The Grand Duchy of Stollen

  T he latest version of my semi-fictitious campaign area as revised by Ninja AI.  Somewhat maddeningly, it continues to omit certain details, and get others wrong, even after repeated prompts to correct mistakes made to the file uploaded to Ninja at the start of the process.  For all of that frustration, however, it finally managed to get the river courses and hex overlay correct.  Generally speaking, I am pleased with the overall appearance of the map, but the devil is in the details. -- Stokes

  A painting muse of another color visited Saturday, so rather than begin the yellow/gold detailing of the saddle cloths, I tried my hand at highlighting the red coats. . . and saddle cloths.  The previously applied darker undercoat was Citadel Khorne Red, and instead of scarlet for the highlight I decided to use Vallejo Flat Red for a slightly more understated look.   Bearing in mind my tendency to overdo it with highlights, I used a #1 round and really tried to restricts myself to simply touching the bristles to the highest points of the shoulders, sleeves, saddle cloths, and valises/coats just behind the riders (I have not yet done anything to highlight the coffee brown musician's coat).   Not sure how successful my efforts were, but I am trying to keep in mind Big Lee's point today about painting for the "Three Foot Rule." I may yet add a dot of scarlet, but the jury remains out on that point.  See what you think. Ok, enough shilly-shallying....

  T he squadron after a couple of early morning sessions today to carefully trim in the GW 'Goblin Green' (my preferred old school base color) around the highlighted hooves.  And just a single misplaced blotch with the new #6 round!  You tend to forget in the heat of battle -- or at least I do -- how easy it is to apply and direct the paint onto and around the miniatures with a brand new brush that has an excellent point.  You would think I'd have internalized this key piece of painting wisdom after 40+ years of applying brush to figures.  About as sharp as a mashed potato sandwich here as my much missed maternal grandparents used to kid family members in moments of, shall we say, less than stellar judgement. But what's next with these cavalry?  Well, while I wait for the set of special dry-brushing brushes to arrive (for the horse highlights), I'll clean up a few edges and touch up a few other areas here and there before moving to detailing the saddle clot...

    J ust a quick Kodak moment update to illustrate where we are with the squadron of von Polenz Cuirassiers.  Still lots to accomplish, but the horse furniture is about done barring the usual touch-ups and cleaning of edges here and there before highlighting a few hooves (I know, I know. . .).  A light drybrushing to pick out raised details on the animals, and then we'll move on to the saddle cloths, holsters, and scabbards before getting to the men themselves.  Onward and upward, eh? -- Stokes

  S low progress on the horse furniture highlights, but we're getting somewhere.  I've spent a few different painting sessions applying black to those on the four non-black horses in the squadron, and then my usual very dark gray as a highlight.  Once that's done (six more horses to go), the usual dots of metallic colors to bring out the bits plus a few small buckles here and there.  Then its on to the white markings before moving toward saddle cloths, saddles, etc. I must also extend a heartfelt "thank you" to Allan Tidmarsh, the man behind the Kingdom of Wittenberg blog (and one of my longtime favorites).  He sent me a lovely scan of and officer and trooper of the von Polenz cuirassiers, sporting their early red coats with coffee brown facings, from a German language source on the troops of August the Strong.  One more example of the charitable and helpful side of the wargaming hobby.  Thank you again Allan! -- Stokes   A very handsome uniform,...

  A s and when time has permitted the last week or so, I've basecoated the latest squadron of cavalry -- this time to represent Saxony's von Polenz Cuirassiers, ca. 1733 (red coats with coffee brown facings) -- applied the basic horse flesh coloring and gone to work blocking in the basic uniform colors that will be highlighted later.  In truth, they look like a bloody mess up close, and I can't recall when I have been less pleased with my brushwork, but we're still very early in the painting process.   Or so I console myself.   But as I advise my often less than resilient students during the academic year, you can't row in circles after a disappointing grade.  Rather, make the decision to revise your approach and move forward without repeating the same mistake twice.  A point that dovetails nicely with advice given to my son's Tae Kwon Do class a couple of years ago by the instructor Mr. R. So, next up, the neck stocks and black cuirasses.  I...

