Painting Progress So Far in 2014. . .

Sadly, I was too wiped out to paint last night after little sleep the night before, followed by a long day on Monday.  But here is where things stand so far for the year.  

By the way, a nice little package arrived from Fife&Drum-Minden Miniatures yesterday, and in only two days.  Yes, TWO days from the time Der Alte Fritz posted it until it arrived on our doorstep.  Now, I just live downstate from Greater Chicago, but that's pretty darn good customer service and shipping/handling if you ask  me.  Less than a week between making the initial order and receiving the goods.  Fun stuff unpacking those extra pontoons, horse teams, drivers, and wagon/horse riders yesterday evening.  

Now, all that's needed is the arrival of the Blue Moon and Old Glory wagons and carts that I ordered last week.  In the meantime, here is a run down of what I've managed to wrap up so far and what's planned for the coming months at the painting table. 

-- Stokes

2014-2015 Painting Queue

Remaining Vignettes (RSM95 and Minden) x 4 – Done

4-pounder French Guns (Fife &Drum) x 2 -- Done

Single ADC Figures (RSM and Fife&Drum) x 8 – In-Progress (almost done)

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Wagon Train (Old Glory/Blue Moon/Fife&Drum) (8 wagons, teams, drivers)

Pontoon Train (Fife&Drum) x 3 wagons, 9 pontoons, teams, drivers

Model Forge x 1 (Berliner Zinnfiguren – Pick up in May 2014 when Grand Duchess visits Berlin.)

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20-figure Augmented Sapper/Pontonier company (Minden)

80-figure Battalion (60 Ernestinisch Sachsen, 20 Reichstadt Koeln) (RSM95)

32-figure Militia Battalion (Fife&Drum and Minden)

15-figure Croat company (RSM95 and Minden)


Later. . . 

I received a brief e-mail with a tracking number from the Old Glory and Blue Moon-US people in Georgia.  The wagons, carts, and teams are on their way!  I feel like John Wayne in some old movie or the young Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates on the old Rawhide TV series.

A Little Sunday Painting in Zum Stollenkeller. . .

 Blobs of color on the piece of palette paper above include Prussian Blue, Yellow Ochre, Flesh Tone, Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Black, and Sap Green.

A spot of painting here in Zum Stollenkeller this afternoon.  The usual oils and alkyd oils thinned with Liquin Original, so the air is subtly fragrant with that delightful aroma of pigment and the vehicles in which it has been suspended.  Among the four individually based figures currently under the brush include Banastre Tarleton and Francis Marion by Fife & Drum.  Eagerly awaiting the arrival of two packages that contain various bits and pieces that will become either the supply train or the pontoon train.  Exciting times indeed!

-- Stokes

Wagons ho!!!

No exactly an 18th century Prussian, Austrian, or Reichsarmee supply train, but. . . 

While I have no figure painting planned for this evening, tonight's the night when I'll sit down to order the eight or so wagons, carts, and teams I've decided on for my generic 18th century supply train from Old Glory/Blue Moon here in the United States.  I'll also inquire about and/or order a few extra things from Der Alte Fritz over at Fife & Drum Miniatures to round out the pontoon train given to me this past Christmas by the Grand Duchess and Young Master.  Ordering things is almost as much fun as receiving, painting, completing, and later playing with them you know.  Of course, we try to resist materialism and not be shopaholics or hoarders, but when it comes to occasional new figures and books, the pull is awfully hard to resist.

-- Stokes


P.S.

And now that I think of it, the fact that I'm building the supply and pontoon trains means that, sooner or later, I'll have to add gun limbers and horse teams with maybe a few caissons at some point.  You see what I mean?  It's a slippery slope indeed.


5:57pm
 There!  I've done it!  Old Glory and Blue Moon wagons and teams ordered, and Fife&Drum and Minden items ordered and one question posed to Der Alte Fritz.  That was satisfying.  I can now go about family business and supper this evening with a much clearer mind and free heart, happy in the life I have chosen.  ;-)

The Latest Four Figures Finished. . .

Two frei-corps officers, whose uniforms are based on those of the Lubomirski and Bauer hussars  with some artistic license taken.  Especially since the former were a Prussian unit, and I was well on my merry way painting the fellow on the left before I realized that he represented an Austrian hussar officer rather than a Prussian wearing a colpack.  No matter.  As with all the rest of my figures, these two will fight for fictitious powers after all.  I also find that often enough different versions of uniforms existed side-by-side and/or were worn at slightly different times according to records left to us.  And don't forget, too, that officers moved freely from one army to the next for different reasons.  So, why wouldn't the Lubomirski fellow in blue and brown sport the uniform worn in Prussian service while sitting atop an Austrian saddlecloth?  Figures are from the delightful 1/56th scale Minden Miniatures range.

