Summer has gone to the dogs around here. . .

Hey, these are the hot, steamy dog days of late August in the American Midwest, right? Anyway, one of you mentioned a few days ago that it would be a good idea to add a dog to the vivandiere vignette that is taking shape (I'm still messing with it before gluing everything in place) on the ol' painting table. To coin the Wooster twins, Claude and Eustace, that's an extremely sound idea. So, I did some digging around and turned up a set of four, different sized mutts, which is available from Westfalia Miniatures for 4.00 British Pounds.

I like the scruffy, animated look of these dogs, and think I'll add the set to my birthday/Christmas list. Or maybe just order them myself before long. Why put the onus, after all, on the Grand Duchess and Young Master if they present me with other gifts, and I'm unable to finish said vignette? That said, there must be other 25-30mm metal canines to be had out there, but I've not had much luck turning up non-cute stuff with basic searches on the web.

-- Stokes

Later. . .

A nicely packed, weighty small parcel arrived in the mail earlier today all the way from a friend Dublin, Ireland, which contained all sorts of small goodies that I'd completely forgotten about due to all of the hub-bub around here this last week with preparations for the start of the new school year. Needless to say, it was a really nice surprise to spy this in the mailbox on the porch when I checked to see if our mail lady had left us anything today. Watch here over the next few weeks to see what else turns up. Oh, and a very special thank-you to Mr. Kinch!

Comments

Fitz-Badger said…

Your post title reminded me of "Veterinarian's Hospital" on the old Muppet Show. ha ha

A few canines around the camp sounds like a good idea.

4:06 PM

CelticCurmudgeon said…

Dear heinz-Ulrich,

Yes, I confess to having proposed that one of man's best friends be included in your vignettes. Canine friends populate scenes in many movies and in earlier art. They make a bit more humane what might be perceived as the horror of war. The picture you chose for the introduction of this blog entry points that up who doesn't love that big furry, happy face?
You must be terribly busy at this point. Always remember to take a deep breath and the mantra at the end of the day - no teacher should go home more exhauusted than his or her students!
Yours in academic comradeship,
Gerardus Magnus
Archbishop Emeritus

7:18 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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