    B esides goofing around with artificial intelligence, I have also tinkered with the second half of those Eureka Saxon cuirassiers during the last week or so, applying the basic flesh tone (alkyd oil) to the 14 faces a short while ago.  Tomorrow evening, I'll apply the Army Painter flesh wash and then go to work on the horse furniture first this time around to shake up the painting process a bit and tackle those more tedious bits before the tedium demon notices what I'm up to. The plan is to paint these as the von Polenz Cuirassiers, circa 1733 when the unit had coffee brown facings and, at least in full dress, red coats and saddle cloths.  I've combed through my two books on the Saxon army (the Summerfield and Pagano titles) and as well as the Project Seven Years War website, and I fear the kollets worn by all but the trumpeter should be an off-white or tan rather than the hoped for red.  But I'll check one more time before making any rash decision. In the i...

  A computer enhanced version of an early drawing of the campaign area during Fall 2006. I ran it through Fotor earlier today clean it up a bit although some of the print remains blurred,  Time perhaps to see if an AI might help.  T he Grand Duchy of Stollen, nominal purview of Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II, unfurls across the northeastern European landscape like a patchwork quilt sewn by an enthusiastic grandmother after her third glass of elderberry wine. Nestled precariously between Prussia, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Empire, and the Duchy of Courland, it remains a curious diplomatic anomaly in mid-18th century Europe -- a legacy of the convoluted Peace of Westphalia that even the negotiators had forgotten by the time they affixed their seals to the document.  At the heart of the capital Krankenstadt stands the modest ducal palace, where the Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II, a distant cousin to one of the Hessian houses, presides with an endearing a...

  A fter a busy morning filled with lots of little things on the dreaded end of semester/term 'To Do' list, I took a long lunch to dry-brush the bases with some cheap tan craft paint and then apply some foliage  clumps with careful dots of superglue.  To my mind, at least, the finished company of Slavonische Brooder Grenze r look like they are emerging from the edge of a wood to harass an exposed Prussian flank a hundred yards or so away.   A few days' break, and then it's time to apply the usual white acrylic gesso to those last 14 or 15 Eureka Saxon cuirassiers.  I've been doing some research, and will paint them more or less in line with 1730s-era uniforms, which were a bit more colorful than later in the middle part of the century.  I think.  To be sure, I must check my sources one more time before applying brush to figures. -- Stokes  An Early Tuesday Morning P.S. Thank you everyone for your interest in the genzers and related question(s...

I n and around work outdoors and the usual end of semester/term hijinks,, I've managed to apply two coats of Liquitex High Gloss acrylic varnish to the 15 Croats in two sessions.  Mike Siggins turned me onto this particular varnish quite a few years ago now in a private email that popped up in my inbox one day, and I am, and have been, always pleased with the very shiny results.  Especially with two or more coats.  Tomorrow evening, I'll tackle the groundwork and then it's back to those Eureka Saxon cuirassiers.  Giddy up! -- Stokes  

  The eagle-eyed among you will spot the very subtle Leather Brown highlights across the toes, vamps, heels, and a few edges of the boots.  To paraphrase the Mad Hatter, one of my favorite literary characters, "I'm mad.  You're mad.  We're all mad!" [The Cheshire Cat, it turns out, said something akin to the aforementioned.  Not the Mad Hatter.] A nd while the Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II attends a special Easter Sunday church service, here's a photograph of the Croats with their long anticipated flag.  Saturday has been spent painting very carefully over David's design in a paint-by-numbers sort of way because computer inks fade over time.   Have to say I'm very pleased with the results of his and my own handiwork combined.  Ahistoric and unofficial, yet easily the best flag yet in the Grand Duchy of Stollen collection to date.  I even managed to get a fairly nice furl that seems pretty close to a large piece of silk blowing in a light b...

