Happy Feast of Stephen!

A lovely, quiet Christmas Day here at Stollen Central yesterday, which included a couple of very interesting books for yours truly. The first is a history of the military kriegspiel, both the serious, non-recreational kind as well as the somewhat more recreational variety entitled War Games and Their History (2012) by C. G. Lewin. The second beneath tree was Armies of Bismark's Wars: Prussia 1860-67 (2013) by Bruce Bassett-Powell. I discuss these in a bit more detail here once I've had time to look them over more closely. The Young Master and Grand Duchess also presented me with some much needed Minden pioneers and Uhlans de Saxe as well as a few additional Austrian and Prussian limber horse riders for several additional planned wagons and ammunition carts.

The Young Master, for his part, had what I believe was a smashing time although the sugar and excitement of the day became to much in the end, and he had to be excused from the dinner table and put to bed early. A tired, overstimulated small child, who is hopped up on too much chocolate and other kinds of candy, does not a pleasant dining companion make. A much calmer day today, and our small, blonde progeny is building with some new Lego bricks in his bedroom and listening to one of his two new Diana Krall CD's. Hey, he's a young jazz cat, and who can find fault in that? Like, crazy man. . . Crazy! He still has a few gifts left to open beneath the tree today, so we'll do that with some eggnog and pumpkin (the Young Master's favorite) or cherry pie after supper this evening.

Today's vintage Christmas illustration is an old Swedish greeting card depicting, as you can see, boys and girls sledding in the snow. Since an old Scandinavian/Nordic tradition involved going for a sleighride on Saint Stephen's Day, December 26th. I lacked a suitable image though, so it seems like a nice idea to share this one instead. Since this year we have had no appreciable snow to speak of yet (the ground had been covered for two weeks by this time last year), we are going to take the Young Master to a local park that he likes for a long amble around the various paths and through the woods today.

I wish you a peaceful and quiet day of continued Christmas celebration in your part of the world. As my maternal grandfather used to toast us -- on the afternoon of the 26th, invariably with a scotch and water in hand, as we convened in the living room with the Christmas tree and a wood fire in the fireplace -- Happy Day After!

-- Stokes

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

Fitz-Badger said…

Happy Feast of Stephen! No much snow here in southern California (although the mountains do get Winter snow). Here's wishing you some recreational snow. I think you all like to do a bit of winter recreations, such as Nordic skiing or cross-country skiing?

7:11 PM

WSTKS-FM Worldwide said…

Oh, yes! If the snow and Mother Nature cooperate, we're big on cross-country skiing and tobogganing. Last winter was amazing for about three months as far as snowfall and snow cover went. This year? No more than dusting at Thanksgiving a month ago.

Best Regards,

Stokes

8:31 PM

Phil said…

Compliments of the season Stokes, and to your family.
Warmest festive wishes.
Phil

8:56 AM

Thank you,, Phil! Likewise. A slightly belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Best Regards,

Stokes

1:14 PM

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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