A Bright, Sunny, and Cool Fall Day. . .

The Indra Club on the Grossefreiheit in Hamburg, Germany, where the Beatles played for 48 consecutive nights, before the police closed it due to noise complaints, from August to early October 1960. The band then was moved up the street to the larger, wilder Kaiserkeller Club where they continued almost until being deported at the end of November that year.

Although I am (before Young Master Paul arrived two years ago that is) an avid Nordic skier (avid, but definitely not Olympic material by any stretch of the imagination) and enjoy the winter, Fall is my favorite season. Here in the Grand Duchy of Stollen, we have one of those incredibly blue days with cool temperatures, and the leaves are starting to change colors and fall from the trees. Ahhhh. . . Reminds me of when I was a child and teenager, growing up on my maternal grandparents' place in rural southeastern Pennsylvania about two hours outside Philadelphia.

Which is just a roundabout way of saying that I managed to get in a couple of hours of painting last night on the current batch of nine Minden hussars. They are starting to look like something though there is still much to do before they are all finished. I fear I might run out of Citadel (ex-Games Workshop) Goblin Green though, which is the color I usually apply to the bases of figures. Now that I think of it though, I do have a quart of Olympic Grassy Meadow, that I use on my tabletop and hills, which might be just the ticket if I thin it a bit with some water. We'll see how much painting I can complete this afternoon.

Tonight, however my amateur rock & roll band The Indras has yet another date (we've been averaging two-three gigs a month for the last 18 months or so). Click on the highlighted link to be transported magically to out website, which yours truly designed some months ago. The cold that all three of us have suffered with during the last three weeks here at Stollen Central finally seems to be all gone, so I should be able to manage Long Tall Sally and Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey pretty well tonight. But I digress.

Be sure to check back in here later today, or tomorrow for a hussar painting photographic update. Only three weeks to go until the November 5th Painting Challenge deadline. Will Stokes make it, or perish in the process with a paintbrush in his hand?

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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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