Happy Monday Everybody!

I simply can’t believe how rewarding the wargaming hobby is. This is what I always read in Military Modelling and Miniature Wargames (when I could find them) as a long-haired, teen-aged Stokes, but I didn’t really think it was possible.

Fast forward 25 or more years. The Grand Duchy of Stollen project is right about 2 ½ years old now. The related blog is slightly less (dating from August 2006, I think), but sometime in the night, we rounded the 30,000 visits mark. And it’s indescribably cool to be part of the worldwide network of friends and acquaintances that has developed thanks to this blog and others. Who would have thought this back in 1982 or ‘83? Certainly not me.

So, before going any further, I must give credit where credit is due and place the blame with Greg Horne in Australia for his article on blogging in one of the first issues of Battlegames. It was this piece and Greg’s Duchy of Alzheim blog that started me down the road all of us are traveling together. “Eccentric” is the term the Grand Duchess once used to describe me, but I suspect that I am in good company among you Stollen regulars!

Next, are a few photos of my buildings above especially for Charles Grant, who was interested to know if there were ruins inside my model structures. Some of you will recognize these photos from before, but what the heck. So, Charles, here you are. Enjoy!

Finally, the Olympic “Grassy Meadow” latex is dry today, so I can start the river sections on those four extra squares, which means I should probably cut out some 5” wide templates – that’s the length of my bridge span (the middle section). And those 21 RSM French aren’t looking quite as sloppy as I thought Saturday night. In fact, with the work I did yesterday (lots of slow, painstaking black lining), they look pretty good if I do say so myself, but somewhere along the way, I missed the speed painting boat I'm afraid. I’ll try to wrap them up this evening and take a few photos to post here.

In the meantime, I’ve got some real life stuff to take care of today (phone calls and writing), so the solders will have to wait until after dinner this evening. And there’s this little 30-mile bike ride I want to take if the rain holds off. . .

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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