Happy Feast of Stephen. . .

One versions of the Uhlans des Saxe for yours truly to daydream about in the coming year of cavalry painting and basing. The Grand Duchee presented yours truly with a unit of Minden Lanciers de Saxe for Christmas this year.

"Happy Day After!" as my much missed maternal grandfather used to say while sipping his scotch and water before an open woodfire on the hearth (we enjoyed two working fireplaces at my grandparents' place).

It has been a peaceful, quiet few days here at Totleigh-in-theWold. Christmas Eve saw us attend a church service at the Episcopal church just down the road from us, and the Young Master did remarkably well through the the hour-plus "family" service at 5pm. He has never experienced a church service before, and given the challenges he faces day-to-day, we weren't sure how things would go. But well he did, and we came home to supper and reading Clement C. Moore's The Night Before Christmas before YMP, his teddy bear, and Miss Kitty went to bed so that Santa Claus could stop by in the middle of the night long after the three of us were sound asleep.

Christmas Day and today have been full of more than enough rich food, telephone calls to and from family, seasonal music, gifts, and enjoying each others' company. I hope for some time to myself to sit down and do a few hobby-related things, but thus far, Legos, assembly of several gifts the Young Master received, and other father-son activities have taken precedence. Here's to a Christmas Week that continues in a quiet, peaceful, and happy vein.

-- Stokes

Comments

Conrad Kinch said…

Sounds delightful stokes - merry Christmas to you all.

I achieve the ultimate Mark of fatherhood - socks for Christmas!

5:13 PM

marinergrim said…

glad you had a good Christmas Stokes. Lego building - used to enjoy that too with my kids.

2:38 AM

marinergrim said…

sounds like you had a good Christmas Stokes.

2:39 AM

CelticCurmudgeon said…

My Dear Heinz-Ulrich, Greetings!

The holy days have engaged our attention and have included a small service here at the chapel for members of my immediate family. Like you I have received the noteworthy gift of socks - among other things - and engaged in a flurry of retail present purchases. Perhaps, as my new puppy begins to learn the rules regarding life here at the chancellery, I can squeeze in some well anticipated hobby time.

In looking at your figures the question does come to mind if you are contemplating some actions from Le Guerre Petite, some pure cavalry engagements or actions utilizing just you light troops. And if you have dismounted dragoons, they too can play a role.

Have a wonderful holiday season with your lovely family. Happy New Years!

With deepest regard, I remain,

Gerardus Magnus
Archbishop Emeritus

5:38 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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