From AnneO' - Two Bots are Better than One (10 Points)

Why are two bots better than one?  Because two bots earns me 10 Pulp points, whereas one bot would only earn me five.

These two bots were speed paints, which is something I've never done before. But with the Slump Monster lurking about, I had to act fast. Therefor I slammed these two out in one hour and didn't give a fig about how they turned out.

They are from Bombshell Miniatures, stand at 28mm and were sculpted by Patrick Keith.

As you've probably noticed the second bot is missing a hand. I suspect that Kitty Fang knocked it off the painting table. It's too cold for her to go out of doors so she is inside drinking my paint water, laying on my brush mat and generally making a nuisance of herself.

These figures are worth 10 points.  This gives me a total of 30 Pulp points. Now I don't know how many points I will earn for my last Themed entry, but I'm not counting bonus points for this duel.


From Curt:

These may have been fast Anne, but they still very good. I particularly like the teal/blue glowing panels on the lower bots 'ankles'. 

Hmm, so where are we at for our Pulp Points?  You have 30, I think I have 25,  how many does Simon have? Hmm, I sense I better get a wiggle on or I'm going to get completely smoked in this challenge!

The Femme Fatale Finale...

Hi Everyone!

We would like to have our final say in the matter of our little side duel.

Sander's Last Words:

As you have surely noticed, the poll on our little side-duel has closed and after a hard fought battle the best Femme Fatale has won. Anne has came forth from the debris as the leading Killer Lady of this Challenge and she will receive the runner-up's model (i.e. mine) through the post.

We have had a huge heap of fun doing this duel and would like to thank you all for your kind comments and votes and of course Lord C. for all the support behind the curtains.
We would also like to make this Femme Fatale Duel a recurring side duel of the Challenge, but open to anyone wanting to participate. So we'll discuss this with Curt and perhaps you yourself could take us on in next year's Challenge!

Anne's Words: 

Here goes.

We had a grand time putting this together and hope you all enjoyed it.  Sander did rather a lot of work behind the scenes to make this happen and I must thank him for that. 

The best part of this for me now is that I get to own Momma Cabada. Her bright blue eyes, dewy green skin and those wicked cleavers will bring me pleasure for many a day to come.  

Again, thank you Curt for allowing us to do this.

Greetings from Anne and Sander

From Anne & Sander - The Femme Fatal Duel

Dear Folks,

A Tale of Two Painters

Sander's Tale:

Finally we have reached the decisive moment in that neat little side duel between the lovely Missus O'Leary and myself. How did we get ourselves into this duel? Well simple: I have been following Anne's Antics with miniatures and her sidekicks Ray and Fran for some time now. In my mind I have always called them the Dynamite Trio.

Anne's painting work and more specially her brilliant female figures have been a staunch favourite of mine for quite some time. Upon hearing the news that I was allowed to enter the Hallowed Halls of the Challenge, I found myself challenging Anne to a Side Duel in which we both had to paint our version of the Archetypical Femme Fatale. Gracefully Anne accepted and the fun started.

What was I thinking when I put fort the Challenge? She's miles better at painting gorgeous skintones. Her palette is second to none and her basing and photographing qualities beyond reckoning... basically: I am done for!

The only way out of this predicament was thinking out of the box. So I started by trying to choose a unexpected figure. Your typical Femme Fatal is a jaw dropping beautiful woman in an equally handsome attire, the model I was going to choose most certainly was not... Ever since I visited the first Crisis Convention, I have treated myself to, at least, one Freebooter miniature, this has resulted in a smallish pile of very nice miniatures amongst which I found the perfect little lady for this occasion: Momma Cebada.

This miniature is not the most delicate figure out there but surely full of character and if her choppers will not get you into the next life her cooking most certainly will. I decided to choose a paint scheme that's pretty close to the original but with enough room for artistic license. The base is the regular scenic base included with the figure and I decided not to do anything fancy like including a scenic background. So without further ado I present to you the pictures of the results of my labours and my the deadliest Femme Fatale win!

Anne's Tale:

I am notorious for suddenly and publicly challenging people to Paint Duels. So when I logged onto Facebook and saw the challenge from Sander, I just couldn't say no.  

After picking up the gauntlet the search for a figure began. The obvious choice would have been a knockout scantily clad Babe carrying a big gun. However as I have painted rather a lot of those, I knew it would be easy. As this is a Challenge, I felt I should choose a figure that would push me as a painter.  As my greatest weakness is painting elaborate folds in clothing, I chose this figure.

She is a 28mm figure from Dark Sword and was sculpted by Tom Meier

Sander and I have had a wonderful time putting this together and we hope that you have fun participating in it.

The Poll

Curt has kindly agreed with putting up a poll for you all to vote in (see the right sidebar), so you can all help to decide which Femme Fatale you like best. The poll will be closed on Friday, January 23rd at midnight. The runner-up will sent his/ her mini to the winner.

