The Zichenauer general staff from left to right: Major Paolo Biscotti (seconded from the Piedmontese army), the dastardly French mercenary-adventurer General Philip de Latte, and General von Gherkin.Well, it’s been a pretty good weekend despite coming down with a slight headcold yesterday. We got in a little skiing Friday and Saturday, I’ve done some reading in the David Chandler book, and managed to finish trimming the moldlines from the final nine Spencer Smith cavalry.
Today was not as productive as I’d hoped (funny how a cold saps your will and concentration, isn’t it?), but I did finally finish the three-officer group of Zichenauer generals pictured above. The left-hand figure needed some final details, and the middle figure needed a bit more gold trim on his blue coat. So, tomorrow I’ll give them a coat or two of Future floor polish, and then move on to basecoating the SSM figures below with white artists’ acrylic gesso.
The bottom picture shows my RSM French musketeers in the firing pose (Thanks to Mom and Dad Fritzsche!), which I hope to start in a week or so after wrapping up the current cavalry project. They will come to life as one or another red-coated Irish regiment (now lost to history) that fought for the Electorate of Zichenau. This particular group of miniatures will actually become a light battalion, according the rules outlined in Charge! rather than a 60-figure+ regiment of infantry, so it should take a little less time to paint them if I can maintain energy and focus.
They will also very likely be the last bunch of figures I paint here before having to pack up in March for the move to the new house at the beginning of April – a simultaneously exciting and frustrating prospect. Moving is never fun. Sure, going to a new place is great and can be interesting and exciting. But having to pack up one’s life into boxes, move, and unpack it all again is daunting to say the least. Especially after having done it more times than I care to remember during those undergraduate and graduate student days in the 90s and early 2000s. Sigh.Well, the consolation is, of course, the new office and wargaming room – Der Stollenkeller – just waiting for me to occupy them. The Grand Duchess simply rolled her eyes when I informed her a little while ago of the name I would bestow on the intended wargaming room. ;-). Wives! Ok. Enough prattle. It’s off to bed and capful of Nyquil to send me into lala land. Nighty night, men!
Comments
I'm glad that you chose "Der Stollenkeller" . . . I like it! (well, after all I did suggest it.)
It looks like the RSMs might need more swords . . . if you contact Richard at DPC, I'm sure that you could get them from him.
The pavilions in the first photo look great! And I like your generals too.
I hope that you manage to shake the cold quickly . . . remember, fluids and rest (it is easy to get dehydrated and not realize it).
-- Jeff
I tend to hit the bugs with the chemical warfare hard...they go away faster and I get back in action in only one or two nights at most!
best wishes
Alan
p.s any news on book project front?
Nice brush work on those command figures!
Moving is a pain - we're planning to do the same this year. When we moved six years ago I do remember the anxiety of packing all the soldiers and handing them over to the removal company. Amazingly they survived with a couple of bent bayonets and some AA damage to a 1/100 Stuka.
Great to have a hobby room, I have one here but our next move is a downsize so I may not be so lucky.
Ian
I've moved several times myself, so I sympathize. On the plus side, it's a good excuse to review and inventory your collections. You might want to write/type a list of your wargaming figures and units as you pack, both to be sure they all arrive and to allow you to do more planning. May find some forgotten treasures.
Yes, I really liked "Der Stollenkeller". Not only is it tied to the Grand Duchy of Stollen project, but it's also tied to the very early Beatles when they were a leather clad club band, playing dives in Hamburg, Germany in the very early 1960s -- long before they had a manager who cleaned them up for broader public consumption. Some of you might know that one of the first clubs they played, after arriving without proper work visas, was Der Kaiserkeller. So, the name of my future basement wargaming area kills two birds with one stone.
And it appears that I have "outted" myself here. Yes, I AM a closet amateur Beatles historian. But then I paint and collect little metal and plastic soldiers, so I guess the nerd status is already long established and decidedly terminal. Sigh (again). Jeeze, this self-recognition thing is painful! ;-)
Best Regards,
Stokes
Best Regards,
Stokes
No, just the god awful original green licorice-flavored stuff. ICK!
Best Regards,
Stokes
Grrrrrr. . . ;-) The Beatles were even before MY time. They were my parents' band actually, and I listened to all of their records when I started getting into popular music as a 12 year old. Sir Paul McCartney is actually the reason I began taking guitar lessons in the late 70s and later made the switch to bass. It's terribly cool that he is still producing good music in his mid-60s. Popular/Rock music needs more like him given the sorry state of "talent" out there now.
Best Regards,
Stokes
Get well soon!
I like "der Stollenkeller"! (better than "der Hellenkeller"! lol)
As for the move, (to steal a great quote from a great man) "keep your eyes on the prize". :-)