Skip to main content

One Half of Zichenauer Regiment Now Completed!!!

Well, after a weekend of bicycling out of town (in Bloomington, Indiana), reading and marking the latest batch of student papers, plus a minor bout of painting lethargy, I have finished the second company of the 80-figure Zichenauer infantry regiment. The best part is that there are only 38 figures remaining!!! I’m so excited by this that I am beginning on the next batch of 19 figures tomorrow evening when I will set out to apply flesh tone to the hands and faces. If that goes well, I might also begin on the green bases.

I’ve half a mind to make a big push this weekend and work on the second half of the regiment in one go. We’ll see. But it would be lovely to finish these figures by early November. Then, I can get cracking on the regiment of Spencer Smith cavalry that the fair Grand Duchess Sonja brought to me last summer. Anyway, here are two shots of the half+ of the regiment that is finished.

These plastic Revell figures paint up surprisingly well when time is taken to trim away mold lines and base coat them carefully. Then, maybe I’m just getting used to slogging through these huge regiments? That’s surely part of it. Henry Hyde was correct when he mentioned at some point in an early issue of Battlegames that there is a certain zen-like calm that comes over you when working on BIG units. “Grasshopper, you must focus!”

Comments

Giles said…
Marvellous stuff, Stokes. I still don't know how you manage to plough through 80 figure regiments.....that really is dedication!
5:01 AM
guy said…
They are looking quite splendid. I similarly have 72 on the go on my painting table. I do find that there a certain painting tipping point. Once you cross that line, the momentum picks up and they are finished in no time. For some strange reason doing the faces and painting the bases seem to be one of these magic lines. This regiment I am doing is the 10th Prussian infantry and they have the most striking lemon yellow trousers and waist coats. A great contrast to the dark blue coats.

Regards,
Guy
6:25 AM
WSTKS-FM Worldwide said…
Thank you both! The continuing interest and comments I receive from visitors surely helps one to push on through those more tedious features of painting.

Guy, how about a photo or two of your Prussians? I agree, yellow provides a striking contrast to dark blue. When I eventually return to painting units for the Grand Duchy of Stollen, I plan on a unit of infantry dressed in dark blue coats with pink breeches, vests, facings, and turnbacks. The figures should show up well on the table. Orange, yellow, red, purple, and the like all give good results against darker coat colors. Charge!

Best Regards,

Stokes
10:29 AM
Fitz-Badger said…
I am amzaed at both the quality and quantity! Excellent work!

I know what you guys mean about the "tipping point" where it seems the finish comes rather quickly.
8:28 PM
MurdocK said…
Excellent work, as always.

The effect of the masses is when the work put in on the single minis really starts to shine!
1:54 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 18th century? What's the Fascination?

Hessian musketeers by All the King's Men Toy Soldiers of Snellville, Georgia, U.S.A. Just a quick post post today, but I thought the above question might be interesting food for thought. Obviously, there is an array of possible periods, theaters, and conflicts that might catch our eyes. But what is it about the era 1700-1799 -- either real, or imagined? Is it the commanders and politics? The fairly straightforward tactics? The myriad of uniforms and flags? The variety and scope of the conflicts? The patchwork of various and sundry petty states, (at least in Central Europe)? I'm very interested to learn your thoughts. Don't be a lurker! Please leave a comment -- or even two or three. Have a nice day everyone!
35 comments
Read more

An Early July Hussar Update. . .

  Marginally neater in appearance with green bases, girths, and ivory horse markings added, but I need to neaten up some hooves now before moving onto the rest of the tack. W here in the world did June go? While I still ponder the answer to that question, how about a quick painting update on the first batch of 14 Minden Austrian hussars and Nadasdy? Good.  I'm glad we are of a like mind. Still on the sloppy side, but I've managed to move things along, painting the green bases, white (ivory) horse markings, and beginning the miles and miles of tack adorning the various horses.  I always like to begin with the girths spanning the horses' ribs which helped hold the saddles in place.  Even with the figures mounted individually on temporary painting bases, these can be kind of tricky to access, but there we are. I've also used various Army Painter washes (Mid-Brown and Strong Tone) as well as their Speed Paint (Grim Black) to make the manes and tails of the horses a bit m...
9 comments
Read more

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...
3 comments
Read more