Vignettes in Progress. . .

The current crop of vignettes on the painting table, featuring a mix of figures by Minden, Fife & Drum, and one or two by RSM95.

Well, the new college semester is underway, but I'm not quite as busy this time around, which means a little more consistent painting time most evenings. First off, it's time to clear the decks by finishing these four vignettes, two of which are intended as multibase scenes.

At the moment, I am at work the various figures in the foreground. Here, General von Zieten hands a message to an officer on horseback (facings and pelisse fur were done after this photograph was taken) while another officer from the same regiment holds onto ol' Hans Joachim's steed and, nearby, a couple of blacksmiths reshoe a third horse. After the Grand Duchess' short research trip to Berlin next summer, I'll have a mobile forge from Berliner Zinnfiguren to add to this particular tableux.

Don't you just love my over-reliance on these French words? Pretentious? Moi? Clearly, the spirit of Frederick II and his fascination with the French language and culture has overtaken me today. Ok, ok. Time to get a grip, Stokes, old boy. There now. That's better.

Moving right along, you'll see a hussar office and his trumpeter just beyond, who are destined to lead the brigade of Stollenian cavalry, followed by a four-figure vignette consisting of two bases, and finally a few ladies and gentlemen on foot. These four figures will join my band of frolicking aristocrats frolicking in the great outdoors and the musicians who provide their soundtrack, all of which were completed last winter and spring. And THEN, it will be time to order those baggage carts and wagons and get started on the pontoon and powder wagons already in the pile of lead courtesy of the Grand Duchess and Young Master this past Christmas. It's a busy time here in Zum Stollenkeller this winter!

-- Stokes

And here's a shot of my waxy palette paper with various blobs of oils that have been thinned way down with Liquin Original. The thinner you get your paints, the easier the pigment runs off raised ares on each figure and settles into recessed areas, providing instant (and subtle) highlights and shading. What could be easier?

Finally, a random mix of RSM95, Minden, and Fife & Drum mounted figures, all of which will become singly based Aides de Camp. Taking my cue from the late Paddy Griffith's Divisional Level Game in Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun (1980), it makes good sense to include a few couriers in my future games.

Comments

Springinsfeld said…

Looking very promising, I look forward to seeing them finished and on the table. Nice little dustbin lorry too.

2:27 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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