Fresh Coffee Must Be Good for Headcolds.

Happy May 1^st everyone! The headcold seems to be on the wane this morning, BBC World Service is online, and I’m enjoying a large mug of fresh, strong coffee in Zum Stollenkeller. The semester is just about over, the weather for today will be warm, and life seems pretty good at the moment.

Painting has, unfortunately, not been happening this week although I did get basecoat onto those RSM figures Sunday evening. Hopefully, this weekend will see me returning to the painting desk since we are supposed to have chilly temperatures and lots of rain, which plays havoc with bicycling and work in the backyard (“back garden” for UK and Commonwealth visitors).

Head congestion notwithstanding, I’ve been able to enjoy lots of great painting work via some of your blogs and the Old School Wargaming Yahoo group. It of course has got me thinking several months ahead about upcoming painting projects here in Stollen Central.

You might recall that I’ve got about 32 Revell plastic Prussian infantry in line to be painted as a pioneer battalion after the RSM’s are finished. Then, I think it will be time to tackle a cavalry regiment again. Thanks to some judicious purchases from PB Toys in Germany and Ebay, I have a load of Revell plastic Prussian hussars, which I clipped from their sprues and organized into at least three 30-figure regiments last winter. Though my first regiment of planned hussars will be more flamboyant than Von Belling’s hussars shown above, I thought that this was a suitably interesting illustration with which to liven up today’s post. Enjoy!

Comments

tradgardmastare said…

Stokes
And a happy May day to you too! The hussars sound very interesting indeed and should look very impressive upon the wargames table.
Are you going to give us a sneak preview into some of the chapter headings or the themes of the OSW book you are writing?
best wishes
Alan
p.s the rain here in Scotland has been vile of late holding back the garden and our morale too.

1:04 PM

Bluebear Jeff said…

Stokes,

My Saxe-Bearstein Hussars will be based upon the two uniforms of Hanover's von Luckner's Hussars.

The first was in green; the second white and red. Both, of course, had interesting laces and trimmings.

You should have fun in deciding what you want your three units to look like.

Will they have a common thread? Or will they all differ greatly?

Either choice would be good . . . you get to decide. Better yet, ask the Grand Duchess for her input on the matter.

Have fun and enjoy your coffee.

-- Jeff

5:47 PM

Fitz-Badger said…

Glad to hear you're feeling better!
I haven't done much painting for a while (guests, hot weather, and other projects).

8:12 PM

The 18th century? What's the Fascination?

Hessian musketeers by All the King's Men Toy Soldiers of Snellville, Georgia, U.S.A. Just a quick post post today, but I thought the above question might be interesting food for thought. Obviously, there is an array of possible periods, theaters, and conflicts that might catch our eyes. But what is it about the era 1700-1799 -- either real, or imagined? Is it the commanders and politics? The fairly straightforward tactics? The myriad of uniforms and flags? The variety and scope of the conflicts? The patchwork of various and sundry petty states, (at least in Central Europe)? I'm very interested to learn your thoughts. Don't be a lurker! Please leave a comment -- or even two or three. Have a nice day everyone!

An Early July Hussar Update. . .

Marginally neater in appearance with green bases, girths, and ivory horse markings added, but I need to neaten up some hooves now before moving onto the rest of the tack. W here in the world did June go? While I still ponder the answer to that question, how about a quick painting update on the first batch of 14 Minden Austrian hussars and Nadasdy? Good. I'm glad we are of a like mind. Still on the sloppy side, but I've managed to move things along, painting the green bases, white (ivory) horse markings, and beginning the miles and miles of tack adorning the various horses. I always like to begin with the girths spanning the horses' ribs which helped hold the saddles in place. Even with the figures mounted individually on temporary painting bases, these can be kind of tricky to access, but there we are. I've also used various Army Painter washes (Mid-Brown and Strong Tone) as well as their Speed Paint (Grim Black) to make the manes and tails of the horses a bit m...

Basic Reds Done at Last. . .

S till quite a way to go with the current batch of 20 human figures and a horse (of course), but they're actually starting to look like something after all of the red distinctions. Quite a bit of painting in hour-long sessions the last week as and when time has allowed. Mostly applying the basic dark red to facing areas and turnbacks followed by the inevitable touch-ups to clean up wobbly edges and those misplaced, minute splotches of Citadel Khorne Red. They're looking like so many Austrian infantry regiments of the era at this point, but the eventual flags will turn them magically into the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment, more or less, of the AWI period. But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. One frustrating point (ahem) of sad discovery. I've started trying to use those Winsor & Newton 'Series Seven' brushes (#1 rounds) purchased last spring, and the blasted things simply will not keep a point. Very frustrating since I have heard over the y...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

Search This Blog