The Battle of Aspern Essling 21/22nd May 1809

[C M Dodson]

Hi Harry, ‘ My man in Essling’.

What a fantastic kindness in taking those pictures for me. I am very grateful.

I have seen this model on the web but your pictures are a lot clearer than anything I have see before.

As you say, it is simplified but the general ‘feel’ is there down to the gun positions on the Lobau.

I do not have the space to recreate the whole scene like these people have and will be concentrating on the villages and the space roughly up-to the river.

The berm has intrigued me as I would have thought it was designed to keep the river floodwaters out of the village. However, it is on the wrong side of the villages to protect them.

Any thoughts?

Harry, you are a star and thank you to your friends too.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Challenger77]

Hello Chris, sorry my English isnt good enough tu know what you mean with "Berm" ?
River Floodwater was a comman Problem in the Cty of Vienna at that Time. The Danube wasnt regulated and split in differetn Arms. Aspern and Essling where small Villages sorrounded by Acres and Swamplands. Did you know the Battleplans ? Show very clear how it looks.
And Thank you for your kind Words !
Greetings from Essling Harry

[Challenger77]

Wonderful diorama, Harry. Thanks for sharing.

Santi.

Thank you Santi !

[C M Dodson]

Hallo Harry,

Ich meinte den Deich oder die Barriere.

Dieser schützt normalerweise die Stadt (wie meine) vor dem Fluss.

Auf dem Modell und den Karten ist er dargestellt, auf der anderen Seite der Stadt, obwohl man es auf der Flussseite erwarten würde.

Seltsam.


Best wishes,

Chris

[Challenger77]

Hi Chris,
on this map is not a dam or anything like that. Just various smaller tributaries of the unregulated Danube.

https://maps.arcanum.com/de/map/cadastr ... .961619967

Kind Regards, Harry

[C M Dodson]

Thanks for the fabulous map Harry.

I was referring to the line marked 1262.

It was a dyke but it seems on the wrong side of the village to protect it.

Mr Gill mentions it in his book and it’s on that model so I will sculpt it for my battlefield.

Thank you again Agent Essling!

Best wishes,

Chris

[C M Dodson]

Hohenzollern Cuirassier Regiment number 8

This unit was part of G M Lederer’s Brigade of Division Hessen-Homburg.

When I started my project I was unaware of Mr Kane’s wonderful figures and was going to use the Hat offering. I also had a look at the possibility of using the Zvezda Saxon Cuirassiers, slightly chopped to add variety.

Whilst the Hat guys will be useful for casualties I feel that the Saxons mounted on Mr Kane’s horses have an appeal. I, in hindsight, should have altered some of the head positions to break them up a bit but overall I am pleased with them.

Oberst Clemens Freiherr Von Hohenforst-Grosselsberg proudly leads his men.







Lots to do.

Chris

[k.b.]

Your work is nothing short of astounding Mr D. I`ve just looked at these last figures of yours up close, and it`s only now dawned on me how much time you actually put into each individual figure. They are not easy figures to paint and you have done the sculptor full justice. I love these horses you have used although perhaps they are a touch on the small size for these giants but, you were right, on seeing the whole unit together one has to agree that some, if not most, of the heads looking forward would have added greatly to the credibility of these sculpts.
But that is unjustifiable nitpicking on my behalf for which i apologise. At the end of the day your prolific work never ceases to surprise and delight.

[C M Dodson]

Hello Mr K B and thank you for your kind comments.

You are indeed generous but my work is as nothing compared to your art work.

These Kane horses are quite big compared to Hat ones as an example. As stated a few twisted heads would have been nice but I was originally going to bin these guys in favour of Mr Kane’s gorgeous sculpts.

One if the features of the Austrian cavalry is that they all seem to have had the same horse furniture.

This allows me to swap them around if required.

I have nearly finished the cavalry Corps command structure using Art Miniturian and these horses are quite chunky as a contrast.

Best wishes,

Chris

[C M Dodson]

Messing about with boats.

The challenge for Napoleon after the capture of Vienna with its bridges destroyed, was to find a suitable crossing point on the Danube.

An attempt to seize the enemy shore at Nussdorf, near Vienna was repulsed and his Majesty then decided to attempt to cross the river at Ebersdorf using the island of Lobau as a staging point. This required building bridges to the Lobau and then onto the Marchfeld itself in order to approach the Austrian army.

The city of Vienna was sourced and many Austrian pontoon boats were made available for the operation.

The problem was that in May the great river was in spate with the mountain meltwaters and was therefore unpredictable. This created problems in itself due to rising water levels, before the Austrians began their interdiction operations.

This picture illustrates the problems, but personally this sort of bridge shown seems unsuitable for the passage of artillery and cavalry, even when dismounted.



I want to show the importance of the main bridge especially, as its survival was critical to the continuation of the battle.

To this end I needed Austrian pontoon bridges. Wolfgang Meyer constructed a wonderful diorama a few years back representing the last bridge from the Lobau which I visited at the Dioramica.



I believe he used the Schilling boats illustrated.



Research into these boats has produced some interesting results with this picture looking very much like a row of Venetian gondolas.



This painting is also interesting as the boat looks very similar.




On the other hand here we have Austrians hard at work on what looks like French style pontoon boats.



I feel that stability is the key requirement of a pontoon boat and having been on a gondella I can testify that long thin hulls are not stable platforms.

I have therefore based my models on the following illustration which to my mind makes a deal of sense, providing stability and good boat handling characteristics.



Many thanks to Mr Supreme Littleness for his fantastic blog.

I first cut cardboard templates to shape in order to make a mould with plaster of Paris.



Once set, the templates were then transposed to balsa. A good soak in boiling water allows the balsa to be curved to the mould which is then held with elastic bands.



Once ‘set’ the three constituent parts were glued to form the basic structure. I have only placed planking in the visible section at the bow and stern .



It is my intention, if possible to use real water for this element of my endeavours after success in my Antietam project, so all the boats will be waterproofed.

Picture wire formed around a paint brush handle creates the anchor and fastening points.

Wolfgang’s boats were wood coloured but the K K picture suggests green with wooden decking. I wondered about using the ochre brown as per the artillery but this picture from the Lobau suggests a dark colour too.





The boats will eventually be linked with thread with picture wire anchors for stability.

Whilst I have used sheet balsa, grooved for simplicity of construction, I intend to use individual planks for when I create a destruction scene, hopefully with a river mill.





That is an another story, for a later section of the project !

Lots to do.

Chris

[Iceman1964]

Chris, your work is unbelievable, best compliments !!!
Enrico

[Bessiere]

Bravo Mr D. Very nice work per usual but I'm happy to see pictures of Austrian pioneers and their water craft. Something I've had difficulty finding so thank you. Seems the Austrian boats might be shaped for better handling in strong currents vs the French boats. Very promising results so far, I'm sure the final product will be outstanding. Very nice work and painfully accurate. I love it.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[Santi Pérez]

I'm completely amazed at the entire process, from the initial idea through all the research in between, to the final result.

My respects, Mr. Chris.

Santi.

[Susofrick]

Wow! Really nice! I am a little bit allergic to elastic bands. One of my parents' poodles used to eat them. No problem until they came out in the other end.

Gunnar