  A little more than two months in with these 15 Croat figures, I s pent an hour and a quarter at the painting table early yesterday evening scanning each one carefully for any tiny areas that might need touching-up.  As I mentioned in a previous post, at this point, these are things that only I might notice, and I suppose it would make good sense to simply hush and get on with applying the 2.5 coats of gloss.  That step will allow me to move on to applying my unofficial but no less striking flag (designed by David of Not by Appointment ) followed by the minor terrain on the bases.  After all, who among us can actually see the earring worn by Private G ulyás ?   Made ya look!  So, after a final once-over later this morning (it's 9:45am here currently) that's the plan.  Shiny, shiny, shiny.   Now some figure painters out there might scoff.  Some don't bother with a protective coat after painting has concluded.  Others opt for m...

  S pent about 90 minutes yesterday (Tuesday) evening carefully reapplying the base colors as a highlight to areas of the coats, leggings, capes, and bundles of plunder carried by a few of the figures on their backs.  These Minden and RSM95 Croats were, you might recall, treated with various Army Painter color washes some time ago to add shading to the many folds on each casting.  Taking my cue from Aly Morrison once again although I lack his homemade magic brown liquid, but the Army Painter washes and later reapplication of base colors achieve something similar without straying into garish Technicolor territory I hope.   I still need to dry-brush the rear of the officer's cape to soften the highlights a bit more, but otherwise just about done with this particular step.  And invariably, I see a few places this morning that need further attention.  But very close to the touch-up stage now, and then the glossing can finally happen.  Pretty well plea...

  G etting very close now to the glossing, adding minor terrain features to the bases,and finally the unofficial flag.  A Saturday evening painting session followed by another on Sunday afternoon.  Must redo the top drum head before addressing the drum chords, and hoops.  And then the touch-ups.   Not visible here are the tiny metal fixtures on most of the scabbards along with the sword hilts all of which were a huge pain, and I made many mistakes which had to be corrected this (Sunday) afternoon.  Just could not get the old eyes to focus last night, darn it.  And that was before the two glasses of wine upstairs with the Grand Duchess later in the evening. Still, we're getting very close to calling it a wrap for this batch of figures.  Imperfections aside, they'll do the trick I think. -- Stokes

  With apologies to Sir Paul and Wings, ca. late summer 1979.  We're getting there. A fter two weeks largely away from the painting table due to an overabundance of work and family-related things, I managed to get myself back to the 15 Minden Croats this weekend to work on applying paint to buttons, braid, and piping.  Tedious work with a lot of breathe-holding, holding the figures almost up to my nose under the brightest light, and a few minute mistakes with the brush, but all in all fairly decent results I think.   In keeping with the muted appearance of this uniform -- based on that more or less worn by the Slavonische-Brooder Grenzer -- I have again used Army Painter 'Basilisk Brown' for this step.  To my mind, a brighter yellow would seem at odds with the rest of the painting scheme.  You be the judge. So, we're almost there now.  Just the brass (I use gold) bits along the sword hilts and scabbards, a few visible Fred Buckles (p...

  A fter several short(-er) painting sessions Sunday morning and early afternoon, here's where things stand with the final 15 Croats, based on the Slavonsich-Brooder Grenzer . In keeping with the muted palette, I used Army Painter 'Basilisk Brown' for the yellow facing color.  Fairly easy to apply to the cuffs but trickier for the visible edges of the coat collars.  For a while, I toyed with the idea of applying a slightly brighter yellow highlight, at least to the cuffs, but decided against that in the end.   Fewer things are more frustrating than a snafu+ atop already reasonably good brushwork.  You know what I mean. The trick seems to be to get only the tiniest bit of color onto the very tip of the bristles -- my trusty old 000 sable spotter that I've had for going on 25 years -- and deposit a drop or so onto the visible collar edges.  Be careful to leave some of the dark undercoat showing and wick away any excess with a damp brush quickly before it sets...

  A fter several [shorter] sessions -- three or four? -- in the painting chair today, the musket detailing is finished.  Brass fittings, trigger guards, firelocks, highlighted [musket] straps, and the ramrods in gun metal on the underside of the stocks.  Yes, I realize my head should be examined because no one will ever notice them.  But I know they are there.   One more easy session this evening to tone down the shako plates with an Army Painter wash, which will also bring out some of the detailing, but then I'll call it a day.  The old eyes are tired, and it has been a pretty good day's work with a minimum of mistakes to correct.  Nice when that happens. Tomorrow (Sunday), I'll start the scabbard belts and possibly the brass detailing on the scabbards.  There is quite a bit on the Minden figures, and I'll naturally want to suggest the presence of some on the slightly less detailed RSM95 figures in firing position. -- Stokes    A S...

