Villers-Bocage Table design

[Hami]

After a prolong time away from my laptop etc due to work I have come back and started looking at new projects to design and print for some games.

I have decided to try and map out a small area (big enough for a 4ft x 6ft table) of the village called Villers-Bocage, many people know this from the famous German Tank Commander Mr Wittman and his Tiger tank. It has been time consuming looking through all the old pre war post cards of this area and the photos from the war. My Dad (as always) has helped me out as he has walked the area many times and is a handy man to know when doing ww2 projects. I have also used Project 44, this is a free mapping system that the Canadians have put together which is a really handy tool.
I did try and use the good old google maps trick like i have done in the past however when the allies took the village back of the germans they basically flattened it. Which made the fighting harder so i am finding out.

Anyway, the red area is the rough area that I am going to design. The Cromwell I am using as a reference point, this was taken out on a street called Rue Curie just off the High Street and not far from the OP Sherman which is also my other reference point for photos.

The hand sketch on the note pad is what (I hope) part of this will look like once done. I have spent hours looking through photos etc piecing together and then sketching out a rough street by street design for this area. i have now made a block design (very basic outline) of parts of this map which can be seen below also.

The most time consuming part is adding the detail and trying to make the buildings fit as Villers-Bocage was on a slope, my table is flat , by my table i mean my Dads by the way 

The area that will be mapped street by street:


My sketches and reference photos:


Rue Curie, Cromwell. Off the screen to the left is where the 'Island' is. This is explained in the next photo.


This is what I have called the island. for reference, the far side of this picture is the street where the Cromwell was KO'd (Rue Curie), the right hand side is the High street, the front of the buildings is where the statue is/was. and the left is the part I still need to map out (i have the photos etc).

[Ultravanillasmurf]

That looks like quite a project.

I look forward to seeing how this progresses.

[Digits]

 Me too...ambitious projects I like!

[Hami]

Quick update - First building almost completed,
Cafe Deslandes


only loads more to go 

[dadlamassu]

Looks like a need a bigger wargames room - sorry that should be a bigger house/mansion.   

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Excellent work Hami! I shall watch this with interest as I need to tackle how I’m going to do clustered buildings and more urban environments for my 15mm Normandy project. Thank you for the tip about Project 44 I shall check that out. Also you are very lucky to have a family member to game with (something I would love).

Keep it up,
BALM

[Hami]

Excellent work Hami! I shall watch this with interest as I need to tackle how I’m going to do clustered buildings and more urban environments for my 15mm Normandy project. Thank you for the tip about Project 44 I shall check that out. Also you are very lucky to have a family member to game with (something I would love).

Keep it up,
BALM

Thanks, here is the link for Project 44
https://www.project44.ca/
i found there arial photos really good.

What area of normandy are you doing?

The great thing about the world of 3d printing if designed right can be scaled up or down, I have scaled some stuff down to 20mm and 15mm for people on this forum before.

I do like having a family member to game with, although ask my old man that question as he has all my buildings etc at his , as you can see above he keeps saying i need to buy him a bigger house.

[SJWi]

Hi, I presume you have a copy of "Villers Bocage Through the Lens" published by "After the Battle"?   

[Hami]

Hi, I presume you have a copy of "Villers Bocage Through the Lens" published by "After the Battle"?

No, although other people have told me to get this book, I am currently using Google and other ww2 community pages to get the information i need.

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Hami I’m not specifically aiming for a particular area rather I’m trying to get enough generic green scenery to do Normandy, Eastern Europe, into the Reich, AWI and U.K. countryside all of which use my Cigar Box Battle Mat Grasslands plush. So I’m slogging through 40ft+ of Bocage, then hedges and walls, redoing old trees and building new ones and so on. I have a lot to do but it’s starting to look properly pretty.

I have 4ground buildings and will stick with them as they don’t offend me as they do some, although I’d like to repaint them eventually. Because I’m building both sides I’m currently using terrain as a break so I don’t burn myself out to badly painting hundreds of little chaps. I can think of lots of little bits of scatter terrain I could print  .

Keep up the good work,
BALM

[Etranger]

No, although other people have told me to get this book, I am currently using Google and other ww2 community pages to get the information i need.

Daniel Taylor is the author. He's also got a fair amount suitable for VB on his website. https://www.dantaylormodelworks.com/ Dan's also built some highly detailed dioramas of Villers Bocage

[Hami]

Hami I’m not specifically aiming for a particular area rather I’m trying to get enough generic green scenery to do Normandy, Eastern Europe, into the Reich, AWI and U.K. countryside all of which use my Cigar Box Battle Mat Grasslands plush. So I’m slogging through 40ft+ of Bocage, then hedges and walls, redoing old trees and building new ones and so on. I have a lot to do but it’s starting to look properly pretty.

I have 4ground buildings and will stick with them as they don’t offend me as they do some, although I’d like to repaint them eventually. Because I’m building both sides I’m currently using terrain as a break so I don’t burn myself out to badly painting hundreds of little chaps. I can think of lots of little bits of scatter terrain I could print  .

Keep up the good work,
BALM

Sounds like a large task, I am lucky that my old man has 30+ years of scenery boxed up in his Games room. although I seem to be taking up more and more space with my prints

Daniel Taylor is the author. He's also got a fair amount suitable for VB on his website. https://www.dantaylormodelworks.com/ Dan's also built some highly detailed dioramas of Villers Bocage

I had a look at Dans website, his dioramas are very nice however wrong area of Villers Bocage for me.

[levied troop]

I like your detailed approach to this, will be fascinating watching this come together.

[fred]

Looking very interesting - you really are going for an impressive level of detail.

[Hami]

So i ordered a book that a lot of people have recommend for this project, it arrives tomorrow so I will crack on with a few more buildings then.

Looking very interesting - you really are going for an impressive level of detail.

I think why try and do something like this and not try and get it as accurate as possible. Each building will have removable floors so that figures can be placed inside of them etc.

I like your detailed approach to this, will be fascinating watching this come together.

thank you. I have drawn each street out using photos, postcards etc i have found.

After looking at several different photos I started to notice a few bits i had missed out on 'Cafe Deslandes' I have also added a small building to the rear made of brick as some photos show this yet others don't so i though i would add it in



tomorrow I start with the next shop down, once my book arrives.