The Engine Kit Is Almost Finished. . .

Between toy soldiers and model car engines during the last ten days or so, things have been kind of busy here in Zum Stollenkeller Mk II.

The Young Master and I just finished installing the distributor, the spark plugs, and adjusted everything into synch on his engine kit started on Father's Day (June 17). It works! If all goes well, we can finish the final few steps tomorrow and fire it up with additional AA batteries. Then, it's on to the Smithsonian jet engine kit. Stand back and hold on to your hats for that one!

-- Stokes

P.S.

The Young Master and I finished the last few steps on his engine kit Thursday evening before bedtime reading, and it works like a charm. The drive shaft works the pistons and exhaust valves plus other parts, and the four "sparkplugs" (little yellow fairy lights) also light up in synch to the exhaust valves opening and closing. Easily the most complicated kit yours truly has even assembled, but the two of us managed it, and the Young Master learned a bit about patience and perseverance (following several mistakes by ol' Dad in the assembly of key parts) as well as how internal combustion engines actually work. Good fun, and we next have our collective sights set on the jet engine kit for late July once he returns from his annual maternal grandparent visit mid-month.

Comments

Pierre le Poilu said…

Your lad's growing - love the orange shirt

4:39 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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