The Grand Duchy of Stollen

The first picture shows roughly one half of the final company of the regiment and its officer. They look pretty good after three evenings' of work if I do say so myself. There have been grumblings overheard in the rest of the unit that the fourth company is taking an awfully long time to be uniformed and equipped, so the quartermaster was "asked" by Colonel von Flickenhoffer to get a move on! Believe it or not, I am actually back to doing something here that relates to figure painting/collecting/wargaming! Managed to get in a little over ninety minutes yesterday evening and got all of the breeches completed before (re-) watching *The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert with the Grand Duchess. So, here are a few photographs for your viewing pleasure that show where we stand with the final 20 figures of the 80-figure Von Flickenhoffer's Fusiliers . Here's a close-up of three men, er, figures, in the fourth company. I've been painting a bit more ...

No photos yet, but I've been hard at work the last few evenings, applying white to those final twenty or so fusiliers that comprise the fourth company of the 80-figure 7th (Von Flickenhoffer's) Fusiliers . A few 90 minute sessions have worked wonders, and the figures are beginning to look like something other than a bunch of little guys in dirty tan, 18th century-style jumpsuits. Tonight, it's on to the breeches and then the coats. Mid-blue cuffs will follow tomorrow night, and then it's back to the browns -- hair and musket stocks. Now, if this darn swimmer's ear would simply clear itself up! You know there ought to be a law when you spend all morning at the doctor's office and he finally tells you to buy the same over-the-counter peroxide-based treatment that you were using in the first place. Grumble, grumble, grumble. . .

I've actually managed to make some final corrections to the latest article/chapter in the last couple of days. In addition, I began assembling a bunch of disparate sections into a cohesive manuscript for the developing book on wargaming this afternoon. Hurrah!!! It would appear that I haven't been as much of a slug the last few weeks as I was beginning to suspect! ;-) So, barring any unforeseen surprises, the book will consist of twelve sections, an endpiece, an appendix, and a select bibliography. . . plus at least a few illustrations in the form of photographs. Now, I'm not quite ready to bug publishers just yet. There is still a short way to go until the basic manuscript is completed. I have several sections to finish and tune up, plus a few more to actually start, but there is at least some light at the end of the tunnel. Suffice to say, that it was a blast to assemble everything, and take in how much I've managed to finish up to this point. It's a...

Here is some of the box art from the new Prussian Grenadier figure set by Zvezda. What took them so long? The much anticipated mid-18th century Prussian grenadiers by Zvezda seem to be on sale in some areas. Wonderland Models of Great Britain has them, and here is the link: http://www.wonderlandmodels.com/products/zvezda-172-prussian-grenadiers-frederick-ii/ No details on the contents of each package, or a breakdown of the available poses, but the price seems awfully good at about 5.60 GBP per set. So, if you're waiting for these -- and I know many are -- get thee to the Wonderland website and order a few boxes.

The Indras. . . rough and tumble, killer rock and roll, rockabilly, and R&B from the 1950s and early 1960s. From left to right: Paul, Kenny, Steve, and Stokes. It's been kind of quiet here in Stollen Central lately without a great deal to report. Finally managed to get the painting/radio table cleared off and organized late last week, but have not yet managed to sit down and accomplish any painting since our return from Germany earlier this month. A few baby related things and some planning with the Grand Duchess -- including a bizarre prenatal/partner yoga session yesterday evening -- but not really anything that has sucked up huge blocks of time. Nope, just taking things easy, walking in the evening with Sonja, chatting on the front porch, grilling occasionally, reading in the evenings, and , of course, trying to keep up with the mowing. We don't have a huge front and back yard, but they are big enough. And with all of the rain we've had this summer, the gra...

First, thanks to everyone for all of your good wishes about the coming baby. Sonja and I are even more excited, if such a thing were possible, following the big check-up the other day. And of course the two sets of future grandparents can hardly sit still from the sound of things. But let's talk soldiers now since that's the main point behind the Grand Duchy of Stollen blog. Some of you might recall my plans this past spring to order a few HE and Garrison miniatures and have them sent to our temporary Berlin address where we stayed during the month of June. Well, here they are in all of their shiny, unpainted glory. The photograph above features two Holger Erisksson guns manned by Garrison Prussian artillery crew. For a mounted officer, I ordered two Prussian dragoon officers, which fill that particular gap in the Garrison range pretty well. A small compromise that works nicely. Rob Young at Garrison pointed out in our communications back and forth that he did not like t...

Normally, vacation photographs only have significance to those who were part of the holiday. Indeed, I am sensitive to the fact that most of us don't want to endure looking at scads of vacation pictures taken by others. Why, it's almost as painful as watching badly edited (or even unedited) video of someone's wedding reception, my own included! Along these lines, I have a particular memory from 1979 or '80, when my Great Uncle Charlie, a surgeon, who was usually very interesting company, brought over literally HUNDREDS of slides from a trip he and my Great Aunt Lillian took to Iceland and Spitsbergen in 1979. Needless to say, by the twentieth photo taken through a dirty porthole of the jetliner flying them into Reykjavik, insomnia was no longer a problem for anyone in the room. About the only thing that saved the situation from being completely dull was when Uncle Charlie accidentally dropped two slide carousels onto the floor upside down, spilling more than 200 c...

The Swedish Chef and a friend from The Muppet Show. . . My particular culinary idol . Happy Friday everyone! Not a whole lot to report here at the moment. Picked up the Grand Duchess yesterday evening from the shuttle bus that shuttled her from Chicago-O'Hare, mowed the grass today, and puttered around the house a bit. Here in the United States, we are gearing up for the long 4th of July weekend that marks our "succession" from British rule in 1776. However, I harbor no grudges. I mean, the nation that gave the world The Beatles, Micheal Caine, Sean Connery, Donald Featherstone, and Charles Grant can't be all bad, right? ;-) The weekend is also seen as the traditional half-way point of summer, which has always struck me as a bit odd since summer more or less begins on June 21st each year. Strange. The poor Grand Duchess hurt her back weeding the vegetable garden earlier this afternoon, so she's having a rest at the moment before I fix us dinner. We...

Well, after about nineteen hours in transit, I'm back home in Zum Stollenkeller and exhausted. The Air France cabin crews are truly amazing and how they remain so pleasant is anyone's guess, but air travel sure ain't glamorous these days. I don't think I have ever been as glad to get back on the ground and walk off that big ol' jet airliner as I was this afternoon when we landed at Chicago-O'Hare. So, after deleting more than 800 spam e-mails, sorting through three weeks of snail mail, and giving some love and attention to the Grand Ducal feline, I will have a shower, make some coffee, and head off to bed to watch Cliff Richard in Expresso Bongo from 1960 (I think). Yes, the rock&roll B-movie marathon continues! "We're all going on a summer holiday. No more worries for a week or two. . ." Sorry, but extreme fatuigue makes one a little strange you know. But tomorrow, the Grand Duchess returns, and all will be right with the world once m...