Early Brushwork on the von Hordt Frei-Infanterie. . .

Half of the figures presented to me by the Grand Duchess and Young Master for Christmas 2022. The first half were those that became the Ansbach-Beyreuth Jaegers during the summer months. As usual, the photographs have been brightened and cropped, but otherwise are as is.

Despite all rumors to the contrary, things have not become entirely moribund here in the Grand Duchy of late. The usual mix and intrusion of work and real life, you know. But I have managed to find the odd 60 minutes here, 30 minutes there to work on my generic company of frei-infanterie (based loosely on the Von Hordt Infantry) as and when time permits.

Here are a couple of Saturday morning photographs to illustrate where things stand at the moment. Still lots of small details to do, with the usual touch-ups, but most of the basic colors have been blocked in at this point.

The paints used have been all acrylics except for the initial flesh tone, which was my usual Winsor & Newton Griffin alkyd oil preference. It yields a nice, well, fleshy result, to which I then apply a flesh wash to tone it down a bit. The Army Painter wash, moreover, settles into the facial and hand details, as washes do, bringing everything nicely to life. Otherwise, a happy mix of old Ral Partha, Citadel, Vallejo, and Army Painter colors and washes has been used thus far.

Contrary to predictions, today has dawned bright and sunny, so mowing will need to take place once things dry out on the lawn. Sadly. The forecast was originally for a rainy day, and I had hoped to spend it ensconced in my painting chair, but needs must I suppose. So, it will be evening before I can get back to these. But they are shaping up nicely I think, and I hope to have them finished by October's end.

Then, it will be time to review my painting plans outlined in a post last January and continue the brushwork. I also hope to have a solo affair -- Let's call it a comfortable wargame -- during the long US Thanksgiving weekend in late November, As stated in an earlier post, the Young Master is free to join in if he wishes, but I am not planning on it given his mercurial and capricious nature in recent months.

-- Stokes

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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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