From MartinC Chambers of Challenge, Hall of the Ancestors - Joseph Harold Cooke, RM (35pts)

 My Grandad Harold was a Royal Marine Commando during WW2. He was in 7th Battalion which was assigned to port guard duties. In September 1942 his battalion sailed for South Africa to guard the ports but weren't needed so they sailed for Egypt. Whilst in Egypt his war diary, not very complete and mainly in morse said that while in Egypt he met with a large party of Yugoslavia refugees and was taken to their camp for dinner. He said they were very nice people. I know you are interested in the morse code and we have deciphered it. it mainly says things like "18th August 1942 STOP practicing my morse code STOP weather very nice STOP"

Whilst in Egypt he caught malaria and was shipped back to England where he spent the rest of the war. He was afflicted with malaria all his life and it would occasionally be stricken down with it when I was child. He died over 25 years ago and only ever talked abou thte war once. His battalion was reassigned as 48 commando and many of his friends we assigned to other commandos. These friends took part in the Raid in St Nazaire and he lost many friends there. 48 commando was part of the special service brigade and took part in D-Day. A letter from a friend 3 days later described the loss of more friends.

My family is lucky, we exist because my Grandad got malaria, the most deadly of all diseases, otherwise there was a significant probability that he wouldn't have made it and my father wouldn't have been born after the war.

Enough reflection on if and whats and maybes. We know for a fact that he was in South Africa because of this photo

My grandad, front row centre, having his photo taken with a Zulu warrior in December 1942. I don't think he'd travelled more than 30miles from home before joining the marines

So obviously I planned to reproduce this image

The figures are Empress drivers with head swaps etc. I didn't have any unpainted Zulus but in a previous challenge the marvellous Michael Awdry gave me a wonderfully painted Zulu in a side challenge. 

I'm really delighted with this ensemble. Think my Grandad would have been, he was one of the people who took me model soldier shopping on Saturdays.

3x28mm and 20 pts and loads of nice memories

From SanderS & MichaelA: "Yes M'Lady" or 'Project L, 2.0!' (35 Points Each)

From Michael:
I don't know how this happened again, but it has!  There I was minding my own business, preparing some Moria Goblins for my Curtgeld, when a message from Sander popped up in my inbox.  "Hoi, Michael, look what I've found", or words to that effect, and as I scrolled down the message I couldn't help but roar with laughter when I saw the subject of his exclamation.  

It would appear that the Die Herausforderer (The Challengers) are the gag that keeps on giving as Sander has found a set of Orc Landsknechts, oh yes he has!  Sander had agreed to purchase a set and send me one figure to paint, along with my Moria Goblins and he would paint the other three.  The Landsknecht of course had to be painted in the now legendary yellow and purple livery.

They were then all to be reunited at which point I would base them and send them on to our beloved Snowlord.  Well that was the plan, but time has got away from us slightly.  Still, just in the nick of time, the Orcs have been reunited and I am thankfully able to present a collaborative effort from myself and Sander.

Once again I am indebted to Sander who even at a particular difficult time has brought a smile to face.

I leave you with Sander's immortal line, which has now been proved to be an utter fabrication, "I will never paint Landsknecht ever again!"

From Sander:
Yup, it went pretty much as Michael described above. Curt just has this knack of getting me to paint bloody Landsknechts, I had actually found another Landsknecht themed vignette before the Challenge started but that was out of stock so I was at a loss for a suitable Curtgeld submission. To add to this problem Michael had stated he wouldn't be taking part in the Challenge this year and that was a big bummer as well. Luckily some higher force coerced...erm..bribed....persuaded (that's the word!) Michael to enter the Challenge anyway so there we were. Curt came up with the notion he wanted Orcs and so I jumped for joy remembering I had seen some Orc Landsknechts at the Warmonger Miniatures site. The rest as they say is History (sorry Michael I couldn't resist that bad pun).

Okay, long story short: the figures are at Awdry Towers and will soon find their way over to Canada and it's freezing cold. This leaves me with just one thing to do: thenak Curt for setting up and hosting this Challenge yet again and thanking Michael for being one of the best (Hobby) friends a dumb Dutchie could ask for: on to next years Challenge I'm off to bed I'm knackered!

 
If I understand correctly, each of you has painted three figures of Curtgeld? That's 35 points each, if I'm not mistaken. And those orcish Landsknechts are magnificent! Those colours are great, wonderfully executed, and hopefully Curt will throw out all his boring humans* and start collecting period orcs!

