Another Painting Challenge Is Afoot!

No rest for the wicked! And while I still have a few final touches to put on the last nine Minden hussars, a number of my wargaming friends and acquaintances around the globe have proposed a second painting challenge -- November 16, 2011 to January 16, 2012 -- in which we each pledge to paint a particular number of figures during the two months. The precise number, period, level of detail, etc. is left open to each one of us, and we are each free to modify that if time and personal/professional commitments dictate it.

All of which is a rather long winded way of saying that I have pledged to complete a unit of 60 RSM95 Prussian musketeers. And they will be painted in the 1750s-era uniform pictured above, wearing the three-cornered hat of musketeers, because that's what I have on hand, rather than a version of the grenadiers' mitre cap.

So, I spent some pleasant downtime yesterday evening in bed with a writing pad and pencil, figuring out how I could reduce the number of painting steps to an absolute minimum while still producing reasonably nice looking results. First things first. I think a good foundation is called for, say a good solid white basecoat (two coats actually) over which I can apply a nice red wash ala Peter Gilder's technique. In keeping with my recent pushing of the style envelope where my Monday-Friday dressing habits are concerned, I've even thought about trying a small tube of artist's red watercolor pigment -- an extremely daring approach, I know -- which, to my mind, just might yield a better wash with more consistent coverage than oils or Citadel (ex-Games Workshop) acrylics have here in Zum Stollenkeller thus far. Note to self: visit local craft and artists' supply store this weekend!

The best way to do this, naturally, would be to try the watercolor medium on just a few figures first, to see if results are acceptable before I launch into applying a thin gruel of red to a company-sized batch of figures. Taking a page from Der Alte Fritz's painting handbook over at Hesse-Seewald, you know. Far better, and less frustrating, as he has pointed out in the past, to "fix" only a single figure or two if things don't work out quite as one hopes than to repaint a company-sized batch of musketeers whose colors aren't quite up to snuff. What do you Grand Duchy of Stollen regulars think?

Later. . .

According to the Knoetel illustration above, I'll be working with just four colors plus flesh and metallic tones (silver and brass). In theory, that kind of limited pallet ought to speed things along. We'll see how things go in practice!

Even Later. . .

Oh, and of course the green bases, so that's FIVE basic colors besides flesh and metallic tones.

Comfortable Rules for Games of Glossy Toy Soldiers in the Old Style. . .

Introduction A Tangled Mass is a game of toy soldiers in the old style, set more or less in the middle part of the 18 th century. Our miniature forces are colorful and, we hope, glossy. Although the latter, like so much else, is up to the discretion of the players. But it is the modeling, brushwork, and unit organization of hobby greats like Gilder, Mason, and Robinson that provide our visual touchstone and continue to inform "the look of the thing" even now. Tabletop armies in A Tangled Mass can be historic, semi-historic, or whimsically fictitious, but the more flags and mounted officers, the better. Formations, while bearing some resemblance to their historic precedents, are generic: column, line, or extended order for lighter types. Squares, while possible, are less common than during all of that later Napoleonic madness with its guillotines and Spanish ulcers. And we'll simply choose not to mention patent leather dancing pumps, or that unseemly bedr

Prussian 3rd Garrison Regt. Update. . .

Still a few small things to do, including apply fleshtone to a left hand on an officer that I somehow missed at some point plus lace on the drummers and officers , but we're very close to the glossing stage. L ots of painstaking work to clean up edges, highlight folds, and touch up various bits and pieces the last few evenings. My trusty little Sony Cybershot, I fear, has gone to that big electronics place in the sky and no longer seems to be working. Well, I've had it since 2013, and small electronics don't last forever, so I cannot complain. With that little hiccup in mind, I snapped today's shot with my iPhone, brightened, and cropped it in Fotor before sharing it here. Again, the blue is not quite so bright in reality, but the auto-improve, or whatever they call it, makes for nice bright photographs in which everything shows up. Not long before these are done, and The Young Master was suitably please when I asked him to have a look a few minutes ago. -- Sto

A Break in the Radio Silence. . .

S till plugging away at the 60 or so Wied Infantry currently on the painting bench as and when work and family life permit. Using three different whites for the clothing, shoulder belts, and officers' wigs plus trying some Army Painter quick washes. My friend and one-time online magazine co-editor Greg Horne (the man behind The Duchy of Alzheim , still one of my blog and hobby touchstones) suggested I give washes a try a month or two ago, and I think he might be onto something. Admittedly, he suggested the Citadel contrast range, but what I purchased eventually is in that general direction. I am especially pleased with the Army Painter flesh wash, which picks out the facial details on the Minden figures very nicely. I've applied it on top of my usual Windsor & Newton alkyd oil fleshtone and then highlighted the brows, bridges of noses, cheeks, chins, lower lips, and knuckles/thumbs the next day with more of the fleshtone. Suddenly, and with relative ease, my paint

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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