The Seasonal Spirit is Beginning to Take Hold. . .

Here's a Christmas market very familiar to the Grand Duchess. It's the one held each December in Dresden, Germany.

And that means a few gifts to purchase, a few to order and have sent to friends and family members around the world, and cards to address and send. And you know what? I love it! But still a few days of school to get through before the fun and festivities can begin in earnest.

Nevertheless, I managed to find about 90 minutes or two hours last night to apply the final touch-ups to that middle batch of nine cuirassiers, followed by the first coat of Future/Klear acrylic floor finish. And the soldiers look smashing this morning, resplendent in their unabashed shinyness (is that even a word?). One more coat this afternoon, and they are all finished. Watch for a photograph here of the now 21-strong regiment. Only nine figures left to go! And then it's onto an artillery battery, a few generals, and their ADC's. Nothing like the feeling of being almost done with part of a project of long standing, is there?

And here's my personal favorite, the Luebeck Christmas market. This is my favorite place in Germany where I wasted quite a bit of happy time in the mid-1980s and again in 1990. Sadly, none of it was during this December event. It looks so bright and inviting. I can almost smell the food and gluehwein!

Presenting the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere!!!

Here they are, with the rearmost nine figures still drying, three squadrons of the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere, now in the service of the Grand Duchy of Stollen. And now, it's onto that artillery!

And It's the End of September!!!

Saxony's Ploetz Cuirassiers, an illustration lifted from the Kronoskaf website, which has thus far guided my spectacularly glacial painting of 30 28mm Eureka Saxon cuirassiers purchased all the way back in October 2016. A gray, cool Saturday here in Mid-Michigan with rain in the forecast. The Grand Duchess is away at a conference, so it's just "The Boys" here at home. The Young Master (almost 15) has retreated to his room for something or other following breakfast while I have stolen back down here to Zum Stollenkeller (masquerading as my office) with a second mug of coffee and both cats comfortably ensconced nearby. Enjoying the late morning and still in my pajamas! Not much planned for today beyond designing a couple of promotional flyers for workshops my department is presenting (small parties we will throw?) in October and November. With maybe a bit of on the next podcast script. More important, I am toying with the idea of returning for an hour or...

Happy September 2nd!!!

T his weekend, the question of what, precisely, constitutes an "imagination" came up in an online forum of which I am a part. To be fair, the issue originates from further afield in a Facebook group that I am not a member of, but I weighed in with my own view. The following was in response to the question posed yesterday (Sunday) morning by an exasperated member of my own rather more gentlemanly town square, who had been met with a strident response to information he shared about his (admirable) hobby activities on said FB group. Here is, more or less, what I wrote: To my mind, the concept of imagi-nation(s) is a broad one. It can range from historical refights or what-if scenarios/battles/campaigns between armies of a particular era, to completely made up combatants operating in a quasi-historical setting, to the rather generic red and blue forces of the Prussian Kriegspiel that examine a particular tactical problem, task, or exercise. ...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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