Napoleonic Saxon-French Camp 1812 to Moscou

[sansovino]

Here my newest diorama-project: a Napoleonic Camp in Russia 1812 with different units of the french and saxon army: a bakery, a slaughter, a field forge, russian prisoners, different cavalry- and infantry-units and wagons, swimmers, laundrettes and sutlers. Nearly all tents are self-made.

I present my second step of landscape-modelling after the first plaster-modelling - the first step was to cut styropor-plates.







I need still some advices how to create the best dirty modell-water for the lake-corner.

[Kekso]

Hi sasovino. I may suggest some solutions for water:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0y4chY7hwM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqdPZK4K5qc

Personally I've tried Vallejo Still water and it works fine. It is water based (not resin), and usually can be found in smaller package that resin water products. Disadvantage is that it needs air to cure so you will need to pour it in thin layers.

You can see results here:

http://bennosfiguresforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16568&hilit=eastern

I hope that helps a bit.

[sansovino]

Many thanks Kekso! Your indian-village is also besides your pond an impressive diorama. I will test the Still Water at first on a dummie.

And still more, very deepful thanks to Mischak, who has really impressive info-sources and friends, that I will change still the colours of some wagons.

Wonderful forum, which has so many helpful members.

[sansovino]

Two saxon ammunition-wagons (alternated Hät-wagons) which changed their colours thanks the wonderful informations of Thomas Mischak.

[sansovino]

Hi,

the next steps...

I have modelling further the landscape with fine plaster and than painting it with artist acrylic colors. The next steps will been the finish of the landscape with different gras, traces and objects. A first trial was already made in the last row of soldier tents - left above. The result: I need still more different gras material to create more realistic diversity which I have ordered already.

The soldiers and objects are placed only temporary for the photos.

[sansovino]

Some new photos after the "greening" of the diorama with different gras, bushes and stones...

The next step will been the adding of the figures and objects ...

[Kekso]

Nice groundwork

[Peter]

Nice groundwork

I agree!

[sansovino]

Thanks for yours responses

And the first figures in the camp ....

[sansovino]

The next group: Russian Prisoners of War and two Hussars in different activities....








I´ ve forgotten to mention that most female figures in this diorama are my own production thanks Green Stuff.

[sansovino]

Some new appetizers....

It isn´t already done. There are still some works to be done.

[sansovino]

here the link to photos of the diorama

https://photos.app.goo.gl/leu6whlk6JvzjaRt1

[Cryns]

Dear Sansovino,

I think I have never seen your pictures in the past, until now because you reposted them. I am charmed by your lively, mass scale and colorful Saxon-French camp. I like to see so many handmade tents and diversity of figures, wagons (Saxon red) and equipment.

[Chris]

Very nice groundwork !
The scene is colourfull and also full of life !
Do you any photos of the WIP ?

[Beano Boy]

Truly Epic in so many ways. Thank you for the Link,i had not seen the pictures before.BB

[Graeme]

Absolutely wonderful camp scene, I think I'll have to visit many times to see everything there is to see.

It's a bit of a novelty to see the French army depicted on its way TO Moskow. Don't they all look confident?

[sansovino]

Do you any photos of the WIP ?

Dear Chris, Cryns, Beano and all others writers

many thanks for your friendly comments. Yes, I was a little asthonished that my first presentation of the project get anyhow lost in the forum. Thanks one of the moderators who has used the magical-new foto-link, the fotos of the work of progress (WIP) are fortunatly again visible in the post. So special thanks to the unknown moderator ....

It was really a big, long work which isn´t already finished. Theirs is still a corner free for some bathers and drinking-horses along a river. To finish it, I need still more experience to implant water and figures in water.

Unfortunatly I have received for it some remarkable critics in an other miniature-forum. I have make a historical mistake with the idea of a Napoleonic Camp. It seems that Napoleon and his allies didn´t had tent-camps. Napoleon hated tent-camps which he thought to be unhealthy and too much freight for his campaigns - one reason for the speed of his marching army! He forced his troops to build bivouac with local materials. So it seems that all these wonderful Napoleonic camp-dioramas aren´t historical.

Nevertheless I had much joy with the research of especially the uniforms, wagons and ranks of the saxon army.

[stenfalk]

That looks very real from some perspectives...

One recognizes only at the second glance, that are photos of small figurines! Very nice...

[Cryns]

It seems that Napoleon and his allies didn´t had tent-camps. Napoleon hated tent-camps which he thought to be unhealthy and too much freight for his campaigns - one reason for the speed of his marching army! He forced his troops to build bivouac with local materials.

Yes that is commonly known as it is delivered to us in many written sources and illustrations.

So it seems that all these wonderful Napoleonic camp-dioramas aren´t historical.

But you can also look at it a little bit different.
Less strict.
Tents were not usual but also not impossible.
There could have been allies (Saxon) taking their own tents with them as they were used to do before Napoleon.
There could have been tents found or captured on the way through Pommeren, Silezia, Poland and Lithuania (I don't know which route those Saxons took) and used for temporary occasions like spending several days or weeks at one location before marching on to Moscou.

Don't worry. Just continue improving and expanding the diorama. You will have many people watching it in joy.

[Susofrick]

As already said: Very nice to see them on their way TO Russia. And they DO look confident and happy!