Coming Soon. . . Minden Hussar Update

An 18th Century painting (ca. 1748) by David Morier, purporting to show grenadiers from Bavaria's Leib, von Seckendorf, and von Preysing regiments. What's interesting is that the blue is quite dark, which seems to throw the issue of Cornflower Blue coats into question. Might that particular feature have been a mid-19th Century innovation that has incorrectly been applied to earlier period uniforms? Thanks Greg!

No photos just yet, but the next four hussars in the pile are nearing completion. Just a few small details on the troopers plus the white markings, hooves, and reins/harnesses on the horses.

In the meantime, have a look at these extremely useful tips on dressing well at the Put This On blog, a site dedicated to helping men dress like adults. I have a look at this almost everyday, and while I knew the basics already thanks to my father and grandfather, I manage to learn something new each time I visit the blog. It's a good read in any case.

Comments

Conrad Kinch said…

Huh. Subscribed.

5:29 PM

tradgardmastare said…

I await visuals of the huzzars with enthusiasm and enjoyed the 18th century painting- stout fellows indeed!
Alan

12:16 AM

Steve-the-Wargamer said…

I came from Britain & we don't have buttons on our vests so I'm lost already.... but they are sometimes made of string.... and sometimes you get matching Y fronts in the same material..... so far I've managed to avoid them, here's hoping that as I head into my dotage I don't succumb... yee gods, man, he calls a weskit a vest!

PS. :o))))

1:53 AM

Funny Little Wars - Garden Campaigns said…

Thank you for the Bavarian picyure - I will be working on four x 54mm Battalions of Bavrarian infantry for a Lace Wars game and am struggling with the cornflower blue. I think I should go darker...

Paul

6:46 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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