The Grand Duchy of Stollen

S adly, I was too wiped out to paint last night after little sleep the night before, followed by a long day on Monday.  But here is where things stand so far for the year.   By the way, a nice little package arrived from Fife&Drum-Minden Miniatures yesterday, and in only two days.  Yes, TWO days from the time Der Alte Fritz posted it until it arrived on our doorstep.  Now, I just live downstate from Greater Chicago, but that's pretty darn good customer service and shipping/handling if you ask  me.  Less than a week between making the initial order and receiving the goods.  Fun stuff unpacking those extra pontoons, horse teams, drivers, and wagon/horse riders yesterday evening.   Now, all that's needed is the arrival of the Blue Moon and Old Glory wagons and carts that I ordered last week.  In the meantime, here is a run down of what I've managed to wrap up so far and what's planned for the coming months at the...

  Blobs of color on the piece of palette paper above include Prussian Blue, Yellow Ochre, Flesh Tone, Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Black, and Sap Green. A spot of painting here in Zum Stollenkeller this afternoon.  The usual oils and alkyd oils thinned with Liquin Original, so the air is subtly fragrant with that delightful aroma of pigment and the vehicles in which it has been suspended.  Among the four individually based figures currently under the brush include Banastre Tarleton and Francis Marion by Fife & Drum.  Eagerly awaiting the arrival of two packages that contain various bits and pieces that will become either the supply train or the pontoon train.  Exciting times indeed! -- Stokes

No exactly an 18th century Prussian, Austrian, or Reichsarmee supply train, but. . .  W hile I have no figure painting planned for this evening, tonight's the night when I'll sit down to order the eight or so wagons, carts, and teams I've decided on for my generic 18th century supply train from Old Glory/Blue Moon here in the United States.  I'll also inquire about and/or order a few extra things from Der Alte Fritz over at Fife & Drum Miniatures to round out the pontoon train given to me this past Christmas by the Grand Duchess and Young Master.  Ordering things is almost as much fun as receiving, painting, completing, and later playing with them you know.  Of course, we try to resist materialism and not be shopaholics or hoarders, but when it comes to occasional new figures and books, the pull is awfully hard to resist. -- Stokes P.S. And now that I think of it, the fact that I'm building the supply and pontoon trains means that, sooner or later, I...

Two frei-corps officers, whose uniforms are based on those of the Lubomirski and Bauer hussars  with some artistic license taken.  Especially since the former were a Prussian unit, and I was well on my merry way painting the fellow on the left before I realized that he represented an Austrian hussar officer rather than a Prussian wearing a colpack.  No matter.  As with all the rest of my figures, these two will fight for fictitious powers after all.  I also find that often enough different versions of uniforms existed side-by-side and/or were worn at slightly different times according to records left to us.  And don't forget, too, that officers moved freely from one army to the next for different reasons.  So, why wouldn't the Lubomirski fellow in blue and brown sport the uniform worn in Prussian service while sitting atop an Austrian saddlecloth?  Figures are from the delightful 1/56th scale Minden Miniatures range. J ust enough extra tim...

Four more singly based Minden mounted cavalry officers (for use as aides de camp) are on the way. W hile the current weekend has been busier than I would have preferred, I've nevertheless managed to squeeze in some painting time here and there, managing to finish a Minden Prussian dragoon officer and another from the cuirassiers.  Since the coming week will also be a bit tight, you'll just have to wait to see 'em until I also finish two Prussian hussar officers next weekend and have the chance to take some proper photographs of all four figures in the ol' foamcore lightbox.  While the winter cold and snow are great fun, and I managed to ski for a couple of hours both Saturday afternoon and today, I find myself already looking forward to the end of the college term at the start of May, when the pace of life will slow down a little bit, and I can turn my attention to the important stuff. .  .  like painting, a small game or two, some writing, and some actual pai...

  Here's a shot from a couple of years ago of various Zichenauer units, which consist of figures by RSM95, Garrison, and Revell plastics along with MiniFig and Holger Erisksson guns. A mong other things this extremely cold day, I've taken 30 minutes to tinker with a few older pictures of my collection in Photoshop Elements 9, cropping, adjusting color cast, and sharpness as well as brightness levels on the fourth photograph below.  Kind of a nice reminder of how things look when deployed en masse on the table, wouldn't you agree? -- Stokes Here is a bunch of Minden Prussian hussars, which I painted as, more or less, hussars of Lauzun's Legion although the guidon is my own creation.  They are now on multiple bases by the way, which speeds up things immeasurably when playing a game. Here is battalion of RSM95 Prussian figures, which I painted as Hanseatic infantry.  The flag, which features an eagle and red&white shield on each side, is based on ...

The artiste "Fabio" checks his perspective while his young assistant fetches some Linseed oil and cotton rags from a wooden chest of art supplies, and an interested local dilettante kibitzes without pause.  Blue Moon figures, along with some Foundry and Minden bits and pieces plus a scratch-built easel, completed in late Winter 2013. M y painter vignette, which was recently featured in the 2014 Wargamer's Annual .  I've just gone back and cropped the original image and sharpened things up with Photoshop Elements 9.  The picture now seems much better than the version that appeared with my article on vignettes, but you'll have to be the judge(s) ultimately. -- Stokes

H ere are three views of the promised Stollenian (Prussian) hussar command vignette.  The uniforms are based on a couple of the Bryan Fosten plates and text descriptions in Frederick the  Great's Cavalry .  Once again, not perfect by any stretch, but we're getting there.  The figures were painted in my usual mix of oils with hobby acrylics for detailing.  Some lining was carried out using dark brown and a dark blue.  Where lining proved difficult, I washed those problematic, hard-t0-reach areas in dark brown before adding the detailing on top, for instance the silver lace, cord, and braid on the hussar officer waving his sword. The trick for all of the hussar braiding on the dolmans and pelisses is to use a fairly small brush with a good point and to avoid flooding the bristles with paint.  Then, use a very light touch under bright lighting and just barely touch the tip of the bristles to the top of buttons and braid on the castings....

Coming Shortly: A two-figure cavalry command vignette, consisting of Minden Prussian hussars.  Stay tuned! J ust finished applying the coat of acrylic gloss a few moments ago.  Spotted one tiny thing I need to touch up.  Rats!  Well, that will keep until tomorrow morning, when I tackle the groundwork, and then some photographs by late afternoon. -- Stokes