Barks

*Just send them my way, good sir, and I'll dispose of them for you.

From MichaelA: Droids? What Droids? (40 points)

Hot on the heels of the Droids from last week, I present the most luckless search party in celluloid history!  I am tinkering away with various bits of terrain for a Tatooine themed board and needed a couple of ‘extras’ to set the scene, as it were.  To that end I have grabbed my Imperial Assault Dewback and five Stormtroopers from the Star Wars: Legion core box to represent the Imperial presence.  Once again I used Sorastro painting tutorials for both, which this time saw me take on wet blending with a matt medium.  I have become so impressed, and perhaps a little bit dependent, on this man’s work that I have decided to become a patron and was pleasantly surprised at the additional PDF guides that this allowed me access to.  There is no doubt in my mind that these guides have seen me change my painting style and I would like to think for the better?

 

Once again the scale discrepancy is notable between the two game systems, but interestingly the backpack on the Dewback rider and that of the Heavy Weapon Trooper are identical in size!  Speaking of the Dewback, I needed to adapt the shock lance using some brass rod.  The Stormtroopers are, of course, not really Sandtroopers, but will suffice although they have clearly only just arrived on the planet judging by their mostly pristine armour!  If the truth be told, I just couldn't bring myself to wash over my carefully painted work!

 

So that is one mounted unit and five foot for an additional 35 points.
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Great work Michael! Ah, the hapless Imperial Stormtroopers...so fun, so pointless, so essential - pop cultural touchstones who cannot hit the broad side of a barn with their shooting.  This particular Stormtrooper party is, as you say, notorious for its incompetence, and has become an infamous  punch line. 

They will be the absolute perfect addition to any Tatooine scene being contemplated, and your brushwork is, as always, outstanding.  I cannot speak to these painting tutorials you mention, but the results certainly speak for themselves - the dewback in particular is top-shelf stuff. 

Having seen the bonkers scale of the "Star Wars: Legion" figures up close, I am impressed at how well they mix in with the "Imperial Assault" lot.  Just great stuff, excellent work. 

And while we find no droids, we find 40 points - yes, a few extra points because that dewback looks so cool, and because I'm getting an opportunity for a day to be a minion, I may as well abuse my power while I can...

Greg

From MichaelA - Any old iron? Any old iron? (75 Points)

Any, any, any old iron?

A rare post from me this morning, in fact I am painfully aware that I have not been as prolific as in previous years. That said, I have been beavering away and have a number of Star Wars related projects all starting to come to fruition and hopefully in time to share before the end of the Challenge! So on that note, and without any further ado, let me present my latest efforts. 

I have a hankering for a Tatooine themed board for Star Wars: Legion and nothing says Tatooine more than Jawas and Droids.  I had already painted several of these wasteland natives courtesy of Imperial Assault, but have added to these with some Wizards of the Coast pre-painted Star Wars Miniatures and some new 3D printed sculpts from Skull Forge Studios.  All were primed, including the pre-painted ones, which on reflection seemed a waste of time, and based to match the existing models in my collection.  

The 3D sculpts were lovely, but a little smaller than I imagined so I decided to raise them a tad with a an additional washer.  Then, following a painting tutorial from Sorastro, set about polishing off half a dozen of the little scrap metal merchants, before turning my attention to their stock and trade.  I seem to have amassed quite an assortment of Droids from various benefactors and manufactures over the years.  They have sat idle for far too long whilst I pondered over colours and designations.  Now, with time against me, I decided to stop prevaricating and get on with it!

With decisions made and research completed, I was pleasantly surprised and how quickly I managed to get through them.  Having decided that these droids were going to have found themselves abandoned on 'such a desolate place', they were given a fair amount of rust and weathering, which had the added advantage of concealing a multitude of mistakes.

With regards to points we have 16 x 28mm scaled miniatures. That said I am happy to concede that two of the droids, ASP-7 and the A4-Series Lab Droid were only really rebased, washed and weathered so perhaps only worth 5 points for the pair? Hopefully adding 75 points to my meagre tally.

