Sarah’s Last Post … Jongleurs

A jongleur was very similar to a medieval minstrel or troubadour. While minstrels were commonly employed as household servants by wealthy families,

Jongleurs were itinerant entertainers who could be hired to sing, recite verses, do magic tricks, or juggle for an evening's entertainment. Jongleurs were also criticized by the Church as being “agents of the devil” because of their association to profane language and fart jokes!

Please meet Tomi & Timi - two very sturdy acrobat/jongleurs who’ve come to Venice to be part of Carnivale.

I really enjoyed painting these two 3D prints found on MyMiniFactory.

I particularly enjoyed this blue/yellow colour palette! Truthfully.

I was a quite daunted of the flaming torch. I asked Curt for a quick tutorial, promptly disregarded his painstaking explanation of the ‘flame formula”, made a complete mess of it and then asked Curt for help with completion.

Yay! Curt ❤️

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As my last post of the Challenge, I’ll take this opportunity to thank the Sunday Team for ‘showing up’ and ‘showing off’ their wonderfully varied and fabulously painted toy soldiers. Well done sirs! I also want to thank Greg for minioning my posts - thank you so much!

Personally, this Challenge has not been as I had hoped. I was planning to explore more of the Dante theme as well as paint more of my Carnival Project … and maybe, just maybe achieve my target. Nonetheless, there’s always next year … right?

Be Kind, Be Safe

Sarah

PS: Tuesday, March 18, 7:39am

Early morning walk with Huckleberry in the park & stopped to admire the rime frost on the trees - Magical

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What a treat that I get to Minion your last post Sarah!

Tomi & Timi seem like a high energy pair. I can see them being somewhat amusing at the start of the evening, wearing thin at the end of the banquet, and positively irritating when suffering a hangover the next day! You've a done job with their bright attire...which would also be annoying 'the morning after'. I agree, the pastels work really well broken up with the bone/ivory/white like that

Its been wonderful to watch your Challenge progress and if you find that you've painted totally different things at the end to what you planned at the start...you're doing it just like everyone else! And if you had fun along the way anyway, then you're doing it right :-) I hope you'll be back again next year!

PS Hucklebury looks rather unimpressed with all that snow! 'Can we go home now Mum?' You've had your walk

- Paul

From DaveV: Even More Talisman Adventurers (Wrath) (35 Points)

 

Real life has a way of getting in the way of hobby related activities. That being said, my latest post for The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XV shows a couple more classic, pewter Talisman figures from Games Workshop/Citadel, released for the board game back in the 1980's. 

Above, the Warrior of Chaos.

Long out of production, a friend found this figure for me on eBay, from the U.K. When I got it, it had thick layers of green and yellow paint over unprimed metal. I used paint remover, white spirits, and gun cleaner to get 95% of this gunk off, revealing mould lines and bits of flash. I went at it with a hobby knife and diamond dust files. I dug into my bitz collection and added an old Citadel plastic heater shaped shield, the ones with the hole in the middle. Some gap filling super glue and work with sanding sticks got the figure finally ready for priming. 

As with my previous entries, I used zenithal highlights to base coat the figure. I sketched in the basic colours with acrylics, then added highlights, shadows, and blending with tube oil paints. 

After painting, the shield got some suitable Chaos decals, aided by decal solution and Future Floor Polish. The elongated skull is a Citadel Dark Elf transfer, IIRC; I thought it would complement all the skulls and faces sculpted in the Chaos Warrior's armour. The Chaos script comes from a sheet of Chaos iconography from The Mighty Brush. I then chipped and weathered the shield with oils. 

The “steel” part of the axe/mace thingy I painted in NMM style, attempting to render a patina of age. 

Some chainmail links are missing from the figure's right elbow. Thinking that this had to be intentional on the part of the sculptor, I added some GW Blood from the Blood God over flesh tones, to show a minor wound. 

The figure stands a little taller than the other Talisman figures, creating an imposing impression. Below, the Warrior of Chaos compared to the Knight. 

I based the figure on a hexagon base to also be usable for Steve Jackson Games' classic TTRPG, The Fantasy Trip. This Warrior of Chaos leading the Sorceress, Assassin, and Thief would make an interesting (and evil) TTRPG adventuring party. 

