Crossing the Finish Line. . .

After a busy morning filled with lots of little things on the dreaded end of semester/term 'To Do' list, I took a long lunch to dry-brush the bases with some cheap tan craft paint and then apply some foliage clumps with careful dots of superglue. To my mind, at least, the finished company of Slavonische Brooder Grenzer look like they are emerging from the edge of a wood to harass an exposed Prussian flank a hundred yards or so away.

A few days' break, and then it's time to apply the usual white acrylic gesso to those last 14 or 15 Eureka Saxon cuirassiers. I've been doing some research, and will paint them more or less in line with 1730s-era uniforms, which were a bit more colorful than later in the middle part of the century. I think. To be sure, I must check my sources one more time before applying brush to figures.

-- Stokes

An Early Tuesday Morning P.S.

Thank you everyone for your interest in the genzers and related question(s). These troops will make good opponents for the Anspach-Bayreuth jagers and von Hordt free infantry painted back in 2023 (?). They match nicely in style. But I'll "need" to rebase the first two companies of grenzers painted back in the 2010s to match these since they will form a large, composite unit of light troops for the Electorate of Zichenau.

On that note, I don't plan to replace my old school green base method for the line troops. The more realistic terrained style is reserved for staff bases, skirmishers like these, and a few other specialist units, for example all of those transport wagons, pontoon, and limber teams painted earlier in the century.

It might be time for a review and, perhaps, a tabletop battle or two to celebrate the coming summer holidays with that in mind. What say you? Sort of a project retrospective 'The Grand Duchy of Stollen at (Almost) 20.' Longtime visitors might recall that the project has its origins stretching back to early December 2005, with the first actual unit started during the late summer of '06. The '1st Musketeers,' consisting of Revell 1/72 Prussians in the marching pose. I think it took something like a dozen boxes to gather enough figures for that 60-figure unit.

But I digress!

This particular batch of figures has been fun to tackle, and I am relieved to check them off the ol' mental list of things to do. I've only carted them around in their unpainted state for about 15 years now, so it was time to get 'em painted finally.

Speaking of which, the Saxon cuirassiers await. Tally ho!

-- Stokes

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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