Kurmainz Grenadiers Update. . .

Almost there with the Kurmainz contingent.  Nothing fancy, but decent looking, unfussy painting.  It's difficult to observe here, but the green bags hanging from the bearskins have gold tassels and careful gold lining along the outer edges.  I wasn't going to add the latter, but green and gold look so pretty together.  And they are grenadiers after all, you know!  The cartridge pouches were also given small brass badges in the center.  The painting hand was especially steady that evening.

Well, the long Christmas break is coming to a close.  Between enjoying our snow by teaching the Young Master the rudiments of cross-country/Nordic skiing in a couple of local parks, syllabus updates for the new college semester starting next week, and some related professional development activities on campus, there hasn't been much free time the last week or so.  But I did manage to sit down and work on the mounted officer at left last night for a couple of hours.  This evening, if all goes well, I can finish the drummer and officer on foot, and then it's time for the usual two coats of acrylic glossy varnish, and classic, early Peter Gilder-inspired basic basing before starting the next batch of 20 figures.  

This next group will have blue, Prussian coats (RSM95 figures again), and be based on the uniform apparently worn by the troops of Sachs-Weimar-Eisenach (red facings, straw or yellow small clothes, etc.).  They were part of the Ernestinisch Saxon infantry, a unit made up of small contingents from the various Sachsen duchies.  Some of their uniforms resembled Austrian infantry in color and cut, while some resembled the Prussians.  Some of the latter, apparently, wore coats with the skimpier Prussian cut, but these were nevertheless white rather than dark blue.  In any case, the 80 or so figures will make a colorful composite (and fictitious) infantry unit in the Grand Duchy of Stollen milieu with the Kurmainz Grenadiers above forming their elite company

Now, the eagle-eyed among you might notice a couple of Minden Austrian standard bearers lurking at the background.  As soon as some Front Rank cords and tassels arrive, I'll purchase piano wire at the local hobby shop and do "proper" standards.  Besides other hobby goals this year on the ol' mental list, I've decided that 2015 will be the year that I gradually replace most of my old infantry standard bearers with nicer Minden figures, add the cords and tassels, and painted paper standards.  That's the plan at any rate.  Blather, blather, blather. . . 

Up to this point, said standard bears have been rather squeezed looking old 25mm MiniFigs.  As I've continued painting and adding to the collection over the last 8.5 years (Yes, really!), these have begun to look out of place with the slimmer RSM95, Minden, Fife&Drum, and Revell plastic SYW figures that make up most of my units.  The Minden figures will look nicer heading up everything, even the plastics I think, and won't stick out like sore thumbs.  While I still really like the old true 15mm MiniFig Napoleonics (and other ranges), their 25mm lines strike me as somewhat less than elegant.

At any rate, each line infantry battalion -- there will be ten of these in another year or so, one more 60-figure regiment after current large one -- will eventually have two standard bearers by the way, a colonel's color and a company color.  At some point, I'll do something similar for the cavalry units although I do know that each squadron will receive it's own guidon or standard.  We'll see how things progress.  Maybe in 2016?  The reflagging of the infantry, however,  should help give my infantry units a more finished and consistent look especially since I like to think that my painting has improved a tiny bit during the last eight years.  In my own mind at least.   

Happy Friday everyone!

-- Stokes