It's been a looooong week. . .

Whew! Haven’t had the energy for much painting this week with all of the back and forth with the publisher who has contracted me to translate that book by a Norwegian author. Reading and approving contracts has got to be one of the dullest things on the planet! Another bit of consulting work I’m involved in has also cut into painting time during the evenings.

So too has bike riding with the Grand Duchess. We have just under 100 miles in the saddle for this week! I’ve actually been on my bike six days out of the last seven, and it’s a funny thing. When you are that physically active, you’re just hungry all the time! And really bushed, so Sonja and I are having a free day (no biking) today, which is good, because it’s rained off and on all day here in Central Illinois.

Another activity that’s taken away from painting time has been my “old school” rock and roll project. Our band has managed two practices this week and will have at least three in July. So far, it’s been great fun, and collective enthusiasm has remained high. At times, we even manage to lock in together and sound “tight” as a musical unit. . . but this only lasts for a minute or two before we lose the groove. Still, we are enjoying ourselves and expanding our list of songs already, which includes numbers like Honey Hush, Good Rockin’ Tonight, Lawdy Miss Clawdy, and Lucille (yes, the Little Richard number). So far, my voice is holding out well and even getting a bit better dare I say.

About the only wargaming related task I’ve accomplished this week is to move around and “rationalize” my computer files for the unnamed book project that I occasionally mention here. Created another folder yesterday evening and moved all of the research and/or correspondence from other wargaming friends and acquaintances into it, keeping only the 32 text files that will become parts of the book in the folder labeled, appropriately enough, “wargaming book”.

At this point, I have only a few more sections to finish writing. Then, the revision and tying everything together smoothly can begin. When the Grand Duchess asked what kind of self-imposed deadline I had in mind, I replied that I was shooting for early January next year to have the basic manuscript finished. At the present, this still seems realistic. Keep your fingers and toes crossed!

Now, in a little while we are making the trip over to Peoria in search of a new Lebanese restaurant we’ve heard about. If we get home at a reasonable time, I’ll have a chance to finished basecoating those Revell Prussian musketeers with white acrylic gesso. Then, I can move onto the black undercoat tomorrow and apply green to the bases on Sunday. Flesh tone on Monday, and then on to the wigs/hair and various uniform colors. This time, I’m going for fairly simple, utilitarian uniforms in a mid-blue with read facings, much like that worn by Herr Major Anders von Gedacht, who was pictured in earlier postings here. But that’s still a few days away.

In the meantime, have a nice weekend wherever in the world you happen to find yourself!

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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