Waterloo Dioramas (1 Viewer)

[Spitfrnd]

I was seeking some inspiration for Waterloo vignettes and I came across several amazing full battle dioramas, including this one by "History Live in 1/72 scale. Below are some highlights but it is worth a look at the site for many more.
http://www.historylive.us/index-dioramas.htm
Has anyone seen this in person? We need some of these buildings and walls etc. Imagine doing this in 60mm

Left of British lines with Chateau and Farm Papelotte to the left

Attack on Le Haye Sante

British center squares with the Le Haye Sainte farmhouse under attack.
British riflemen are in the sandpit to the left. Wellington is lighted within a square.

British right flank in square as the French cavalry attack. Hougoumont is in the background

British guardsmen defend the "covered way" as the French cavalry attack. Hougoumont is in the background

The Chateau Hougoumont from the front (south face) under French attack

 

[VanguardFC007]

Very impressive, thanks for sharing!

 

[6th Wisconsin]

Fantastic!!!!!!. It is almost like flying over the battle in a hot air balloon. That is a big and impressive diorama.

 

[Sans Culotte]

Just grand! Thanks for finding this & sharing it with us!

 

[Deitz]

What a great diorama, I agree with 6th Wis. it does look like you are flying over the battlefield. Thanks for posting it.

 

[beating retreat]

Thanks for the info on this website tempted to buy one of those Old Guard flags
Cheers John

 

[Fubar]

Outstanding ! Might have to drive to Utah this Summer and buy a flag.
FUB

 

[johno2412]

these are excellent pictures thanks for sharing them with us.

 

[Ragnar]

Here is a link i found WOW there is one Waterloo dio with 15'000 figs .

http://lesapn.forumactif.fr/vos-realisations-f103/diorama-1-72e-waterloo-t6485.htm

 

[Spitfrnd]

Here is a link i found WOW there is one Waterloo dio with 15'000 figs .

http://lesapn.forumactif.fr/vos-realisations-f103/diorama-1-72e-waterloo-t6485.htm

Great link mate and that is incroyable. Just be careful if you click for enlargements, it started a spamfest for me.

 

[Ragnar]

Great link mate and that is incroyable. Just be careful if you click for enlargements, it started a spamfest for me.

Thanks for the heads up Bill....I did not click on any pics however

 

[Cornwallis]

Here is a link to some information on the Battle of Waterloo model at the National Army Museum in London, with 75,000 small 10mm soldiers

http://www.napolun.com/mirror/napoleonistyka.atspace.com/WELLINGTON_GREATEST_VICTORY.htm

Never seen it myself, may have to take a magnifying glass if I do ever see it to see the detail of each uniform!

 

[Ragnar]

oh my have a look at these pics....im starting to think that miniatures are the go for napoleonics.
http://www.hat.com/Othr8/Brandes01P.html

 

[mestell]

Fantastic pictures of a fantastic diorama. I really lilked the pics of Hougoumont. They gave me more perspective as to what I could do with my WB Defense of Hougoumont figures.
Mike

 

[Spitfrnd]

oh my have a look at these pics....im starting to think that miniatures are the go for napoleonics.
http://www.hat.com/Othr8/Brandes01P.html

I have been wondering the same thing myself. The numbers involved are staggering with for example 73,000 British Allies and 77,000 French before the Prussians (50,000) arrived at Waterloo. Frankly the cost of reproducing fully such battles is beyond the reach of most of us unless you are gifted in painting and/or casting. Even at the paltry sum of $5 per figure a full Waterloo set would run close $750,000 (without the Prussians and terrain/buildings). Even doing Corps level battles would cost $50-100,000. With the better 54mm figures this would rise to $400-800,000. Maybe it is just better to stick to showing the greater detail of portions of these engaugements at the weak company level.

 

[Njja]

Very impressive, nearly impossibe to duplicate, but a pleasure to view.

 

[Ragnar]

I have been wondering the same thing myself. The numbers involved are staggering with for example 73,000 British Allies and 77,000 French before the Prussians (50,000) arrived at Waterloo. Frankly the cost of reproducing fully such battles is beyond the reach of most of us unless you are gifted in painting and/or casting. Even at the paltry sum of $5 per figure a full Waterloo set would run close $750,000 (without the Prussians and terrain/buildings). Even doing Corps level battles would cost $50-100,000. With the better 54mm figures this would rise to $400-800,000. Maybe it is just better to stick to showing the greater detail of portions of these engaugements at the weak company level.

Its rather scary when you run thru the numbers like that .
I would love to do waterloo BIG and im tossing a coin as to which way im going to go.
54mm takes up a lot of space if your talking in the ballpark of 3000-5000 thousand troops .
Hmmm what to do .
28mm is a nice size you can even have Hougoumont set up as well as a few sqaures .

 

[Warrior]

I have been wondering the same thing myself. The numbers involved are staggering with for example 73,000 British Allies and 77,000 French before the Prussians (50,000) arrived at Waterloo. Frankly the cost of reproducing fully such battles is beyond the reach of most of us unless you are gifted in painting and/or casting. Even at the paltry sum of $5 per figure a full Waterloo set would run close $750,000 (without the Prussians and terrain/buildings). Even doing Corps level battles would cost $50-100,000. With the better 54mm figures this would rise to $400-800,000. Maybe it is just better to stick to showing the greater detail of portions of these engaugements at the weak company level.

Bill,
You hit the nail squarely on the head as to why I am into the 20mm figures; I love to do large displays with thousands of figures and as you said, to do so in 54mm is staggering from a cost perspective (even for a dealer like me who gets a discount!).

I am planning several very large Waterloo displays in the coming months (probably the fall to give me time to paint figures) which will feature about 2,000 figures or so.............

 

[aujj65]

Bill,
You hit the nail squarely on the head as to why I am into the 20mm figures; I love to do large displays with thousands of figures and as you said, to do so in 54mm is staggering from a cost perspective (even for a dealer like me who gets a discount!).

I am planning several very large Waterloo displays in the coming months (probably the fall to give me time to paint figures) which will feature about 2,000 figures or so.............

Can't wait!

Jeff

 

[Spitfrnd]

Its rather scary when you run thru the numbers like that .
I would love to do waterloo BIG and im tossing a coin as to which way im going to go.
54mm takes up a lot of space if your talking in the ballpark of 3000-5000 thousand troops .
Hmmm what to do .
28mm is a nice size you can even have Hougoumont set up as well as a few sqaures .

I can certainly see the merits of that but it is a compromise. It is hard enough to find realistic looking figures with varied poses at 54mm. I have just surveyed the smaller scales online but there do seem to be some nicely sculpted ones and few painted ones. The good painted ones seem to go for at least $15-20 so you are looking at the price of a new Jaguar Supercharged Sedan to do that setup. Of course if you can paint, that is a whole different matter, maybe only a top end 60 inch Plasma TV.

Once you decide not to do 54mm, there are still some scale questions it seems. 28mm seems popular with gamers but the figures have been called a bit too thick in proportion and they seem that way to me from the pictures. The 1/72 or 15mm figures I have seen do look rather impressive by comparison. This link offers some interesting comparisons
http://www.deepfriedhappymice.com/html/nap_15_fre_inf_sbs.html
This fellow has some nice figures of several scales, including 30mm, and has done several complete Waterloo dios
http://www.hand-painted-figures.com/index1.html
Then of course there are First Legions very nice 40mm castings, which need painting. Which ones would you use?

Honestly I would really like to see some unpainted 54mm castings from First Legion to help reduce the cost impact of all this. I can't help but think it would do well.