1:35 Napoleonic war base

The Napoleonic war base 1:35 from the Black Dog brand

A scenic ground on a subject from the time of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1:35 scale, diorama scenes keep mostly to the twentieth century, so a base aimed at an older period is something of a rarity among scenes of this kind and will come in handy for builders of historical figures.

The historical context of the subject

The Napoleonic Wars ran roughly between 1803 and 1815 and touched almost the whole European continent. The armies of the day moved on foot and on horseback, fought in close formations, and a battlefield looked entirely different from one a hundred years later. For a diorama that means a different approach to composition: there is no heavy hardware, so all the attention is carried by the figure, its stance and the setting you place it in.

Recommendations on painting

Historical figures usually carry deep uniform colors, so the scene beneath them has to stay muted, or the two levels will compete. Keep to an earth palette with limited contrast and avoid a pronounced patina, which does not belong to this period as it does to later subjects. Choose the grass and the growth taller and finer. Before fixing anything, try the base dry with the figure and lay out where the viewing side will be.

Who it is for

• collectors and painters of historical figures
• modelers whose display case is missing an older period
• makers of scenes without heavy hardware, built around a figure
• as a gift for anyone interested in the history of the Napoleonic era

You will not get the figures or the paints in one package; the choice is left to you.