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Ahh, any day with an M.Awdry submission is a great day (and the same goes for any post being able to fit in the word 'prevaricating'). Wonderful work Michael! Maybe it was their funny speach and mysterious, shrouded faces, but ever since I was a wee sprout seeing the first Star Wars movie I've always had a soft spot for the Jawas.  I think your choice to repaint and rebase the WoC models was a good one, as now they look like a cohesive group. I also like that you included small bits of droid parts and various scrap to their bases - very evocative. The variety of droids a fabulous treat as well. I especially like the colour and weathering on the green GNK droid. Lovely work Michael. 

75 point for your tally Mr. Awdry - Well done! Next, to keep in theme, we need to see some Tusken Raiders from you. ;)

From MichaelA: No Place Like Home (25 points)

Just the briefest of posts to showcase a couple of dwellings, planned for a Tatooine inspired Star Wars: Legion Board. These were from 'TTCombat' and were a simple cost effective solution to setting the scene. Having put them together in no time at all, I was curious to see if they could be enhanced to disguise the angular, rather boxy look? Wet strength tissue paper and PVA was used to seal the dome with the addition of some ‘eroded’ blue Styrofoam supports around the base. This was all given a coat of All Purpose Filler. On reflection I probably used too much on the first building and reigned that back a bit on the second attempt, striving for a crude, Adobe wall like effect.

Original kit assembled

Once dried additional sand texture was added along with some A/C Greebles from ‘Combatzone Scenery’ with the coiled wire and bulkhead lights coming from ‘Zinge Industries’. The whole piece was then given a diluted PVA glue protective coat. Painting just saw them primed in a suitable sand like colour, washed with Agrax Eathshasde and then dry brushed.

Added details

From start to finish, this was a refreshingly quick build, which went much as I had hoped. I had everything crossed when I gave them a spray coat of matt varnish as this has eaten into the blue foam before, but the protective PVA layer seemed to hold and all was well. With a couple of hovels under my belt and some new techniques secured, I am hoping to progress to a slightly more challenging build next.

As for points, stacked one on top of the other they come to 6" x 6" x 8" so comfortably through one terrain cube, shall we shall 25 points? 

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Simply superb Michael!!

I love how you made the hard angular shape of the original MDF models into the much more organic designs from the Star Wars films. The inclusion of the wiring and tech bits is truly inspired and really is evocative of those scenes in Tunisia Tatooine. Love the first shot of Luke's landspeeder and the droids. Now, we just need to see Aunt Beru out with a glass of blue milk and a plate of cookies and the scene would be fully set. :)

So it's goodnight from me...

... and it's goodnight from him.

My final scheduled posting as a fully fledged minion and I just wanted to say a huge thank you to my allotted challengers who have kept me entertained with such wonderful work over the recent weeks.  I was so lucky to have such a diverse bunch of styles and periods to work with and have throughly enjoyed our, all too brief, correspondence - gentlemen it has been a pleasure!

So for one final time, this year at least, let's enjoy the Saturday Showcase!

From MichaelA: A Final Flourish (50 points)

Allowing terrain to be included in this year’s challenge has afforded me the opportunity me to tick off a few pieces that I had earmarked for construction later this year.  For as long as I can remember I have wanted a viable river system for my table and had been looking at various options.  In the end I plumped for Almera Plastics sections.

Working initially with a couple of curves and straight lengths, these are relatively inexpensive vacuum formed plastic sheets, but take all the guesswork out of making rivers that links together.  I decided to give mine a little more weight and having trimmed the edges a little they were glued to some 2mm MDF sheets.  I used a little sandpaper to make the surface a little rough and then added some sand and small stones mixed with a generous amount of PVA.  Having set aside to dry they were simply undercoated in black and then painted as normal.  I like my rivers to be blue and so used a dark Prussian blue, lightening to the edges.  Once all was completed the pieces were varnished and dressed with static grass and tufts. 

Inevitably it was all going to come down to the next phase, the water.  I had had some luck with Poundland epoxy resin and had initially thought that was going to be the way to go with this this project, but stumbled across an alternative – clear silicone sealant.  To say that I was a little anxious about the application would be an understatement, especially given the time that had already gone into the project, but all seemed to go well.  Working in small batches, I simply squeezed out the silicone and then spread around with a lolly stick.  Water helps to push the incredibly sticky substance around, but be warned it is difficult to tame.  If you are after a still millpond effect then this isn’t for you, it is more babbling brook, which I happen to feel looks rather effective.

