From TamsinP - 15mm Crusties Command and Specialists (32 Points)

And they're finished! This is the last of my (current batch of) Crusties - the commanders, specialists and squad attachments.

Command Group:

Sub-Commander and Forward Observer:

Snipers:

Plasma Launchers:

Engineers/Technicians and Medics:

These sixteen figures are a mix of the Specialists, Civilians and heavy weapons packs. That will be another 32 points in the bag.

This isn't my last entry - I've still got a few to come before the end.

You're a machine Tamsin!  These command and specialist figures are a great addition to your force and you've done a excellent bringing them alive with your brushwork. I like the dude with the comms backpack and the fellow with the optics. This is a very cool and very complete range of figures.

Tamsin, this entry just tips you into the top 10. Now you need the next few days to consolidate and hold your position - no pressure, no pressure at all. ;)

From TamsinP - 15mm Crusties Infantry Support Weapons (28 Points)

Some more Crusties for you - the infantry support weapons teams this time. And just a small set of figures.

Heavy Laser Teams:

Plasma Mortar Teams:

The figures are 15mm from GZG. I swapped out a couple of the crew figures to use as specialists and replaced them with figures from the Crusties Civilians pack.

So, 8 x 15mm foot figures = 16 points and four small crew served weapons - I'll let Curt decide whether they should be scored as 2 or 4 points each.

Tomorrow, if things go to plan I should be posting the last of the Crusties - command team and specialists.

Groovy! I really like the look of these heavy weapons, with their clean steel (aluminum?) bodies and nasty Nokian orange bits.

'Begin cycling-up the prawn forks and set the butter traps!'

Great work Tamsin.  You're now tantalizingly within reach of the top ten. I know you can do it! :)

From TamsinP - 15mm Crusties Infantry (64 Points)

Quickly following on from the Crusties "Nokia" armoured force and the shrimp-riders, here are some regular infantry to accompany them.

I painted these up in two batches of 16, just to make things a little easier on the old brain - it was still a bit painful doing the fiddly details on the rifles, but not as bad as repeating it 32 times!

When I was picking out stones/rocks with green I spotted something a little peculiar on one of the bases.

It was obviously an artifact from the basing gunk I used (a mix of fine pumice gel and large grain medium). Looks a bit like the face mask from a helmet, doesn't it? I decided to make it a feature on that base, so painted it blue. then washed and lightly drybrushed it.

There are still a few more Crusties to come over the next couple of days.

It's great to see you continuing your riff with 'Strike Force Nokia', Tamsin. You've painted these ugly little dudes very well. Again, I like the orange elements on their shrimp forks, er, beam rifles. Actually, I think the blue bit found on one of their trippy bases might be a 'Coral' Antipersonnel Mine. :)

Nice work Tamsin!

From TamsinP - 15mm Crusties Cavalry (16 points)

Another teensy-weensy entry for today - just four more Crusties; this time not armoured but mounted. As before, the figures are from GZG.

The shells of the Crusties were done by painting a base colour (Middlestone, Iraqi Sand, Medium Grey or Tan Earth) followed by a sepia wash. Their crustacean mounts had a basecoat of Khaki for the the fleshy parts, the upper shell is Hull Red spotted with Saddle Brown, the shell on the legs and arms are Saddle brown dotted with Hull Red; the whole bug was then washed with sepia. To finish, the whole was given a coat of satin varnish, apart from the sting which got a coat of gloss varnish.

Some close-ups:

For points, four 15mm cavalry = 16 points.

These alien cavalry figures are very, very cool Tamsin. I really like the mottled brown of the mounts' shell carapace set against the vibrant colours of the riders' saddles and their weaponry. The basing, like your previous infantry in this series, is excellent as well. It reminds me of a beach where the tidal wash has just receded. Lovely work.

From TamsinP - 15mm Crusties Armoured Force (60 points)

For the first of my posts this weekend, and my 18th entry in the main part of the Challenge I have some 15mm SciFi figures for you. These are the "Crusties" from GZG and will form the light armoured contingent of my force - I have some heavy armour on order, but it is very unlikely to have arrived before the end of the Challenge. I do have some more Crusties on the painting table - you will be seeing them during the next few days.

Light Walkers

These were fun the build and paint. I've based my colour scheme loosely on that seen in District 9 for the "Prawn" weaponry - white (actually, Sky Grey) a medium grey (Basalt Grey), a dark grey (German Grey) and orange (Orange Red) plus black and Dark Vermillion.

The walker with the orange back will be the commander for this force. Each walker has a different weapons load-out.

I decided for the basing to go for a slightly alien blasted earth look. A base of Saddle Brown was washed black, dry-brushed with a 1:1 mix of Saddle Brown and Light Grey. Some stones were picked out with Green Grey, washed green and then the bases were finished with a patchy wash using a 2:1 mix of red and black. The "earth" was matt varnished, the stones were picked out with gloss varnish.

Armoured Infantry - Rifle Squads

These weren't as fun to paint - lots of fiddly little details to drive me nuts!

Armoured Infantry - Heavy Laser Specialists

Armoured Infantry - Heavy Plasma Specialists

There are four 15mm vehicles and eighteen foot figures here. That should give me 60 points.

These are awesome Tamsin and it's great to see your return to some sci-fi themed figures before the end of the Challenge. I really like your use of the bright orange juxtaposed against the dark grey of the armour - actaually, they look like they could be sponsored by a mobile phone company. 'The Nokian Heavy Infantry' or 'The Samsung Replicant Battalion' :) 

I'm also admiring your groundwork for these figures. It's elegantly minimalist while still looking suitably alien - brilliant and well done!

From TamsinP - Crusty Heavy Battleship (17 Points)

I've been rather run-down this week thanks to a cold, so I haven't got much finished right now and this is the only one that's ready for posting. I do have some more bits which should be completed tomorrow, along with some more over the rest of the week. All together they should see me reach my 2500 point revised target!

But enough of the waffle, on with the post.

For my 22nd entry, I present another spaceship. Just over a week ago Clint gave me a heads-up about what spaceships he was painting so that I could, if I wished, paint a couple more for our side-bet. So last weekend I primed and basecoated a small fleet using my new airbrushes (I'd just bought a pair of double-action Iwata jobbies) and my new compressor.

Errmm, yes, I did go on a bit of a spending spree.

A couple of nights ago I made a start on painting the largest ship of the fleet, the heavy battleship. And then Clint emailed me again to say that things were going on and he isn't likely to finish and submit his fleet. So, it would appear that I have won our side-bet, although I'd suggest Curt holds off on bestowing me with some suitably intergalactically megalomaniacal title, just in case Clint was bluffing!

The ship is a Vk'ca'tk'Knn class heavy battleship (UNSC codename "Crowbar") from GZG's "Crusty" fleet.

No, not these Crusties:

These Crusties from GZG:

From Spacejacker's "Tiny Solitary Soldiers" blog

As inspired by these chappies:

OK, a couple more pics of the ship:

I've got no idea how many points this will be - I've sent Curt some size comparison pics so he can try to work it out.


From Curt:

That's a very cool looking ship Tamsin (a freakin' huge). I really like the high-contrast orange, white and grey surface panels. I somehow reminds me of many corporate advertising colours. Hmm, perhaps the Crusties are a race of mobile phone salesmen!

'Accept our long distance and data plan or suffer the consequences...'

We'll wait to see if Clint fires a broadside in the next few days...

Great job Tamsin!