The Grand Duchy of Stollen

The current crop of wagons after some dry-brushing and washes with light gray to weather them a bit. C aptain's log. . .  Stardate 30 July 2014.  Summer is in full swing here in the Grand Duchy of Stollen as it no doubt is for many of you in the Northern Hemisphere.  July has been delightfully unusual in our little part of the galaxy this year.  With the exception of a day or two here and there, it has been unseasonably cool and green, something that is not typical for this time of the year in the midst of Central Illinois.  Usually by this time, it is hot, dry, and the grass is uniformly brown most places.  Hopefully, August and September will continue in a similar temperate and comfortable vein.  Cross your fingers and toes! At the moment, I am listening online to Norwegian State Broadcasting (NRK), Program 1 out of Bergen on the west coast of Norway, a place where I spent a lot of time in a previous life about 15-20 years ago.  The program features a pleasing mix of chat

  A large two-wheeled cart -- its load of freight is yet to be painted -- by Blue Moon, I think.  The driver is of course from the wonderful Minden line.  No attempt was made to model the reins between the driver and his horse since I wanted something that would stand up a bit better to handling, especially when the Young Master is a wee bit older and I indoctrinate. . . er. . . um. . . introduce him to tabletop wargaming.  You know, one of those many compromises all of us make in one way or other with our painting and modelling.  Y ou know, some mornings, just nothing goes right.  For instance, after a difficult and challenging breakfast with the Young Master, who clearly got up on the wrong side of the bed today, I retreated to the relative safety of Zum Stollenkeller with another mug of black coffee for some much needed time away from wife and child.  And to take some nicer photographs of that recently completed first batch of five wagons and carts.   Here's a photo

Here they are, the first batch of wagons and carts all done except for a bit more Woodland Scenics foliage material to masquerade as clumps of weeds along the edges and down the middle of  each base. O k, I'm calling them just about done, barring a bit more tinkering with foliage material from Woodland Scenics this evening after the Young Master's bedtime.  What I was aiming for with the ground cover on each base was the impression of very minor, unpaved, and narrow roads, paths really, with grass and weeds along the sides.   I recall reading somewhere in the last 20+ years of so -- perhaps in Jac Weller's Wellington at Waterloo ? -- that prior to the mid-19th century many so called "roads" on the continent of Europe were rather vague and neglected.  As a rule, many were not paved, they could be 10-40 feet in width, depending on importance and proximity to population among other things, poorly defined and maintained, and treacherous in rain or winter weathe

Here is where things stand with those first five wagons and carts.  Freshly glossed with two coats of shiny stuff and all done save for a wee bit of ground cover on the bases to approximate sandy tracks in the political, social, and cultural backwater that is the Grand Duchy of Stollen, somewhere in the vicinity of present-day Latvia. I n case anyone has wondered recently whether or not I've fallen from the edges of the earth, the answer is no.  Just trying to do too much with the little remaining free time before things begin gearing up for the autumn semester in about six weeks.  Sigh.  I'm already thinking about what needs doing where syllabi revisions are concerned (shakes head sadly). On a slightly more positive note, I am extremely close to wrapping things up with the first five wagons and carts plus teams and drivers/drovers as you will observe above.  Only 11 to go, and then it's time to get to a rather large regiment of RSM95 infantry that's been in the