Diorama French Artillery & 12-Pounder

[Custermen]

I posted this diorama on the USMF site and they suggested it should go here.  I won't post all the details on how I made the diorama; you can read that on the USMF site under Models.

 

First a view of the completed diorama.  Then I will tell the story behind it. 

French Artillery -- 1807  -- 54mm or 1/34 scale

 

 

Back in the 1970's and 1980's, I was interested in the uniforms during the Napoleonic Wars.  I painted some 54mm lead figures and bought some plastic figures to build and paint.  I bought a lead kit of a French cannon---I believe a 12-pounder.  I decided to create a diorama and so I started gathering some plastic Historex figures.  I think I started building these just before 1990 and may have finished the figures a few years later after a move.  Then I packed away the completed figures for 25 years or so.  This year I found them still intact and decided it was time to complete my vision of an action pose of these figures.

The Historex kits came in many pieces with the arms and legs and heads separate from the torso.  You could obtain or swap arms and legs to create various poses.  Also the equipment and parts of the uniform came as pieces to attach.  If you built it straight out of the box they still looked stiff.  I had to cut and file and alter the arms and legs to get more animation in them.  

 I had built a mounted figure with some good animation.  Here is a Belgium 5th Light Dragoons, circa 1815, that I had finished.  The 5th Light Dragoons fought at Quatre Bras where their British Redcoat allies mistook them for French cavalry.  I even animated the horse by cutting a leg as well as his neck.   In the background are Engineers of the Imperial Guard, also Historex figures but with no animation.

 

So after 30 years, I completed my diorama.  I added the "smoke" to give more meaning to their pose.  This was my first attempt at the smoke and I may work on that some more.

 

 

Link to my post on USMF:  French Artillery -- My 25-year Project.

[ArtyScout]

Very, very nice. Simple, yet elegant. I love the cannoneer's lean.

 

Semper Fi.

 

Manny

[Custermen]

8 hours ago, ArtyScout said:

I love the cannoneer's lean.

Thanks.

When I started this project, I used a note book to plan it out and record what material I needed and the new techniques I would need to apply.  But it all began with a sketch I made based upon a photo of Civil War reenactors I saw in a magazine.  

I still have the notebook and that sketch. 

Note that I even included the "observer" in back but I added a shovel in his hand instead of a gunner's implement.

 

[Proud Kraut]

As I have posted at the USMF before. An excellent realistic and dynamic dio. Awesome painting and very well researched. I like it very much, thanks for sharing it here as well!

[Custermen]

10 minutes ago, Proud Kraut said:

An excellent realistic and dynamic dio. Awesome painting and very well researched.

Thanks.  I wouldn't say it falls into the excellent category.   Let's say I selected the best view to hide some flaws.  But I am glad I finished it.

 

About the time I put this away, I moved to West Tennessee and began going to a Civil War Cannon Competition in Mississippi.  They were firing both smooth bores and rifled cannons---including an original Confederate one.  They were holding the competition twice a year but cut back.  One time they had a 20-Pound Parrot Rifle.  What a monster.  

They were shooting at a 4 X 8 Foot target at 1/4 mile range with a 3-foot dia bullseye.    It was amazing to see a rifled cannon hit the bullseye on the first shot at 1/4 mile.  They had plenty of time to load and fire as it wasn't a timed for speed.   The more they fired, the more they had to take time to clean and fix a misfire.   After that, I wasn't nearly as impressed with cannon firing "blanks" at reenactments.  

 

Photo taken at the cannon competition at Camp McCain, MS.

National Guard troops try their hand at the old school artillery.

[Proud Kraut]

I was invited by the German association of gunpowder gunners to one of their annual live firing meetings. Unfortunately the 2020 and 2021 events were canceled due to covid-19. If possible I will attend next year. Great picture btw!

[Custermen]

3 minutes ago, Proud Kraut said:

Great picture btw!

I'm trying to find where I filed the photos of the American Civil War reenactors firing live rounds.  They also set up silhouettes and fired Cannister shot.  Terrifying!   

 

[Connor1941]

On 12/11/2021 at 4:11 PM, Custermen said:

I posted this diorama on the USMF site and they suggested it should go here.  I won't post all the details on how I made the diorama; you can read that on the USMF site under Models.

 

First a view of the completed diorama.  Then I will tell the story behind it. 

French Artillery -- 1807  -- 54mm or 1/34 scale

 

 

Back in the 1970's and 1980's, I was interested in the uniforms during the Napoleonic Wars.  I painted some 54mm lead figures and bought some plastic figures to build and paint.  I bought a lead kit of a French cannon---I believe a 12-pounder.  I decided to create a diorama and so I started gathering some plastic Historex figures.  I think I started building these just before 1990 and may have finished the figures a few years later after a move.  Then I packed away the completed figures for 25 years or so.  This year I found them still intact and decided it was time to complete my vision of an action pose of these figures.

The Historex kits came in many pieces with the arms and legs and heads separate from the torso.  You could obtain or swap arms and legs to create various poses.  Also the equipment and parts of the uniform came as pieces to attach.  If you built it straight out of the box they still looked stiff.  I had to cut and file and alter the arms and legs to get more animation in them.  

 I had built a mounted figure with some good animation.  Here is a Belgium 5th Light Dragoons, circa 1815, that I had finished.  The 5th Light Dragoons fought at Quatre Bras where their British Redcoat allies mistook them for French cavalry.  I even animated the horse by cutting a leg as well as his neck.   In the background are Engineers of the Imperial Guard, also Historex figures but with no animation.

 

So after 30 years, I completed my diorama.  I added the "smoke" to give more meaning to their pose.  This was my first attempt at the smoke and I may work on that some more.

 

 

Link to my post on USMF:  French Artillery -- My 25-year Project.

Awesome dioriamia!