From StuartL - We're Going To Need A Bigger Limo - Lady Sarah's Limousine (92 Points)

Hi all,

During the previous challenge, I didn't make much use of Lady Sarah's Star Yacht until very late in the challenge. This year I have decided to make more of an effort and ride around the AHPC Studios in style. Having posted my first entry at the Under Construction part of the studio, I now need to jump all the way across the site to the World Cinema area. So, to that end, I present my first entry fee for Lady Sarah's Limousine service.

This model is a metal figure from Reaper Miniatures. If you have been following my challenge progress over the years, you will know that I have a fairly extensive collection of Reaper's plastic Bones figures from their various kickstarters. I don't have that many metal figures from them, which is a bit of a shame. Back when I started playing RPGs regularly (around 1999-2000ish), I used to pore over the Reaper catalogue of minis and dream of owning large parts of their range. Even now, their metal models are really appealing, though nowhere near as affordable as their plastics. I think I bought this figure about ten years ago and it has been languishing in my to do pile ever since.

So, I will apply for my Limo ride using this red-headed warrior. 

Speaking of red-heads (and Reaper Bones minis), what are those thunderous footsteps I am hearing?

Over the course of their kickstarters, Reaper have released quite a few giant figures and (given that they are cheap as chips), I bought a lot of them. Over Christmas, I got started on these three Fire Giants and their Lava Hound. The dog and it's handler are separate models, the chain plugs into the back of the collar and the two figures can be set-up as individuals.

Each of these figures is made from Reaper's somewhat bendy plastic. Each of them is chunky enough that it doesn't matter, but the chain whip on the guy below is very flexible, which meant that I could hold it to one side while painting.

These brutes were, honestly, a bit of a chore to paint. Some models are really easy to put a brush too and others aren't. I was about done painting these guys about 20 minutes in, but persevered to get them done. The Lava Hound was kind of fun to do, but the giants just have so much surface area to cover that they really seemed to drag.

So, how big are they? The shortest of the giants is just over 80mm tall, and the dog towers over most 28mm scale minis. Included below is a group shot showing the giants and the metal model from further up the post for scale.

By my reckoning, (subject to Snow Lord approval of course), my tally should be:

3x Monsters @20 points = 60 Points

1x 40mm Mini @7 points = 7 Points

1x 28mm Mini @5 points = 5 Points

1x Limousine Ride @20 points = 20 Points

Total = 92 Points

For my side duels, I'm going to claim 1 Squirrel Point for the Fire Giants.

My Side Duels:

Squirrels - 4

Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Dwarves, Fire Giants.

Skullz - 0

Turnips - 0

Next up, World Cinema.

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Very nice work, Stuart. Reaper has been such a big champion for plastic/resin models that it's easy to forget that they had (and still have) a rather huge range of metal miniatures. The red-headed warrior is excellent, and so are the russet giants she has in tow. I especially like the Lava Hound with the effect of his heat cracked skin. As you say, I think Sarah's Limo may be a little tight hauling these folks around, but I'm sure she has a roof rack and some bungie cords to make it work.

- Curt

From RustyP - Logical Beings on Vulcan - (35 points)

I managed to get a few individuals painted over the weekend.  Not much, but I do hope in the next few weeks to finish some items that I've started.  

First up I have a logical being from the Necrontyr.  This one is a Cryptek.  I won't get into all the details of what they do but in short they do a lot of 'busy work' for their overlords.  The green resurrection orb in his hand is for well... resurrection of destroyed Necron buddies.  Kinda handy in a scrap!

GW Fine Cast Resin Model

Rear View of Undead Robot. lol

Side View of Orb... Let's fight again BOYS!

Next I finished a couple of unique logical beings.  Both 28mm minis are from Otherworld Miniatures.  I really like their dungeon miniatures range.  The Mind Flayer is especially intelligent and looks down upon everything else.  The other miniature is a doppelganger (he even has pointy ears).  Dangerous being that is worth looking up and reading about if one is not familiar.  There's one in the Netflix series The Witcher!

Front View

Rear View

Points:

3 ea 28mm Miniatures @ 5 pts = 15 pts.

Vulcan planet bonus = 20 pts.

Total =35 pts.

Greg, please select a planet for me to venture in the middle ring since I completed 4 in the outer ring.  It'll be fun to see if I can match something to it!

That's it for this week.  Hope to do a little more for the coming weeks.

