Vitally Important Painting Updates

So what's been happening in the Grand Duchy of Stollen lately? To borrow a word from Jacob Marley's ghost, "Much!"

Currently, Oberfeldwebel Klatschen is leading the Golden Grenadier Painting Competition by two votes. As I wrote in response to Jeff Hudelson’s comment here a few days ago, “Come on, come on, come on! Go Oberfeldwebel Klatschen! Ruuuuuuunnnnn!!!

Otherwise, I’m almost there with the first batch of RSM95 grenadiers. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get too much work in during the last couple of days due to writing, teaching, and family commitments.

The Grand Duchess Sonja sang in a municipal chorus last night, supporting an Illinois state symphony through a production of Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony (you know, the European Union anthem) here in Bloomington at the new Center for the Performing Arts. Needless to say, it was a rousing evening of music that was over all too soon. And we were able to walk home – no parking woes necessary!

Tonight, Sonja’s choral group is off by chartered bus to repeat the performance in Springfield (the capital of Illinois for you non-US residents), so I’ll have several hours to work on the RSM figures as I’m not expecting Sonja home before midnight or 1AM Sunday morning. Meanwhile, I’m quite sure they’ll be living like rock stars down in Springfield, like the Who or Van Halen in their heyday – TV’s out of hotel windows, limousines driven into swimming pools, chorus groupies, etc., etc. ;-)

All kidding aside, here’s what remains of the grenadiers for me to paint:

* Bayonets/officers’ sabers/musket barrels/flintlocks/metal fronts on mitre caps (silver)

* Whalebones on rear of enlisted men’s mitre caps/drum cords (white)

* Scabbard tips, short sword hilts, badges on ammunition pouches. Drum shells (brass)

* Mounted colonel’s horse (white) and saddle cloth (red, trimmed light blue)

* Standard. A basic Hessian model from Warflag, but heavily altered by careful and judicious use of acrylic paint colors, so that it more closely resembles that carried by Brigadier Young’s famous Erbprinz/Poltava Guard unit as seen in Charge!.

I think that’s about it. Of course I’d like to think that I can get everything finished today, but realistically, I’m guessing that we’re looking at another 2-4 days of work to get these figures finished. I’ll keep you posted in any case. Stay tuned right here for further developments!