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

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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