I'm presently working on the Engineers of the Guard, but they will take a while to complete so I thought I'd fill in the time with a look at my Waterloo buildings. La Haie Sainte and Papelotte are complete, as is Hougoumont though the latter is not yet on its base.
I've harboured a worry for a while that Hougoumont is a substantially larger complex than La Haie Sainte and yet my Hougoumont looked smaller. But with the wonders of Google Earth I've been pleasantly surprised to see that appearances can be deceptive: Hougoumont's buildings are not substantially larger than at La Haie Sainte.
I then got out all three of my farms to see how they look along side each other. Here are the results.
 |
| The South Gate at Hougoumont |
 |
| The West Barn with the roof burnt off looking over to the Chateau (also burnt) and chapel |
 |
| The chapel |
 |
| The farmer's house |
 |
| From the North Gate looking south |
 |
| Papelotte in the foreground, then La Haie Sainte and Hougoumont to the left |
 |
| Interior of La Haie Sainte |
 |
| Interior of Papelotte |
 |
| Front Gate at La Haie Sainte |
 |
| All three farms |
 |
| People sometimes ask where I store my figures - I use these flat plastic storage boxes |
 |
| Remarkably stable! |
Marvellous post, as ever! It occurred to me while reading this that there is an assumption of time here. We idiot wargamers would just trot out the nice clean models of the buildings near Waterloo, and battle games always start at the beginning (though we may debate exactly which beginning...).
ReplyDeleteIt took me a while, but it finally dawned on me that you have obviously picked a time of day when your diorama is set - the frozen moment. We can probably all have a shot at guessing what that time is, but I am interested in how you decided on your snapshot, and how you work to synchronize everything, since it is a well-known fact (apparently) that no-one ever quite agreed what order things happened in, sometimes for political or ass-covering reasons, and it gets very confusing when the Scots Greys suddenly switch into slow-motion...
Aha, well spotted Foy! The time I've chosen is 1800 in the afternoon: this combines the high point of the cavalry attacks with Hougoumont on fire, La Haie Sainte soon to fall, D'Erlon's Corps fully re-committed, Durutte into the garden at Papelotte, Lobau holding Napoleon's east flank, the Young Guard and elements of the Old Guard in Plancenoit and the rest of the Guard limbering up for their meeting with destiny. The Winchester model goes for all the big events happening at once, but I feel that gives a rather false impression, not to mention the look of a large rugby ruck where the ball is loose. My snapshot will give maximum action while retaining historical accuracy. One flaw in the plan: I need to find a venue to put the damned thing when it's finished! PS Love your new Guard units - very elegant. But wouldn't the RSM have mandated black or white gaiters?
ReplyDeleteAh - well, it's only my portes-aigles, the drummers and the sapper in white, so maybe they got special permission (or the baggage got held up). I spent some time pondering this, but in fact i couldn't find a picture anywhere of a porte-aigle in black gaiters, so just painted them up in white! I was surprised officers wore gaiters at all, in fact, but there seems to have been a lot of it about.
DeleteYes, I’ve never thought of that - officers in gaiters rather than those boots with fawn leather turn-downs. Ten minutes in the dust at Wagram would have played havoc with the blanco.
ReplyDeleteYears ago there was a permanent Waterloo model in Bath (I'm talking early 80s here) it had son et lumiere effects and used all Airfix figures. Somehow my brother wangled a job helping to set up the premises so I got in a few times for free. It was a commercial flop and shut quite quickly. That model also seemed to be trying to portray all the highlights of the battle at the same time and was a bit confusing. I like your concept and I'm sure when its finished your model will look spectacular!
ReplyDeleteHello Stryker, that's interesting information about the Bath model, I wonder what happened to it. I certainly think a model of this kind could only really thrive if in a broader attraction such as a museum rather than as a stand alone attraction. I better keep looking!!
ReplyDelete