A Veritable Fleet of Trucks!

The newly completed trucks just waiting for their coat of shiny varnish later tonight.

Here they are, all done except for a shiny coat of acrylic varnish. From left to right: a city garbage truck, a Federal Express truck, a UPS (United Parcel Services) truck, and a United States Postal Services truck. Paul calls the latter a 'Leslie' since that is the name of our local mail lady.

Normally, we teach him to call all adults either Mr., Mrs./Ms., or whatever professional title might be appropriate, but we are actually friendly with our mail carrier and began introducing Paul to her before we knew her last name. So, she remains Leslie to him.   Whenever we are out together in the car, or on foot, and the Young Master spots a small mail van, he calls out, "There is a Leslie!"

For those who might be interested, the trucks measure approximately 33/4" long x 2" high x 11/2" across. I used blocks of wood plus wooden wheels, tiny metal screws, and washers plus various tubes of acrylic paint by Liquitex. I wish I could add a convincing blue eagle to each side of the US Mail van in the right foreground, but my painting hand is not good with large birds. It's a foul state of affairs, but there you are. I suspect that the Young Master will not mind at this point in his life however.

And it seems that this year is shaping up to be the Christmas of wheeled vehicles. He'll be getting all kinds of cars, trucks, and heavy equipment from various family members and Santa Claus. Christmas Day should be loads of fun for him. The vastly increased level of awareness and excitement the Paul displays multiple times daily this Christmas season about seeing the trees and the Swedish star in the front window are truly a joy to behold.

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...

And a few more photos. . .

Ok, here are a few of the 2nd Musketeer regiment in process during late-July and August. Enjoy!

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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