A Vernacular Architectural Saturday Afternoon Digression. . .

Sounds like a Syd Barret-era Pink Floyd composition, doesn't it? Or possibly something from The Move.

The above book arrived via DHL a couple of hours ago (our mail lady brought it to the door for a signature), and I am just tickled pink by the depth of the subject matter and overall fine quality of the reprint. I actually forgot all about my order of the book a few weeks back, so its arrival was a lovely surprise.

Anyway, 510 pages of copious text (in German), photographs, mechanical drawings, and tables. Very pleased with the purchase! A source I have been aware of, and meant to purchase a copy "one day" for several years, but it was not until Charles Grant's recent how-to piece in the 2023 Wargamers' Annual and the related discussion over on the Fife and Drum Miniatures forum that I took the leap.

A bit pricey, but look around online for alternative sellers to Amazon, which is what I did, and you might be able to pick up a copy of this coffee table-sized tome at considerable savings. Always a good thing, because more is left in the war chest for toy soldiers, paints, and scenic items! My own copy cost roughly half of those on Amazon in price with a bit more to cover shipping from Germany.

It's worth noting that the text is NOT old-fashioned Fraktur script, which makes use much easier for modern eyes. But even if you don't want to attempt close reading and/or translation with a German-English dictionary, there is lots of information to be gleaned from the pictures and illustrations for scratch-building models of rural structures to set an admittedly Germanic scene atop our respective tables.

Here's a bit more information abut the book for anyone who might be interested in whether, or not to track down a copy:

Das Bauernhaus im Deutschen Reiche und in seinen Grenzgebieten (1905/1906). Mit historisch-geographischer Einleitung (Farmhouses in the German Reich and Its Frontier Areas. With Historical-Geographical Preface. . . My very rough translation). The author/editor was Dietrich Schäfer

The book was apparently reissued in 2000 and contains, besides copious text, numerous illustrations and architectural drawings of rural structures found around Imperial Germany just before the First World War. Also included are many tables with information on the various styles of farmhouses and outbuildings as they existed at that time. The book was originally funded and published by a national association of architects and engineers, based in Dresden, early in the 20th century.

Again, my own translation is very rough -- off the top of my head in fact -- so native speakers of German are invited to chime in if I've made mistakes anywhere. I would usually ask The Grand Duchess Sonja to assist, but it's fun to stretch my own linguistic wings from time to time. Who knew that all those years of studying Norwegian (both written varieties), Swedish, Danish, Old Norse, and a semester of Dutch would be so helpful when it comes to approaching the occasional German text?

Ok, time now for a bit more jaeger painting! I've held forth more than long enough for everyone. Blah, blah, blah. . .

Kind Saturday Afternoon Regards Everyone,

-- Stokes

It's Early Days Yet. . .

M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings. Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat. The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week. Next up, the neck stocks. I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit. Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step. "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes

And We're Off!!!

Arrrgh! Gotta go back into camera settings on my iPhone to bring all of the frame into focus. Blast! Painting is underway on the 60 or so Minden Austrians, which are slated to become my version of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment of AWI renown. More or less indistinguishable from Austrians of the era really, right down to the red facings and turnbacks, but the eventual flags (already in my files) will set them apart. I went ahead and based-coated all of them over a couple of days lthe last week of August, using a mix of light gray and white acrylic gesso, before next applying my usual basic alkyd oil flesh tone to the faces and hands. In a day or two, I'll hit that with Army Painter Flesh Wash to tone things down a bit and bring some definition to the faces and hands. As usual, the plan is to focus on about 20 figures at a time, splitting the regiment roughly into thirds along with the color party and regimental staff. Depending on ...

The Eventual Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment. . .

The Anhalt-Zerbst regiment musters in the drill square to sort themselves into platoons and companies during the coming weeks Fall maneuvers if you will. A large dose of real life the last few days with the start of classes next Monday, various preparatory meetings, and finishing up a few other things this week. But, I managed to sort out 60 or so Minden Austrian infantry from the pile and get 'em stuck to temporary painting bases. Must carefully drill out the hands of several NCOs for flagpoles and pole arms this weekend before the usual basecoat. I'm thinking of mixing the usual white gesso with the usual light gray to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. Applying both base- and undercoat in one fell swoop as my grandmother used to say. In the meantime, the recently finished squadron of Saxon cuirassiers has been placed carefully in one of the clear acrylic boxes on my shelves until I have the suitable flag to affix. -- Sto...

Archduke Piccolo said…

Talk about thorough! Most war gamers like to research their subjects, but this is going the extra nine yards! I'll be watching this space...
Cheers,
Ion

3:24 PM

Chris Kemp said…

That sounds like an excellent find, Archduke. I hit my personal limit with a limited print run of a glossy coffee table book showing the Bond movie sets, for £850.

I so badly wanted the detailed plans for a secret supervillain lair disguised as an extinct volcano! :-(

Regards, Chris.

7:15 PM

tidders said…

I have the book as well; I sometimes sit and leaf through it to get some ideas for buildings. I've too many buildings but maybe one can be added sometime ... :)

9:20 AM

Paul Mahoney said…

Ooh that would be handy for my Imaginations set in the Erzgebirge in Saxony.

3:18 PM

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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