Highlighting the Horse Tack. . .

A close-up of the dark gray being applied with a feather touch and an old 000 sable that has served me well for 20+ years believe it, or not.

So, how are we faring with those horse grenadiers?

Well, getting very near the end, or rather nearer. This weekend, I have spent various painting sessions, usually no more than 60-90 minutes at a time given the tedious nature of the work, applying dark gray highlights here and there to the various areas of horse tack. Yes. I know, I know. It's official. I need my head examined.

Once dry and at arm's length, however, it adds some nice dimension to the figures and the overall impression they make. Blame the work of Doug Mason and others as featured so long ago in Miniature Wargames and early issues of Wargames Illustrated, which has always been my pot of gold at the end of the proverbial painting rainbow where my own efforts with the brush are concerned.

Just a few more brush strokes -- dabs really -- to get the bridles highlighted, and then silver and brass oils for the stirrups, bits, and various tiny buckles on the bridles plus the two trumpets. Then, touch-ups, trumpet banners, as well as the cords, tassels, finial, and colonel's standard. Little by Little if you'll excuse the mid-1980s Robert Plant reference.

-- Stokes

A Painting P.S.

Yes, there are indeed a few tight spots when painting cavalry already mounted in pairs to their permanent bases, but anything to reduce the number of steps necessary before the figures are all done, you understand, since the number of miniatures is effectively doubled when tackling riders AND horses.

Good lighting is a must, of course, and when working on smaller bits, I try to think like a dentist or surgeon and look for the best angle of approach as far as the lighting and brush go. It might not work for everyone, and it is certainly somewhat unorthodox, but it works reasonably well for me.

However, I have found recently that the old eyes sometimes need help focusing, or take a moment to do so. Sigh. I fear the time for bifocals may be at hand when the next eye exam comes around this fall. It will be time for the Grand Duchess to put me in a home for the aged (or the criminally deranged) before you know it.

It's Early Days Yet. . .

M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings. Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat. The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week. Next up, the neck stocks. I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit. Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step. "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes

And We're Off!!!

Arrrgh! Gotta go back into camera settings on my iPhone to bring all of the frame into focus. Blast! Painting is underway on the 60 or so Minden Austrians, which are slated to become my version of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment of AWI renown. More or less indistinguishable from Austrians of the era really, right down to the red facings and turnbacks, but the eventual flags (already in my files) will set them apart. I went ahead and based-coated all of them over a couple of days lthe last week of August, using a mix of light gray and white acrylic gesso, before next applying my usual basic alkyd oil flesh tone to the faces and hands. In a day or two, I'll hit that with Army Painter Flesh Wash to tone things down a bit and bring some definition to the faces and hands. As usual, the plan is to focus on about 20 figures at a time, splitting the regiment roughly into thirds along with the color party and regimental staff. Depending on ...

The Eventual Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment. . .

The Anhalt-Zerbst regiment musters in the drill square to sort themselves into platoons and companies during the coming weeks Fall maneuvers if you will. A large dose of real life the last few days with the start of classes next Monday, various preparatory meetings, and finishing up a few other things this week. But, I managed to sort out 60 or so Minden Austrian infantry from the pile and get 'em stuck to temporary painting bases. Must carefully drill out the hands of several NCOs for flagpoles and pole arms this weekend before the usual basecoat. I'm thinking of mixing the usual white gesso with the usual light gray to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. Applying both base- and undercoat in one fell swoop as my grandmother used to say. In the meantime, the recently finished squadron of Saxon cuirassiers has been placed carefully in one of the clear acrylic boxes on my shelves until I have the suitable flag to affix. -- Sto...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

Search This Blog