Step 8.0 The Guidons. . .

Definitely not perfect, and nowhere near as artistically done as some by others, these three squadron guidons should nevertheless do nicely. There is some medium brown highlighting on the Habsburg eagles, but it is not showing up in the photograph. I prefer to paint my own flags because I feel they match my painting style better than commercially produced items. So long as they look kind of like what they purport to be from three-six feet away, I'm happy.

Well, painting time has been scarce the last week or ten days for all of the usual reasons now that we are a few weeks into the fall semester and school online for The Young Master. But I have managed to finish the three squadron guidons above. Although they don't stand up to close inspection, and certainly would never win any awards, they should look pretty good at arm's length once fixed to the bearers' right hands and stirrups.

I went ahead and gave 'em two coats of acrylic gloss this afternoon to help protect them from my clumsy fingers during the delicate and tedious crazy gluing stage. All that remains now are the three drums plus touch-ups and acrylic glossing, and then the long dragoon saga comes to an end. Sort of. There is the matter of those last eight or nine to bring the regiment up to strength, which is to say the three regimental staff and six horse grenadiers.

-- Stokes

A Sunday Afternoon P.S.

I woke early today with more than half a mind to print out and overpaint three new guidons with an aim toward improving them. However, looking the the three in the flesh with that first mug of coffee, I changed my mind and decided to stick with these. They really don't look that bad in the fresh light of a new day. The photograph snapped last night under poor lighting conditions really does not do them justice, and they almost (almost) possess the same slightly exaggerated Gilder- and Mason-esque charm that enthralled so many of us 35-40 years ago. Much like some people never managed to leave behind the 1960s, I suppose, I've never managed to leave behind the photographs presented in the pages of those early issues of Miniature Wargames and Wargames Illustrated. The first two dozen or so of each were, in a word, magical. . . Saving throws totally unnecessary.

The 18th century? What's the Fascination?

Hessian musketeers by All the King's Men Toy Soldiers of Snellville, Georgia, U.S.A. Just a quick post post today, but I thought the above question might be interesting food for thought. Obviously, there is an array of possible periods, theaters, and conflicts that might catch our eyes. But what is it about the era 1700-1799 -- either real, or imagined? Is it the commanders and politics? The fairly straightforward tactics? The myriad of uniforms and flags? The variety and scope of the conflicts? The patchwork of various and sundry petty states, (at least in Central Europe)? I'm very interested to learn your thoughts. Don't be a lurker! Please leave a comment -- or even two or three. Have a nice day everyone!

An Early July Hussar Update. . .

Marginally neater in appearance with green bases, girths, and ivory horse markings added, but I need to neaten up some hooves now before moving onto the rest of the tack. W here in the world did June go? While I still ponder the answer to that question, how about a quick painting update on the first batch of 14 Minden Austrian hussars and Nadasdy? Good. I'm glad we are of a like mind. Still on the sloppy side, but I've managed to move things along, painting the green bases, white (ivory) horse markings, and beginning the miles and miles of tack adorning the various horses. I always like to begin with the girths spanning the horses' ribs which helped hold the saddles in place. Even with the figures mounted individually on temporary painting bases, these can be kind of tricky to access, but there we are. I've also used various Army Painter washes (Mid-Brown and Strong Tone) as well as their Speed Paint (Grim Black) to make the manes and tails of the horses a bit m...

Basic Reds Done at Last. . .

S till quite a way to go with the current batch of 20 human figures and a horse (of course), but they're actually starting to look like something after all of the red distinctions. Quite a bit of painting in hour-long sessions the last week as and when time has allowed. Mostly applying the basic dark red to facing areas and turnbacks followed by the inevitable touch-ups to clean up wobbly edges and those misplaced, minute splotches of Citadel Khorne Red. They're looking like so many Austrian infantry regiments of the era at this point, but the eventual flags will turn them magically into the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment, more or less, of the AWI period. But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. One frustrating point (ahem) of sad discovery. I've started trying to use those Winsor & Newton 'Series Seven' brushes (#1 rounds) purchased last spring, and the blasted things simply will not keep a point. Very frustrating since I have heard over the y...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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