A little of my Hobbystyle Work

[Beano Boy]

Thank you Gunnar.




i am no historian. However guys i do notice the little things that others might miss. While they might well see the bigger ones that i indeed missed altogether . yip! i obtained all these photographs long after i built my toy soldier set up of Hougoumont, however the shape of what i built i am quite comfortable in showing.

So here is another Part to ponder upon.

Above a magical frozen moment of late Victorian time.
Also a glimmer of the Balustrade either side of the ladies heads can be seen.
To see it the picture needs copying , and then the P C zoom function applied.
Or use a good magnifying glass. The lady would be wearing a bustle under her dress making this the 1880`s by my glancing eye of reckoning. The two younger girls perhaps are her daughters?



Showing the Chapel 1890`s time period with the side doorway still attached that i perceived lead into a corridor of the chateau. That door had a rounded top, but only the square of its lintel is on show here. Access to the Chapel was via this corridor that ran the entire length of the main building.



This picture above reveals more clearly what the stone Balustrade looked like. A remnant of the farm house wall is on the left and in front of that, the small knot garden pathway. To the right a long brick wall with the dilapidated remains of the balustrade on top.
i felt i was so lucky to find the lady pictured here and it took a while to work out why there was no wall on the other side near her? Well it was that she is standing in what was once the formal garden, so what remained of the house wall is unseen but runs at a right angle along the edge of that rather large garden.
The photograph perhaps the early 1890`s. i noticed the ground level that side of the wall she stands, was and is a lot higher at that point than the house knot garden.



The destruction of Wellington`s battlefield heaped up with the Stone Lion on top, looking down upon the speeding traffic bypassing the old style sunken roads, where this old place sits snug-like and resting after hammer and saw and nails and screws had,had their modern way of conservation display.

Travel via Google Maps the low roads from Bella Alliance to the back of Hougoumont. i certainly did.



Brilliant photo of the 1860`s notice how high the ruined stairwell tower was at that time. i determined the date by the bell framed dresses the family are wearing which was the fashion of those early Victorian times. Making sense of ladies dress is a good guide to apply when writing ones opinion. This picture also shows the remnant of wall ,the round over top of the doorway beside the Chapel, as they are standing in front of it.




The Chapel and the front of the modest chateau with its door leading to an oblong corridor with a door to the Chapel being on the back of it. Inside the real Chapel over that entrance on the inside was a framed Crucifixion of Jesus with a tiny window above it. _______________i do have pictures of it.



Showing the outside of the small Chapel door.

Another Dove Cote is on the left in the roof of the gatehouse. i had no idea of it, when i made that side of the building. A small chimney was added later on this courtyard side above the left hand side of the gate.



There is the added chimney. It was removed much later. The Laser cut kits have it on the roof with chimney pots,big mistake.
but i paid all that money for it.
Tough!



The glass negative was the wrong way up, so this picture needs flipping.



There you go. The wording is back to front but the photograph is now seen in the correct pose.



The stone work of the Great Tythe Barn, and this structure by far is the oldest building in this odd shuffle of medieval buildings.
What older than BB! Yip!



My own scratch-built version of that medieval building. Surrounding it my storage stacks of Cavalry & Infantry awaiting their turn to be stuck into place.



bb, at play setting soldiers into place defending the walls several years ago.

O`, The wonders of blutac !
C U soon with another part. i hope you will join me.BB

[Graeme]

It's very pleasing to see that these pictures have not kicked the photobucket. The flint walls on your Medieval buildings look just right, and the Hougoumont Buildings are wonderful. I'll definitely join you for more of this.

The collection of old Hougoumont photos is very interesting as well.

[Susofrick]

Agree with Graeme and will definitely join you!

[Beano Boy]

........ Massed Formations For Panoramic Display
It took two to push that one on.

Toy soldiers like these were painted in my own style to complement all my scratch building efforts. The emphasize being on quantity not quality.



A French Cuirassier, my painting effort of four years ago.








All are my restored FIGZ pictures of painted Napoleonic Cavalry.

......... AND SO ONTO ANOTHER FEW PARTS FOR HOUGOUMONT

First though.
Thanks Gunnar,
and Graeme .

