This was a very ambitious diorama based on JL David's famous painting on the coronation of Napoleon started about 25 years ago. I scoured as much information on this as possible and created a template to place about 80 identified personages in this scene. There are about a 100 figures here. The accompanying photos show the amount of work required. This is very much a work in progress.
A layout of polystyrene tiles was created. To start this off quickly, I used many commercial heads inserted into basic bodies which were then placed into position. Sculpting was done in batches, I worked on the priests, the marshals, the princesses etc, as the style of costumes was similar within each group. The central figure of Napoleon and Josephine was converted from the Historex kit. As the intention is to place this scene within a box diorama, all the figures are completed only when they are visible from the front. The back of all figures remains unfinished to speed up the work. Many figures are also completed on the upper half. Groups of figures are pinned together to create groupings and provide stability to half-finished figures within the group.
I paint all the figures as I finish them, to provide a colour key for this project.
I have since dismantled this scene as the project was collecting dust. The figures are now stored and labelled in a converted suitcase for protection. I continue to work on selected pieces over time.
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