The now finished Prussian Blacksmith vignette, which I call 'The Thrown Show.' Figures are from the amazing Minden Miniatures range while the mobile field forge and tools are by Berliner Zinnfiguren. The table was scratch-built using the ends of round toothpicks for the legs and a couple of pieces of white illustration board along with very careful cutting and gluing. Holding one's breath is always extremely helpful with tiny stuff like this.
How's the painting coming along, old man? Thought you'd never ask. Slower than molasses in January to be frank. The usual stuff associated with my courses and students I'm afraid, but I did manage to wrap up an article and send it along to the people waiting on it last weekend. I also managed to finish, finally, the Prussian blacksmith vignette above (the table and tools), and take a bunch of photographs of various things completed earlier this year to send along with the article.
So, while no painting occurred, Saturday was a delightful late morning and afternoon of miniature photography, followed with a bit of careful editing using Photoshop Elements 9 to brighten, sharpen, correct color cast, and crop everything. Hopefully a few of the pictures might be selected for eventual publication.
Miniature photography is almost as absorbing a pastime as painting and wargaming. Needless to say, it is fascinating to learn about how we might present our collections to their best advantage photographically speaking, and when I think of my early attempts at photography back when the Grand Duchy of Stollen blog started. . . Well, let's just say that my pictures have improved ten-fold during the last year or so. Still lots to learn and try, of course, but the rapid progress is nice to see.
With that in mind, I thought I'd include one picture from yesterday's batch of the blacksmith vignette for your viewing pleasure. As for today (Sunday), I am taking some time for myself, darn it, and will sit down to work some on the harnesses and traces of those final half dozen or so wagons and carts. They have sat idle and patiently behind me on the painting table for the last three weeks, but I want to get 'em finished because there is an 80-figure unit of RSM95 musketeers that I want to start.
The plan for these is to paint them as the various contingents of Ernestinisch Saxon infantry, part of the Reichsarmee, with each of the four planned companies in a slightly different uniform. That should help keep things moving forward without too much drudgery. I don't know that I can again face the thought of painting 80 figures in nothing but white uniforms like the two such regiments that already exist in my collection as part of the Army of Zichenau.
In the meantime, let's harness up!
-- Stokes
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Peter