Work in Progress

Quatre Bras 16th June 1815

Posted by Susofrick on 10 Oct 2017, 07:46

Agree totally with Paul (BB)! Love to see enclosed farms like this!
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Susofrick  Sweden
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Posted by Graeme on 10 Oct 2017, 14:09

The buildings are looking really good Chris. And congratulations on the Landwehr figures, I look forward to seeing them in action.

Many thanks to Paul for a really good suggestion. If I get to Belgium one day to see the Hundred Days battlefields some bits just won't be there. Google walking them before they disappear from Google Earth is an excellent idea. Image
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Graeme  Australia
 
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Posted by C M Dodson on 12 Oct 2017, 19:01

Nearly complete apart from some tickling up and glazing, the Inn, Les Trois Bras.

Graham, Thomas, Bennoe, Wolfgang and anyone else is welcome for a beer!

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The windows are courtesy of Wolfgang Meyer and thank you again to Graham for the Thomas Stoney picture of this building.

Happy modelling.

Chris
Last edited by Paul on 23 May 2018, 16:25, edited 1 time in total.
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C M Dodson  United Kingdom
 
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Posted by C M Dodson on 13 Oct 2017, 15:53

Gemincourt farm is nearly complete. Whilst the present building is brick coloured, references suggest it was white washed and indeed Jac Wellers, Wellington at Waterloo shows it white washed in 1967.

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The Nassau conversion is from Thomas Mischak to show the scale of the thing and is of course superbly painted by him. I can not even begin to compete with his skill.

The beauty of photographing your build is that it shows up the flaws your eyes do not detect during construction. Some tidying up is still required.

Happy modelling.

Chris
Last edited by Paul on 23 May 2018, 16:25, edited 1 time in total.
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C M Dodson  United Kingdom
 
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Posted by huib on 13 Oct 2017, 16:19

Maybe some tidying up is required, but that doesn't show. It looks very good already, with some very realistic weathering. Great work!
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by Graeme on 13 Oct 2017, 16:46

That looks like a great little pub and Belgian beer has a very good reputation, I'd be happy to spend some time there. I've heard the place can get a bit lively around the 16th June.
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Posted by C M Dodson on 19 Oct 2017, 19:38

I have finished the last few buildings for the crossroads. There were several more but I do not want the place to look like an office block as ground space to approximate scale is important.

Next up Piraumont.

Hopefully my Ligny project will supply the rest, ie Thyle, as they are not specific or peripheral to the action. We shall see when ie comes to laying out the field of action.

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Happy modelling. Chris
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Posted by Peter on 15 Nov 2017, 19:42

Excellent made buildings Chris! Go on! ;-) :thumbup:

And don't forget the Mc Donald's! Food in battle is very important! :mrgreen:
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by C M Dodson on 16 Nov 2017, 11:17

Thank you Peter for your kind words. I am not a fan of the Golden Arches but his Majesty did say that an army marches on its stomach.

I have now nearly finished the farm of Piraumont.

Whilst not being completely accurate I hope that it conveys the 'feel' of the place.

Whilst in the original action it was not heavily contested I think that it might be useful as a French rear area scene.

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The gates have stumps on the bottoms to allow them to be positioned in my sand table.

Lots to do.

Chris
Last edited by Paul on 23 May 2018, 16:26, edited 1 time in total.
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Posted by C M Dodson on 10 Jan 2018, 16:21

The Brussels/Charleroi and Namur Nivelles roads were paved with a sand section for foot traffic. The paving was specific and called Belgian pave. The pictures show the typical style although I personally feel the La Haye Sainte one illustrated is a little wide. Sources seem to suggest approximately two to three metres as a standard.

I have experimented with balsa and decorators caulk and am quite pleased with the result. The roads with be dusted etc when they are laid in place.


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With respect to the water crossings at Quatre Bras they seem to be more of a culvert style than bridges per se. Jac Weller's Wellington at Waterloo has a nice picture of the old bridge over the Dyle in 1967 which I have built from balsa and caulk.

These roads carried amongst other things coal in 1815. I have therefore used a black wash to filthy them up a little.

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Whilst the ' bridge' is not completely to scale I am hoping that it fits in to give the 'feel' of the place.

Research from Tim Clayton's Waterloo book I spotted on holiday has turned up the name of the second inn at Quate Bras, La Baraque. How brilliant is that?
Last edited by Paul on 23 May 2018, 16:27, edited 2 times in total.
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Posted by Beano Boy on 11 Jan 2018, 01:51

The 1st picture shows where the bodies of many were buried in the cornfield.
I like all your modeling work including the little bridge. Bravo! :thumbup: BB
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Posted by C M Dodson on 11 Jan 2018, 08:45

Thank you very much for your kind comment BB.

Personally I think that the La Haye Sainte picture has been sanitised. There is little damage to the building. The burial mounds seem weird when you consider the horses were burnt and the men were unceremoniously thrown into large burial pits.

Interestingly I read an article that a lot of the dead were later dug up, shipped to England and ground up for bonemeal!

So much for a grateful country etc.

Best wishes,

Chris
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Posted by Beano Boy on 11 Jan 2018, 16:28

The dead had real value on them. They were stripped naked no matter what nationality they were and uniforms and other stuff sold to help pay for that war.
Even the darn teeth were ripped out. Dentist Waterloo Teeth!

