Skip to main content

Another Week Begins!

The Grand Duchess and I gave ourselves a day tooling around Chicago on Saturday. We first visited Millennium Park to gaze at the huge mirrored "kidney bean" sculpture, something I always enjoy, after lunch. A shopping foray followed along with a walk around the shopping district of the downtown. We ended with a delicious dinner at a Malaysian place in Chinatown before the drive back home. It was a perfect fall day, grey and chilly, and we managed to get home before midnight. We're taking a group of Sonja's German students up to the city at the beginning of December for the annual Christkindl Markt, shopping, and a German/Bohemian dinner. It should be fun.

I was able to get in about two hours of painting yesterday evening, applying brown to haversacks, musket stocks, and hair. Still not finished with the final batch of Zichenauers though, so tonight I'll begin with the purple facing color on the collars, cuffs, and turnbacks. Hmmm, seems like I just did this with the last batch! Then it's white crossbelts and leather straps, followed by some brass/bronze bits, etc., etc. Since the Grand Duchess leaves for a four-day conference on Thursday morning, I can spend a bit more time wrapping things up at the end of the week/weekend with a relatively clear conscience!

That brings me to my next point of note. While I was puttering around on the computer yesterday afternoon, I received a telephone call from Jonathan Broadus of Hesse-Engelburg! It was great actually getting to speak with another "imagination" aficionado. For about two hours we swapped stories on toy soldiers, painting, online discussion boards, e-bay, our respective jobs, family, and the like. Like all good conversations, ours meandered here and there and back again, covering all kinds of topics.

It was a real privilege to speak with Jonathan, and I hope we do so again sometime. As I mentioned at one point, his North Carolina accent was music to my ears -- My family originally comes from Western and Central North Carolina -- and Jonathan sounded a great deal like my grandparents used to with his pleasant, soft drawl. Jonathan, I'll get those Austrians et al in the mail to you this week.

Comments

Bluebear Jeff said…
Sounds like a good conversation . . . and I'm glad that you and the Grand Duchess could spend a fun day together.

By the way, do you ever find yourself referring to her as the "Grand Duchess" in circumstances other than with your gaming buddies?


-- Jeff
3:44 PM
Snickering Corpses said…
I quite enjoyed it as well, Stokes. It isn't often I get to just talk gaming for a couple of hours.

I got your Prussians all packed up and in the mailbox before 9am this morning, then realized about 5pm that it was a postal holiday. So they'll go back in the mailbox tomorrow. ;)
6:49 PM
guy said…
Interesting post. I had a very constructive painting weekend as both my daughters were away on a Guide camping weekend. Peace decended on the house. No endless trips in the car to sports, parties etc. Its amazing how relaxing a weekend becomes when all the usual routine is stripped out.

With all this time on my hands,I cracked on with my 2 regiments of Revell Austrian dragoons and some conversions for staff officers/ADC's. To add a bit of colour to the Austrians, one regiment is in the traditional green but the other is in red coats with sky blue waistcoats etc as per the Osprey book illustration. In one weekend I managed to paint what would usually take me a month or so. Also it was a much needed change from regiment after regiment of Prussian infantry.

Painting stopped when I picked the girls up fifthy and hungry but having had a great time.

Regards,
Guy
6:23 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