Crossing the Finish Line. . .

After a busy morning filled with lots of little things on the dreaded end of semester/term 'To Do' list, I took a long lunch to dry-brush the bases with some cheap tan craft paint and then apply some foliage clumps with careful dots of superglue. To my mind, at least, the finished company of Slavonische Brooder Grenzer look like they are emerging from the edge of a wood to harass an exposed Prussian flank a hundred yards or so away.

A few days' break, and then it's time to apply the usual white acrylic gesso to those last 14 or 15 Eureka Saxon cuirassiers. I've been doing some research, and will paint them more or less in line with 1730s-era uniforms, which were a bit more colorful than later in the middle part of the century. I think. To be sure, I must check my sources one more time before applying brush to figures.

-- Stokes

An Early Tuesday Morning P.S.

Thank you everyone for your interest in the genzers and related question(s). These troops will make good opponents for the Anspach-Bayreuth jagers and von Hordt free infantry painted back in 2023 (?). They match nicely in style. But I'll "need" to rebase the first two companies of grenzers painted back in the 2010s to match these since they will form a large, composite unit of light troops for the Electorate of Zichenau.

On that note, I don't plan to replace my old school green base method for the line troops. The more realistic terrained style is reserved for staff bases, skirmishers like these, and a few other specialist units, for example all of those transport wagons, pontoon, and limber teams painted earlier in the century.

It might be time for a review and, perhaps, a tabletop battle or two to celebrate the coming summer holidays with that in mind. What say you? Sort of a project retrospective 'The Grand Duchy of Stollen at (Almost) 20.' Longtime visitors might recall that the project has its origins stretching back to early December 2005, with the first actual unit started during the late summer of '06. The '1st Musketeers,' consisting of Revell 1/72 Prussians in the marching pose. I think it took something like a dozen boxes to gather enough figures for that 60-figure unit.

But I digress!

This particular batch of figures has been fun to tackle, and I am relieved to check them off the ol' mental list of things to do. I've only carted them around in their unpainted state for about 15 years now, so it was time to get 'em painted finally.

Speaking of which, the Saxon cuirassiers await. Tally ho!

-- 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

Search This Blog