Just enough extra time this morning -- before reading and grading a dozen student papers, working on a translation, and finally preparing some discussion questions for a film class this evening -- to snap a couple of pictures in the trusty foamcore lightbox of my latest four figures, which will serve as aides de camp on the tabletop for the armies of the Grand Duchy Stollen and its arch enemy the Electorate of Zichenau.  

The figures are not perfect, but they look reasonably good to me, and, most important, they are finished.  Just four more single aide de camp figures to do, and then it's on to the long-planned pontoon and supply trains.  It would seem that I am actually making progress so far in 2014.  Who'd have thunk it?

And it's funny what you sometimes discover purely by accident.  While setting up to shoot these figures, I bumped a tiny toggle switch on the upper right corner of my Sony Cybershot DSC-TX20 and discovered a zoom function.  A zoom function!!!  And this after having and using the camera for eighteen months.  Clearly, I should not be turned loose on classrooms full of unsuspecting college students.  But let's keep that our little secret.

I have found that the sweetspot with my current set-up is to have the subjects 5"-6" from the camera, which I mount on a small tripod.  Three lamps aimed at the top and sides of the lightbox provide plenty of indirect light, while a ten-second delay on the shutter prevents camera shake.  Nice, bright, and sharp raw photos result, which I then crop, adjust colorcast, and sharpen with Photoshop Elements 9.  Knowing that I can now zoom in even more on the figures helps too.  Maybe not quite professional grade pictures, but much, much better quality photographs than what I have posted for quite a few years here on the GD of S blog, which, amazingly, is approaching its eight anniversary in late August.

Finally, and in reply to a few recent queries, yes indeed.  I have a solo game planned for the week of Springbreak in March.  It will be based on a historical battle from another period, so you'll have to guess which one when that gets started next month.  That's all I'll say for now though.  All right.  I've got to do some real work now. 

-- Stokes

A Prussian cuirassier officer, whose precise unit escapes me at the moment, and an officer of the Bayreuth Dragoons.  Again, the figures are Minden, and they were a joy to paint, taking a Friday evening and Saturday afternoon to complete both although the glossy acrylic varnish had to wait until Sunday morning during that particular weekend.

Coming Soon. . .

Four more singly based Minden mounted cavalry officers (for use as aides de camp) are on the way.

While the current weekend has been busier than I would have preferred, I've nevertheless managed to squeeze in some painting time here and there, managing to finish a Minden Prussian dragoon officer and another from the cuirassiers.  Since the coming week will also be a bit tight, you'll just have to wait to see 'em until I also finish two Prussian hussar officers next weekend and have the chance to take some proper photographs of all four figures in the ol' foamcore lightbox.  While the winter cold and snow are great fun, and I managed to ski for a couple of hours both Saturday afternoon and today, I find myself already looking forward to the end of the college term at the start of May, when the pace of life will slow down a little bit, and I can turn my attention to the important stuff. .  .  like painting, a small game or two, some writing, and some actual painting with oils on canvas! 

-- Stokes

A Few More Oldies But Goodies. . .

 Here's a shot from a couple of years ago of various Zichenauer units, which consist of figures by RSM95, Garrison, and Revell plastics along with MiniFig and Holger Erisksson guns.

Among other things this extremely cold day, I've taken 30 minutes to tinker with a few older pictures of my collection in Photoshop Elements 9, cropping, adjusting color cast, and sharpness as well as brightness levels on the fourth photograph below.  Kind of a nice reminder of how things look when deployed en masse on the table, wouldn't you agree?

-- Stokes

Here is a bunch of Minden Prussian hussars, which I painted as, more or less, hussars of Lauzun's Legion although the guidon is my own creation.  They are now on multiple bases by the way, which speeds up things immeasurably when playing a game.

Here is battalion of RSM95 Prussian figures, which I painted as Hanseatic infantry.  The flag, which features an eagle and red&white shield on each side, is based on an old flag from the Free and Hanseatic City of Luebeck.

Next, we see a regiment of 30 Holger Erikson dragoons.  Horses were painted with a combination of oil glazes over various Humbrol enamels with the riders and detailing carried out with Citadel and Ral Partha acrylics.  The dark green coats, however, were also done using the last of my Humbrol British Rifle Green, a tin that lasted well over 20 years before finally drying out not too long after I finished these, which are now also on multiple bases.

Here is a slightly different version of the first photograph shown above, featuring a close-up of some Irish Wild Geese with two batteries of artillery in close support.

And finally,  yet another of ol' von Seydlitz and Frederick II, taken with, if memory serves me correctly, a telephoto lens on my Sony DSLR-A100 although I can't swear to it since two years have gone by, and I neglected to write any of this down at the time.  I'm kicking myself now of course.

