From MattW - Napoleonic, ACW, Roman’s and Aliens oh my! (140 points)

 Napoleonic, ACW, Roman’s and Aliens 

Finally back from our 10 week vacation in Australia, I was keen to hit the painting desk and have been really productive over the last 14 days getting a lot painted. I missed last Friday’s  deadline as I went to wargames and forgot to take photos…..

First up eight Perry Plastic dismounted Dragoons, these have been in my stash for over 10 years now, great to finally get them completed. 

8 Napoleonic figures @ 5 points = 40 points 

I also painted some  ACW bits, a Confederate band and a farrier from Dixon minatures range. 

9 ACW figures @5 points  = 45

Back to my neglected Roman’s for my Gangs of Rome project, I still have a lot more to do with this collection, including buildings. The figure will be able to be a civilian, slaver or a gang member, and two camels. 

Three 28mm figures @ 5 points = 15 poinrs

Finally for Christmas I received the Aliens another glorious day for the corps board-game, I decided to paint the Xenomorph’s first, I elected for a green blue colour on my first batch, quite happy with the result. 

8 x 28mm figures  @ 5 points = 40 points

Totals 

Twenty eight 28mm foot figures @5 points  = 140 points 

Squirrel 4 points 

Napoleonic 

ACW

Roman’s 

Aliens 

Cheers

MattW

From Millsy:

In a rush with real life so I don't have the time to say something pertinent I'm afraid! Nice work mate, especially the dismounted dragoons.

Cheers,

Millsy

From Barks: Fly the friendly skies (30 points)

Ferro & Spunkmeyer, the dropship crew of the Sulaco, and friends. I should paint the patches on their flight suits. I'm tempted to go and add reflections to Ferro's aviator glasses.

The xenomorphs get blue and black washes over gunmetal, then satin varnish.

30 points in the pipe, five by five.

From Millsy:

Poor Spunkmeyer, he never really had a chance. His last act was to look confused with a handful of snot. Not the most ignominious screen death ever but certainly a top 10 contender.

You've done a cracking job with these Barks. The flight suits are superb, just the right mix of shading and worn patches and Spunkmeyer's skin tone is really well executed too. The xenos have just the right black/metallic sheen too.

Lovely work mate. Not bad for a human!

Cheers,
Millsy

JeremyM - Wrath Aliens Another Glorious Day in the Corps [130 points]

I managed to fit in a little bit of painting this week in between craziness at work, tearing myself away from a video game (just one more level…just one more), and the NFL playoffs. Perhaps the -40 windchills helped a bit with that. But I have to admit my goals this week were pretty limited hence the pretty basic figures you’re about to see.

I’ve long been a huge fan of the Alien and Aliens films (and some of the others as well…yes I enjoyed Romulus…no I thought the AVP series is trash….but I still occasionally find myself putting that trash on). I of course had to go all in on Gale Force Nine’s board game based primarily on the Aliens film, Another Glorious Day in the Corps. It's an okay game, the mechanics aren't the best but do capture some of the feel of the film, but the instructions are really lacking and there are times it doesn't work that well. I may look at some alternate options on boardgamegeek. 

So given that we are starting in hell I thought the aliens are pretty fitting for the wrath theme…as bloody hell they are angry little bugs in the films. I decided to paint the aliens with a blueish hue. Apparently the original film and the dvd version in particular have a really strong blue tinge to them…and the aliens purists are a bit up in arms that they colour corrected the newer 4k versions to be more neutral. I still like the blue so the basic aliens get that.

The stock aliens and their 'little brother' eggs.

The game also comes with an expansion to add 4 different types of alien warriors. To help very subtly differentiate them I painted more in a greenish hue, and used fluorescent green for the text on the bases. Hopefully they stand out enough on the board now.

The 4 special aliens

I also have the queen expansion “Get away from her you bitch!” and decided a more royal purple was appropriate for her. Two face huggers complete the photos. They are pretty small, so I think maybe I’ll count the two as being a single figure for challenge purposes. I should note I am not counting the eggs. While they are alive and have a pretty crucial role to play in the game as well as the films, they don’t really move at all so terrain seems more appropriate to me.

The queen, a couple facehuggers, and a few eggs

The whole 'happy'....rrr 'angry' family all together

Well now I’ll have to turn my attention to the far more detailed painting for the marines which might involve a big excuse to rewatch the movie for the 80^th time!

22 28mm figures x 5 points = 110

Wrath circle   =     20 points

Total = 130 points

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Hey Jeremy!

Your Aliens are awesome! Great choice on the blue-ish hue - really helps evoke the  space alien-ness of the creatures. I get scared even just just thinking of the face huggers.

And you don't need an excuse to watch the movies for the 80th time, just .. remember, In Space No One Can Hear you Scream

130 points added to your score board

-Sarah

From Barks: Aliens (144 points)

I'm a huge fan of Aliens, and was keen to get my hands on the new boardgame from Gale Force 9. It was supposed to arrive mid-December, but didn't. Since completing my Snowlord Challenge and the Descent boardgame, I've painted everything except the marines. I really enjoyed doing the research on this deeply quotable film.

Our Lady of Survival comes in three flavours: vanilla, spicy, and hot orange. I tried to get the space Reeboks right.

The Power Loader model doesn't have all the cables the real one does, and I think I made it a little too orange. I do like the final outcome, and you know I love hazard stripes.

"A-firmative!"

The figures have their names molded on the base, which is probably useful for the obscure redshirt marines. I was going to pick them out in yellow, but left them an off-white which isn't too distracting.

"This installation has a substantial dollar value..."

"I prefer the term 'artificial person' myself."

I flicked white paint over Bishop using a brush and toothpick, and was relieved it looked OK.

"Not bad... for a human."

I 3D printed Jonesy and a base because I wanted to.

The eggs (which I had thought would be my Hatchery entry but they didn't arrive in time) come freestanding, so I printed bases (same as Jonesy).

On the open eggs I applied a bit of UHU, which looks great and I'll be using this trick in future- also see below.

The perfect organism, and a facehugger.

A touch of UHU on the mouth. Hugs and kisses!

I found the xenomorphs hard to assemble, paint and photograph! I pinned all the tails because they're not designed for strength. I drybrushed them gunmetal over a black undercoat, picked out claws and teeth in silver,  then used a black wash followed by a blue wash. Finally a satin varnish and a touch of gloss to their foreheads. It is very hard to capture the oily rubbery sheen.

Whew! I'm looking forwards to assembling and painting the marines and playing a game. I'm thinking of 3D printing an APC as well.

16x Xenomorphs: 80 points

2x mount and rider (Power Loader, Ripley and Newt!): 20 points

4x Civilians (Ripley, Bishop, Burke, Newt): 20 points

8x Eggs: 8 points

3x Small Creatures (Facehuggers and Jonesy): 6 points

1x Queen: 8 points

1x half a Bishop: 2 points

144 points gets me comfortably over my goal, with hours to spare. I'm pulling out all the stops for a truly final Skulltastic entry, then it will be Game Over, man!