Vienna 1683 (1 Viewer)

[Napoleon1er]

So, because I love my First Legion Polish winged hussars so much, I am considering building a diorama for them. My idea is to create a scene centered on one of Vienna's gates, with the hussars charging out of it and along the bridge into a handful of fleeing Ottomans. After hours (HOURS!) of research on what gate would be appropriate and the design of the gate, here is the extremely rough draft I made on Google Sketchup.

The draft is built off of this map of Vienna during the siege:

Here are two images of a gate (not necessarily this one) during the siege:

 

[Napoleon1er]

I would normally not share at such an early stage, but I would love some advice/discussion about a few things that have come up:

Does anyone know of infantry/artillery figures that would be appropriate for the defenders on the walls?

I meticulously calculated the dimensions of walls/gate/trench (I had to research archaic Austrian measurements), and if I do this accurately and to scale, the diorama as drafted would be 2.5 meters by 1.5 meters. While I can probably find space for it, this is only going to hold a maximum of 50 figures -- if that -- and I own upwards of 1400 figures. Most of the diorama would be a relatively empty trench (I could add some bodies and cool details). I am having trouble justifying creating such a huge piece and taking up so much space for such few figures and so much empty space. While I could shrink it down by shortening the bridge and eliminating most of the surrounding walls, I am torn for the following reasons:

• The full diorama with a small amount of figures would be a rare accurate portrayal of the concentration of people on an actual battlefield.
• Although I will have to make many guesses no matter what, shrinking it would be creating an entirely fictional scene.

As a last note, does anyone have any advice on fabricating this or the details? The base material will obviously be foam. I am planning to use a mix of cut cork board for the brick walls, trimming them in some castings from a modeling company. The interior roads will also be from another company, as will the windows/doors/roof of the guardhouse inside the gate and the ancillary gates. I will scratch build the bridge from balsa (I would love to know how to make the balsa look hand-hewn). The dirt will be dried and sifted dirt from the real outdoors (mixed with glue and water), with added flocking and terrain materials.

 

[Oberstinhaber]

So, because I love my First Legion Polish winged hussars so much, I am considering building a diorama for them. My idea is to create a scene centered on one of Vienna's gates, with the hussars charging out of it and along the bridge into a handful of fleeing Ottomans. After hours (HOURS!) of research on what gate would be appropriate and the design of the gate, here is the extremely rough draft I made on Google Sketchup.



Hi,

At the risk of sounding a total "spoilsport", I would counsel you against going ahead with this project.

Firstly, because the Polish Hussars would not have charged out of the city. They arrived with the King of Poland to lift the siege.

Secondly, because of the scale, what you will end up with is "an architectural model" not a Model Soldier display.

I, with a small group of fiends, have built five 2 meter x 1.5 meter dios in the last 12 months (see "RUSIQ Dios" in the Diorama thread)

What you say is correct, there will be little room left for figures once you have built the walls. Indeed I would be most surprised if you could find space for 50 mounted 1/30 scale figures.

The other "cruncher" is that no one (R) makes 1683 Infantry and Artillery in 1/30 scale. (nor are they ever likely to!)

I would suggest that on a base, say, 1.5 x 1 M you could do a very nice charge of the PWH, about to sweep into the Turkish Camp. A cluster of tents, a couple of cooking fires, and a few "agitated" Jannassiaries would complete the scene.

There are many "Siege of Vienna" dios throughout Europe. At the Zinnfigur museum in Katzelsdorf outside Wiener Neustadt, there are something like 8-10, culminating in one about 12 x 20 feet. All are done with 30mm flats. Even in this scale there are still compromises with aspects of "proportion", and "perspective". The bigger the scale the more obvious these aspects become.

You own some very beautiful figures which are crying out to be displayed tastefully. I wish you good luck,

Happy Collecting!

Oberstinhaber