***

Very nice Paul. I am a 40k fan, and I do like how GW have evolved the Necron figure line into these sort of undead-machine-bad guys. The figures for that range get nicer all of the time, and you have done fine work on your Necron here. Finecast is sure a let-down, though, is it not? I bet it was fun trying to sort out his staff...

Your submission covers off the "logic", and also the pointy ears! Very nice Mind Flayer and Doppleganger!

Choose a planet? Hmmm...let's go with LV426 as your next destination. Many folks traveling there have rattled on and on about "aliens" - but I'm sure your visit will proceed smoothly, with almost no trouble at all, right? Good luck!

GregB

From RustyP - Fantasy Creeps on Arda (72 Points)

"Colonel I think we're done for.  I don't think this 'Arda' planet is friendly.  That big troll thing seems really irritated by your yodeling!" Rusty said to the Colonel while keeping his eyes on the aliens.

"Rubbish Rusty! My yodel is foolproof to alien species.  It has worked time an again to win native species over."  Replied the Colonel while releasing one more gawd awful sound from his throat.

Just then three goblin looking creatures mounted upon large wolves shouted a war cry & charged the Colonel's landing party.

"Everyone back to the lander!" cried Rusty.

Everyone started running toward the lander except the Colonel.  He was looking up at the sky with his finger n thumb on this chin; deep in thought.

"Gadzooks Rusty... you know maybe my yodel isn't appeasing to the natives here.  I think we should head back to the lander.

***********************************************************************************

Ok, all joking aside, these two small units were WAY harder then I thought they'd be. 😕 These two groups are from Games Workshop's Underworlds card/minis/boardgame.  Each is it's own faction and can play the game on it's own.  Which is cool cause you don't need a lot of minis to play the game.  BTW - it is a great skirmish game.  

So I really underestimated how much detail is on these models.  I mean how many skulls, coins, sacks, robes and rocks can be on one mini! 😵

Mollog's Mob - GW Underworlds

Mollog's Mob - Rear

Mollog's Mob - Side

Rippa's Snarlfangs - GW Underworlds

Rippa's Snarlfangs - Front

Rippa's Snarlfangs - Far Side View

Points Breakdown:

28mm Mounted x 3 ea @ 10 pts = 30 pts.

28mm Foot x 3 ea @ 5 pts = 15 pts.

40mm Foot x 1 ea (Mollog) @ 7 pts. = 7 pts. (he's huge but measured 40mm to his eyes)

Planet bonus for Arda = 20 pts

Total = 72 pts.

So I set out to try and use Citadel Contrast & Scale 75 Instant Colors all the way through.  Just to see if I could do it.  No way... I wound up using all kinds of paints and methods.  I could have honestly spent more time on some of the details but there comes a point where I say "That's enough"! lol

We'll see what the next planet brings.  I'm having a load of fun with this and thanks everyone for the comments.  Folks are really doing some fantastic stuff.

***

How many skulls can you put on a miniature? Never put that question to a sculptor paid by GW...

I have a similar experience with Contrast Paints and their ilk - useful for specific supporting tasks, but in no way a replacement for actual painting. Besides, you cannot argue with results, and the results here are top-shelf, very nice work. 

Greg

From DavidB: Caprica looks back (34points)

"I see what you did there"

Caprica is the perfect place for exploration and this Christmas present for my son. He has a lot of orcs also which would've added to the theme, but my time is limited and these two barely made it in time for Christmas. I chose doom for the theme.

A Beholder is an OG of D&D. A big bloated ball that has inate magical abilities ( sees invisible, levitate, fly,charm, detect magic), has many eyestalks that can cast many spells (fire ball, magic missile, lightning bolt, prismatic spray...) they can speak many languages, are very intelligent, very devious. They can fight with spells, bites, smashing prey with eyestalks or cannon their body into adventurers. They set traps physical and magical and form armies from lesser monsters and creatures. Their only weakness is they are very narcissistic and believe they are the most intelligent, beautiful, and powerful beholder there is. If they ever lost that narcissistic behavior, they could overrun the fantasy realms. As is a chance encounter will end a party and even if a group of adventurers were to prepare for battle with one, the odds are rarely in the party favor. Yet, the immense hoarde of magical and mundane treasure are enough of an enticement to bring on the challengers.

