“To err is human,” as one of you noted in a comment yesterday. Or should it be “air”? Or maybe it’s “heir”? Oh, the English language is making my head spin. Please, make it stop! ;-)
Ok, enough messing around! So, where do we stand now with the painting for the Grand Duchy of Stollen project? Well, let’s take a look at the painting progress charts and related statistics below.
Project Start: Mid-July 2006
Anticipated Completion: December 2010
Grand Duchy of Stollen
| Regiment | Unpainted | In Progress | Painted |
| 2nd (Von Laurenz) Musketeers (60) | | | x |
| Jäger zu Fuβ Battalion (32) | | | x |
| (Grand Duchess Sonja’s Own) Leib Grenadiers (60) | | | x |
| 6th (Princess Nene’s) Infantry (60) | x | | |
| 9th Frei Infantry Regt. (60) | x | | |
| 4th Sapper Battalion (32) | x | | |
| 11th (Turducken) Hussars (30) | x | | |
| 4th (Trakehnen) Dragoons (30) | | | x |
| Cuirassiers (30) | | x | |
| 1st (Princess Waltraud’s) Artillery (13) | | | x |
| 2nd | x | | |
| 3rd | x | | |
| Total Figures Painted – 193/433 | | | |
| Regiment | Unpainted | In Progress | Painted |
| Ermland Garde (The “Newts”) (80) | | | x |
| O’Malley’s Irish Grenzers (32) | | | x |
| 7th (Flickenhoffer’s) Fusiliers. (80)) | x | | |
| 8th (Pillau-Zerbst and Pillau-Reuss) Regiment (80) | x | | |
| Freiherr Wilhelm’s Pioneer Batallion (32) | | | x |
| 1st Company, Wolmar-Bock Regt. (24) | | | |
| 3rd (Duke Ernst-Augusts’) Hussars (30) | x | | |
| 5th (Provincial) Chasseurs zu Pferd (30) | x | | |
| Garde Grenadiere zu Pferd (30) | | | x |
| | | | x |
| Total Figures Painted – 187/427 | | | |
Figures Painted to Date: Approximately 388
Figure Halfway Painting Point: 430
Estimated Figures in Project: Approximately 860
*** Note: Figure Totals do not include Generals and ADC’s.
As you can see, we’re still not quite to the halfway point, but that’s not too far off. Edging us a little closer to that tipping point are thirty Zvezda Saxon cuirassiers, which are over on the painting table now. Eight of these have already had their heads lopped off and replaced with those of Revell Austrian SYW musketeers (in December 2006), which, since they are in the kneeling position, were ripe for the lopping!
The Saxon cuirassiers, because they wore only the front plate of the cuirass, will make fine 18th century cavalry once I pin and glue the Revell heads to the remaining 22 figures. Darn! My special soft plastic cement has dried up, so I must order some more.
Anyway, as far as uniforms go, I’m thinking of basing the uniform for my Stollenian cuirassiers on that of the Austrians of the mid-18th century simply because I just love the off white coats and madder red facings and turnbacks. Naturally, I’ll include a few of my own random “flourishes”, so the unit will acquire a somewhat unique appearance.
While waiting for my soft plastic cement to arrive in the mail, I’ll paint up a couple of additional RSM95 officers on horseback, courtesy of the Grand Duchess. It’s the Grand Duchy of Stollen’s turn this time, since the Electorate of Zichenau got a new general and ADC a few weeks ago.
Looking ahead, I need to think about what to paint after the cuirassier conversions are all done and painted. I believe that the 80-figure unit of RSM Prussian fusiliers is next in line, but I’ll need to check my notes from May or early June here before I can confirm this. If so, that mini-project should take us well into November or early December. But I’m getting ahead of myself. “Focus, Grasshopper! Focus!”
Comments
-- Jeff
I like the disciplined way that you are tackling this project. To have such a clear aim right from the start is an excellent way of actually achieving something!
Ian