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At last -- The white is all done!!!

Little by little, I am getting there with the current batch of 80 RSM95 Prussian fusiliers. Sigh. Things just keep getting in the way, and most evenings by 9:30 or 10pm, I just don't feel like sitting down to paint. That and, to be honest, I've been suffering from painting fatigue I think. BUT, now all of the white is finished (FINALLY), so I can move to the relatively easy mid-blue facing color and all the rest. In any event, the figures are finally beginning to look like something more than 25-28-30mm black blobs!

So, in the above photograph, aptly entitled "Snowblind A", you can observe the 2nd company all dressed up in their ranks (yes, pun intended). Look carefully, and you'll see the tan undercoat showing here and there from below the white. So far, I'm pleased with the appearance of these small, metal men. I won't use the word tiny, because that would be an affront to their collective 30mm/1:60 scale sensibility!


The second photo (above) is shot from a different angle, but it basically provides the same impression. The plastic pop/soda/cola/water bottle caps are very convenient temporary painting bases, though I am having one slight problem with them. The plastic used for these does not accept PVA glue well, so a few of the figures have suddenly "leapt" from their temporary bases several times during painting, requiring re-gluing. You would think that soldiers from the 18th century would be somewhat more disciplined!


And last of all, here is "Snowblind Close-up" (I feel like Yoko Ono minus the avant garde warbling!), which provides a better impression of how the white works in conjunction with the tan undercoat. Unfortunately, the drummer and company NCO are blurred, but the figures behind them are not, so you can see what I've been nattering on about for the last several weeks.

No, probably not much painting this evening as The Indras have a practice session coming up, and then I have student papers to finish grading after dinner with the Grand Duchess. But there is always Friday afternoon, once classes have finished for the week. And speaking of the Grand Duchess, we are attending a production of Henrik Ibsen's Enemy of the People (Folkefienden in Norwegian) on Friday evening over on campus. Saturday afternoon will see The Indras' debut performance at the Illinois Wesleyan University 2009 Faculty/Staff Variety Show, put on to raise money for the McLean County Autism Society. We are the opening act. So, it's going to be somewhat busy this weekend, but also interesting and fun, which is the way life should be.


P.S.
Newsflash! Well-known British wargamer Phil Olley has revamped and reloaded the "Classic Wargaming" part of his War Cabinet website in the last few days (Be still my heart!). And there are all sorts of visual goodies there for the classic wargaming enthusiast to ogle. Have a look by clicking on:

http://www.warcabinet.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/army_showcase%20Classic%20Collection.htm

Enjoy!

Comments

Lovely figures as ever Stokes.. & break a leg, as they say, this weekend..!
tradgardmastare said…
Ditto for what Steve said on both counts...
Alan
Frankfurter said…
As for the figures leaping off the painting bases ... remember that "recruits" in this period always did have a high percentage of deserters ..
:)
A
Bluebear Jeff said…
Enjoy the Ibsen . . . and "break a leg" with the Indras opening!


-- Jeff
Der Alte Fritz said…
why not just glue the unpainted figures onto what will be their eventual final base and prime the base and the figure at the same time?

I used to glue my figures to pieces of cardboard, then pop them off and glue them to a metal base, then paint the metal base so that it wouldn't be shiny. Then I had one of those V-8 Moments (Wow, slap forehead, I could have had a V-8) and realized that I could save lots of time by priming everything all at once.
Der Alte Fritz said…
I wish that you would get rid of the blog owner approval format for your comments. I don't have any restrictions on my blog and the spam is very minimal.
Fitz-Badger said…
Now you can see the whites of their coats! Looking very good with tan undercoat.

I base my minis on metal washers, and glue them to them first thing (with a bit of greenstuff to hide any joins). Then I have wooden popsicle sticks (from Dove bars; the sacrifices we make for this hobby!) with round magnets glued to them. This gives me magnetic holders to stick the minis to and that I can turn around as needed while painting. But then I only paint about a dozen minis at a time.
marinergrim said…
I'm continually amazed by your stamina Stokes. Painting to such a high level with so many figures in one go, compared to my "slap it on ten and push on" approach.

As Van Halen said "bring the roof down".
A J said…
Well done on your painting, Stokes. I know from painting Napoleonic-era Austrians all that white can become a drag. Break a leg at the Indras! ;)
guy said…
I can't tell you how often I have been to things where the first/warm up act is better than the main alledged event! I hope you raise loads of loot for your charity.

Guy
johnpreece said…
They do look worth all that effort.
A very nice addition to the army.

Best of luck with the other.

John
Anonymous said…
Stokes - I know I only paint 6mm scale figs. but I find that a blob of "blu-tac" on the bottle tops works well for me. I just press the figure into it, and it holds it solidly enough to paint.
Don't know if you have "blu-tac" in the US (perhaps under another name). Of course I have release the figure before painting the base.
Just a thought.

Steve.

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