The Next Batch of Hussars. . . Tally ho!

Not much to look at in the photo above yet, but after a particularly difficult week, I sat down for about 90 minutes last night and enjoyed applying oil washes (over Humbrol gloss enamel undercoats) to a dozen horses in the Minden hussar queue at a leisurely pace. This kind of early 'painting' is always fun simply because there isn't a lot of concentration required.

That, and I have always enjoyed the aroma of linseed oil and other vehicles used with the various pigments to produce oil colors. I suspect it takes me back to a time, very early in life, at about the age of four or five, when I would come home midday from kindergarten and sit on the floor next to my mother's easel while she worked. We would chat about our respective mornings, and my sister and I would watch Mom apply oil colors to her various canvases that she had going at any one time. Funny how the sense of smell can work like that, because that was about 4o years ago! Doesn't seem like it though.

Anyway, I'm reasonably pleased with the results this morning although a couple of the horses are still looking a bit on the orange side, so perhaps a second wash of oil color to tone that Humbrol orange down just a bit. So, after I dress and brush my teeth, it's back down here to Zum Stollenkeller to do that and then apply the flesh and hair to the officer and troopers. If time permits, then GW Goblin Green to the bases and light blue to the dolmans/pelisses/saddlecloths though that last part might need to wait until tomorrow. We'll see how things go.

Finally, a special hello to Martin in Yorkshire, England. Thank you for the delightful e-mail, which I read this morning while having my first mug of coffee for the day. So pleased to learn of your own return to the wargaming hobby after many years and that you are enjoying the Grand Duchy of Stollen blog. It has certainly added a new dimension to my own enjoyment during the last several years. Please continue to drop by from time to time and say hello.

Ok, I'm off (some might say like sour milk). Have a good weekend everyone, and if you aren't rolling any dice in a game, get thee to the painting table instead, uncap those bottles, and apply some color. Those figures won't paint themselves, you know.

Comments

Bluebear Jeff said…

Ouch! Are you sure that they won't paint themselves?

There goes another plan down the tubes. I was going to stick my paints next to the lead mountain and hope . . . *sigh* . . . and now you tell me that it won't work that way . . . *double sigh*.

-- Jeff

4:05 PM

Conrad Kinch said…

Smell has an amazing ability to evoke memory.

They're very nice Stokes, but will they fight? When are we going to see them in action?

5:03 PM

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

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 ...

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...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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