Skip to main content

Making the Paint and Liquin Flow Again. . .

Two companies of Minden and RSM95 Croats, painted during the summer of 2012.

By looking back over a few photos of my own figures from the last couple of years.  


Another shot of the same two units along with their officers and unofficial guidon (painted completely by hand).  These pictures were taken on a Saturday morning in late July last year, and, believe it or not, the sun actually managed, somehow, to peek through some of the windows here in Zum Stollenkeller, really brightening up the scene. I've got enough of these left to paint up a third company in yet another (historic) uniform eventually.  Perhaps late next winter or in the spring of 2014?


Here's  a slightly earlier shot, taken a few nights prior, before all of the scenic ground work was finished.  My basing scheme was inspired by equal parts Peter Gilder and Jim "Der Alte Fritz" Perky.  And speaking of Jim, were I to tread the slippery slop that is his delightful Fife&Drum range at an even faster rate, I'd paint up another couple of mounted English officers and name them Major Roderick Snide III and Colonel Marmoset Saddlebag-Plague.  Never heard of him?  I speak of the Shropshire Saddlebag-Plagues of course.  You must get out more, old fruit!


Finally, here is a regiment of Hanseatic Musketeers (comprised of RSM95 Prussian musketeers, officers, and musicians), based on a Knoetel illustration of Luebecker town guard infantry from the mid-late 18th century.  The unit was painted during December 2011-Janaury 2012, and was the first I affixed to multiple bases whose frontages are the same as those stipulated for close order infantry by Mr. Gilder in his In the Grand Manner rules.  While I prefer unbased figures, and began the Grand Duchy of Stollen project with the noble intention of leaving my small armies thus, the multiple bases speed up tabletop maneuvering appreciably.  A welcome compromise albeit one I came to begrudgingly after much mental humming and hawing. . .  and quite a few sleepless nights.


Comments

Conrad Kinch said…
I'm a big fan of sabot bases for single based figures - simply because I like maximising the value of my gaming time.

Good to see you back in action Stokes. I hope to see a conclusion to the previously interrupted game or perhaps even another solo effort?
Ah yes! The Neu Sittangbad game, sad victim of Felinus Interruptus.

Best Regards,

Stokes
Old School ACW said…
I say there Stokes, the jolly old DoA armies have graduated to multiple basing and have never looked back. moving even a single regiment was a trial, three or four in a move was getting soul-destroying!

Greg

Popular posts from this blog

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 ...

Sunday Morning Coffee with AI. . .

    A rmed with a second cup of fresh, strong coffee, I messed around a bit this morning with artlist.io using its image to image function in an attempt to convert my hand-drawn map from September 2006 to something that more resembles an old map from the mid-18th century.  And just like my experiments with Ninja AI in June, the results are mixed.   The above map is pretty good, but Artlist keeps fouling up the place names and has trouble putting a faint overlay of hexes across the entire area.  Hexes, admittedly, are not likely to be found on any genuine maps from the era in question, but there we are.  Frankly, I prefer the appearance of the Ninja map, but there were problems getting it to correct its errors.  Grrrr.  As is the case with so much having to do with the various AI's out there now, the output generated is a direct result of the prompts entered.  For text alone, and when you develop a lengthy, highly detailed prompt, it is...

Warboss Green Bases. . .

    I t's amazing how something as simple as applying two coats of Citadel 'Warboss Green' (ex-Games Workshop 'Goblin Green') can enliven a unit of figures and get 'em that much closer to glossing and completion.  In much the same way that applying fleshtone early in painting process helps bring the figures to life.  Just some limited dry-brushing to bring out the manes, tails, and some equine musculature, and I'm calling my version of Saxony's von Polenz Cuirassiers, circa 1733, done and dusted.  Longtime visitors to the Grand Duchy of Stollen might recall (the blog will turn 19 years old in September) that I generally go for an old school approach when it comes to unit bases and paint them a nice, bright green.  Exceptions include command vignettes, skirmishers of one kind or another, transport, camp followers, and various other civilian one-offs.  The approach is not to everyone's taste, but I like the cheery toy soldier appearance once everything...