Blue Moon Painter Vignette. . .

The artiste "Fabio" checks his perspective while his young assistant fetches some Linseed oil and cotton rags from a wooden chest of art supplies, and an interested local dilettante kibitzes without pause.  Blue Moon figures, along with some Foundry and Minden bits and pieces plus a scratch-built easel, completed in late Winter 2013.

My painter vignette, which was recently featured in the 2014 Wargamer's Annual.  I've just gone back and cropped the original image and sharpened things up with Photoshop Elements 9.  The picture now seems much better than the version that appeared with my article on vignettes, but you'll have to be the judge(s) ultimately.

-- Stokes

Submitted for Your Review. . .

Here are three views of the promised Stollenian (Prussian) hussar command vignette.  The uniforms are based on a couple of the Bryan Fosten plates and text descriptions in Frederick the  Great's Cavalry.  Once again, not perfect by any stretch, but we're getting there.  The figures were painted in my usual mix of oils with hobby acrylics for detailing.  Some lining was carried out using dark brown and a dark blue.  Where lining proved difficult, I washed those problematic, hard-t0-reach areas in dark brown before adding the detailing on top, for instance the silver lace, cord, and braid on the hussar officer waving his sword.

The trick for all of the hussar braiding on the dolmans and pelisses is to use a fairly small brush with a good point and to avoid flooding the bristles with paint.  Then, use a very light touch under bright lighting and just barely touch the tip of the bristles to the top of buttons and braid on the castings.  It doesn't take too much time or practice to get the right impression of braid and buttons.  It also helps things to stand out if you run a thin wash of darker color over these areas first, to offset the braid and buttons, making them stand out better against the admittedly very busy painted surfaces of the figures.  

The brushwork on these two figures and scenic base took 2.5 days, from Friday evening through Sunday morning.  I lavished much more attention on them than I would have on several squadrons of hussars though.  That said, I don't know that I am mentally prepared to tackle another 30-figure regiment of them any time soon.  But these two look reasonably good to my eyes, and will assume command of Stollen's light cavalry.  

Oh, and before anyone asks, the trumpeter's horse is not diseased or mangy.  He was my first ever attempt to render a piebald/skewbald.  Not sure if I'm completely happy with the results, but I was growing tired of the usual bays, chestnuts, duns, and greys you know.  At any rate, no more vignettes for a while now.  It's on to those eight singly based Minden, Fife & Drum, and RSM95 aides de camp next, and then the wagon and pontoon trains can take center stage.

-- Stokes 


A Tuesday Addendum. . . 

While I have a few spare moments this afternoon, always a dangerous thing, I've been letting my mind wander (equally dangerous).  In spite of my remarks above to the effect of "No more units of hussars for a while," I'm feeling the urge.  I fear that I might just have to bite the bullet and plan on adding three squadrons and a few regimental command figures (for a total of 30 figures and horses) of Minden Austrians in 2015-16.  Looking through my books and the Kronoskaf website, some of the uniforms are simply too pretty not to add to the growing Grand Duchy of Stollen collection.  So. . .   Of course, if I stumble upon a pretty example of Freikorps or Reichsarmee hussars in fur colpacks in the meantime, even better!  

On other fronts, we are awaiting another huge winter storm system that promises appreciable snowfall as we speak.  And here I thought we had to decamp for Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin, or Upper Michigan for Winter fun.  Certainly not this year!  Looks like some Nordic skiing and/or tobogganing with the Young Master is definitely in the cards for tomorrow afternoon and again on Thursday.  As I kidded an old friend the other day, you've just got to embrace the winter weather, bundle up, and get out there.  Barring dangerous windchills, or course, there is much fun to be had between late November and mid-March.

-- Von Tschatschke

Coming Shortly. . .

Coming Shortly: A two-figure cavalry command vignette, consisting of Minden Prussian hussars.  Stay tuned!

Just finished applying the coat of acrylic gloss a few moments ago.  Spotted one tiny thing I need to touch up.  Rats!  Well, that will keep until tomorrow morning, when I tackle the groundwork, and then some photographs by late afternoon.

-- Stokes

More Vignettes and Finished Guns. . .

Only about two years in the painting. . .   The Minden and RSM95 gun crews, painted as Palatinate and Saxons respectively in 2012, were finally issued with their guns (purchased well over a year ago) this weekend. . .   Two massive Swedish 4-pounders by Fife & Drum.  I'm already planning to replace the Minifig guns in two other batteries with other Fife & Drum pieces, which are the new benchmark for artillery models as far as I am concerned.

Much afoot here at Stollen Central this past weekend.  Painting, rearranging things so that I could once again set up my 10' x 6' table, and ridding myself of five (yes, FIVE) massive black garbage bags of styrofoam sheeting and old hills.  Ala Charles S. Grant, I will replace these with much thinner sheets of foamcore board, which will provide less dramatic, more gentle slopes for the armies of Stollen and Zichenau to fight over.  

