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A busy weekend was had by all. . .

Here's the second company just after receiving its first coat of Future/Klear acrylic floor finish last night.


The past weekend was a busy one with my band playing two gigs back-to-back Friday evening and again early Saturday morning. . . Whew! Glad I don't do this professionally! However, although we were dog tired Saturday morning, we rocked the local farmers' market like it has never been rocked before with lots of people actually stopping to listen, and many introducing themselves between sets, to compliment us on our choice of material and playing. Lots of fun in each case.

On the soldier front, finished up the white lace on the second batch of Huzzah musketeers Saturday evening and applied the first shiny, protective coat of "varnish" ;-) last night. The second coat of Future/Klear will follow this evening late, and I'll detach the figures from their plastic bottle caps tomorrow and start getting the third and final batch ready to basecoat. By the time I get to the last third of a large unit like this, my enthusiasm to finish the job usually edges out any painting fatigue I might be suffering and spurs me on to complete the entire unit.

Most exciting, the package containing my order of Minden Prussian hussars arrived in the mail Friday afternoon! Can't think of enough good things to say about these miniatures and Frank Hammond's rapid service. The castings are high quality, very clean with no flash or mold lines to remove, and well-proportioned. As regards cavalry, the riders fit closely onto the backs of their mounts with no noticeable gaps or molding peculiarities that require filing before a close, neat fit is possible. Quite frankly, these figures are ready for basecoating and painting right out of the box. Frank packs everything in neat ziplock baggies, wrapped tightly and in plenty of bubble wrap to survive transatlantic travel in fine form.

Finally, Frank also sent a few extra samples of various Prussian infantry and artillery figures, which every bit as lovely as the hussars, so I think I'll replace my Revell plastic artillery crews with Minden figures before too long.
Needless to say, and forgive the blatant fawning here, Frank has set the bar mighty high with these figures with regard to casting quality and relistic proportions. Indeed, Minden Miniatures set a new standard against which all other mid-18th Century ranges must be judged.

Ok, enough chatter for now. I've got some translation work to do and a deadline to meet! Sigh. It's Monday again everyone. . . Where do the weekends go?


The next morning. . .

Just a brief note to draw your attention to a blog I've just stumbled onto. It's called Old School ACW and documents one gamer's efforts to revisit/recreate/restage/refight the original American Civil War-era games of the late Charles Grant and his young son, one C.S. Grant, in the late 1950s and early 60s. Click here Old School ACW to go directly to that blog, or you can find the link farther down this page in the Interesting Links section of this page. If you have old school or classic wargaming tendencies, then you'll find this one an interesting read.


And here are those wonderful new Minden Prussian hussars sans their sword arms, which will remain packaged in little ziplock baggies until I get nearer to painting them. Hands down, these are some of the best figures I've ever seen. Frank Hammond and his sculptor Richard Ansell have done yeoman's work here.

Comments

Bluebear Jeff said…
I'm glad that your music was well received . . . and I look forward to seeing those hussars when they are "fully dressed".


-- Jeff
littlejohn said…
Nice unit of Huzza...and those Minden hussars are super! ...hmmm...Now what can I sell to get the cash for a unit of those...???
A J said…
Those Minden Miniatures are handsome indeed. I like the variety of poses in the mounts. Having a nice tight fit between rider and horse is something a lot of manufacturers would do well to try. I'm looking forward to seeing the hussars in their colors.

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