I've been running this project since 2013 with the intention of producing a complete diorama of Waterloo showing the action at 1800hrs in the evening - the moment I consider to be the crisis of the battle, at which point French troops were engaged in a continuous arc from Hougoumont up to the ridge, past the La Haye Sainte cross roads, eastwards to Papelotte, La Haye, Smohain before turning south to Frischermont and on to Plancenoit.
Since those early days, the project has attracted a huge range of support from the US and Canada, through UK and other European countries and all the way East to Australia and New Zealand.
The model has had various outings at the National Army Museum, and various schools and halls. Its next big moment is coming in June when it will take up residence in the Exhibition Hall at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. At this point, a major new part will be added to the diorama, namely the cavalry charges and squares.
For loyal followers of the project, I attach below some slides made by me to explain the project. I hope they are of interest.
Finally, we are building St Joseph's church in Waterloo and Wellington's headquarters. Like Le Caillou, this will be a standalone scene. The church is scratch built by my father and will be magnificent when complete.
Excellent, truly amazing work! It is so great to see the progress made over the years!
ReplyDeleteWhat an impressive summary of the project to date. It combines examples of the painting details on individual figures, with the spectacular mass scenes. The buildings alone are impressive examples of detailed modelling and clever battle damage. The comparision with the world famous Siborne dioramas is respectful but promises an even more impressive diorama of the whole battlefield. And all of this before the cavalry charges are completed.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is a great way of making available to a wide audience the scale of the project, and creating an admiring following who are no doubt eagerly anticipating the final project.
It is also a great way for new followes to see in details what has been done already.
It will make a great permanent record of the long running project, and I am sure will be visited many times long after the project is completed. That is the big advantage of Blogger compared with Facebook or other social media.
I hope that you will consider writing a book about the project in due course. The pictorial record is impressive, but more detail on the behind the scenes of the project would be really interesting.
I look forward to following your blog in anticipation of the completed project.
That was a marvellous update, overview and review of all the massive progress so far James. I am glad that you responded to Paul's request to do it.
ReplyDeleteI don't recall you showing us your father's model of St Joseph's church previously? WOW! ALL of his models are absolutely stunning and this is simply magnificent.
Best wishes, James
Terrific update! The church filled a gap in my knowledge. And I second the idea of a book .
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