Faces and Hands Out of the Way!

Grüβe aus dem Stollenkeller! Here’s another photo update on that latest batch of figures – plastic Revell Prussians this time – in progress here in the best of cellars. Stayed up very late last night and applied Winsor & Newton Griffin alkyd fleshtone (oil-based but dries to the touch overnight) to the hands and faces of all 32 figures comprising “Freiherr Wilhelm’s Pioneers”. Their wigs and hair are finished too, though you can’t see that very well from this photo.

The way is clear now to begin painting the uniforms proper, mid-blue in this case with red facings and silver/white lace for the officers and men. I’m using GW Enchanted Blue and actually basing the uniform of my troops on that worn by Austria’s Pontonier-Corps, illustrated in plate D of The Austrian Army 1740-1780: Specialist Troops in the Osprey Men-at-Arms series. A very pretty uniform, so how could I hope to do better myself? Exactly.

Otherwise, there is much happening in the various corners of Apocryphal 18^th Century Europe as the summer campaigning season gets into full swing. If you haven’t done so already, visit the Emperor vs. Elector blog at http://emperor-elector.blogspot.com/ and take a closer look at related blogs like these:

· The Duchy of Alzheim

· The Duchy of Mieczyslaw

· The Grand Duchy of Hetzenberg

· The Kingdom of Hesse-Seewald

· The Landgraviate of Hesse-Fedora

· The Principality of Hesse-Engelburg

· The Principality of Saxe-Bearstein

· David von Tippelbruder’s new Prussian garrison infantry standards at his Uniform Templates blog

See also the following blogs, which aren’t necessarily connected with the Emperor vs. Elector guys:

· Henry Hyde’s Battlegames blog at http://battlegames.wordpress.com/

· Frivelous Fusiliers at: http://frivolousfusiliers.blogspot.com/

· Flanderkin Serjant at: http://flanderkin.blogspot.com/

· Grimsby Wargaming at: http://grimsbywargaming.blogspot.com/

· Tarleton’s Quarter at: http://www.gilesallison.blogspot.com/

· Steve’s Random Musings on Wargaming: http://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/

· Phil’s War Cabinet at: http://www.warcabinet.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

To say that there is a great deal of top-notch project design, painting, scenery construction, gaming, and photography going on out there in “blogland” at the moment is something of an understatement. Why, it’s almost more than a man can stand!