The Grenadiers Are Done!!!

The humble 'To Do' list for this particular batch. I finally figured out, in about 2005 or so, that a haphazard approach was not getting the figures painted, hence lists that I can consult and update as things are completed. Hmmm. It only took me 20+ years to get to that point. Yes. 'Slow normal' as my maternal grandparents used to joke.

Today is very rainy and wet outside, so a perfect excuse to apply a couple of glossy coats to the 30-odd figures after breakfast and then prepare the Litko bases. My painting enthusiasm has had a much needed shot in the arm. Or is it simply that these are finally done, and I can check them off the ol' mental list? No matter. They are finished, look reasonably good to my eyes, and I can start thinking about the next batch. Prussian grenadiers in mitre caps. Or maybe those four new buildings? Decisions, decisions.

-- Stokes

Temporary painting bases are still very much in evidence, but the finished battalion looks pretty good. The swallows nests, drums, and white gloves on three officers were the final bits, completed during afternoon and evening sessions.

Comments

marinergrim said…

Stokes, very nice as always. I paint to a strict sequence in order to keep focus. Especially when painting a combined unit. Like you in those cases I use a list too.

11:57 AM

Der Alte Fritz said…

Have you changed the visual format of your blog? There is no longer a heading at the top of the page and no tabs for your other pages.

2:18 PM

Ed M said…

I admire your planning and record keeping--and of course your results. Splendid.

6:23 PM

Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.com said…

Time for a parade! Even small victories deserve a celebration.

8:45 AM

WSTKS-FM Worldwide said…

Thanks for your comments, men. Jim, I revamped the blog about two months ago. The old layout was looking cluttered, so a few of the extra pages had to go.

Best Regards,

Stokes

8:46 AM

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 ...

Sunday Morning Coffee with AI. . .

A rmed with a second cup of fresh, strong coffee, I messed around a bit this morning with artlist.io using its image to image function in an attempt to convert my hand-drawn map from September 2006 to something that more resembles an old map from the mid-18th century. And just like my experiments with Ninja AI in June, the results are mixed. The above map is pretty good, but Artlist keeps fouling up the place names and has trouble putting a faint overlay of hexes across the entire area. Hexes, admittedly, are not likely to be found on any genuine maps from the era in question, but there we are. Frankly, I prefer the appearance of the Ninja map, but there were problems getting it to correct its errors. Grrrr. As is the case with so much having to do with the various AI's out there now, the output generated is a direct result of the prompts entered. For text alone, and when you develop a lengthy, highly detailed prompt, it is...

Continued Regional Map Revisions. . .

F ooled around a bit more with the revised map just before and after dinner this evening, using the Fotor app to reinsert missing text . I also removed a few other things using the 'Magic Eraser' function, which works surprisingly well. Now, we're getting somewhere. I just have to figure out how to ensure that the text is all a uniform font style and maybe figure out a way to add a few bunches of trees to suggest forested areas, Ninja AI is not always entirely cooperative to the tune of "I'm sorry Dave. I can't do that." -- Stokes

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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