Our First Snow of the Season!!!

Wish we had a scene like this one in our backyard. This is very similar to the woods in Norway, about five minutes from where I lived in Trondheim, where I learned to ski ten years ago.

Relax. Just a dusting. Maybe an inch/25mm or so, but it was beautiful when I peeked through the blinds at the still dark street (it's just after 6am here) a little while ago. Just what we need to kick off the week here at Stollen Central.

Speaking of which. I had a serious talk with the Grand Duchess yesterday and laid down the law. Told her I surely wouldn't make it to Christmas without some of her delicious Dresdner Stollen. So, I finally was able to extract that most important of promises from her. . . Stollen baking to commence next weekend. Hurrah! The clouds lifted and I retired to bed a happy man.

On the soldier painting front, I took a wee bit of time after dinner, while Young Paul slept close by, and began work on the flamboyant General von Tschatschke. So far, a chestnut horse, pink coat and breeches with purple waistcoat and saddle cloth. Still lots to do, of course, but the good General looks stunning already. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Comments

guy said…

Every time the main weather report and map comes on the BBC they always show a slice of Norway and for the last week or so it seems to have been snowing constantly. I'm sure the skiing will be good there this season. We normally head to the Alps but the girls are now at different schools and v inconsiderently their school holidays do not overlap to a reasonable degree so we are still at the planning stage.

regards,
Guy

5:04 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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