The Grand Duchy of Stollen

  Ok, maybe not an actual game with terrain and so forth laid out, but a cheery enough sight greeted me this morning as I looked over yesterday's brushwork once again with that first mug of coffee.   W hile I have taken a break from applying finer details to the first 16+ figures of the next unit, I have nevertheless forged ahead with base-coating the next 16 or so figures, using an old, crummy brush (a #6 round?).  You will also observe that I have started blocking in main colors on those, using #4 and #7 round brushes.  Dark blue and black so far.   Fairly easy, even mindless brushwork that progresses fairly quickly.  Visible progress is what we're after to keep the painting mojo going, the painting muse present, and the tedium demon at bay.   Three or four shorter sessions in the painting chair spread across the late morning and afternoon yesterday (Monday), as time presented itself, instead of the fabled marathon session, but I am pleased...

    A run of rainy, wet days has allowed me to catch up a bit with my painting.  So, here are a couple of quick shots showing where things stand with the first 16 or so figures in my version of the Schaumburg-Lippe-Bückeburg Infantry.  Just some cropping and a little brightening to help things show up.  Really just detailing now to finish the first company.  Depending on how I feel later this evening, I might press on and apply a mix of acrylic gesso and light gray as an basecoat/undercoat to the next eight  musketeer figures, three company sergeants, and remaining officers on foot. -- Stokes

  Still far from anything close to finished, but shaping up in a not unpleasant way. A nother couple of hours in the painting chair the last two evenings adding basic brown to the musket stocks and fur knapsacks on the left hip plus the dark silvery-gray 'Gunmetal' last night.  The latter is quite a bit darker than the usual silver that I have used for musket barrels, firelocks, etc. in the past, but much more realistic based on surviving examples I've seen over the years in various museums on either side of the Atlantic.   Next up, basic shoulder belts, and then I think I'll bounce along to the next eight musketeers in the queue before final small detailing to bring the first company of 19 to the glossing stage.  As a reminder, since the inception of the ongoing Grand Duchy of Stollen project way back in 2006, I have more or less followed the unit organization laid out in Charge! Or How to Play War Games (1967), which some small revisions for cavalry squadrons....