Well guys this topic proceeds with a few ideas i thought up at that time all those years ago, and they were really quite simple ones.


Restored Picture

I actually made two sets of buildings of those destroyed. Ones being complete buildings like those above to exchange for the burnt out ones, in order to set up my table top for other earlier attacks of that Waterloo day.
Crafty old BB.

Restored Picture

The last two buildings that butted up against the Great Barn,which was based upon photo evidence at that time.


Of course lift off roofs can be another way to portray the damaged buildings it is a matter of individual imagination that needs deploying upon such burnt out offerings.

All my roof tops lift off in order to place troops inside them. One thing to remember if you have a need to make a roof top, you do not need to stick it on and in this option there need be no complications involved.


...................................... LOOKING AT IT IN TODAY`S TERMS

........................................ Why pin yourself to one pinpoint in time for instance 6pm when this place was burning when there is no dire need to do so on a large scale diorama base?

Restored Picture

11.30 am Bauduin Commands ,The French enter the wooded area to the front of Hougoumont and encounter the British , Hanoverian and Nassau troops in large numbers. The fight was full on.

In fact the idea of this sort of medieval set up could also be used for earlier time periods and much later ones too.

Yip! Pards a BB, Time Table. A What?

Yes that sounds kinda cool. BB

[Beano Boy]

Recent pictures of our day


............................................................ FIRING PLATFORMS



The Gatehouse with its lift off rooftop, with British soldiers ble-tac`ed into place.
With the firing steps with more troops defending the walls by using matchsticks and paper.
Although not correct , it made sense to me to tidy up what the camera would see and record.







On the day before the actual battle lumber was taken from the buildings to make firing steps along the wall at that right-angled place by the side of the main gate' i therefore deployed my troops in defensive mood loading and firing over that wall down upon the French attacking infantry.



These are pictures taken well before a great change was made to front of these buildings and the wall.





Firing slits in the walls.



As i sat at my table gradually the British infantry were fixed into place defending the entire walls, using ble-tac.

It must be understood that this is a deployment of a scratch-built toy along with toy soldiers.



The aerial view of that which i had, had long in my mind for many years, eventually came into playful view.

That is it for now. Do call again. i`m in most days. BB

[Beano Boy]

Nassau infantry defending the wall along the garden of Hougoumont.
Painting in Public Domain.



Anything that inspires is well worth a look.
Over a hundred years ago they even got to eat the chocolate too.


.................................................................. ROOF TOPS



Long strips of currugated cardboard that were part of delivery boxes were painted both sides with black enamel paint. That makes it as strong as any plastic. Later it is dry brushed after being fixed into place upon the rooftop. Allowance must be made for p v a glue drying time.



Water based paint will make the cardboard soggy and could make such a mess. So there ain`t no short cuts if you want a good cheap roof. Paint each strip both sides and then fix later. i do not recommend cutting corners by sticking the strips on unpainted because the wet glue will make such a soggy mess.
Always methodically follow the instructions please. Believe me it is well worth it.

i recommend first that a small outbuilding perhaps a pig pen or stable can be made, where hopefully a little experience can be gained along the pathway.














Eh! What?

So there being no need to buy plastic roofing tiles, meant mine came in free.



With my method i worked out many years ago,only one ink line needs marking out on each side of the roof,because each following strip has the stop guide to it. So it is very easy to complete a roof quickly because of all the preparation work done before hand pays off.










As way of illustration only these are short strip examples.



Lengths of cardboard strips make up the ridge tiles too,that cap it off nicely. Only one side is peeled off leaving the other side flat.



Then each ridge tile is cut off and stuck onto the top of the fully tiled roof flat side down once glued up.

This is the cheapest pan tile roof to make, and is great fun to do.





Being boxed up for many years it finally came out to the light. Completely made of paper card, pva glue and emulsion paint.

There sure was a heck of a lot of dust upon those storage boxes too. BB

[C M Dodson]

Dear Mr B.

As a buildings modeller myself I have to say your work and methods are an inspiration.

The research and execution of your Hougoumont is fantastic and the result in my opinion is the best I have seen.

