Just Three More Buttons. . .

A reprise of the second-from-the-top photograph, but this time brightened and cropped to show just the three figures making up the company command vignette. Or it will be a vignette once some minor terrain features have been added post-glossing.

Well, I mistakenly THOUGHT that my Ansbach-Beyreuth company of 15 (Fife & Drum) jaegers was done. But -- and it seems there is always a 'but' in these matters -- there are three, or possibly four or five buttons down the front of the officer's waistcoat that need a dot of gold. And one or two more touch-ups that I spot now looking at the pictures.

But then I will stop this madness and call them done save for the usual acrylic gloss varnish and some Woodland Scenics materials on the bases.

In any case, here are a few photographs snapped this (Saturday) morning to illustrate where things stand at the moment. Some of my favorite castings, I think, among the many gems produced by Minden, F&D, and Crann Tara. There are a number of other brands of mid-18th century miniatures that I like, and many more than that on the market (we all have our favorites), but these three are far and away the very best in my view.

And it's amazing what a tripod with timer will do to improve one's picture taking results! I did not brighten the pictures in the online editor I use (Fotor), however, to give a truer idea of my color-wash combination of the Citadel, Army Painter, Vallejo, and craft paint products used to paint the figures shown.

In a nutshell, the breeches, coats, and flesh received appropriate washes after the basic colors with many, but not all, of the surfaces highlighted sparingly as the final step. As the song goes, it's getting better all the time. . . It couldn't get much worse!

Otherwise, the company should be ready for the Young Master to command in our game set for next weekend. The planned Battle of Spargelzeit. We'll be using our emerging set of morale rules from our totally derivative A Tangled Mass set, which has a had a few changes and additions since our last outing.

Stay tuned!

-- Stokes

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...

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 ...

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!

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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