A Small Painting Breather. . .

These two figures have been hanging around for several years now. Since 2013 or '14 maybe? High time then to do something with them!

A piece of sage advice came from one visitor (Wellington Man?) to the Grand Duchy of Stollen during the last few days, who suggested that I reward myself for finally getting the monster cuirassier regiment done by painting something small next. Hence the command vignette above, which I worked on in two short bursts of painting yesterday and another slightly longer session during the evening, just post-bedtime for the Young Master. The figure in red at right is intended to be, or at least is based upon various illustrations, portraits, and a painted 40mm flat found online of Charles de Rohan, Prince of Soubise.

Still blocking in the main base colors and highlights in acrylic at this point, but I must admit to feeling very pleased with the way the basic horse colors turned out. As usual, these are oils -- Van Dyke Brown and Sepia -- applied over yellow and a leather tan hobby acrylic bases respectively. I further wiped off the excess and then feathered over each with a clean, dry brush to soften the remaining color. Awfully time consuming for, say, a regiment of 30 horses, but the extra time and effort is worth it for a command vignette. Stay tuned in the coming days to see how things shape up with these two.

In the meantime, the 30 cuirassiers in bearskins have been placed in a plastic container for safe keeping while a few remaining tiny bits finished in oils dry to the touch before I apply two coats of acrylic gloss. I've also set up 60 or so Minden Austrian (German) infantry for basecoating but have yet to decide whether these will become proper Austrians in 'white', who will march beneath earlier WAS-era flags. . . Or blue coated Reichsarmee troops (in uniforms of Austrian cut), who will eventually take the field beneath equally flamboyant standards. I haven't been able to make up my mind quite yet, but daydreaming is the thing as I mentioned in yesterday's post.

Further back in the painting queue, are some Minden Uhlans de Saxe, I think, given to me by the amazingly wonderful Grand Duchess for Christmas 2016, that really ought to see the light of day on the painting table. And, given an apparent surplus of Austrian grenadiers in bearskins currently residing in the drawer of lead, if things go well and I actually have some time left during the last quarter of 2019, I might just whip up a smaller tw0-comany composited unit of Grenadiers drawn from a couple of regiments with widely divergent uniform and facing colors. Given my scarce hobby time and glacial painting production of late, though, that is, without doubt, getting a little ahead of myself. Let's get Soubise and his aide finished first!

-- Stokes

Comfortable Rules for Games of Glossy Toy Soldiers in the Old Style. . .

Introduction A Tangled Mass is a game of toy soldiers in the old style, set more or less in the middle part of the 18 th century. Our miniature forces are colorful and, we hope, glossy. Although the latter, like so much else, is up to the discretion of the players. But it is the modeling, brushwork, and unit organization of hobby greats like Gilder, Mason, and Robinson that provide our visual touchstone and continue to inform "the look of the thing" even now. Tabletop armies in A Tangled Mass can be historic, semi-historic, or whimsically fictitious, but the more flags and mounted officers, the better. Formations, while bearing some resemblance to their historic precedents, are generic: column, line, or extended order for lighter types. Squares, while possible, are less common than during all of that later Napoleonic madness with its guillotines and Spanish ulcers. And we'll simply choose not to mention patent leather dancing pumps, or that unseemly bedr

Prussian 3rd Garrison Regt. Update. . .

Still a few small things to do, including apply fleshtone to a left hand on an officer that I somehow missed at some point plus lace on the drummers and officers , but we're very close to the glossing stage. L ots of painstaking work to clean up edges, highlight folds, and touch up various bits and pieces the last few evenings. My trusty little Sony Cybershot, I fear, has gone to that big electronics place in the sky and no longer seems to be working. Well, I've had it since 2013, and small electronics don't last forever, so I cannot complain. With that little hiccup in mind, I snapped today's shot with my iPhone, brightened, and cropped it in Fotor before sharing it here. Again, the blue is not quite so bright in reality, but the auto-improve, or whatever they call it, makes for nice bright photographs in which everything shows up. Not long before these are done, and The Young Master was suitably please when I asked him to have a look a few minutes ago. -- Sto

A Break in the Radio Silence. . .

S till plugging away at the 60 or so Wied Infantry currently on the painting bench as and when work and family life permit. Using three different whites for the clothing, shoulder belts, and officers' wigs plus trying some Army Painter quick washes. My friend and one-time online magazine co-editor Greg Horne (the man behind The Duchy of Alzheim , still one of my blog and hobby touchstones) suggested I give washes a try a month or two ago, and I think he might be onto something. Admittedly, he suggested the Citadel contrast range, but what I purchased eventually is in that general direction. I am especially pleased with the Army Painter flesh wash, which picks out the facial details on the Minden figures very nicely. I've applied it on top of my usual Windsor & Newton alkyd oil fleshtone and then highlighted the brows, bridges of noses, cheeks, chins, lower lips, and knuckles/thumbs the next day with more of the fleshtone. Suddenly, and with relative ease, my paint

CelticCurmudgeon said…

My Dear Heinz-Ulrich, Greetings!

Your command vignette looks wonderful. I am in complete agreement that the multi step layer of painting those horses is hard work but produces magnificent results. Why not start on the Uhlans de Saxe? Do a small amount at each sitting and eventually they will be finished.

Enjoy the semester break.

Gerardus Magnus
Archbishop Emeritus

10:40 AM

Chris Kemp said…

They mature, like a good Port , or Stilton and are much better when they are finally painted. Excellent work, my compliments.

Regards, Chris.

4:22 PM

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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