I also managed to finish the Talisman Centaur. It's a neat, single-piece model, painted in similar fashion to my other Talisman figs, with the horsey part basically successive thin glazes of GW washes over the zenithal highlights.  

I think this figure will make a good addition to the party I plan to run through the old TFT programmed adventure, the Treasure of the Silver Dragon. There are a lot of outdoor encounters in that module.  Below, the Elf, Prophetess, Knight, Warrior, and Centaur, 

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GW seems to have gotten their concept of Chaos from the fantasy works of Michael Moorcock. No matter which deity they worship, Chaos Warriors all seem to be bloody exemplars of Wrath.

Painting Challenge Totals:

(28mm figure + 28mm mounted figure) + Wrath = 15 + 20 = 35 points  

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Hey Dave!

Lovely to see more of these Talisman figures …what great looking miniatures!

What a load of prep work on the Chaos Warrior, but definitely worth the hard work.

My favourite though is the Centaur … the ‘horsey part’ is really well painted and I do enjoy the centaurs Mohawk-like mane

35 points to your scoreboard

-Sarah

From SimonG: "The Witch of the Westmorland" - Two 28mm Vignettes (75 points)

After a few week's absence from posting I am finally back with my centrepiece for this challenge, a pair of 28mm vignettes based on the song "The Witch of the Westmorland"(1). 

This song made a great impression on me the first time I heard it off Kate Rusby's 2016 album "Life in a Paper Boat". It is highly evocative of time (I'd say 500-600CE), and place -- Rheged, what is now Cumbria and the Lake District. 

Having spent several months selecting and sourcing miniatures I created two vignettes on live edge Yew plinths. I've included two short videos so you can get a sense of the full vignette in each case.

The male mounted and dismounted figures are Victrix late Roman unarmoured cavalry and Romano British infantry, with some kit bashing to match the heads and arms and add the bandaging. The female figures are both 3D prints from the designer M3DM, her Goddess of Virtue and her Druid Centaur. The hounds are from CheckPoint Miniatures and the hawk is from Reaper.

For a closer look at these pieces it makes sense to follow the song. 

"Pale was the wounded night that bore the Roman Shield" (2)

Don't look too closely as the leatherwork and boots on the two figures are different!

"Turn, turn your stallions head til his red mane flies in the wind"

Red is strictly speaking not a particularly realistic horse mane colour and usually is sun bleaching on a chestnut or sorrel, anyway I had fun trying to get this effect but it's hard to photograph as the bright light masks the shades!

"And he said, lie down my brindled hound and rest ye my good grey hawk"

Brindling isn't too hard to replicate, not sure if wolfhounds can be brindled however, usually applies to a shorter haired breed I think. As there are no grey hawks specifically native to the UK (as far as I am aware) I chose to make this one a peregrine falcon -- that's quite a bird to have at your beck and call!

"And it's down to the water's brim he'd borne the Roman shield"

Modelling water is where most of the effort in this job has been, and I've still got a lot to learn. I did like sourcing a bunch of neat photo etched reeds and some lovely paper water flowers. The main water is done using Aqua Magic which I discovered doesn't like to set when constrained as I had to do using a jerry rigged dam as shown in the picture above. I also hoped to get some good reflections off the water surface but didn't realise that this would need a darker shade underneath than the light stones I selected -- oh well, lessons learned.

"And wet rose she from the lake and fast and fleet went she.

One half the form of a maiden fair and a jet black mare's body"

Lucky to have found that M3DM sculpt -- it's exactly as the source for the song suggests -- tales of antlered women with bodies of deer, perhaps based on sightings of red deer in the lakes. There is an inordinate amount of fine detail on these figures including one braid which had snapped, I patched in a spare from the back up figure I purchased and it's at least something (it's her left side braid). I also only discovered in photographing the figure that's she's wearing more of a bra top than a vest -- at least my styling keeps her respectable!

"For I see by the briny blood that flows you're wounded in the field"

Basic green stuff bandage and some subtle blood work!

"She stood in a gown of velvet blue bound round with a silver chain"

One of the best sculpted female faces I've seen, albeit a rather static pose, but  being from the same designer the look of both faces is similar. For hair I tried for a Yffing (3) chestnut :-) There's some wonderful fine hair detail about the face that was a pleasure to paint.

