Glossing Over a Few Final Things. . .

The Minden Bosniaks mid-glossing, after the first coat. Hmmm. Mid-glossing. Sounds like a village just up the road from Badger's Drift on Midsomer Murders.

Well, we are nearing the end of the Bosniak tunnel at last. I've spent the afternoon applying the first coat of acrylic gloss with #3 and #5 rounds. Pretty spiffy if you'll pardon my saying.

As always, gloss varnish makes the colors pop even more. I am especially pleased with the black kaftans highlighted in very dark blue, the red with scarlet highlights, and the horse coats. Not quite Doug Mason ca. 1983, but they'll work well enough for me.

What's that? About 800 Minden Austrian dragoons thundering toward the painting table, you say? Come, come now. It's really just 36 riders and horses to paint. There will be times, I am certain, where it FEELS like 800 of them.

Ok. Enough chit-chat, everyone. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me. Chaaaaaarge!

-- Stokes

An Easter Sunday P.S.
A second coat of acrylic gloss was added earlier this afternoon, the figures above now look like little jewels, and they have been placed carefully in one of the large plastic storage tubs in which I keep the painted figures. I think a small game with The Young Master might be in order next weekend. We'll see what he thinks about it. In the meantime, 36 Minden horses stand ready for base-coating over on the painting bench. Stay tuned. The painting insanity is about to begin. Yes, I know. I've come completely unhinged.

Presenting the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere!!!

Here they are, with the rearmost nine figures still drying, three squadrons of the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere, now in the service of the Grand Duchy of Stollen. And now, it's onto that artillery!

Having a "No Day". . .

F or the almost 20 years that she lived in Mexico, one of my late mother's Irish friends frequently mentioned having a "No Day." A day with no social obligations, chores, tasks, or other work that interfered with whatever personal interests took one's fancy on the day in question. Since today -- a gray and chilly Saturday -- is Mom's birthday, the Grand Duchess is out with friends, and the Young Master is ensconced on the sofa in the TV room with a cold, yours truly is taking his own such No Day. I think Mom would approve of my decision to make the world go away, as the old Eddie Arnold song intoned, even if only for a little while. So, I will spend Saturday afternoon focused on that first squadron and small regimental staff of Eureka Saxon cuirassiers. These have stood waiting untouched over on the painting table for almost three weeks while we skied and otherwise gadded about with snowy, winter outdoor activities. I hope to share a painting update Sunday a

Keepin' an Eye on the World Going By My Window . .

'The Nap at the Palace' by Jose Triado Mayol N ot much in the way of hobby-related activity happening here in the Grand Duchy lately. Sigh. And no surprise there really since there are only so many hours in the day, only so much mental and physical energy to spare, and you sometimes simply just have to give in and know when to say, um, "When!" A glass of wine and/or evening yoga by the hearth with the Grand Duchess (who has practiced for over 20 years), and then off into la-la land. Zzzzzzzzz. More immediately, I'm recovering, mentally speaking, from a grueling Friday in which I was involved with three (online) conference sessions, one right after the other, followed by a 90-minute meeting at the end of the day. Also virtual. My brain has been mush ever since, so an easy, completely unproductive Saturday watching intermittent snow fall outside (no accumulation however) and drinking coffee while the visiting handymen completed some repair work down her

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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