Greetings from Anne and Sander

From AnneO - Secret Agent Man

One of the goals I set for myself this year was to post more consistently to the non-themed portion of the Challenge than I did last year.  So even if this is just a single figure, it means that I am keeping the promise I made to myself.

This is a 25mm figure from Aetherium.  My oven broke, so I was unable to sculpt him a proper base and had to use ballast to base him. 

I am having even more fun in this years Challenge than I did last year. We all paint as individuals, in solitude and separate from one another. However, when we come together in this Painting Challenge, we unite as a group. That feeling is stronger for me this year due to being assigned days for posting.  

This format has created a bond for me with the rest of the "Monday Crew". Rather than feel like one of many, I feel like an integral part of a subgroup.  My drive to post each week is stronger because of that.  This format has also helped me to feel more united with the entire group, as I learn to anticipate who is posting on what day.  Each day I look forward to seeing work from painters whose work I am becoming more familiar with and that is a good feeling.

All that said, this figure is worth a whopping 5 points! Go me!


From Curt:

Beautiful work Anne (the blue tie is a perfect counterpoint of colour)! I'm delighted that the new format agrees with you - I'm eager to hear what other's think of the new format as I'm constantly considering ways to make the Challenge more efficient to administer while at the same time keeping it both fun and engaging for the participants. 

From AnneO - Hasslefree Modern (5 Points)

This is my sixth submission for this years Challenge. At this time last year I had only submitted three, two of which were Theme submissions. While six may not seem like much to the heavy hitters out there, for me it represents doubling my output.

This is Finn, a 25mm figure from Hasslefree, sculpted by Kevin White.

I sculpted the base insert using Super Sculpey.

This figure is worth five points.

Curt has kindly allowed me to post the following vignette to share as a piece of related work for NO POINTS.

During late Summer my Father-In-Law was in hospital several times. The Hubby and I spent much of our time driving back and forth to visit him.  At the beginning of the Challenge I noticed this piece sitting on the painting table and realized I had completely forgotten about it and had not even posted it on my blog.

These are Hasslefree Juveniles, sculpted by Kevin White and are scaled to 25mm.

I sculpted the broken concrete on the base and the brick wall for the backing using Super Sculpey.

I have come to enjoy painting Kevin White's sculpts as the details are crisp and the lines are so clean. Further Kevin has a great knowledge of human anatomy and he brings that to all of his work. I have several more of his figures and will be painting them for this years Challenge.

From Curt:
As usual you've treated us to some wonderful work, Anne. 

I too love Kevin White's work. He has such a fine grasp of how human bodies move (and perhaps more importantly) rest. You've done a brilliant job with all of these pieces. The colour blending on the pistoleer is fabulous (I wish I had his hair...) and I love how you've done the display base on your corner vignette, especially the urban decay along the front edge. Wonderful work and thank you for sharing it with us.

AnneO's DOOM Bunny (5 points)

This quirky little figure is from Bombshell Miniatures and as I've nothing really to go with him, I'm posting him as a single.

He stands at 20mm and was sculpted by Patrick Keith.

I didn't particularly need this figure, but a Bunny with wonky eyes holding an axe was too much for me to resist.

This little guy will add 4 more points to my already staggering 10 points. At this pace I've no idea how the rest of you will keep up with me.

From Curt:

Haha! I love this guy, especially his pruned right ear and rather bemused eyes. You've also done a brilliant job on his fur (particularly his paws). 

As he stands in at 20mm I'm going to class him as a 28mm figure, so another point for your dash to glory Ms. O'Leary!

AnneO's Counterblast Bot and Seeker (10 Points)

Caught up in the excitement of this years Challenge I rushed my first entry across the finish line in order to be part of the initial "Avalanche"  Further, I wanted to see if I could turn my submission in before 'Paint Monkey' (aka Clint).

These figures are from Counterblast/Bombshell Miniatures, are 25mm and were sculpted by Patrick Keith.  I carved the Bot base insert using Super Sculpey.

Since I switched from Fantasy to Pulp, I have found that bots are one of my favourite figures to paint. Further, Pulp, with its use primary colours allows me to work in brighter palettes.

Because I felt this figure needed to appear menacing, I chose to paint it black.  In addition I have a rather large Command Center and practice with this colour will be necessary before I tackle that piece. I used a "pure" black and am not pleased with how it turned out. Right now I am working on a small spaceship and will be trying out a chromatic black that has been worked down from purple.  I do not like the silver and mint green accents. For the next space ship I will be accenting in red and gold.

With this entry I have earned a whopping 10 points. But have I beat Paint Monkey to the post?  I certainly hope so.

From Curt:

Lovely stuff Anne. I love the Bot - he's kina got a R2 meets WALL-E meets Claptrap thing going on there. And the yellow rocks (one of my favourite colours). I like the drone-seeker as well (especially its transponder dish thingy) but I'm curious to see how your next efforts with the purple-down-to-black and the red and gold accents work out.  I'm sure, like this, it will come off like a charm. 

You're on the board Anne (and ahead of Paint Monkey) with 10 points. Bravo!