Wednesday, 13 October 2021

Waterloo Remodelled—a magnificent diorama at the National Army Museum London

Since early 2014 Major General James Cowan (aka 'General Picton') has been working on a magnificent diorama of the Battle of Waterloo. He began his monumental project as a solo effort, but more recently has been assisted in the task of painting the (now) ~30 000 1/72 miniature figures (metal and plastic from numerous manufacturers) by "contributions from UK, Europe, USA, Canada and Australia". Hats off, a huge cheer and sincere congratulations and thanks to them all!

The sensational diorama Waterloo Remodelled.  Image from 'Deadlines' on Waterloo in 20 mm blog.
 

I have been following James' wonderful Waterloo in 20mm blog about the project for most of the past seven years. He has posted regularly about his research into the buildings, uniforms and battlefield, as well as updates of the work. They have been an absolute joy to view.

A few weeks ago he posted the exciting news that the diorama will be on display at the National Army Museum in London between 20-23 October. If you will be anywhere near London during that time, get along and see it. The rest of us will have to enjoy it from a distance.

Further details about the display are available at the website of the National Army Museum and at Waterloo Uncovered.

I have included but a few photos from his blog below. Do yourself a favour and check it out from inception to near completion.

Well done to all and especially to James on his drive, wonderful painting and modelling.

Early days. Image from 'Introduction' on Waterloo in 20 mm blog.

Hougoumont takes shape. Image from 'Hougoumont' on Waterloo in 20 mm blog.

Above and below, some of the masses of troops. Various 1/72 metal and plastic figures. Images from 'Cuirassiers' on Waterloo in 20 mm blog.


A square of Hanoverian infantry. Image from 'Bremen and Verden battalions' on Waterloo in 20 mm blog.

Above and below, Hougoumont attacked. Images from 'Hougoumont a battle within a battle' on Waterloo in 20 mm blog.

Casualties. Image from 'Reality of war' on Waterloo in 20 mm blog.

Plancenoit. Image from 'I've been working on my Plancenoit' on Waterloo in 20 mm blog.

The Guard advances. Image from 'Deadlines 2' on Waterloo in 20 mm blog.





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13 comments:

  1. nundanket13 October 2021 at 20:47

    That’s spectacular! Shame I’m going to be away when the exhibition is on.

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  2. Lawrence H14 October 2021 at 07:09

    Quite an undertaking. I hope the original Siborne model is still on display after the refurbishment of the NAM. It used to be a great place to visit, and I hope it still is.

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    1. James Fisher14 October 2021 at 09:31

      It's there Lawrence. From the National Army Museum website "Captain William Siborne created two models of the Battle of Waterloo. One is now on permanent display at the National Army Museum; a smaller model resides at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds".
      I saw the Siborne diorama on a visit there with my folks in the mid seventies. It's remains one of those wonderous moments. I recall an article about its refurbishment in an issue of Miniature Wargames mag. James refers to it a lot on his blog, drawing inspiration from it.

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  3. rross14 October 2021 at 15:00

    This new Waterloo diorama certainly seems spectacular James. I too saw the Siborne version about twenty years ago when I visited the NAM with by then brother in law. I seem to recall there was some controversy at the time it was created - Wellington was not happy with the depiction from memory, as it rightly credited the Prussians with a significant share of the victory laurels (some might claim they deserve all the credit but I think that's taking anti British revisionism a bit far!)

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    1. James Fisher15 October 2021 at 07:52

      Peter Hofschröer's book "Wellington's Smallest Victory: The Duke, the Model Maker and the Secret of Waterloo" describes it.
      Without the Prussians an allied victory is highly unlikely, as many, many wargames have demonstrated. Equally, the Prussians could not have done it alone. It's only the likes of the Daily Mail that still like to claim some mythical British victory.

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  4. caveadsum147116 October 2021 at 02:56

    Well that's disappointing! I'm going to be away for that period, looks ace!
    Best Iain

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    1. James Fisher16 October 2021 at 08:17

      More poor planning Iain, what's going on? Hahaha!!

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  5. George Anderson21 October 2021 at 02:10

    I painted 30 Prussians for that, club painted about 400.

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    1. James Fisher21 October 2021 at 08:17

      Good on you/youse all, George! Well done and thank you. Are you able to make the trek to Londinium to see it exhibited, or will you wait until later for the entire thing?

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  6. david in suffolk24 October 2021 at 04:21

    Thanks for this - as a result I went to the NAM and saw the model- which is fairly mind-boggling! Amazing stuff, I took a few pictures and will try to post them on my blog soon.

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    1. James Fisher24 October 2021 at 08:47

      So pleased about that. Even more pleased that you got to see it. Photos are wonderful, but there is nothing like the real thing when it comes to dioramas... or wargames!

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  7. Gonsalvo25 October 2021 at 03:25

    Just spying this now; I had better not go to that site, lest I be there for a few hours, LOL! The blog, that is, a trip to the UK is not in the cards at present.

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