My diorama of Waterloo currently consists of Hougoumont, the Smohain area, Plancenoit and the central 'spine' of the battle, running from Rossomme past Maison La Coste, through La Belle Alliance, past La Haye Sainte, the Crossroads and on to Mont St Jean.
This spine is very long and follows the Brussels chaussee. Half of the sections run alongside the road in open country and don't have very many figures attached.
This weekend I attached a battalion of the Chasseurs a Pied to one of these sections. Because it was raining I had to complete this inside so I couldn't put the section next to other completed parts of the model, but to help orientate you, the section would be just West of Maison La Coste (see picture below which already shows two other battalions).
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Maison La Coste and the two existing battalions
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And now for the new figures, which are a mix of Zvezda, Hinton Hunt, Les Higgins, Garrison, RSM, Airfix, Italeri, New Line, Kennington, Hat, Art Miniaturen, Strelets and various conversions.
Attaching this number of figures inevitably takes time and I need now to conduct some snagging - notably to hide any visible bases.
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| Tete de Colonne |
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| The band is scratch built, largely from Hat Saxons. |
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| The rare Linear A Guradsman with casualty |
More astonishing work - I particularly like the band!
ReplyDeleteWonderful and enthralling. Great work, thumbs up to all involved!
ReplyDeleteAmazing man. Is your idea to show all parts of the battlefield? If so were will you place it?
ReplyDeleteLooks Excellent! If possible it would be great to see a highland regiment! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks folks. On Scottish regiments at Waterloo, the following were present: Scots Greys, 1st Scots Guards, 3rd Royal Scots, 1st Battalion The Black Watch, 1st Battalion the 79th Cameron Highlanders, 1st Battalion the 92nd Gordon Highlanders, the 71st Highland Light Infantry and the 73rd Highlanders (later under Cardwell the 2nd Black Watch). The Scots Guards are on the diorama at Hougoumont (see previous post). The 79th are on the diorama just North East of the crossroads as part of Kempt's brigade (see previous post). The 73rd and 71st will be in square and will go on the diorama shortly. The Black Watch, Gordons and Royal Scots are further East as part of Pack's brigade and will not go on for a while. Of course only three regiments were kilted at Waterloo - the Camerons, Black Watch and Gordons so only one kilted regiment is so far on the diorama.. The Greys are the only Scottish cavalry regiment. Given their fate earlier in the day and given that the diorama is at 1800hrs, the remnants of the regiment will be shown in reserve.
ReplyDeleteI have been following your blog for a couple of years, but it was well established before I discovered it. I am constantly amazed at the amount of work put into this project with no immediate end if sight. Each addition is impressive not just for the number of figures involved, but also for the large number of small dioramas within the main diorame (can't remember the correct name!).
ReplyDeleteHave you decided where the completed work will be displayed? Do you have a permanent location, such as a museum or stately home, in mind?
Would you consider an occasional blog post explaining what is happening in the background. You mention other contributiors, but only in passing. It would be very interesting to read how this project came into being, what planning and coordination is required to produce each stage. I assume you must have a master plan, or map, of the completed project? How do you work towards each stage. How much is left to be tackled.
I have been interested in Napoleonic wargaming, military history and exploring battlefields for more than 60 years. During that time I have seen many dioramas, including a few large scale Waterloo. I think the nearest I have seen was at the one at the Green Jackets museum in Winchester. That is also 1:72, but (from memory) is not as detailed as yours.
This is the first time I have posted on your blog. I am sure that there must be many more followers like myself. I mention this because I have run a blog of my 1813 campaign for 17 years. I have quite a few followers, but get very few comments. For the work involved, you also seem to get less comments than one would expect. I am sure that is not from lack of interest, but rather that one is feels discouraged from commenting on such a massive project. Be assured that there will be many out there, like me, wishing you well with this spectacular project.
Dear Thistlebarrow, your comment is extremely thoughtful and much appreciated. I will write something along the lines you suggest.
ReplyDeleteI was not expecting a response so quickly, I will post my comment on your next post.
ReplyDeleteEvery wargamer and modeller interested in the Napoleonic period wants to (or has) a unit of guard, but you have the lot at 1:1! :)
ReplyDeleteIt must at times be a bit of a chore to put them in place but mainly a joy to add them to the diorama and to stand back and admire the result. Thanks so much for this post so we can enjoy them from a distance.
Best wishes, James
Very many thanks! you will see some major developments in two weeks time
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