A New Year's Eve 2021 Painting Progress Report. . .

Well, The Young Master has been too busy for a game with ol' Dad this Christmas week as I had hoped, so I have instead busied myself at the painting table to clean up and make some headway with his version of Prussia's 3rd Garrison Regiment.  Here is where things stand this (Thursday) evening.  Getting through the highlight stage before adding lots of fine detailing. 

The two drummers at this point need another thinned coat of very dark blue before I tackle the white sleeve chevrons and swallows wings.  So too do a few of the hats, which need some thinned black in the corners.  Overall though, the figures don't look half bad considering there were two of us working on them last January, February, and March before my son took a break from fairly routine painting in short bursts with me.

Clearly, The Young Master prefers the actual games to painting.  And that's ok.  The wargaming hobby is a borad church after all. 

And as Greg Horne, the man behind The Duchy of Alzheim advised me a little over six years ago, you've got to follow kids' lead and let 'em pursue other interests if their enthusiasm wanes.  They'll be back.  

Nevertheless, The Young Master has asked when we might begin his new squadron of Russian dragoons.  I've told him that I need to get further along with his garrison regiment before we get started with the cavalry.

No sense in getting ahead of ourselves.  As I finally worked out in the early 2000s (after 20+ years of very unsystematic work on my now long dormant 15mm Corps-level Waterloo project), juggling several painting projects in the air at once, for me at least, leads nowhere fast.  Better to be just about finished with one project before starting another and make some visible, albeit slow, progress in a forward direction.  

Lots of figure painters and wargamers in the blogosphere seem to manage keeping several such project "plates" spinning on rods at once, and nevertheless churn out loads of well-painted figures in the process.  Sadly, I am not that talented.  Far better to recognize and acknowledge one's limitations, and then work within them instead of overreaching and becoming discouraged when things don't come together as quickly as they seem to for others.  Know what I mean?

-- Stokes 

 

P.S.

A late Christmas gift from my in-laws arrived just a little while ago with the mail. . .  Volume 9 of Refighting History (2021) by Charles S. Grant.  The Grand Duchess and I had planned to dress up and have a few cocktails in the run up to midnight.  Hmmm.  I don't know now.  ;-)