Sunday, November 20, 2016

Sokolnitz Castle: new purchases and refurbishments

One of the features of the Austerlitz battlefield was the Sokolnuitz Castle, and the nearby walled Pheasantry. Both saw fierce fighting in the morning of December 2, 1805.


The actual Sokolnitz (Sokolnice in Czech) "castle" is more of a Chateau, based upon a fortified manor house from 1560.

Courtyard of the "castle", undergoing renovations.


Another view of the "castle" from the outside.

View of the back of the "Castle"


Wall of the nearby Pheasantry - the patched areas are said to have been necessitated by the creation of embrasures for French artillery pieces. The writing reads 1805 - 2 - 12, date of the battle. 


Michael's (American chain of  "Big Box" Craft and Art supply store) had one of their periodic "30% off entire purchase" events a few weeks back. I had been waiting for one, so I used it to pick up a bunch of craft paint (mostly of whites, browns and greys), and few other items as seen below,


Primed are two more "Birdhouse" towers to join the other two "Assyrian" ones I did last year, and the middle one is primed and ready to become "Sokolnitz Castle" for my Austerlitz game in 2 weeks. It will represent the defensive position of the Chateau and the nearby peasantry. The plan is to paint the walls a yellow/Cream color, leave the doors and battlements in the brown Primer color, and do the tops of the towers in red, with black and yellow flags flying from them (Hapsburg colors). Should at least give a fair impression of the original. 



Micron pens in black, brown, Green, Blue, Dark Blue, and Red. Very handy for fine lines. 


A number of my Heki trees had become detached from their bases, so I used my "Goop" to re-affix them. Much better. 


Barry had made up a bunch of the "rocks" for me that we use to indicate lost "Unit Integrity", but I had dragged my feet for a few years painting and flocking the round wooden bases they are on. Task done there as well, once again all ready for the Austerlitz game. 

14 comments:

  1. Birdhouses look useful and good nice rebased trees and you can never have enough markers!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks, Iain. I plan to use the Brown marker to line in the "stones" on the other three faces if the Castle.

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  2. I always wondered what Sokolnitz Castle looked like. Quite an impressive structure and a good anchor for the French right. I like your birdhouse requisitions too. Is the photo stock besides painting or have you made other structural changes?

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    1. It is quite an interesting structure, isn't it? I have made no changes to the stock birdhouses, aside from the first coat of spray primer.

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  3. Very innovative and creative Peter!

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    1. Thanks. Carlo. I am looking forward to painting the castle, which should be fairly simple.

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  4. Will be good to seen how this turns out when painted!

    Cheers,
    Aaron

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    1. Tnanks, Aron. It should be a fairly simple job.

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  5. Looking forward to seeing your AAR with lots of pictures of Le Beau Soleil ...

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    1. We're working at it steadily... firming up the last minute details, painting a few more troops that are needed for the game.

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  6. I remember that yellowish wash they put on the buildings in Austria now, and how it always made me feel hungry for some reason. Or maybe I was just hungry anyway. I'm very much looking forward to the report on Austerlitz Peter, it should be a good one.

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    1. Cream colored ponies
      And crisp apple strudels
      Door bells and sleigh bells
      And schnitzel with noodles...

      About as Austrian as it gets! :-)

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  7. Very interesting, and I love the idea of the rocks for casualty markers! (Probably the least effortful piece for you in this post but sometimes it's the little things!)

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    1. Thanks, Mark. We have been using the rocks as casualty markers for at least 10-15 years - not to mention the assorted "chickens" as disorder markers!

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