To borrow someone else's phrase, the challenge of constructing a diorama of Waterloo is really a question of scale. To keep to 20mm scale requires a model One Centimetre to the Metre, but unless one has a big enough space and enough figures for every soldier present on the battle (some 180,000), this is simply impractical.
However, to condense the model too much is to fail to convey the distances involved on a Napoleonic battlefield: even for one as compact as Waterloo, distance explains many otherwise illogical parts to the story - the neglect by Napoleon of Hougoumont, the hidden fight at Papelotte, the difficulty of knowing what was happening on Wellington's reverse slope, the length of time it took to realise the mortal threat posed by the Prussians at Plancenoit.
For these reasons, I have always found the Winchester model unconvincing from a military perspective, even if it provides a splendid spectacle. By contrast, the Siborne model in the National Army Museum is too square and has too much empty space in the corners - it fails to give visual impact even if it is a triumph of topographical exactitude.
So in order to strike a balance between accuracy and impact I have produced an octagonal plan showing the battlefield without the empty corners:
Dark blue = 140m grid line; light blue, 130; green, 120; yellow, 110. I have removed the four corners and will compromise with the positions of Papelotte and Plancenoit, pulling them slightly to the west to fit them in. The plan is then gridded with each rectangle equal to one of my existing blocks.
Then, taking advantage of some winter sunshine, I put my four existing models (Hougoumont, La Haie Sainte, Papelotte and La Belle Alliance out and then deployed my various squares.
The results are somewhat underwhelming and serve to show how much more has to be done, but what it does achieve is a sense of scale.
 |
| Hougoumont in the foreground |
 |
| From roughly where Plancenoit will be |
 |
| Hougoumont |
 |
| La Belle Alliance with Hougoumont at ten o'clock and La Haie Sainte at two o' clock |
 |
| La Haie Sainte looking west with squares behind |
 |
| Looking east |
 |
| La Haie Sainte towards Papelotte |
 |
| La Haie Sainte south to La Belle Alliance |
 |
| Papelotte towards La Haie Sainte |
 |
| La Belle Alliance north to La Haie Sainte |
 |
| La Belle Alliance towards Papelotte |
 |
| La Belle Alliance towards Hougoumont |
This has been a useful planning exercise for me, but I can't claim it will win many plaudits for excitement - the overriding impression is of a lot of lawn in winter. Fortunately it didn't rain, which looked a distinct possibility at one point! As with any good Napoleonic commander, a telescope would have been handy.
Nevertheless, these photos of your work so far at the right distances made me tingle all over. Keep going!
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
I LIVE IN CA...LAKE ISABELA ...RETIRED ....I HAVE A STORE OF 20MM NAPS....PAINTED MOST....I HOPE TO HELP YOU OUT IF YOU WANT ....OK I WILL BE HERE I CAN OFFER MY FIGURES AND TIME AND I AM RETIRED CONTRACTOR FOR SCHOOLS...I WILL HELP ...OK..masterbuilder.jwe@gmail.com
DeleteVery impressive but if you do go with this ground scale will there be someway for observers to access the central area? Assuming you don't keep the finished thing in the garden (although what fun that would be) how do you envisage housing the completed model?
ReplyDeleteMany thanks to you both - it's great to be encouraged, Stokes, because it all felt quite intimidating! But Stryker you make a very good point which I have been considering - after all this painting, one needs to get close enough to see the action. Options include going underneath to a pop-up area; having a cut out walkway into the middle; or having some sort of overview. As to where it does, I'm thinking of building a large conservatory style building (relatively cheap) or finding a museum with big enough floor space. I'm considering hosting a meeting of like minded fanatics to consider all this - for now, I must handle an increasingly worried wife who thinks I'm taking my obsession too far!!
ReplyDeleteJust go for it. I know, easier for one to say rather than to do but you´ve made a most impressive start. Maybe An over view could be achieved with a drone type of Thing or, any sort of covering would require a Roof structure, so cameras could be attached to it..either fixed on one Point or movable. Though Possibly expensive and your wife may just make one or two reservations :-) I´ve seen the 55m² Croeburn dio live and it´s just possible to see Detail in the middle but yours would be way bigger and it would be a terrible shame not to be able to look at the middle or sections far from the edge.
DeleteSmall prob with a "Pop up"..was there any space on the day which could be reproduced in the dio where it would be possible to have such a Thing without removing any of the Action ?
Whatever solution you find I´m sure the dio will be impressive and historic in size and the amount work.
Hats off to you..I´m mightily impressed .
Hi Paul, you are very encouraging, thank you! I've been thinking about this and might insert two passages, the first from south-west towards the centre, and the other from the south-east - neither would take out much action but allow the spectator to get close enough. I'll show a picture of this shortly.
DeleteAbsolutely marvellous - great to see the battlefield with a common scale throughout - you'll have to get your lawn landscaped for the contours! One salutary lesson for us tabletop warmongers is to see how much space there is on a correctly proportioned field - excellent. What sort of area do you need for display?
ReplyDeleteDear Foy, many thanks indeed. First and foremost, I need a discussion with a mortgage adviser!! To be serious I either need a museum or a low cost conservatory style solution. I always knew it would come to this, but at some point I'm going to have to bight the bullet. I could contour the lawn, but.....
ReplyDeleteTo echo others; you are far, far too harsh on yourself. This is absolutely magnificent!
ReplyDeleteThanks James! it's fun to do and I like the way it slowly reveals itself over time.
ReplyDeleteEcellent, always good to see a bit of reality injected into what can become fantasy not history. It would have been smaller if you had done it in 1/300 but the fclose ups would have been less impressive. Great work. Interesting to see how the suares are actualy spaced.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Siborne's model in the National Army Museum must be about 1/300, and as a result I've always found it a bit boring. His other one is much better, but badly restored.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutly Great!
ReplyDeleteBravo!
:-)
bravo, it's impressive and at 1/72 the most beautiful scale
ReplyDeleteOutstanding, it's a dream!!!
ReplyDeleteYes Phil! We and us are dreamer!
Delete:-)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! It's superb.
ReplyDelete...and my goats would be very happy in this field, lovely bits of cardboard to chew. ;)
Great ! :)
ReplyDelete