My D&D days just had "regular" beholder, which were quite enough. My old party which is more familiar with THAC0 and 1st and 2nd editions still shudders when we think of beholders. Now they have beholders of many types. Some live in water, some in space, some are mindless zombies that can still cast spells, some are more melee, some more magic...all are dangerous and can easily doom some careless adventures.

These are some wonderful sculpts from wizkids and light years in detail from the old pewter model my party fought. They are also bigger and weigh far less than that one too!

I used contrast paints with some areas of painted detail to push the detail on the bodies. The eyes and mouth being focal points got the most attention and paint layers.

The eye stalks blasting spells are clear resin tinted with contrast paints which run translucent. I should have done a few tests as some are close in hue 

Still, it was fun to play with color on these fellows, and my son is excited to use them.

The smaller green fellow is the wizkids model for a zombie beholder, but painted in fashion to be used as a lesser beholder. He has ice blue eyes rather than"dead" ones. The plug arms are a nice touch and the plugs hold well enough without glue.

I may borrow these for Silver Bayonet as it would be interesting to see how Napoleonic forces would fare against one!

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Ah, nothing says classic D&D monster like a Beholder! And wow, what absolute brutes these are. One of many benefits of casting in plastic or resin is the size that they can produce these beasties. Doing this in white metal would be such a hassle to work with. Another bonus is those nifty effects illustrating the spells coming out of their eye stalks. Very groovy, that.

I'm going to give you a few extra points as these are definitely larger than your standard 28mm fare. 

Wonderful work David and welcome back to the Challenge!

- Curt

AlanD - More from Dacia! (60 points)

I have some eclectic entries on the way this week, but the first is the latest batch of 12 Victrix Dacians for Infamy. Not too much to say about these that I haven't already said about previous entries, but I hope you enjoy the eye candy. Oh, and the shield decals are from Little Big Men Studios, and I think they look so nice that I am no longer feeling ashamed about not painting the shields.

From BruceR Lair of the Spider Chamber 40 pts

Shushhhhhhhhhh  we are nearing the Altar of the Snowlord.  We have pushed many challenges and overcome some strange tasks to reach this point.  Go ahead open that last chamber door, its only a spiders lair................SPIDER MY A--!!!!!!! 

Well as I said before I had the Spider's Lair beat until I read the Challenge Chamber Scroll.  Back to the drawing board.  What self respecting hobbyist of decades does not have an unpainted dragon sitting on the wall.  The good news it had been put together some time ago.  

The model is metal and without markings so I'll leave it to the other adventures to throw out guesses as to its origin.  Reaper?  

 I'm thinking it is a youngster in the red dragon breed as smallish.  The model is very nice.  Some excellent holes in the wings for effect and the metal ribs make it easy to highlight.  I confess I did the bulk with the air brush and then to the brush for highlights.  How surprised will the gang be if we pull out Frostgrave again and a new foe awaits!

GW figure for size demonstration. 

Size wise it is similar to 28mm vehicles I have painted so I've tallied 20 points for the beastie.  If too much O'Wardens of the Chambers feel free to deduct.

20 pts Dragon

20 pts Chamber 

40 pts total

From StuartL - The Graves Have Risen From Their Dead - 30 Points

No, you haven't misread the title of the post. For this entry, we will be entering the Golem's Haunt in the Chambers of Challenge, and while it may be more common to create Golems from flesh or bones, the one I have painted up is a little different. 

Presenting the Gravestone Golem, made from 100% free range Graves.

Graverobbers beware, this titanic tombstone of terror is more than happy to fill empty plots with anyone it can lay it's marble mitts on.

Though useless for flight, the golem sports a natty pair of wings made from the fences around the graveyard. Though no-one has any idea who created it, or why, the Gravestone Golem is massive and is capable of crushing nearly anything in it's path.

The mini comes from Reaper's Bones range of minis and was a lot of fun to paint, being mainly washes and drybrushing over the base coats. Shown here next to a 28m Ringwraith for scale, you can see how big this beasty is. It stands nearly 60mm tall to the top of it's head, so I am going to score it as a 54mm foot figure. That gives me 10 points, plus 20 for the chamber, for a total of 30 points. As you'd expect, there are a few skulls on this mini, so I will be putting my first 12 Skullz onto the scoreboard for that side duel.

