Neu-Moschi German Boma: Raise the Flag of the Deutsches Kolonialreich

Though the boma is still under construction, I thought it was time to at least get the flag of the German Colonial Empire ready for display. I wanted a flag that would look realistic, so I opted to start with a photograph rather than a drawing of the flag.  I managed to find a god source image through Google image search, then started modifications for my needs. The flag was first scaled down to something appropriate for 28mm figures (though left at a high resolution), and then I started the clean up process; removing holes in the flag, and smoothing out some of the fold lines. Finally, a reverse image was merged into the original flag image to allow the flag to be folded over and viewed from both sides. In case anyone else has a use for it, I've uploaded the high res version into Flickr (link under the image).

Flicker

 To display my flag, I decided to custom build a flagpole that will sit at the entrance to the boma.  First off, I printed out the flag, carefully cut it out, and wrapped it around some thin wire I had obtained from the jewelry making section of the local craft shop.  The flag was glued together using a standard glue stick, shaped, then the white edges were treated with paint to hide them.

The flagpole itself was made from a hollow plastic rod from the local train store.  It has a bit of give to it, which should help to prevent snapping if it catches on something.  This was glued onto a wooden base to help with stability.  The hardware detailing on the flagpole was made from a small safety pin and a straight pin  with a spherical cap.

To make the loop at the top of the pole, I snipped off the circular spring of the safety pin, making sure to leave bit of the wire protruding off the ends. Small holes were drilled into the rod to fit them, and the spring was secured with superglue.The straight pin was inserted into the hole at the end of the rod and also superglued into place.

To secure the flag's cords at the base of the pole, I used the head of the safety pin, filing down the catch in the middle and squeezing the outer cover flatter. Another hole was drilled into the pole for this, and the assembly was superglued in place. While working on this, I discovered the pole wasn't as secure in the base as I hoped, so additional side supports were built out of wood and glued on.  "Bolts" for these supports were created from small drops of wood glue.

The flag was removed for the painting of the flagpole and texturing of the base, then reattached (after treating the wire with drab paint to remove the shine) with the wires sealed into place with more superglue.  Once the weather improved is will be sealed with matte spray varnish and will be ready for the parade ground.