Painting Resumes. . .

Believer it, or not, I actually got myself into the painting chair for two or three decent sessions yesterday after a four-month break! It turns out the company of generic jaegers are further along than I remembered with just various small and relatively quick details to add before they are finished and ready for glossing, followed by a bit of suggested terrain on their bases.

These were a Christmas gift from the Grand Duchess and Young Master in 2022. The usual Minden, or in this case Fife & Drum, figures. I am nothing if not predictable in my painting and collecting tastes.

For ease, the figures making up the 15-strong company have been mounted already in skirmish order on circular bases of various sizes. Two groups of three, a pair, and several singletons to array in skirmish order as needed. The usual 3mm ply bases from Litko. No photo updates today, however, since my camera battery needs charging, and my phone is upstairs on my dresser. Grrrrr.

Yesterday, I also applied flesh tone to the faces and hands on the single company of generic frei-infantry, which will get a quick flesh wash today followed by light brown for their hair, a wash of Army Painter something or other over that, and then the black bits -- stocks, hats, gaiters/shoes, cartridge pouches -- before continuing onto the light and darker blue bits.

Some visitors might recall that I am creating a combined two-company battalion (using the organization laid out in Young and Lawford's Charge!) of jaegers and frei-infantry to handle skirmishing duties for the Grand Duchy of Stollen. So, about 30 figures when all is said and done. Not very many because, well, there were not the same numbers of these lighter types in the mid-18th century compared to the swarms of skirmishers available to commanders in the later Napoleonic era.

My Electorate of Zichenau force will eventually have three companies of Croats, two of which have been painted and based for quite some time (since about 2010?). The third (15 figures) has been affixed to bases for 10+ years, but has moved up in the painting queue and is next in line after the generic double blues. And then it's back to either a large unit of Reichsarmee infantry, or the 30 or so Saxon Eureka cuirassiers although I need to find and consult the painting plan. If there is one!

Or possibly, now that I think of it, maybe I should do something with the large squadron of Russian dragoons, which were a Christmas gift a couple of years ago to the Young Master. At 13 and a half, he seems to run hot and cold on the idea of co-painting them with ol' Dad, so maybe I'll just tackle these solo as a birthday or Christmas surprise for this year?

But back to the painting present for a moment.

A bit less yard work outside today, so possibly more time for painting although there are various small work-related tasks to address too, with an eye to the rapidly approaching fall semester/term, so we'll see how it plays out. But at least a couple of hour-long sessions are planned, one this morning or afternoon, and another this evening after my usual evening promenade around the neighborhood following the Young Master's bedtime.

-- 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...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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