The Government of the day was very grateful indeed ,and hats were thrown in the air in triumph to all those living that fought at Waterloo,and each British soldier, ( Grunt! ), received a Half Crown,two shillings and sixpence a week for life. They received extra pension if injured or when aged and It was never enough.BB
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Posted by C M Dodson on 14 Jan 2018, 13:49

Hello Mr B.

Yes you are correct that anything of use was first stripped from the dead ( and wounded) . I found that article about Waterloo bones. It seems it was quite the done thing to exhume bones and crush them for fertiliser.

https://medium.com/study-of-history/the ... beb35254a3

A fascinating read.

Best wishes,

Chris
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Posted by C M Dodson on 18 Jan 2018, 12:02

I have constructed the cross roads sign and what appear to be traffic bollards as per Thomas Stoney's lovely paintings.

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I am experimenting with horse hair to represent the very tall rye crops that were present on the battlefield and which caused so many initial problems for French and Allied troops alike.

Whilst peripheral to the original main action the Watermill at Thyle looks a nice addition to the build list. Many thanks to JJ Wargames blog for this picture from years ago. Google Earth confirms the build and location.

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Also Jonathan has this picture of Gemincourt from the same time clearly whitewashed and with the now demolished barn in situ.

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Happy modelling.

Chris
Last edited by Paul on 23 May 2018, 16:28, edited 2 times in total.
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C M Dodson  United Kingdom
 
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Posted by C M Dodson on 22 Jan 2018, 21:30

I have constructed the Watermill at Thyle including the culvert. The sluice gates will be added when the model is located on the terrain. The culvert will be dusted up when in position.

I have used balsa wood as the base with decorators caulk to create the brickwork. The wheel is from my Ligny mill.

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The building is based on the previous picture reference but unfortunately I have had to use my imagination for the entrance and rear walls. I might use a spare building to recreate the picture of the two original buildings but am aware that I do not want to create an office block impression.

Hopefully I am moving to a position whereby I can mark out the scale distances on my table and start to sculpt the landscape.

Happy modelling.
Last edited by Paul on 23 May 2018, 16:28, edited 1 time in total.
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Posted by C M Dodson on 26 Jan 2018, 19:26

I have been converting some of the more specialist troops for my re- fight.

Following an article by Kay on the Hat forum I pinched the idea of using the Revell Guard chasseurs with head swaps for the Belgian 6th hussars. Italieri hussars suitably chopped filled in the gaps.

The Hat English mounted officer makes a splendid Van Melen with his ADC being a Waterloo 1815 Prussian officer conversion.

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Art Miniturian Prussian drivers with Hat Austrian cavalry artillery heads provide Belgian artillery train chaps.

The train Officer is a Hat Chasseur and the trumpeter is a Waterloo 1815 French lancer fellow both with Greenstuff additions including the horse.

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Lots going on.

Chris
Last edited by Paul on 23 May 2018, 16:29, edited 1 time in total.
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C M Dodson  United Kingdom
 
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Posted by C M Dodson on 02 Feb 2018, 22:57

I have now started to construct the terrain and have laid out the surprisingly numerous watercourses. I have researched many maps including the old Belgian army Overview.

In my opinion a chap called Wupperman and our own Mike Robinson have provided the most useful and detailed maps of Quatre Bras.

The distances and approximate positions of the built up areas are also marked on the sand table. Sculpting and roads will be next which will allow the buildings to be positioned as accurately as possible.

This is an overview of the field showing the lake Materne looking towards Quatre Bras. Piraumont is on the left foreground with Thyle on the right. The watering can is inside the Bois de Bossu ( honest). Gemincourt is in the middle distance located on the heights of Gemincourt above the stream of its name.

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Piraumont / Liralle although the sculpting of the heights of Liralle, Heights de la Hutte and Bois de Hutte are incomplete, hence the hole!

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The crossroads with the outline of the Bois de Bossu shown by the cane outline and the watering can.

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The one surprise that springs to the eye is the very small area where the original main action took place. The triangle formed from Gemincourt stream to the Bossu wood to the crossroads is very limited for troop concentrations of the period. When you factor in the crops this will prove a very interesting re-fight indeed.

Happy modelling.

Chris
Last edited by Paul on 23 May 2018, 16:30, edited 1 time in total.
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C M Dodson  United Kingdom
 
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Posted by C M Dodson on 09 Feb 2018, 20:58

I have been experimenting with horse hair to represent the very tall rye and wheat crops present at Quatre Bras.

Following a railway modelling post researched by Der Feldmarschall I purchased a bag of horse hair.

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This was then dyed using a green dye from Wilkinsons [ general store in the UK].

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The hair was dried using a hair dryer and pulled into strands to stop it drying as a ball.

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Once dry the hair needs teasing into thread similar to cotton spinning.

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Once the thin thread is obtained bend it double, cut to length and plant.

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The fields take time but when 'fluffed up' the effect is quite nice. Spot the voltigeur.

Happy modelling,

Chris
Last edited by Paul on 23 May 2018, 16:31, edited 1 time in total.
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C M Dodson  United Kingdom
 
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Posted by C M Dodson on 09 Feb 2018, 21:03

Quatre Bras

I have been sculpting and modelling the terrain. Whilst still incomplete these areas are looking promising although I need to do some weeding in the rye field as some of the strands are not quite right.

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Last edited by Paul on 23 May 2018, 16:32, edited 1 time in total.
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