The Grand Duchy of Stollen

Wallace, Gromit and The Autochef just before problems ensue. N othing to do with toy soldiers this morning, but a pleasant diversion from family life.   The Young Master has recently discovered the Wallace and Gromit claymation adventures.  While I knew who they were somehow, I haven't seen snippets of an episode in years.   Amazon to the rescue!  So, our Paul has been enjoying these during the last few evenings after dinner, and it has been a lot of fun seeing him so amused by the various misadventures portrayed.  One of last evening's involved 'The Autochef' above, which, needless to say, went haywire very quickly while serving breakfast, spewing tea and flipping eggs everywhere.  Hence Gromit's rain gear.   Eventually, The Autochef's head exploded, which caused no end of hilarity for our son (me too).  He's still laughing about it while reading this post over my shoulder as I type it now on Tuesday morning.  Ah, to be nine years old again. -

And the next batch of figures, this time a compositie grenadier battalion made up of (surprise, surprise) Minden Prussians. A little bit of time organizing things for the next round of painting yesterday evening after The Young Master's bedtime.  I had stuck these figures to their temporary painting bases a few weeks back, so it was simply a mater of finding which plastic container I had stored them in.  Not a bad problem to have. Today is gray and rainy once more.  No errands need be run.  Too wet for playing outside, tending any outdoor plants, or firing up the ol' lawnmower.  The perfect excuse to slap on a couple of coats of white gesso and get started.  Ah, Summer. . .  For your perusal, I've also included the models I'll use for these, um, models when it comes to the painting part.  I can't help the alliteration, really.  It just seems to happen.  Must stem from that time my maternal uncle dropped me on my head while babysitting when I was around si

Not yet cemented to their permanent Litko bases, but here they are. A n hour or so in the painting chair early this Sunday afternoon doing the inevitable touch-ups with Citadel Warboss Green (ex-GW Goblin Green) along the edges of the figure bases before gluing everything down this evening.  I've also spotted a few very tiny details I want to add before calling this composite battalion of grenadiers DONE.  Almost inconsequential things only a painting pedant like me will notice after the fact, but there you are.   Next up, the long threatened composite battalion of Prussian grenadiers in mitre caps, which will be based on uniforms worn by Württemberg and Hessian troops of the period.  Tomorrow is our 13th wedding anniversary, but as The Grand Duchess will not return home from her conference in Hawaii until Wednesday afernoon, I feel relatively safe in spending time on the new batch of painting tomorrow. In the meantime, The Young Master and I are headed out for another To

A shot of the now finished Minden figures just after the second touch of acrylic gloss was applied before lunch.  I can now spend the afternoon mowing the lawn in good conscience. T he shots of the freshly glossed grenadiers (two coats) for your perusal.  High spots have three for added brilliance.  The continued influence of Messrs. Gilder, Mason, and Robinson is freely admitted.  Tonight, it's onward to the Litko bases.  Allons, mes enfants!  Allons! -- Stokes  And a full noir Wellesian -- Orson that is --  higher angled shot of the same.  I call it A Touch of Varnish!  

  The humble 'To Do' list for this particular batch.  I finally figured out, in about 2005 or so, that a haphazard approach was not getting the figures painted, hence lists that I can consult and update as things are completed.  Hmmm.  It only took me 20+ years to get to that point.  Yes.  'Slow normal' as my maternal grandparents used to joke. T oday is very rainy and wet outside, so a perfect excuse to apply a couple of glossy coats to the 30-odd figures after breakfast and then prepare the Litko bases.  My painting enthusiasm has had a much needed shot in the arm.  Or is it simply that these are finally done, and I can check them off the ol' mental list?  No matter.  They are finished, look reasonably good to my eyes, and I can start thinking about the next batch.  Prussian grenadiers in mitre caps.  Or maybe those four new buildings?  Decisions, decisions. -- Stokes   Temporary painting bases are still very much in evidence, but the finis

The composite battalion of grenadiers nears the finish line.  Almost.  Besides the white trim on the red silk bags, you'll notice that I've added a dark gray highlight (now, there's an oxymoron) to the edges of the officers' cocked hats and the upper reaches of the other ranks' bearskins. W hat would Waterloo Day be without a little toy soldiering in the form of painting?  So, after lunch, I held the ol' breath for half an hour or so and applied thin lines of white to the latest batch of six enlisted men (the back row of figures in white uniforms at right), specifically the red silk bags atop the bearskin bonnets.   The brief session went reasonably well with only two or three very small touch-ups necessary, despite The Young Master and one of our cats playing nearby, which diverts the concentration considerably.  Ahem. In any case, I'll tackle the final six figures this evening, and then all that remains to do are the two brass drums.  I will prob

The guilty parties concerned.  Don't be fooled by the upside down bottles of craft acrylic metallics in the background.  In the end, I opted for the usual way of doing things here in The Grand Duchy and went with tubes of oil-based gold and silver from Winsor & Newton, or Grumbacher; tiny dabs on pallete paper thinned with a drop of Liquin Original, it doesn't take much, which has the added benefit of reducing drying time to about 12 hours or less.  That's fast enough for my recently glacial painting rate and output. W ell, it's funny how time flies, isn't it?  Apparently, it has been three weeks since my last update here (the usual daily dose of life and lawn), so let's jump back in up to our eyebrows on this rainy, cool afternoon in mid-June, a Sunday highly conducive to some uninterrupted time in the painting chair.   If you'll permit me to channel the wonderful Sir Michael Caine, "Know what I mean?" Anyway, you'll note from the