Newsflash! New Figures in the Works!

Some Hessian mercenaries retreating during the Saratoga Campaign of 1777.

A new line of realistic, life-like 1/56th, or 32mm, figures with human proportions (in campaign dress as they actually appeared, no less) is in the works for the American War of Independence! The sculptor is -- Wait for it! -- the famous Richard Ansell, who has also done yeoman's work for Frank Hammond's Minden Miniatures among others.

You can view several photographs of Richard's greens in-progress by visiting the Hesse-Seewald blog, whose own Alte Fritz is heavily involved in the project. You can also click on Battleroad Games & Hobbies, to be transported directly to the website of the U.S.-based producer and distributor of these figures-to-be. Or, you can scroll down the page and look for the links to both at the bottom right of this page.

While the American Revolution is not exactly my period of interest, you cannot help but feel excited and inspired by these wonderful previews of the planned range. And hey, with any luck, maybe some Hessians or other German mercenary figures might come along soon that would be a good fit for an extra unit in the Grand Duchy of Stollen's growing army?

The Eventual Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment. . .

The Anhalt-Zerbst regiment musters in the drill square to sort themselves into platoons and companies during the coming weeks Fall maneuvers if you will. A large dose of real life the last few days with the start of classes next Monday, various preparatory meetings, and finishing up a few other things this week. But, I managed to sort out 60 or so Minden Austrian infantry from the pile and get 'em stuck to temporary painting bases. Must carefully drill out the hands of several NCOs for flagpoles and pole arms this weekend before the usual basecoat. I'm thinking of mixing the usual white gesso with the usual light gray to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. Applying both base- and undercoat in one fell swoop as my grandmother used to say. In the meantime, the recently finished squadron of Saxon cuirassiers has been placed carefully in one of the clear acrylic boxes on my shelves until I have the suitable flag to affix. -- Sto...

And We're Off!!!

Arrrgh! Gotta go back into camera settings on my iPhone to bring all of the frame into focus. Blast! Painting is underway on the 60 or so Minden Austrians, which are slated to become my version of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment of AWI renown. More or less indistinguishable from Austrians of the era really, right down to the red facings and turnbacks, but the eventual flags (already in my files) will set them apart. I went ahead and based-coated all of them over a couple of days lthe last week of August, using a mix of light gray and white acrylic gesso, before next applying my usual basic alkyd oil flesh tone to the faces and hands. In a day or two, I'll hit that with Army Painter Flesh Wash to tone things down a bit and bring some definition to the faces and hands. As usual, the plan is to focus on about 20 figures at a time, splitting the regiment roughly into thirds along with the color party and regimental staff. Depending on ...

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!

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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