Congratulations, and I hope that you do not mind me pinching some of them. The glue dots for bricks is revelatory.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Susofrick]

Great to see these! Some I rememember and some I don't. And "Anything that inspires is well worth a look.
Over a hundred years ago they even got to eat the chocolate too". So true! And woe the hardships of yesteryear!

[Bramble15]

Fantastic work, creativity and story telling. Always a pleasure to see your posts!

[Beano Boy]

Bramble,Gunnar, and C M Dodson, many thanks for commenting it makes my day feel a lot better.
i am preparing the next part that i wish to present. So that will be posted soon.
And perhaps other parts after that. O', My! Really????

C M Dodson, i give advice freely, but it is always the artist author that does their own individual work after that. So it is they who get the credit and rightly so.
On the question of the stop guide on each strip of cardboard, it also stops each section from being pulled out of shape. So they all remain the same size so fit snug into place.
In fact each chimney, smiles down upon each and every fun time roof top done. BB

[despertaferro]

Your modelling skills are magic to me ...

Congratulations!

Joan

[Beano Boy]

Thank you Joan,
i believe leaving a little to others imaginations is a kind of magic,
that costs me no extra effort at all. BB

[Beano Boy]

Playing the game of shuffling toy soldiers about without extra cost.

With the vast expenses of making a large rolling diorama with armies at each other,why pin yourself to one pin point of time in the battle when others can be found and used to good effect without the need for any added overdraft? Yes repetition i know,but through such retelling one can learn so much. i certainly did so by reading countless Library Books more than once,and well before the age of computers for general use.

Above is showing times of French attacks on Hougoumont and by whom. There were seven and all marked on the map.



This picture above is wrongly displaying bodies being buried because on this spot none were,however i believe many hundreds of bodies were stripped and burnt nearby.



This rather flat picture shows an artists depiction of the mass cremation site,however it was a bit further back from the front walls and main gatehouse. Please view both maps to pin point the site.



The giant haystack site is where Pt Clay fired from and is clearly marked upon this map.
Not a mystery at all.



My paper hay-wagon with wheels off cannon.................. poetic licence applies. it sure do.



i certainly believe that hay stack stood beyond those three large Oaks.
Another larger detail is that is where the dead were burnt too.
That is the oblong site marked out on the first map above.




So there we have it hopefully shown and fully explained in that middle section, in front of those Oak Trees. Or do we? You must understand what i write is my personal opinion,but it is based upon maps, pictures and those that fought there.



Denis Dighton, visited the Waterloo battlefield 5 or 6 days after the battle,and later much later produced 9 paintings from his fancy . Which as an artist depicted his impression of the rolling fight around the wooded area ,front wall and main gate of Hougoumont. i believe all his paintings were indeed bought by The Prince of Wales. i believe the hay stack was never painted were it actually stood,but it was mentioned in Pt Clay`s memoirs which were printed.

Were over 900 bodies cremated in that pit in 5 or 6 days ?
i guess we will never now the answer to that question.
If the work parties did reach that end,they sure worked hard at it.
Only a photograph could help prove that,as artistic impressions are very unreliable indeed, but the camera to record that scene did not exist. If D Dighton stood upon such a ground he would have perhaps witnessed such a smelly awful scene of smoke, but of course no future King of England would wish to place that upon such a red white and blue royal wall.


A bit naff this picture but it`s the only one.

To sum up this unconventional study of my information fully, the haystack could not have been anywhere else,but the place on those maps. Why because it was documented as being there by eye witnesses, and the fact private Clay was able to fire in three directions upon the French, they being the ground ditch in front of the wall, the road from the wood and the field over the hedgerow.

I stayed up late to finish this part of my topic as i am very busy making trees for Bonniers Wood.
Sure i know where it grew, but i wonder if some of you might know where that wood actually stood as it is no longer there ? ________________ C U Another Time Perhaps. BB

[Captain Sibourne]

Dear BB,

It's great to see this project again and I don't know why I didn't see this thread earlier. It would be lovely one day to see the whole of your Hougoumont come together as you are incredibly creative and resourceful. I have a theory that the burnt haystack confused subsequent visitors into believing it was a burn pit for bodies. Waterloo Uncovered have found no evidence at all of burnt bones - either they were never there or they were dug up later as bone makes an excellent fertiliser.

