More Images Courtesy of the National Army Museum, London

The National Army Museum has kindly sent me some high resolution images of the Plancenoit section of the model, which allow for more detailed analysis of the village layout:

Work on the Duvalier farm is continuing:

 You can also see the overall plan for the village centre, based on the Siborne evidence:

Meanwhile, figure painting continues.  I get a low score for a tidy desk.

Eight companies of French line infantry in various states of completion

If you look carefully, you can see part of Bull's Troop RHA, courtesy of one of my painting comrades.  The rest are painted by me.

Duvelier Farm- Siborne images courtesy of the National Army Museum, London

I'm presently working on two French battalions for Hougoumont but in parallel have begun work on the Plancenoit scenery - at this stage it's too soon to show the ground, but here are some photographs of the farmhouse from the Duvelier farm in the village just northwest of the church, known as Property 84 on the cadastral map.  The map is orientated eastwards.  The farmhouse is the building just to the left of '84'.

Here is the farmhouse, constructed by my father.  It's a small building, on two storeys.  The outbuilding is obviously unfinished.

The Siborne model of the farm - slightly blurry.  In the foreground is a barn (not yet built) burnout during the fighting. Siborne shows all his buildings without whitewash, but many other impressions show that buildings such as La Haie Sainte did have whitewash, even if was patchy with ageing.

The Duvelier farm is typically Belgian in design, built around a central farmyard and in consequence a natural defence point.  All the buildings had their roofs burnt, less the farmhouse.

This building would be further east in the village, but the same coloured shutters are shown on our farmhouse

Back of the house

The farm in relation to the church.  The west gable of the building is visible in this photograph.  The photo possibly stretches the width.

Aerial shot

In separate news, A Dutch friend has joined the project.  I won't use names, but his collection is magnificent - some 10,000 figures.  These have been boxed up for some time and he has begun the exciting task of taking them out of their boxes.  These French infantry are mostly Schilling, but many of his other figures are Art Miniaturen.

Another British friend has been working on a Belgian Line Battalion.  The results look excellent.

Grenadier Company.  I love the contrast of the red detail with the white of the line companies.  The kneeling figures are mostly Kennington.

Art Miniaturen

Pioneers from the Hat British infantry set.  An Art Miniaturen mounted officer.  A Rose figure on the extreme left.  Some Esci drummers and the inevitable Airfix. Kennington ensign and officer.

Line company.  Less the kneeling figures, these are Hat.

I presently have nine battalions, each of about 400 figures, in production with friends of the project: this Belgian battalion; the 18th Buckinghams; two Prussian battalions; an Old Guard battalion in greatcoats; a French line battalion; and three more battalions from Halkett's Hanoverian brigade.  The Elbe Landwehr cavalry, Bull's Troop and Prussian artillery top all this up.

Add in the 10,000 reinforcement, this adds up to about 14,000 figures, a massive leap in numbers.

Any one else interested in joining the project would be very welcome!

Plancenoit - 3D Scan Images courtesy of the National Army Museum, London

My research of Plancenoit has received a major boost through the help of Waterloo Uncovered, who have scanned the whole model and kindly provided me with some much more detailed photographs of the village, along with a 3D scan which can be manipulated to view the village from any angle. 

The results are fascinating. Bear in mind that Siborne used an exaggerated scale for the vertical topography, not including the buildings, so the river valley is more pronounced than it should be.

The first pictures are the 3D scan (ie computer generated and therefore not a true photo:

And now some true photographs:

And three cadastral maps:

1837:

1847:

1858: