Hobby or Obsession? Yes.

A Danish historian has celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Austerlitz by recreating the scene with model soldiers.

The 6,100 tin soldiers, 1,000 horses and 34 cannon have all been individually painted.

His model soldier collection goes beyond Austerlitz. He has 9,500 tin soldiers, 1,750 horses and artillery pieces from Napoleon's army as well as those of Russia, Austria, Britain, Prussia, Holland, Denmark and Spain.

Hansen estimates that his collection is worth 1.5 million kroner (200,000 euros, 239,000 dollars), and says that to his knowledge, only the National Army Museum in London has more tin soldiers than he does.

He says his wife Inger "sometimes thinks she lives in a battlefield," but compares his work to that of a silversmith.

"Each little figure measures only 25 to 35 millimetres (about an inch) and you have to paint them in different colours, exactly as in the history books, for example with gold buttons on the grenadiers' tiny boots," he explains.

"I spend about 45 minutes painting an infantry soldier and more than an hour and 45 minutes for a trooper, so do the math ... that makes about 10,000 hours over the past 30 years," he says.

I have great appreciation for Mr. Hansen’s hobby. It was my hobby for years as well. As a boy and even into my college years, I spent a great deal of time painting miniatures and building WWII models and dioramas. As a youngster, I had an interest in WWII history. The hobby not only fueled that interest, but gave me a tangible creative outlet to bring the history to life. At some point I hope to have the time and spare money to get back into it, although there is no danger of me taking it as far as Mr. Hansen has.

I can't help but believe Mr. Hansen has one of the most understanding wives on the planet to allow him to spend 10,000 hours and $239,000 on a hobby.