For the final third of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment on this frigid day!
Obnoxious alliteration aside, and with the temperature hovering right around 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-17.7 C.), it seems like a smarter idea to forego skiing today and get some time in at the painting desk. As you'll see, I just trimmed the North Star wire poles down a bit and Gorilla Glue'ed the finials into place. I'll make the cords look a bit more dynamic later this afternoon, and possibly trim another five or 10mm from the bottom ends before cementing them carefully into the hands of the ensigns.
And do the same for the NCO's polearm.
Then I'll basecoat the three with my usual blend of white acrylic gesso and Quaker Gray craft paint. Might also touch up a few spots on the others too before adding flesh tone to the remaining three faces and six hands this evening. Between planned ski tours tomorrow (one solo late in the morning and another with the Grand Duchess late in the afternoon), I'll apply the Army Painter Flesh Wash first followed by the red neck stocks (light gray/white for the officer), which are easily one of the most teedious details to add later during the overall painting process. I'll following the same steps mapped out for the middle third of the regiment, which you'll observe on the index card in the background.
As for drilling out hands, I finally wised up after many years of botching this particular task and tackled it like this. I started with a fairly small pin vise bit to avoid marring the fingers and hands of the three figures in questions. Or messily drilling through the back of a hand to leave a mangled stump behind. It's far easier to guide a fairly tiny bit along, stopping frequently to observe my progress and adjust the angle if needed.
Don't know why in the world this didn't occur to me years ago!
Anyway, once the initial pass was accomplished, I went back with a larger bit about the same diameter as the steel flagpoles and carefully repeated the process, which took much less time since I was basically just enlarging the holes already drilled through the hands. And bingo! Nicely drilled out hands without any surgical mishaps. For them, or me.
Now, many other grognards out there, of any age, have probably figure this out long ago. But yours truly is a bit slow on the uptake. Or as my much missed maternal grandparents used to kid us, sometimes I'm about as sharp as a mashed potato sandwich.
I've never heard anyone else use that expression. It might be an old North Carolina thing (the family hails from Asheville and Lexington), but certainly apt at times. And the expression never fails to get a laugh when I use it around others.
Next Friday morning, I'm headed north again to help with a ski race on Saturday (among other things, I'll be the sweeper for a 5K race) and get in some of my own time on the snow working on skate ski technique and tootling through the woods over hill and dale. My balance is already pretty good thanks to many years working on classic diagonal technique. There is nothing quite like gliding along at speed for several seconds while balanced on one ski after pushing off with the other before shifting weight and balance back to the other side to repeat the glide and so forth as you move along the trails.
In any case, gotta make some painting progress this week during the evenings to make up for missed time in the painting chair. Multiple interests are great, but dividing and managing one's available free time is always a challenge. Not that I'm complaining you understand.
-- Stokes
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