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So hopefully by now you've had a chance to listen to the song and follow along with the models. I certainly had fun planning and executing this project and I hope the results do justice to the source material

For points I am claiming two mounted 28mm figures (20 points), two foot (10 points) and four creatures (20 points) plus a 20 point bonus for love in paradise -- the song does after all say that "she's kissed his pale lips once and twice and three times round again" -- I think that's a worshipful, healing sort of kiss as befits paradise! I also relied on the female centaur druid to fly us straight to the third sphere! So with that bonus, if permitted, i get my hard earned 70 points!

Hopefully you enjoy these pieces as much as I do. Now what shall I plan next?

(1) The song is by Archie Fisher from 1976, it's been covered by many others, there are quite a few variants on the words but I'm using Kate's version, and even that has differences in what folks claim to hear!

(2) One of the specific differences being that the original and most versions sing "Rowan Shield". I've got problems with this. Why make a shield of Rowan, it is very hard and lighter than oak but not as common and I've not found evidence of this as a shield material. Or why have a Rowan sigil on your shield? Kate's singing "Roman shield"(i.e. a shield in the style of or dating to Romano-British times) makes perfect sense to me and that is how I modelled it (although an infantry shield when mounted is a little impractical!)

(3) This is of course a reference to Nicola Griffith's Menewood, which I cannot recommend too highly, although an interest in the specific details of seventh century life and warfare is a pre-requisite!

TeemuL: I'm not sure what all this is, this entry is just staggering! May be it is the flu or the excellent entry, all the backstory, sourcing the minis, but I feel a bit light headed... I guess it is better, if you just read, watch and listen, my words are unnecessary. :) Take 5 bonus points for the dioramas!

From BrianC: Zombicide Survivors, Cultist, Naughty Nurses? Oh My! (87 points)

 Well, Hello! I'm thrilled to return for my second go-around! Ok. Right off the bat, I am not much of a mini painter, but I try to paint the minis "decent" enough to get on the tabletop as quickly as possible. Hey, I love to game! For this paint challenge, I will focus on getting those old, old Reaper Miniature Bones minis painted. The plastic is a challenge to paint. Also, I have begun painting 15mm miniatures and loving it! So I will start off with some Alternative Armies 15mm Cultist miniatures. 

Yup, I painted the cultist the typical red outfits..

Yeah, that's an old dude on a "speeder bike"?

I am a BIG Zombicide fan. Therefore, I will be painting a lot of Zombicide Survivors. For example, Here are two of them, Audrey(aka Amy from Big Bang Theory) and Doud.

These Zombicide miniatures are Special Promo survivors. I use Army Painter Speedpaints on all my minis.

Next, I have some resin 3D-printed naughty nurses. These two girls will be great for the special horror tabletop game.

The next mini is another Alternative Armies, Jack Frost. The minis is metal and I truly enjoy painting the metal minis. I tried my best to give him a "icy" look.

Now we have the old Reaper Miniature minis. Although, one is metal and was a treat to paint! I will begin with the spy, Agatha Fox.

What is she pulling out of her purse? Hmm?

Next, we have a Callie, The Rogue. I may use her for Frostgrave or Rangers of Shadow Deep.

We have Zombie Hunter, Bonnie blasting her way through the undead!

Lastly, I like to introduce to you Gang Boss Phat Clark. This Reaper metal miniature was fun to paint! I think he can be used for Victorian Sci-Fi or Steampunk miniature game. 

Well, there ya go. My first entry for the 2025 Paint Challenge. Again, I am using this challenge to get a lot of older minis painted. I will have some Romans, Vikings, and Saxons for this challenge, too. I am very excited to be back again! Love it! Get after it! 

Ok, now for the points...

9 x 28/32mm = 45pts.

19 x 15mm = 38pts,

1 x 15mm mounted = 4pts.

Possible total = 87pts.

Sylvain: A very colorful entry covering different genres and scales. Your cultists look the business, and your survivors will increase the fun when playing Zombicide. When patients at the hospital see your nurses entering their room with crowbar and knife, I am sure they will instantly "heal" and start running...

Great job!