You draw some excellent conclusions from the Victorian photos - studying them closely slowly reveals important evidence. I've been working with Waterloo Uncovered's gardening expert and have based my model on her advice. I'm interested by your platforms to fire over - they are very well built and I wonder whether the Guards' pioneers would have time for such fine work. One contemporary source suggest that they pulled down the wall separating the chateau from the garden and piled up the bricks to stand on. That, plus loop holes, was the rather ramshackle solution.

What interests me is how hard it would have been for the Allies to bring fire to bear along the west and south slides of the complex - there are relatively few firing points and the French would have been able to move pretty freely.

[Beano Boy]

Thank you for the like button display Gunnar, and Peter.

You are such good Pals to me.

Thank you Captain,
It is true the battlefield was sanitized i recall during 1826 the bones sold in England for farming needs. In the end everything taken from the beginning of stripping the dead of their uniforms, and even their teeth, to the poor fellows bones on all sides went to be sold to pay for that costly war. A war that did not end at Waterloo.

Dentists required teeth for obvious usage,so were granted Licence to employ gangs of tooth pulling fellows that most certainly had black hearts to match their dirty bloody deeds.

Waterloo Teeth

Teeth by the barrel load lasted the dentist well until the next costly war fighting Russia. That is another story 4 another time.

Now i make mention again that my match stick and paper topped defense positions were made simple for my needs which was to provide firing platforms for my toy soldiers. So were and are not historically correct. It is true i made some with stone,brick and wooden doors before but it all looked a shambles to my cameras eye. So i did not pursue it in that direction further, but did in the one already explained for my toy town needs.

Another question was put to me several weeks ago concerning a most correct color.
Sure i know the real place and its complex of buildings on the inside yards were painted an off white lime wash.However after painting such a white on my buildings i did not like the scene that met my eyes at all. you see bb,wanted shadows. Yes real ones that come in for free.
But such whiteness just spoilt such a strived for illusion for his cameras.

In the end after lots of hot sweet tea,a compromise sprang up in my imagination to settle my awful paint job dilemma, and one that i have no problem with in my presentation of it here.___As an unconventional artist author i choose to let the mortar line in between my brick constructions define that color-wash and therefore create the contrast between it and my brick and stonework.

Poetic Licence to Cheat!__ and the shadows came in free.

They sure do. i hope you`ll come join me again. BB

[Susofrick]

Hmm, that last picture ... I want to see it bigger!!!

[Beano Boy]

That picture was sliced from a larger picture showing all of me in the photo shot, so is so reduced i cannot blow the snippet shown any larger then it is. i thought that two pictures of little old me in one post would be to make viewers suffer far to much. Make e`m suffer BB.
Due to having very little PC skills i do not know how to, so Gunnar, i cannot do what you ask. Perhaps someone else could copy it and enlarge it for you,which i agree that they can if they wish to,but the lose of parity, might mean its condition might well become blurred. BB

[Emperor]

Don-t forget Napoleon and his white horse Marengo, and Wellington and his horse Copenhagen...

[Beano Boy]

i would like to see them both being driven around in a Model T Ford. BB

[Beano Boy]

The tiny girl lives in a matchbox with others of her AIRFIX kind

............................... BY WAY OF A SHORT INTERLUDE FROM THE CHATEAU

SCRATCH-BUILT HOUSES FOR HONEY WELL




All made nine years ago.




Quite often seen in my childhood days of all coal fires were the sweeps brush
being pushed up and out of the chimney pot. So as a novelty i added one here.



There are 26 houses all in a well designed double side row.



There are 56 house in the picture below.



The width of each terrace of houses is only two and a half inches wide. However other houses are also on the other side of each continuous row of double side homes. So i squeezed in two houses into one in order to save precious space upon my Honey Well town and Railway Layout. So as one walks around the table another street appears with tiny houses all in a row. Yes one and a quarter inch per Honey Well home. A system designed for my needs. The wire T V Aerials were the H type and the first to be fitted in the 1950`s in the UK. It added another nice touch to the buildings. BB