Latest Dragoon Photo Update on the Way. . .

But in the meantime, here's a shot of the final (and I mean FINAL) building in the Grand Duchy of Stollen, which was constructed a couple of weeks ago and has yet to be painted.

Unlike my previous model buildings, which are composites of various structures across Northern Germany & Northern Europe, this particular model church is actually based on a historical structure that still stands in the old East Prussian town of Allenburg/Дружба (Алленбург) -- now in the Kaliningrad enclave of Russia.

Seems the actual church was not horribly or irreparably damaged during the latter days of the 1939-45 war and has undergone some recent restorative work. Amazingly, it now features occasional Evangelical Lutheran services -- as was the case pre-1945! I haven't been able to learn whether the church has been used for Russian Orthodox service or not during the last 60+ years.

Anyway, I'll paint this final structure in the usual predominant dusty pink-red brick color with a grey-green roof to approximate aged copper plating, and finish with some decorative light gey stonework around the windows and on corners, etc. Unless the mood strikes me to research and build a model of an old North German windmill, NO further construction is scheduled for the foreseeable future in the Grand Duchy.

Instead, it's time to get moving with finishing the core units of Stollen's small army and then continue on to the first 4-5 units to be fielded by the Electorate of Zichenau. After that task is completed, hopefully by late-2007, I'll add some addtional cavalry and infantry units (another 3-5) at a slightly slower rate of painting.

The core armies will consist of the Revell 1/72 plastic figures as you already know, along with that lovely unit or RSM 95 grenadiers. In the longer term, I'd also like to add a unit of Spencer Smiths in the classic marching pose with shouldered muskets as well as a unit of Holger Eriksson cavalry. The latter ain't cheap, so it might have to wait a while. Finally, I'd also like to add some more mounted generals. These will probably come from MiniFigs. Ah -- Decisions, decisions. . .

Comments

Bluebear Jeff said…

Hopefully before long I can take a few photos of some of my (still unpainted) RSM figures.

Their Hussar in mirlton is very nice and I really like my Hanoveran Mounted Grenadiers.

-- Jeff

2:44 AM

It's Early Days Yet. . .

M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings. Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat. The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week. Next up, the neck stocks. I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit. Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step. "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes

And We're Off!!!

Arrrgh! Gotta go back into camera settings on my iPhone to bring all of the frame into focus. Blast! Painting is underway on the 60 or so Minden Austrians, which are slated to become my version of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment of AWI renown. More or less indistinguishable from Austrians of the era really, right down to the red facings and turnbacks, but the eventual flags (already in my files) will set them apart. I went ahead and based-coated all of them over a couple of days lthe last week of August, using a mix of light gray and white acrylic gesso, before next applying my usual basic alkyd oil flesh tone to the faces and hands. In a day or two, I'll hit that with Army Painter Flesh Wash to tone things down a bit and bring some definition to the faces and hands. As usual, the plan is to focus on about 20 figures at a time, splitting the regiment roughly into thirds along with the color party and regimental staff. Depending on ...

The Eventual Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment. . .

The Anhalt-Zerbst regiment musters in the drill square to sort themselves into platoons and companies during the coming weeks Fall maneuvers if you will. A large dose of real life the last few days with the start of classes next Monday, various preparatory meetings, and finishing up a few other things this week. But, I managed to sort out 60 or so Minden Austrian infantry from the pile and get 'em stuck to temporary painting bases. Must carefully drill out the hands of several NCOs for flagpoles and pole arms this weekend before the usual basecoat. I'm thinking of mixing the usual white gesso with the usual light gray to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. Applying both base- and undercoat in one fell swoop as my grandmother used to say. In the meantime, the recently finished squadron of Saxon cuirassiers has been placed carefully in one of the clear acrylic boxes on my shelves until I have the suitable flag to affix. -- Sto...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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