The Grand Duchy of Stollen

Blues and red silk bags done, red facings and turnbacks next, but I should probably finish up the metal bits on the horse tack before that. A spectacular late summer evening here, cool, sunny, with just the sound of crickets in the background.  A perfect time for an after dinner family bike ride around the neighborhood, or The Tour de Cul Sacs as we call it.  The Young Master had so much fun that he requested we go around twice.  We were away an hour.  The longest he has ever ridden on his own bike under his own power.  It was the most fun I've had since the three of us were out on cross-country skis together last winter.   Following his bedtime this evening, I stole back down here to Zum Stollenkeller Mk II to finish up the True Blue highlight on the jackets.  Metal parts on the horse tack tomorrow, which shouldn't take too long, just small dabs of paint really, so I might take out three small shrubs in a couple of beds before the sun...

The blue squadron of my composite cavalry regiment with silk bags newly highlighted with Scarlet on top of darker Cherry Red. S adly, today is the final day of summer vacation 2018.  Classes begin tomorrow bright and early at 8am for yours truly with my Henrik Ibsen and Society course on social problem plays since the late 1870s.   Syllabi have all been revised and uploaded to the cloud where students can access them after 1am Wednesday morning.  I've also uploaded various supplementary readings to the respective online course schedules and grade pages.  It has been a flurry of activity around here for the last two weeks, which explains the slow-down in painting and related updates here.   However, I have been able to return to the painting table during the last couple of days and pick up where I left off back on August 12th.  After finishing the medium-dark gray highlights on the black leather horse tack yesterday, I decided to give my...

Still not much to look at, but the horses are starting to look more like, well, horses in this second squadron of horse grenadiers. I 've spent about six hours over the last couple of days working on the horses, painting white markings and hooves, plus applying black GW acrylic black to the boots and bearskins of the riders.  I'll go ahead and work on the horses now until they are finished before returning to the troopers and trumpeters.   The next couple of steps will be the application of that medium-dark gray as a highlight to the horse tack plus the silver and brass oils to the bits and buckles of said tack.  The bald-faced horse in the front row (third from the left) will also get some fleshtone around its nostrils and lips.  I also need to work on the trumpeter's horse to prepare it for dappling.  Lots to do over the next several days then! -- Stokes

A pair of historic British infantry standards, which help to illustrate today's off-topic post rather nicely. I t's been some time since I have had one of those dreams.  Relax boys!  I mean a toy soldier dream that I remember the next morning.   My dream last night was a little different in that it was actually a painting table dream, and I was painting. . .  A gosling green infantry standard for some Napoleonic battalion with green facings.  Can't recall which regiment, but in the dream I was actually adding lighter green highlights to some of the folds, and there were 50 or so red-coated figures already on the table in the background awaiting their glossy coats of varnish.  That's all I remember.  At some later point, I woke up. Profoundly disturbing, and it can mean only one thing.  At some subconscious level, I am thinking of Napoleonics once again.  "Madness" to borrow a word from Young and Lawford's Charge! Or How to Pla...

A thin glaze of the alkyd oil Ivory Black over a medium-dark gray acrylic undercoat yields a pleasing basic black horse which can then be tailored by the random addition of white markings, hooves, and the occasional flesh-colored nose or lips. A fter a few evenings off doing other things, I buckled down and spent two sessions yesterday afternoon and again in the evening applying a glaze of Winsor & Newton alkyd oil Ivory Black to the rest of the horses in the second squadron with the exception of the trumpeter's horse, which will get a lighter treatment with some additional dappling if I can pull it off.  Need to think about how to do that though.  This morning early when I stole down here to Zum Stollenkeller Mk. II with that first mug of coffee before anyone else was up, the air was faintly redolent with the aroma of oils.  Ahhhh.  Not everyone's cup of tea, of course, but to me, this is one of the most pleasant side effects of using this particular med...

Three edited images of the test figures (after Auto Levels, brightening, and cropping) to make everything a bit easier to see.  I almost think this second batch will be more fun to paint, and turn out even better, that the first batch.  I spent two sessions today undercoating the horses in medium-dark gray,  Tomorrow (Monday) evening, a glaze of Ivory Black alkyd oil thinned with Liquin Original. T hree shots of the almost finished test figure(s) for the second squadron of horse grenadiers.  Thought the trooper still needs some light dry-brushing of medium-dark gray on the upper parts of his bearskin, I must admit that I am pleased with the way he and his trusty steed have turned out so far.  I especially like the effect of the metallic oils and the fleshy upper lip of the horse.   Yes, the horse's lip.  In much the same way that men's neckties enable us to personalize our more formally attired selves just a bit, hoof colors, w...

Two views of the current test figure after a couple of happy hours or so at the painting table. I spent some time, after my usual summer evening walk around the neighborhood, in the painting chair yesterday (Thursday) at work on a single test figure for the second squadron of 14 horse grenadiers.  Everything is pretty simple and even mindless at this early stage.  For instance, the blue coat and saddle cloth began with an undercoat of very dark Ral Partha 'Dark Blue' with some judicious 'True Blue' highlights on top of that.  The silk bag atop the bearskin has been given a quick slop of dark 'Cherry Red,' which is later highlighted with 'Scarlet.'  A few of these recently purchased cheap craft paints have their uses. The horse was painted with a very, very thin glaze of alkyd oil 'Ivory Black' over an acrylic 'Zinc' undercoat, a color I would describe a medium gray.  He appears a wee bit dark in these photographs, but the horse...

  No question about it.  You just cannot beat oil-based metallics for their glittery brilliance.  Silver, gold, and brass (a nice bright mix of the first two colors) where appropriate.  The finial and cords received a heavy dry brushing of gold. T wo more, slightly better, in-progress worktable shots of the first squadron of Wurttemberg-inspired horse grenadiers with all of the metallic bits done.  All very small to miniscule, but they impart a nice glitter to the unit that was absent before this step.  The trumpet banners still need so work, but for now these 16 figures have been put in their Allen Edmonds shoebox while the remaining 14 men and horses get some TLC.  First up this evening, undercoating the horses with yellow, tan, light gray, and off-white before the subsequent oil glaze of Paynes Gray or Ivory Black.  I haven't decided which yet.  Probably best to try a single test figure before spending the time to do all of them, ...