The almost finished combined battalion of Croats. I need to add a few small shrubs and some weeds, courtesy of Woodland Scenics, around the rocks and at the base of the tree stumps.
Here is the current work-in-progress, which I've been noodling around with since June 24th. The painting has been done using a mixed media approach -- oil and acrylic washes over a white base coat, artists' acrylic gesso. Delusions of painting grandeur on my part? Maybe. But there are many kinds of things used by actual artists in their work that are useful to the miniatures hobbyist as well. The gesso is more generally used to prepare canvases for painting, depending on what a painter wants to achieve, but it also seems to work nicely on plastic and metal miniatures as a base for further painting.
Anyway, I hope to finish the final brushwork on the mounted hussar officer later this afternoon/evening and then mount him along with the standard bearer and musket-armed officer to a single base, which will get a similar terrain treatment. The battalion staff base will then be ready to assume its place at the head of, in the center of, or just to the rear of the new unit of Croats, depending on formation. I'll add a few more (better) photographs once everything has been finished.
In the meantime, I must come up with a suitable name for the unit, which will serve in either the Stollenaian or Zichenauer army, depending on the scenario. . . and the shifting alliances of its commanding officer, one Count Ernst von Eyczing de Csiklos. Don't let his dandy appearance fool you though. An inveterate womanizer, the Count is nasty a piece of work by all accounts. Von Eyczing de Csiklos is also a gambler and notorious cheat at the card table, who drives the men in his command ruthlessly. Why, he is even rumored to have killed an opponent or two dueling with pistols. Certainly not a fellow you want to turn your back on for a moment, especially when he commands this bunch of scoundrels, brutes, and scallywags on the field of Mars!
In the meantime, I must come up with a suitable name for the unit, which will serve in either the Stollenaian or Zichenauer army, depending on the scenario. . . and the shifting alliances of its commanding officer, one Count Ernst von Eyczing de Csiklos. Don't let his dandy appearance fool you though. An inveterate womanizer, the Count is nasty a piece of work by all accounts. Von Eyczing de Csiklos is also a gambler and notorious cheat at the card table, who drives the men in his command ruthlessly. Why, he is even rumored to have killed an opponent or two dueling with pistols. Certainly not a fellow you want to turn your back on for a moment, especially when he commands this bunch of scoundrels, brutes, and scallywags on the field of Mars!
A slightly better shot of the unit in which you can just about make out the basing scheme I was nattering on about two weeks or so ago.
A closeup of the the battalion staff. The mounted officer is not quite finished yet, but I'll take a crack at that tomorrow afternoon or in the evening. The standard was painted entirely freehand and features a black eagle on the far side. Once the mounted officer is done, then I'll mount the three on a single base and add terrain features in a style similar to the rest of the unit above. Watch for a few more photographs in the next several days.
Comments
Best Regards,
Stokes
Best Regards,
Stokes