  B efore heading upstairs to open and enjoy our usual Friday evening glass of wine with the Grand Duchess, I managed to sit down in the painting chair for 45 minutes or so to finish undercoating the musket straps in gray and next apply gun metal to the bayonets.  Saturday, I plan to begin and hopefully complete the various tiny brass details on those same muskets, gunmetal to any visibly firelocks, and small white highlights to the musket straps.   Depending on how that goes, it will probably be time to clean up various edges on the figures and apply a drop of Army Painted wash to shako plates to tone 'em down a bit and help pick out the incredible detailing by the late Richard Ansell, whose work is something to behold. Ok, I've got a cork to pop and glasses to pour.  Goodness knows those of us in the US have a valid reason to drink ourselves into a stupor. -- Stokes

Here's where things stand with the latest and last batch of Croats about a month in.  Still much to do, but they're coming together reasonably well I think all things considered. A n easy, quiet day yesterday (Saturday) for the Young Master and me while the poor Grand Duchess wrestled through flight delays of one sort or another after a conference in New York City.  She finally made it home about 1am this morning about six hours late.  Anyway, three sessions of various lengths in the painting chair yesterday, working mainly on highlighting musket stocks and carefully, very lightly adding the musket barrels.  Added the shako plates for the Minden figures and started the musket straps.  I'll finish the final four of those later today before moving onto other musket details and toning down the very bright shako plates with an Army Painter wash. It's funny what you notice as you work your way through gradually painting a bunch of figures.  Lots of little things...

The cover of the recently arrived new title from Osprey.     A t last, a copy of the new Osprey title, German Troops in the  American Revolution (2 ), arrived early during the week that was.  The long awaited book provides a reasonably detailed take on the subject without covering much new ground, but I am glad to add it to the bookshelf.  Of special note, the brief description of the flags possibly carried by the Anhalt-Zerbst contingent is (new) food for thought.  Sadly, as the the author points out, the one remaining example was lost during the 1939-45 war.  But what about the uniform plates themselves?  These are always inspiring in books of this type and bring to mind visions of units yet to paint and add to the collection.  Dangerous butterflies, right?  Which kind of brings me to my next point. A few years back, I purchased 60 or so "Hessian" Fife & Drum infantry and added the shipment to the lead pile after it was left i...

  A fter an almost two-hour session in the painting chair this evening, the shoulder belts for the cartridge pouches, straps for canteens, and sundry pouches/bundles are just about finished.  I used a few different browns for variety, and see that I need to clean up some edges here and there before continuing with the next step.  But my eyes are fried, I'm tired, and we lose an hour of sleep to Daylight Savings Time.  Heading off to bed now with a large bowlful of red grapes and a few clementines for good measure. -- Stokes

  T wo painting sessions this Saturday morning, applying the usual light gray undercoat to white cartridge pouch belts, where visible, across the backs and chests of the figures.  Depending on how time runs today -- I am working via Zoom this afternoon with a colleague to prepare a presentation/discussion for next Friday -- I will return tonight after the evening meal for white highlights.  Still lots to do of course, but we're getting there. -- Stokes

  Which one looks the most like the late Jon Lord to you? H ere's where we stand with the batch of now 15 Minden and RSM95 Croats after catching up Private  Gulyás (now with a muted yellow and blue cockade on his shako) and tackling the combination of mustaches, hair locks, and queues in three or four different shades of brown.  A particular challenge was allowing those slivers of ears to show and NOT obscuring the tips of noses with tiny flecks of paint.   Briefer than usual painting sessions helped, of course, but  definitely not feeling like a highway star with the paintbrush after several sessions focused on these related details during the last couple of days.  Whew!  Never what you might call fun, these particular details on figures of any size have always been a real challenge for my painting skills and concentration.  And it hasn't become any easier these last 40+ years or so.  Still, they look reasonably good, and I can now mov...