A Painting Update for July 27th. . .

Here's where things stand by the evening of July 27th.

A couple of pleasant painting sessions in the ol' chair yesterday. One in the afternoon, and another during the mid-evening after The Young Master's bedtime and a walk around the neighborhood. Still lots to do, of course, but the first 32 of the musketeer figures are coming together.

A couple of painting points. One, various sources differ on the color scheme of the hat pompoms and tassels of the Schaumburg-Lippe-Bückeburg Infantry. Some say these were plain white, others suggesting red and white. I've opted for the former (actually white atop a light gray undercoat).

Likewise, when it comes to the jacket lapels, sources indicate either red, blue, or none at all. After double-checking, I went back and repainted them dark blue, highlighted sparingly with a mid-blue to match the rest of the coats. Neck stocks too seem open to question when it comes to color. I went for red this time around as a change from my usual default black.

The second painting point was. . . Well, darn it. I've now forgotten the second observation, which clearly must have been very important! Either a senior moment, or not yet enough coffee to clear the early morning fog. It is just before 8am here in The Grand Duchy.

In any case, I think it's time to finish the leather shoulder straps for the remaining dozen figures in the forefront of the picture, and then add hair-queues, mustaches, hat lace, and visible buttons for all 32, making sure everything is at the same point and finished, before moving onto the next 16 bare metal castings in the back of the room.

Ideally, I'd like to finish painting and glossing this unit and get them affixed to their Litko plywood bases by September 1st when the fall semester kicks off. Let's see if that actually happens. In the meantime, "Charge!"

-- Stokes

Presenting the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere!!!

Here they are, with the rearmost nine figures still drying, three squadrons of the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere, now in the service of the Grand Duchy of Stollen. And now, it's onto that artillery!

And It's the End of September!!!

Saxony's Ploetz Cuirassiers, an illustration lifted from the Kronoskaf website, which has thus far guided my spectacularly glacial painting of 30 28mm Eureka Saxon cuirassiers purchased all the way back in October 2016. A gray, cool Saturday here in Mid-Michigan with rain in the forecast. The Grand Duchess is away at a conference, so it's just "The Boys" here at home. The Young Master (almost 15) has retreated to his room for something or other following breakfast while I have stolen back down here to Zum Stollenkeller (masquerading as my office) with a second mug of coffee and both cats comfortably ensconced nearby. Enjoying the late morning and still in my pajamas! Not much planned for today beyond designing a couple of promotional flyers for workshops my department is presenting (small parties we will throw?) in October and November. With maybe a bit of on the next podcast script. More important, I am toying with the idea of returning for an hour or...

Happy September 2nd!!!

T his weekend, the question of what, precisely, constitutes an "imagination" came up in an online forum of which I am a part. To be fair, the issue originates from further afield in a Facebook group that I am not a member of, but I weighed in with my own view. The following was in response to the question posed yesterday (Sunday) morning by an exasperated member of my own rather more gentlemanly town square, who had been met with a strident response to information he shared about his (admirable) hobby activities on said FB group. Here is, more or less, what I wrote: To my mind, the concept of imagi-nation(s) is a broad one. It can range from historical refights or what-if scenarios/battles/campaigns between armies of a particular era, to completely made up combatants operating in a quasi-historical setting, to the rather generic red and blue forces of the Prussian Kriegspiel that examine a particular tactical problem, task, or exercise. ...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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