School creates miniature history

The day is May 13, 1865, and miniature Confederate and Yankee soldiers armed with rifles, pistols and swords attack each other on a dry riverbed next to the Rio Grande, where a paddle-wheel riverboat floats by.

It’s the Battle of Palmetto Ranch in Texas, and the battle-scene diorama where the Confederates beat the Yankees is three years and four months in the making.

About 200 students and four teachers from Gilbert’s Highland High School spent between 6,000 and 7,000 hours of donated labor making each detailed soldier and cavalryman for the 10-foot-long by 5-foot-wide diorama.

Commissioned by the Texas Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas, the diorama cost the Museum Foundation $19,000 for the materials. It will be shipped to the Texas museum Aug. 20, said Glen Frakes, a Highland history teacher in charge of the project.

“This is as good as anything we’ve ever done,” said Frakes, who has been in charge of 21 dioramas of American battles over the last 35 years. “I think it turned out to be pretty realistic looking. It looks very professional.”

Each of the 750 soldiers is hand painted and hand assembled from nine to 12 metal pieces. No two soldiers are alike, and each is in various forms of battle. Each of the 100 mounted riders is assembled from 40 different pieces, and the kits are imported from Australia.

The blue Yankee or Union soldiers are on foot, while the gray Confederate Texan rebels are mainly on horses. A black Yankee regiment, called the 62nd U.S. Colored Troops, fights alongside their white counterparts.

“The black troops were better disciplined, while the white troops fled the field,” Frakes said. “If the white troops stayed, then the Yankees would have probably won. It was Col. Rip Ford’s victory, a legendary Texas Ranger.”

Highland junior Jon Scott worked on the diorama for a half a year, painting about 50 Union soldiers after school and at home.

“It’s different than what you would expect,” said the 17-year-old. “It was fun.”

His mom, Sherry Scott, who saw the “tedious” work her son put in, said the diorama is “amazing.”

“You realize the intricacy and how precise every detail is,” said Scott, a stay-at-home mom. “It’s all exactly the way it was during the battle.”

Kristina Bransfield, also a Highland junior, worked for a year painting an estimated 50 Union soldiers.

“It’s amazing,” said the 16-year-old. “I’m just really glad it’s done, but I will be sad to see it go. It was hard, frustrating work, but I had fun.”

Other teachers involved include Ken Loyd, a Highland automotive teacher, who built the riverboat from scratch, while students painted and detailed the boat.

Highland woodworking teacher Chris Askew built the diorama frame and a wooden case for shipping the diorama.

A background mural of mountains, the sky and land was painted by substitute art teacher Leesa Hamblin.

It’s the fifth diorama Frakes and his Highland students have been commissioned to do by the Texas museum.

Since 1986, the students have made dioramas of the Alamo, World War I, World War II and an earlier Civil War battle.

Diorama display

The Battle of Palmetto Ranch diorama will be on public display during school hours Aug. 7-17 at Highland High School, 1401 E. Guadalupe Road, Gilbert. For information, call Highland High at (480) 813-0051. For personal tours after hours and on weekends, call Glen Frakes at (480) 892-8035.