Bailen 1808 - Suizos

[Iceman1964]

The battle of Bailen (South of Spain) in July 1808 was the first significant defeat of the imperial Napoleonic army (but the emperor was not present), where about 20 thousand French surrender to the Spanish army after a “18th century style” movement battle .

Swiss regiments (“Suizos” in Spanish ) were present at the battle on both sides, and the 3rd Suizos of colonel Reding received the surrender of other swiss regiments fighting for the French, so they were “Suizos vs. Suisse”…. something like the renaissance battles in Italy where swiss were on both sides ones against the others.

The diorama shows the Suizos of the Spanish 3rd regiment in action, commanded by Colonel Reding in the hot summer of Andalusia.

The figures are from Massimo Costa, you can see here the top level of sculpture and poses, as usual.

The painting details of the figures are reported in the work in progress section (topic “suizos”).

I spent about 120 hours for this project in the last 4 months (with the help of the Christmas period with more time available !).

Hope you enjoy the pictures here below

[stephane42]

Very very well done! And I love cacti!

[Bessiere]

Beautiful diorama Iceman. That must have felt strange to the poor Swiss serving on both sides.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[tullo]

[Rich W]

Really well put together. Those figures are beautiful and you’ve done a lovely job with the basing. Congratulations!

[C M Dodson]

Wonderful work indeed.

Massimo’s troops have really been brought to life by your painting skill.

The faces are lovely.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Iceman1964]

Thanks guys for your comments !

stay tuned for the next project

[Bill Slavin]

Very nice work! I know both the battle and those figures very well, and I agree you have done a very nice job on them. The diorama basing is interesting as well - did you construct it? It almost looks like a section of a hollowed out tree or something. If so, I love how the patterning of bark can often be a good stand in for rock.

[Santi Pérez]

Another masterpiece for your diorama collection, Enrico.

I love everything about it. Each figure is a little wonder in itself, the scenery is superbly done and the whole is perfectly balanced.

I especially like the olive tree and the prickly pears, very appropriate for the Andalusian territory on that hot July 19th 1808.

Great work, my friend!

[Peter]

Fantastic work done Enrico!

[Beano Boy]

Wonderful painting and final display. BB

cork bark, if it works use it. The little button said.