That Sinking Feeling. . .

Alone at the large desk in his private study, the love-struck Irwin-Amadeus II daydreams about a possible future with the Lady Leonora Christina von Grandin, his head filled with visions of Christmases yet to come. Outside, the snow flies and arctic cold descends over the city of Krankenstadt.

When the Grand Duke manages to rein in his imagination and come back to earth for a moment, he makes copious notes on the "ideal" cavalry regiment. Swedish. Dragoons. Old school figures. Various Humbrol browns as undercoats. Thin oil glazes applied over top. Dark green coats, breeches, and saddlecloths. Humbrol again. British Rifle Green this time. Red facings and turnbacks. Gold lace for officers and yellow for the troopers. "This is terrific fun," Irwin-Amadeus II thinks to himself, "I should have been a military milliner!"

But his martial thoughts are interrupted once again by visions of the Lady Leonora Christina. Her blue eyes. Her pale, clear countenance. Her flaxen hair. Her pleasing figure and decolletage. And her laugh. . . Her laugh? That laugh. That great. . . loud. . . hyuk-hyuk-hyuking laugh. . . not unlike the call of a bull seal. "Oh. . . blast!" thinks the deflated Grand Duke, "I wonder if there is a way to retrieve the letter that went out in yesterday's post?"

Comments

The 18th century? What's the Fascination?

Hessian musketeers by All the King's Men Toy Soldiers of Snellville, Georgia, U.S.A. Just a quick post post today, but I thought the above question might be interesting food for thought. Obviously, there is an array of possible periods, theaters, and conflicts that might catch our eyes. But what is it about the era 1700-1799 -- either real, or imagined? Is it the commanders and politics? The fairly straightforward tactics? The myriad of uniforms and flags? The variety and scope of the conflicts? The patchwork of various and sundry petty states, (at least in Central Europe)? I'm very interested to learn your thoughts. Don't be a lurker! Please leave a comment -- or even two or three. Have a nice day everyone!

An Early July Hussar Update. . .

Marginally neater in appearance with green bases, girths, and ivory horse markings added, but I need to neaten up some hooves now before moving onto the rest of the tack. W here in the world did June go? While I still ponder the answer to that question, how about a quick painting update on the first batch of 14 Minden Austrian hussars and Nadasdy? Good. I'm glad we are of a like mind. Still on the sloppy side, but I've managed to move things along, painting the green bases, white (ivory) horse markings, and beginning the miles and miles of tack adorning the various horses. I always like to begin with the girths spanning the horses' ribs which helped hold the saddles in place. Even with the figures mounted individually on temporary painting bases, these can be kind of tricky to access, but there we are. I've also used various Army Painter washes (Mid-Brown and Strong Tone) as well as their Speed Paint (Grim Black) to make the manes and tails of the horses a bit m...

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...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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