Monday, November 28, 2016

Castle: open for business!


Over the Holiday weekend, I painted the "Sokolnitz" Castle (a "birdhouse purchased at Michael's for a few dollars earlier this month). The color scheme is inspired by the actual Sokolnitz castle that was a feature of the Austerlitz battlefield.

The birdhouse had "blocks" etched into the wood on the front face only; they are lacking on the other faces. After painting, I outlined the grooves with a brown micron pen on the yellow portions, and black on the brown portions. I considered drawing them in on the other faces, and decided it was too much work for too little benefit. Besides, they don't appear on the Castle (Chateau) being modeled. 


The final result looks good enough, I think, although in overall style it's sort of a hybrid of Sokolnitz, Neuschwanstein, and Disney!  In any event, it's done in time for the Austerlitz battle this Saturday!

19 comments:

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    1. Thanks; it gets the job done with a nbit of a Toy SDoldier feel, I think.

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    1. Yes, I left out "part Sound of Music", I thiunk! :-)

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    1. I considered dressing it up a bit more by shingling the roofs as well as drawing in the blocks on the other sides, and decided it was more work than I wanted to put into it for the purpose and time allowed. Perhaps I might go back and add those detail;s at a future date. The piece might be useful for my planned eventual Berg Isel game (1809 Tyrolean rebellion. In the next few days I need to organize the game. thoroughly and pack it up so that we can set it up as efficiently as possible Saturday AM!

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  4. Very nice inexpensive little castle!
    Best Iain

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  5. Peter, this piece has a most "Toy Soldier" appearance to me. Your Sokolnitz would complement Dale's (http://daleswargames.blogspot.com/) 40mm wooden toy soldiers very well.

    I look forward to your account of Austerlitz.

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    1. Yes, I think that's an apt observation, Jon, and that's good enough for my purposes.

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  6. Hmmm...I think I need to hit Hobby Lobby to look for some terrain.

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    1. These are from Michael's, but with your 15's, you'd want something smaller anyway.
      As an aside, I unfortunately find the politics of the owners of Hobby Lobby unpalatable.

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    2. Politics aside, if they were open on Sundays, they might get more visits from me.

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    3. I have no problem with their deciding to not be open on Sunday, although you are correct about its impact on sales. It's their refusal to pay for contraception for their employees and other policies that I find abhorrent.

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  7. Nicely done Peter. I knew it reminded me of something, in that it bears a similarity to Schloss Hohenshwangau. Certainly the right look for that part of the world.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence; I hadn't realized the other Bavarian castle, overlooked by the more famous Neuschwanstein, existed, but the color scheme is like that of mine (and the Solkonitz Castle).

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    2. I had a lovely venison casserole on Christmas Eve in the village under its shadow fifteen or so years ago. A lovely part of the world.

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    3. I am profoundly jealous, Lawrence! Hopefully in a few years I will be able to return to Europe after an absence of 40+ years!

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    4. Venison casserole - Christmas Eve - Bavaria - sounds DELICIOUS!

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