Monday, October 29, 2012

The Great War in Greyscale - 'Taxi de la Marne' & Georges Boillot


A few months ago I wrote a post in which I dropped a hint that the next addition to my greyscale Great War project would feature a 'mystery vehicle'. I alluded that this vehicle had gained it's fame not for it's military power, but rather because it was completely unthreatening, being both unarmed and unarmoured. The comments that followed had several excellent guesses ranging from the common artillery limber horse to the London double-decker bus that ferried troops behind the lines. These are certainly great examples, worthy of projects in of themselves, but still not quite what I had in mind. 

In the end the brass ring must go to Sylvain for correctly guessing that the mystery vehicle is the humble Paris taxi, the 1905 Renault Type AG-1, better known as the 'Taxi de la Marne'.

Painting by Brian Sanders.
A bit of background on how this little Renault gained its fame: During the German advance towards Paris in the autumn of 1914, a gap began to develop along the German right flank, specifically between the First Army of von Kluck and the Second Army under von Bulow. Sensing a rare opportunity, General Joffre decided to concentrate Allied forces at this crucial point, committing them to a huge series of battles along the Marne River, at the very doorstep of Paris



As the French madly tried to reorient their axis of operations it was decided by the military governor of Paris, General Gallieni, to call upon the taxis of the city to transport men to the front (which at that time was only about 50 km away). The cab drivers of Paris answered and  about 6,000 men of the 7th Infantry Division were driven to the front, many of them in Renault taxis.

Though the Taxis de la Marne are often touted as a symbol of French patriotism it must be stated that the pragmatic Parisian cabbies did have their meters running and the total cost to the French treasury in fares was 70,102 francs. Nothing is recorded on how well the drivers were tipped...

This is a 1:43 diecast model from RIO Models of Italy. I'm afraid to say it came out-of-the-box already beautifully painted in vibrant colours, so I was more than a little hesitant to prime it black in order to attempt a greyscale effect on it. Nonetheless I forged ahead and am fairly satisfied with how it turned out.


I've also included a driver model I sourced from Bob Murch's characterful range of Pulp Figures. To me this figure epitomizes that Parisian sense of detachment and sang-froid in which we often like to stereotype the Gallic race.  


I did up this figure in homage to the great French driver Georges Boillot. His overall pose, particularly the way he's holding his cigarette, makes me smile.

Georges Boillot
Boillot won the French Grand Prix at Dieppe in 1912, at Amiens in 1913 and set a speed record at the Indianapolis 500 the following year. 

Boillot in 1914, racing for Peugeot at the Indianapolis 500.
When war broke out in 1914 Boillot was assigned as the personal driver to General Joffre during the Battle of the Frontiers. During those first furious weeks of the war Joffre was famed 'to be everywhere at once' - most of this came from the supreme (Joffre's aides would argue 'reckless') driving skills of Boillot, who whisked the General from front to front at high speeds, along roads congested with soldiers, refugees and military supplies.

The Driver taking a break in a current work-in-progress, a 1909 Thomas Flyabout.

As France continued to suffer from the war Boillot wanted to participate more actively. So in 1915 he transferred into the Service Aeronautique where he had great success serving as a fighter pilot, being awarded both the Croix de Guerre and the Legion d'Honneur. Nonetheless, like so many airmen during the early war, fate caught up with Boillot and in 1916 he was shot down and killed fighting in the skies over Verdun.


39 comments:

  1. Looks lovely - I particularly like how the glass windscreen came out.

    Somehow I'm not surprised the meters were running!

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    1. Cheers Phil! I wished the model came with a meter as they were very interesting looking.

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  2. Curt, what a fantastic piece of modelling and hobbying. I can't think of a better tribute to the Paris Taxis and Monsieur Boillot. I love the taxi, in particular the muted tone of the leather seats. As for Georges himself, he's terrific. Very much the spiritual grandfather of the taxi daredevils of the Place de la Concorde today, I'll bet! Absolutely terrific stuff.

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    1. Thanks for your kind comments, Sydney. You've obviously experienced the 'driving' in Paris - madness!

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  3. Curt you really have raised the bar again with this stunning piece of work! It just looks absolutely wonderful Sir.

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    1. Cheers Michael! I was thinking of your Holmes & Watson jalopy when I was doing this!

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  4. Great painting job, and very interesting story.

    John

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  5. Excellent job Curt.. i can almost smell the Garlic and Gauloises - that driver figure is a brilliant choice.

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    1. Thanks Dave! Bob's figures often capture that 'je ne sais croix' and this guy has it in spades.

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  6. Great job Curt. Love the greyscale look. As a boy, I had a history book on famous battles and one of the images that always stayed with me was that of the Paris taxis heading to the front with the long rifles (with bayonets fixed) sticking out of the rear windows.

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    1. Thanks Phil. Yes, their are some awesome images of the cabbies shuttling the soldiers to the front. I've always wondered what type of conversations they had. Its not like they were taking them to a nice restaurant! I'm sure there were many nervous words and encouraging smiles.

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  7. Curt

    Very nice job and good history lessons. As I recall the early Renault GP drivers were apt to use performance enhancers - fine champagne in their case unlike recent racers in France...

    Salut
    PD

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    1. Thanks Peter! Yes, if only Lance only kept to it champagne he'd not be in the mess he's in (though he'd probably have been too drunk to win any of the Tours!).

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  8. Curt, an outstanding glorious piece of work, I specially love the windscreen painting. Your project called my attention since the beginning and so far I can say that it only gets better and better by the day.

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  9. Absolutely stunning Curt, it almost looks real!

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    1. Cheers Ray! These were good fun to paint, especially the driver.

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  10. Your greyscale WWI project is always outstanding, both in the skill necessary to paint and properly photograph them. You've outdone yourself this time.

    Which Pulp Figure range does your Georges come from? I'm inspired to see if he will work for one of my own projects.

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    1. Thanks very much for your kind words, Rob. 'Georges' comes from Bob Murch's fabulous range of Pulp Adventure figures.

      http://pulpfigures.com/

      I believe the code is PGJ15 'Surly Servants'(!)

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  11. Really nice job on these delightful old cars Curt.

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    1. Thanks Scott! They are a lot of fun to work on. Frankly, I could get addicted collecting them as they are such cool little models.

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  12. Well they just look darn fantastic Curt! Your really working that grey scale to a tee!

    Christopher

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    1. Cheers Christopher! The effect is fun to work on but it strangely takes a bit of thinking through in order for it not to look like its simply dry-brushed.

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  13. Incredible stuff once again man!

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    1. Thanks Dude! The Renault is not as sexy as those Khurasan Doe's you've recently finished but it does have a certain jalopy charm about it.

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    1. Cheers Fran! BTW I got your package today and it is totally awesome! I'll probably do a post on it in the next little while. Thanks again!

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  15. Wonderful, Curt. It is a fantastic painting work and a very good history.

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    1. Hey Juan, thanks a bunch for your kind words. I find its a very rewarding project to work away on.

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  16. Very good painting jobs!! You are getting fantastic results with your grey scale painting!!

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  17. Great story and the taxi is just insane. So far this might well be the highlight of your greyscale project to me.

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  18. Greatn painting/modelling job and story - it's inspired me to finish my 1914 Belgian Minerva armoured car and crew!

    Cheers,
    Doc

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    1. Thanks Doc, much appreciated. I have a Minerva as well and I really like the model as its so characterful.

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Thanks for your comment! As long as you're not a spam droid I'll have it up on the blog soon. :)