M. le Marquis...

I have had a fruitful day's painting. I've been working steadily away on the Regt. de Condé, and moreover have finally begun work on painting "Our Hero" himself!

I've had the miniature for a while-the Marquis de Montcalm figure from Front Rank's French and Indian War range- but was in no hurry to get him done until I decided on a paint scheme.

Well, in the end I've decided to give him a mulberry red coat with gold lace, this being the uniform of the hereditary Princes Ecclesiastical of the Bishopric of St. Vignobles.

I was going to give him a brown horse, but in the end I thought that a dappled grey would set off the uniform better. The only hitch was that painting horseflesh has always been tricky for me, and a dappled grey doubly so, and it took me a lot of courage- and a few glasses of red wine- before I got around to checking out online articles about painting horses, and then to actually getting down to work.

It's turning out quite decently, actually. You can see the results so far below.

I've pretty well finished the horse except for the tack and hooves, and I have blocked in the Marquis' coat and face. I tend to start by painting in deeper shades, and then progressivley lighten the top coat so that the final result gives a rich, opaque finish.

The coat was given a base of Ceramcoat's mulberry, highlighted with an ancient pot of Ral Partha light reddish brown that I've had hanging around so long that the name on the label has faded away!

I really miss the Ral Partha paints; the selection was vast, and I always found them easy to work with. Iron Wind Metals in the US carries some now, but the selection is a very, very pale shadow of what was once available.

I also worked on one of the standards for the second battalion of the Regt. Condé. I made the flag myself on PowerPoint, printed it out with a laser printer, and after wrapping it around the pole and gluing the two sides together, I touched up the edges and highlights. I will slip it off the flagpole while I paint the standard bearer, and I still have to prime and paint the final with its cords and cravattes.

Photo's a bit washed out in the artificial light, but lookin' good, I think!

This last week has been pretty hectic. One of my colleagues has had to return home for as spell due to a family bereavement, and tomorrow I'll be heading up country to teach an intensive course for a pharmaceutical company all next week, so I'll be off the radar for a while.

When I get back next Friday I'll try to finish the good Marquis on the weekend, along with his escort from les Dragons du Beauffremont, and a scout from the Hussards de Sarkozy reporting on the enemy's movements. They'll all be mounted on a hexagonal base for Koenig Krieg.