This year, New Zealand will be engaging in their First World War Centenary. As part of the WW100 programme, renowned film maker Sir Peter Jackson is teaming up with Alan and Michael Perry to create a Gallipoli diorama of around 4000 minis!

The Perrys, who are responsible for many of the great minis from Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit ranges, were sculpting the first of the Turkish and New Zealand figures over the Christmas period.

The models themselves are 54mm in scale, which gives you an idea of just how big this diorama will be when it gets displayed as part of Peter Jackson's Great War Exhibition in the old Dominion Museum in Wellington.

Now here's the interesting part for all you New Zealand wargamers, as you have the chance to get in the action. Rather than getting the miniatures painted overseas, the minis are getting shipped unpainted to New Zealand for the local painters to put the brush to.

The 4000 figures are arriving in sets of 600. The distribution of these is being handled by Rhys Jones, aka the Armchair General. They are currently looking for 100 painters who will each get 40 figures to paint.

A website has been set up with all the details for this ambitious project, as well as various resources and a painting guide to help the painters of New Zealand recreate the combatants of this important historical event.

You cannot help but be impressed by the effort that is going into this project. It is especially good to hear that they are letting New Zealand painters in on this, as it somehow makes the whole thing seem more personal and brings a sense of connection to an increasingly distant history.

The exhibition will be opening a week before Anzac Day (April 25th), so the miniatures need to be fully painted and ready by the end of March. It will be open until November 2018, meaning there will be plenty of time to see the final diorama, though I hope that we will get to see some pictures of the finished piece.

If you are a gamer living in New Zealand, be sure to check out the Anzac Diorama blog page to find out how you can get involved!