Presenting General Alfons von Bauchschmerzen. . .

The commanding officer of the generic mid-18th century supply train (completed during 2014), General Alfons von Bauchschmerzen, a birthday gift to me in 2014 from the Young Master.

Ok, here we are!  General von Bauchschmerzen, his wicker carriage, two-horse team, and uhlan escort are done.  Not perfect, the eagle-eyed among you will undoubtedly spot a few tiny details that have left to the imagination, but the overall effect looks reasonably good to me. 

There are three coats of acrylic gloss on the figures and carriage, which has made everything look nicely Gilder and Mason-esque -- shiny, shiny, shiny -- and then the usual sand from my maternal grandmother's creekbed (collected n the summer of 1984) followed with Woodland Scenics fine grass scatter material and a few clumps of foliage material, to approximate weeds and small shrubs. The sand and fine grass material are held down with acrylic matt medium, which dies flat and without warping the base.  The foliage clumps are then tacked down with small blobs of superglue gel.

Von Bauchschmerzen is, sadly, a wee bit out of focus in the photograph above when you enlarge it, but we can chalk that up to the good General starting his New Year's Eve celebrations several hours early.  Look closely, and you'll see him listing slightly to his right after an already busy social calendar this afternoon.  We can only speculate on von Bauchschmerzen's state by the time Midnight arrives.

I'll not do a lengthy year in review or enumeration of my intentions for 2015, but the last year has been pretty good here at the Grand Duchy of Stollen where painting is concerned.  Quite a few civilian and officer vignettes as well as a number of single figure aides de camp, plus a pair of Fife&Drum Swedish 4 pdr. guns, were completed last winter before I began on the rather extensive pontoon and supply train -- wagons, carts, pontoons, horse teams, oxen, mules, drivers, drovers, and a vivandiere -- which, with General von Bauchschmerzen, is done for the time being.  Although there are a couple of new wagons by Westfalia Miniatures that have caught my eye. . .

There was also some scratch-building for both a rather large blacksmith tableau and a smaller vivandiere vignette, both of which completed in the fall and, earlier in December, a unit of 28 pontoniers, many of which also underwent quite a few simple conversions before painting began in earnest.  Last of all, I painted an additional half-dozen Minden and Fife&Drum limber horse riders, courtesy of the Young Master and Grand Duchess for my "29th" birthday, during November for use with the supply and pontoon train that took shape through most of 2014.  

No precise numbers of figures or painting points completed, but a respectable painting output given my at times (when professional commitments interfere) almost complete lack of free time and fairly slow painting speed when I do manage to pick up a brush and uncap a few containers of paint.  No tabletop games to speak of this year, sadly, but the painting, writing, and miniature photography accomplished leave me feeling reasonably pleased in any case. 

Fine and dandy.  But what about the year ahead?  Well, my plans for 2015 include more painting, hobby-related writing, and photography of completed figures and, hopefully, a game or two at the very least.  We'll see how things pan out during the next 12 months.  With that, I'll sign off for this evening by wishing you a Happy New Year from the Grand Duchy of Stollen!

-- Stokes

A fitting and festive 18th century illustration for the final day of the old year  The Grand Duke, Grand Duchess, and Young Master wish you a peaceful and prosperous 2015.