sold onto Russia by the said Lord Paisley in an illicit “White Goods for Honors” deal.
The scandal caused such an uproar within Allied diplomatic circles that Lord Kitchener was dispatched post-haste to Murmansk in 1916 so as to offer alternate military items manufactured in Birmingham – but he drowned when the cruiser he was aboard was somewhat conveniently blown to smithereens by a mine.
Presumably by 1917 Tsar Nicky had other, and much more pressing, issues to be concerned with and subsequently lost all interest in the non-colorfast uniforms that had been acquired by the Imperial Army/Navy Stores. Given the equally insane state of the world we’re living in today, I can certainly concur with his point of view.

Anyhoo, I’m afraid that’s where my research ended. Having no doubt increased the initial confusion by some exponential factor, (this is an international forum after all, with many members for whom English, with all its nuances, is not a first language), then further queries might or might not, usefully be addressed either toward the executers of George MacDonald Fraser’s estate, or General Flashman’s nearest known living relative, one Mr. Paget Morrison of Durban, South Africa.
If they can’t, or indeed most likely won’t, offer to clarify any remaining anxieties, then adjusting the color settings on a computer monitor may possibly help. As will a sense of humor.

No offense intended or implied...
Cheers
H

Okay) Now everything is clear about fictional characters.

Was happy to help out...

Good idea and nice composition, fine painting.

Military miniatures painted by Eduardo Garcia