The Grand Duchy of Stollen

14 deliciously well-proportioned horses and bosniaks by Minden Miniatures with steel wire lances by Northstar.  These come in 100mm lengths, which I trimmed down to 55mm before cementing them into drilled out hands.  A second drop of the stuff at the right stirrup stabilizes and secures everything.  Small paper pennions by yours truly. A few recently released Minden bosniaken for your perusal.  A large squadron according to my emerging Call It Macaroni rules for tabletop warfare in the mid-18th century.  Finally all assembled, lanced, pennioned, tacked down to their bases, and ready for their white base coat of acrylic gesso.  And only two months later than intended.  The question begs.  Can I get them painted and glossed by New Year's Eve?  Only 14 figures and horses.  Surely, even I can manage that.  Right?  Right??!! -- Stokes

H appy Thanksgiving from all of us here in The Grand Duchy of Stollen!  While the day is already spoken for, I hope for some quiet time to undercoat 14 horses this evening, once things settle down, in preparation later oil paints, wiping off, and horse furniture before going onto paint the uhlans atop.  Let's see how things progress.  In the meantime, let me at that pumpkin pie, which The Young Master assembled all by himself this year with minimal supervision from ol' Dad. -- Stokes

Austrian pandours, circa 1742.  These might provide an interesting painting reference for 15 or so Minden figures that have been lurking in the leadpile unpainted, as yet, for a number of years now. S oliciting input this Sunday morning from any visitors to the GD of S who care to comment.  In the ongoing tinkering with my moral rules, I am still not quite certain where to put the aforementioned troops on the A-E continuum.  I know that such troops could be very deadly and cutthroat in the right circumstances, yet run away all too easily in others.  Somehow making them D or E class doesn't seem quite the thing though, so I need some more informed guidance.  What are your views and the reasoning behind them?  Thank you in advance -- Stokes

 The now departed author and hobby personality playing a colonial game in 1978.  No hiding the width of neckties from that era! A nother one of the hobby greats, Stuart Asquith, passed away during the weekend.  While we never met (I am on the wrong side of the Atlantic), I was fortunate enough to exchange a couple of short emails with him 10 or 12 years ago when he was involved with a blog about all things Charge!    Said blog was managed by four or five UK hobbyists during the wave of enthusiasm that followed the 2006 Sittangbad and 2007 Mollwitz refights at Partizan in the U.K. just as hobby and imagination blogging took off in a big way.  Sadly, the blog disappeared pretty quickly, but it was a real blast interacting with Stu even if only briefly and in passing.  He was very personable and humble in his emails to me, expressing surprise that a stranger in the U.S. had an inkling of who he was. Stu Asquith's writing years ago in Military ...

  The Young Master (left) spars with his more advanced opponent (right) during the Friday evening belt test.  The 50+ children and adults were put through their paces during the 90-minute event.  I can't recall ever seeing Paul so sweaty! O ur son The Young Master, who wrestles with Autism Spectrum Disorder, earned his yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do during a grueling belt test early Friday evening.  I am so proud of him that I can hardly speak without getting teary. -- Stokes The Young Master, in his grizzly bear costume, gets his new belt tied by The Grand Duchess at the belt ceremony this morning.  A trick-or-treat session followed for the children with a covered dish lunch after that.