From SimonM: "Wizkids" Walking Statue of Waterdeep: The Honorable Knight (60 Points)

This 300mm tall "quality pre-painted plastic" model of the Walking Statue of Waterdeep: The Honorable Knight is produced by “Wizkids” and is available as part of their "Dungeons & Dragons" Icons of the Realms Miniatures range. Resembling a warrior in plate armour with a sword and shield, this stone construct towered over the city of Waterdeep at 57′ 3″ in height, and eventually settled in the Crown of the North's Trades Ward.

A "premium" product comprising of a separate sword and shield, I had initially hoped the model might fit on a "Citadel" 170mm x 105mm oval stand, and ordered one from "Games Workshop" post-haste. However, upon arrival it was clear that the miniature was so tall that it needed a substantially larger base if it wasn't going to topple over all the time. As a result I reattached it to the 175mm clear plastic circular base it came with, and simply primed that with some "Citadel" Abaddon Black, having first gritted it with modeller's sand.

Managing to resist the temptation to assemble the enormous figure prior to painting, all three of its components were given a double coat of “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey, and washed with “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Whilst this shading phase was reasonably straightforward for both the Walking Statue's 255mm long sword and 160mm long shield, the actual Honorable Knight himself proved a bit more difficult to evenly cover on account of all his joints and crannies.

Once completed though, each piece was heavily dry-brushded with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, and then slowly treated to multiple applications of "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green and Agrax Earthshade to suggest some extreme weathering. This was a patient process, as I not only applied the washes with a brush, but also a sponge, tissue and my fingers so as to try and make the grunge look as organic as possible. In addition, a mixture of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, Nuln Oil and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade was occasionally added to the concoction for some of the deeper crevices.

I then applied a second (significantly lighter) dry-brush of “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey over the entire ensemble, before using some heavily watered-down "Vallejo" Heavy Green on some patches of moss and weeds, which clearly over time had grown on the statue. These areas were later shaded using some "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. Finally, the Knight's bird nest was 'picked out' using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. This excellent detail was later dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna.




Well, that's certainly an impressive "statue" I don't recall us having a 1/6 scale figure before. I'll score it as being equivalent to 12 x 28mm foot.

TamsinP

From EvanH - They Might Be Giants (50 points)

Greetings, Challengers and Challenge Fans!

Well, the best-laid plans and all that... doesn't look like I'll make my target this year, what with real life having the poor taste to intrude upon valuable painting time. 

Here's a couple of placeholder figures, a Stone Giant and Hill Giant, a couple of old faves who've been with us since the halcyon days of the 1st Edition AD&D Monster Manual. 

Let's look at Ol' Stoney first. 

Stone Giants are curiously gaunt in appearance, and as hard as the peaks they call home. He's a Reaper Bones figure and stands 70mm from head to toe. I rather like this one; he's got a wealth of personal equipment ranging from assorted pouches and satchels to a hammer and some pitons for serious mountaineering.

Here's a pic for scale;

Hey Kids! It's our old friend from Challenge IX, Grumpy Viking Santa!

I've given him a greenstone club because I wanted to avoid making the whole thing too grey in tone, what with the basing and the metal and all.

The anatomy of the figure was fun to pick out and highlight, with the musculature really calling out for some extra definition. Basecoat for the skintones was a mix of Vallejo Game Colour Sombre Grey and Beasty Brown, highlighted up with additional Cold Grey. A wash of Army Painter Strong Tone was added to finish it off.

The base is a Warbases 60mm MDF Round, strewn with marble chips. Gaps were filled with Vallejo White Pumice Paste, and the whole thing was undercoated black before being lightened up with successive greys.

I do like this figure. I know I've said it before, but Reaper Bones are a great way to get big impressive monsters on the gaming table for a very reasonable price (and no, I'm not on the payroll!).

Next up is his chunkier mate, a Reaper Bones Hill Giant; about the same height, but clearly does more lifting. And eating. And boozing.

Definitely has an unwashed look about him.

All his metalwork has been given a rusty look, since I figure that Hill Giants don't really look after their kit that well.

This fellow was based with Milliput built up around his moulded base, given the old GWSWGG treatment and a few tufts.

Doesn't that just scream 'halitosis'?

Points-wise, I'll ask the minion of the day to consider 15 points each, since really, there's no 'might be' about it - They're Definitely Giants!

Only a few more days to get some more points on the board; will I make it?

Stay tuned...

Ev
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By Paul: 
Classic figs Ev, you've done em proud.  I particularly like the base work you've done on them.
Given their size, I'm going to score them as 40mm Vehicles for a total of 50 points.
Now get back to painting - you've got a few days left!