It was just one of those evenings. . .

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Yes, that’s right. . . I tipped over my open tin of Humbrol British Rifle Green last night. %%$&^*#amp;^*#!!! My work area really was a sea of green for a little while.

However, my mind remained clear, and I resolved to use the pool of green paint as my reservoir and simply continued painting until all coat tail turnbacks were finished. This took a couple of hours, so collars will be completed this evening.

I still have a little paint left in the tin, but I imagine it won’t be long before that dries up. It’s a little sad because I’ve had this tin of paint since purchasing it at MiniFigs HQ in Southampton in December 1988! Funny how one hangs onto certain sentimental memories, isn't it?

On a happier note, thank you for your interest and kind words concerning my upcoming musical venture. In fact, I met with the guy who will become our lead guitarist last night. He plays extremely well in that bluesy Clapton/Page style and will work well for this kind of project I think. So, I've got a drummer, a rockin' lead guitarist, and myself on bass and vocals. All we need now is a second guitarist, and we're ready to go.

Yes, indeed, the music covered will consist of artists like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Bill Hailey, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, and the like plus a few more obscure numbers from the era too. This should be lots of fun. It's something I've wanted to do for the last decade and a half, but various degree programs, studying, and learning languages always seemed to get in the way. No longer!

Back on the soldier front, rest assured that photos of the troops in question are coming just as soon as there is a bit more to see besides flesh tone and very dark green against a black undercoat. They really aren’t much to look at just yet. ;-)

A Little More Brushwork. . .

A little more brushwork on the first batch of (my version of) the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment yesterday (Saturday). Taking a different tack this time and addressing many of the details first before the white coats and other larger areas of uniform. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that I've painted the (dark) red stocks of the enlisted men. Always a difficult and frustrating item to paint, it made sense to paint from the inside out as it were and get that particular detail out of the way first rather than try to paint it in later after much other painting has been accomplished. Trying to reduce the need for later retouching of other items on the figures you understand. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to these later today after a second trip back to the Apple Store for help with a couple of new iPad issues and, following the return home, some revision of Google Slides for tomorrow's meetings with my students. -- Stokes P.S. And according t...

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...

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

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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