Here is where the entire composite battalion of grenadiers stands as of the morning of Day #30. . . Tuesday, July 30th conveniently enough.
A couple of painting sessions squeezed in yesterday around some quiet time to myself doing other things, but no work in the yard I hasten to add. The Grand Duchess and Young Master are away for a few days on a mother-son camping trip, so yours truly can focus on getting these finished by Midnight on the 31st!
At this stage of the painting game, it is difficult to see progress given all of the little details that have been painted already. To me, of course, outstanding items are immediately apparent.
Apropos that particular observation, I came across a few small areas still in need of paint yesterday while taking care of other details. These were small enough, however, that it took only a minute or two to rinse the brush, open a bottle or two of paint, and apply color to fix the omissions. Even with To Do lists, I have somehow managed to overlook a few things, perhaps underscoring the necessity of making lists and checking them thrice!
But the missed items were soon fixed, and I was able to continue painting officer sashes, gloves, swords, and sword hilts in fairly short order with my ol' faithful 000 sable spotter. The bristles now have a slight hook to them, never a good sign when it comes to brushes, but the point is still good, and I have been amazed at the tiny drops of paint it has allowed me to place and the even tinier lines/dashes it has enabled me to paint on this current batch of toy soldiers.
So, there we are. As long as it continues to do its job, I'll keep this brush close at hand, but it won't be long before I'll need to spring for another 000 sable spotter like it. In more recent years, I've relied on it less and less, but when you need a tiny brush, you need a tiny brush. It has certainly been useful this time around.
I decided to undercoat the officers' gloves in tan and then highlight with Bone White as opposed to straight Hollywood Smile white, which seems to yield a nice 'leathery' effect. In fact, I also used the former as a the undercoat on the breeches, waistcoats, gaiters highlighting with the latter.
Crossbelts were handled a little differently, undercoated in light gray and then highlighted with, again, Hollywood Smile white. None of this is really necessary for convincing whites on roughly 30mm figures (actually 1/56), but it has been interesting to see the subtle differences in tone that result, and I do like the finished 'look' yielded by an undercoat and a single highlight. No commercially produced color triads for this painter!
To bring this rambling update to a close, we're in the home stretch ladies and gentlemen! Just wigs/hair and queues, gaiter buttons (on the white gaiters), and scabbards to do before acrylic glossing can take place. Look closely, and you'll see the permanent bases are all ready and waiting in a stack just behind the grenadier battalion.
Attaching the 33 foot figures and horse to them will be the final step and, realistically, will probably not happen until August 1st or 2nd, but the painting should be all done. I've even got a parade for the entire Grand Duchy of Stollen Collection -- 13 years in the making as of August -- and a few small tabletop battles planned. Stay tuned!
-- Stokes
And for good measure, here is a close-up of the two foot officers and drummers waiting patiently (?!) for their powdered wigs, cues, and their gaiter buttons in a few cases.
After some quietly muttered blue language, the buttons on the 16 figures that have white gaiters are finished. The Knoetel illustration of the von Hessenstein Regiment, on which these figures are based, does not appear to have garters worn with the gaiters, so I have not bothered painting them in except with a few, highlighting the Bone White undercoat with a dash or two of pure Hollywood Smile white pigment. They still don't look too bad. I do the buttons on any white gaiters with a smidgen of black paint on a small brush and simply drag it lightly across the tops of the buttons, leaving a tiny bit of color in a fairly neat line across the tops of said buttons. It leaves behind the right impression.
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