It's that time of year again. . .

A photograph of the pre-Christmas Weihnachtsmarkt in Muenster, Germany where the Grand Duchess spent a year as an undergraduate many moons ago. Difficult to see the actual market and associated festivities, yes, but the shot of all the great old townhouses was awfully difficult to resist.

A windy, cold, and snowy first day of Advent here at Stollen Central, but Young Master Paul and I bundled up anyway and made a trip out to run a few errands. None, sadly, that had anything to do with the Christmas season or preparations for it, but it still felt good to get out in the cold air, and Young Master Paul was as good as gold. Indeed, he seemed to enjoy himself as much as I did. And only two days of the university semester left! Then we are FREE (more or less) until after January 1st. And so, as Tiny Tim rightly observed, "Hurrah for Christmas! The best time of the year!"

Not too much to report on the soldier front other than that I have almost finished applying two coats of Future/Klear acrylic floor finish to those Garrison artillery crew. They look mighty good if I do say so myself, and I'll have a photo posted here in a day or two. The two related MiniFig cannon are all assembled and awaiting a basecoat as are the 30 Holger Eriksson dragoons. I've decided to dig out my Windsor-Newton alkyd paints to use on the latter.

Alkyd paints are similar to standard oil paints, exhibiting the same brilliance and durability, but they dry to the touch in 24 hours or less thanks to the pigment being mixed with an alkyd medium instead of linseed or poppy oil for example. Anyway, I've made the momentous decision to basecoat the HE figures in white, at least for the horses, and then apply thin washes of various browns and greys over the white in a kind of glazing technique. I might even convince myself to add some black lining for added definition as I complete the figures. Peter Gilder would be pleased I think. We'll see how it goes, but it seems only right that these truly old school figures get a different treatment than my usual GW acrylic hobby paints treatment.

Well, that's about all for now. I feel as giddy as a schoolboy this afternoon and could babble on and on about nothing in particular for quite some time before conking out and collapsing onto the bed for a late afternoon nap, so it seems like a good idea to quit while I'm ahead. ;-) Be sure to tune in tomorrow for another seasonal scene along with more related soldier and painting chatter!

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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