You know, it's funny. . .

Here's yet another picture of those delightful Spencer Smith and Holger Eriksson cavalry -- unfortunately quitting the field at the gallop after suffering 50% casualties.

. . . the kinds of things that will excite one as a wargamer. As the Grand Duchess and I were straightening up our dining room and living room after breakfast late this morning, I stowed some recent Christmas gifts in the kitchen. And what do you think I discovered? That’s right -- a 12”x20” piece of Styrofoam sheet that’s an inch thick and just right, with judicious cutting, for a thin hill or ridge of 2-3 layers in height. How exciting is that? Ok, I must seem like a supernerd or something, but then Mom always said I was easily entertained. ;-) Ok, it’s off to paint those Magister Millitum bell tents that have been on my desk since last March. Von Drosselmaier and de Latté need headquarters pavilions. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Comments

A J said…

I know exactly what you mean, Stokes. =) You pick up a piece of some discarded material, see it at just the right angle and "Oh..!"

3:09 PM

Snickering Corpses said…

That's another thing I need to put on my want list. Lots of foam. I got rid of my few styrofoam hill pieces during a cleanup a year or two ago. Need to put finding replacements on my to do list. :)

7:34 PM

tradgardmastare said…

It is a joy how one can reuse rubbish in the hobby. I have used all sorts over the years ...

5:49 AM

Bluebear Jeff said…

When we were buying some furniture for our new home earlier this year, I discovered that furniture stores often have great sheets and blocks of styrofoam that they're just throwing away (the packing material for the furniture they're unpacking).

So far I've picked up some great hill material there. You might give that a try too.

Have a Happy New Year!

-- Jeff

3:22 AM

MurdocK said…

Tabletop wargamers:

Recycling since 1958!

11:41 AM

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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