I'm so happy it's finally Friday!

Sometimes, it's the little things in life that make you happy. And the end of the week, this week, is one of those things. Not only is it Friday, but it's the final day of classes this term. Hurrah! Now, if my head would simply clear up.

To mark the occasion, here's another image of Saint Nicholas, this time, French from 1900. Although this figure is, perhaps, much more familiar looking to many of us, he is still suitably old world and old-fashioned in appearance. The boughs of holly are a particularly nice touch too I think, but you don't want to tangle with the stuff, especially when it's dried out. It's like razor wire!

Comments

Bluebear Jeff said…

So how did the Grand Duchess like having chocolate in her slippers this morning?

-- Jeff

6:30 AM

Anonymous said…

We still have until tomorrow to get our ducks in a row for that.

The Feast of St. Nicholas is Dec. 6; and then we have just over a week to get our candle wreaths assembled for St. Lucia's on the 14th.

12:59 PM

tradgardmastare said…

Enjoy the hols - R&R ,the continued game and much more fun I'll venture!
best wishes
Alan

1:24 PM

Fitz-Badger said…

Good question, Jeff! Enquiring minds want to know ;-)
I know what you mean about the little things, Stokes (and for miniatures gamers that has extra meaning - lol).

7:41 PM

johnpreece said…

Hi Stokes,

I have enjoyed catching up on your blog, the army is coming together tremendously.

I love your new house especially in the snow. We seldom have porches or verandahs in Britain I quite envy you sitting out their on a summers evening with a mint julep.

2:42 AM

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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