At the same time, I've gotten rid of what was beginning to seem like a genuine fire hazard, so I'm relieved to have it out of the house.  And hey, since I never used most of the styrofoam sheeting in almost six years of residence at the current Stollen Central, there seemed little point in saving the stuff any longer.  Packratia isn't pretty.  It's that embarrassing and hush-hush social disease from which many wargamers suffer in silence.  Packratia is no laughing matter and needs greater public attention if we are ever to eradicate it.  Packratia can come from anywhere and strike at anytime.  So, you must keep up your guard against Packratia at all times.  

That attractive female neighbor across the street, who calls on the telephone one evening and coyly asks if you want to drop by to pick up a box full of  rubberized horsehair leftover from when she restored her antique fainting couch?  She could be carrying. . .  Packratia!  Your best friend around the corner, who seems like an upstanding guy and says he's got a bag full of extra styrofoam peanuts for packing those fragile items you hope to ship to a family member in another state?  He too could give you. . .  Packratia.  Even your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, or significant other could have. . .  Packratia.  Don't let your guard down for a minute.   

No one is immune to Packratia although wargamers are more prone to it than most.  Packratia is insidious and can infect your marriage or committed relationship before you realize what has happened.  Before you know what hit you, Packratia can turn your cozy home into a veritable hell-on-earth within a few short weeks.  Recognize the symptoms of. . .  Packratia.  Disorganized stacks of old hobby magazines, small odd bags crammed full of balsawood offcuts, piles of old plastic bottle caps to use as temporary painting bases, and that certain familiar burning sensation whenever you use the last sheet of a writing pad and try to envision to what particular use you might put that remaining heavy cardboard backing.  Oh, yes!  You too might just have a bad case of. . .  Packratia.

Packratia is dangerous, and Packratia is highly contagious.  Packratia leads to sorrow, heartache, and, in its worst forms,  madness.  Don't risk transmitting it to your loved ones.  Visit your doctor and get checked for the Packratia virus today!   Most cases can be cured in just a few minutes with a simple vaccination in the privacy of your doctor's office or outpatient clinic.  Now, don't you owe it to your family to get screened for. . .   Packratia?  Do it as soon as possible!  This concludes today's public service announcement brought to you by People Against Packratia, the Presidential Commission to Fight the Spread of Packratia, and the American Red Cross.

Now, what about those vignettes?  Here they are.  Still not perfect, but it's getting better all the time (didn't some band or other from the 60s sing that?).  For the more techincally minded among you, here are the details:

* The distance between Sony Cyber-shot TX20 camera and subjects was between 5"-7" (approximately 12.75-17.75 cm).
* The camera flipped itself automatically into the macro setting.
* A small tripod was used.
* Self-timer set for 10 seconds.
* No flash.  Indirect, diffused lighting came from three different lamps each with 100watt "daylight" corkscrew bulb.  One aimed at the top of the lightbox, and two aimed at either side of the light box.  I moved the two side lamps around to cast the most indirect light possible onto the figures.
* Five slightly different pictures were taken of each vignette.  The three shared here were the best as far as focus, crispness, and lighting go.
* The best three of the original photographs were next sharpened and then cropped using Photoshop Elements 9.  Additional automatic adjustments blitzed the fleshtones of the figures for some reason and made everything else too bright, so no additional manipulation of these images occurred.

-- Stokes 

A Minden hussar trooper and his horse.  The wire reins were devilishly hard to thread through the tiny holes I drilled in the horse's muzzle and the trooper's hands.  Finally managed it though after hours of trying.  Some days. . . I did not detail the bucket and barrel since they are not the sole focus of this particular scene, but I just might do so quickly this coming weekend to give everything the finish it deserves.

The Freiherr Paul von Hasenpfeffer (at left) observes something in the distance that has been brought to his attention by a nearby Prussian/Stollenian hussar officer.  Von Hasenpfeffer is a Fife & Drum Hessian general that was one of the figures given to me by my young son, the Young Master Paul, just this past Christmas.  The hussar officer on foot is, of course, a Minden figure that I painted up as, more or less, an officer of the Prussian 6th Hussars.  Typically, we provide our tiny regiments of hussars with the brightest, most gaudy uniforms possible, but I've always liked the illustration (Plate H, p. 32) by Bryan Fosten in Frederick the Great's Army: 1 Cavalry, hence my attempt at a brown uniform for the first time.  Not too shabby if I might be so bold as to say so myself.  I am also pleased with the way the breeches and waistcoat of von Hasenfeffer and the boots of the hussar officer turned out.  Not too bright but definitely yellow.