Having completed the river, I was reminded that I had picked up was once an Italri stone bridge in the Warlord Games half price plastic sprue sale.  Simple enough to glue together, but once I had slapped some grey paint on it, I was left feeling a tad underwhelmed with an incredibly clean bridge.  A bit of weathering was called for and with the addition of some pumice gel and static grass I was able to create something that fitted more readily with the completed river sections.

Whilst sticking pieces of hard plastic together, I was reminded that I had also had a Renedra Plastics ramshackle barn lurking somewhere in the pile.  Once finally unearthed this was glued together and then undercoated.  Following a rather predictable pattern, blue for water and grey for stone the barn was painted brown for wood and no sooner had I finished when I realised that this just wasn’t right.  I set about it with the drybrush and completely changed my mind with regards to the tiles on the roof, opted for a more conventional slate grey. 

As nicely detailed as it is, there isn’t a huge amount to trouble the painter, although I did manage to pick out a few details here and there, before adding some flock to hint at its dilapidation. 

Finally then, the Saintly Mrs. Awdry had very kindly bought me one of 4 Grounds European Windmill and whilst slightly anachronistic for my Witchfinder world, it is such a lovely kit that I wanted to show it off a bit more.  To that end I needed a small hillock to raise it off the table and so this last piece of terrain was inspired by a piece that the oh so talented James from Oshiro Model Terrain had shown on his on his blog.  

So my final flourish was a pile of terrain that I hope will see action on the table this summer.

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What a lovely assortment of terrain Michael - so much to enjoy here. Your rivers sections turned out beautifully, especially that babbling water effect. The barn is wonderful with it's worn and weathered clapboard sides. AND that windmill is the absolute bomb - gorgeous stuff and very evocative for your Whitchfinder setting.

Hmm, I say we put it at 60 points for this lot of charming terrain. Thanks so much for sharing these with us Michael!

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From SanderS & MichaelA: Die Herausforderer or 'Project L!' (60 Points Each)

Now I make no secret of the fact that I was planning on giving this year’s challenge a miss.

There was no sinister reason behind this decision other than that my hobby interests were changing, I was painting less and gaming more.  That and that fact that I knew that we were likely to be very busy at work and what with the planned refurbishment to ‘Awdry Towers’ it just seemed like a sensible idea to take a back seat this year.

What I have subsequently discovered is that our beloved Snow Lord is a very difficult man to say no to and before I knew what was happening I was a fully fledged minion!  Now just when I thought I had got this new development squared away, I received an email whose introduction will sound familiar to many, “Hoi Michael!”  Yes, our good friend Sander had a plan that involved another collaboration and suddenly I’m hooked again!

So good folk, allow us to present to you a truly monstrous submission that will form Sander’s and mine own offerings as Curtgeld.  Imagine, if you will, the moment when the infamous Die Herausforderer (The Challengers) rise from the grave only to be sent straight back to Hell by their decedents, now a modern mercenary unit.   A tale of monsters and monstrosity, referring particularly to the colour scheme.

It would appear that Sander has forgotten that he had promised that, "I will never paint Landsknecht ever again!"  That said I am grateful that he did as this has proved to be another wonderfully fun collaboration and always interesting to work with miniatures that I had previously not experienced, mine been from The Assault Group, whilst Sander's were from Wargames Foundry.

So thank you Sander for taking me out of my comfort zone, once again, and to Curt for allowing us this opportunity to let our imaginations run riot.

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You guys are a wonderful pair of crazy. Yes, I distinctly remember last year Sander saying 'Landsknechts, never again!' AND this year Michael saying 'Old Boy, I'm afraid I'll have to give this year a miss.' BUT here are the two of you AGAIN, painting me a whacky vignette of Landsknechts. You know, my Sith powers amaze even myself.  ;)

Seriously guys, this is just brilliant. Hilariously nutty and wonderfully imaginative. In my minds eye I can hear a fife, drum and alphorn version of 'Thriller' playing in the background. Thank you so much. I'm going to add a few more points for the wonderful basework and level of logistics required in getting this completed. Bravo to you both!

Now, I need to come up with a scenario to feature this set. I think this may call for some choice single malt and a pipe of our soon-to-be legalized 'Old Toby'. :p

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Getting closer!

The finishing line is in sight and with this, my penultimate duty weekend, I have more delights to share on the Saturday Showcase.

Don't forget to make your votes for the final bonus theme round today and let's see how many points we can add to this year's tally before the final whistle blows!  

Thank Goodness it's Saturday!

All teachers love the snow, well let me beg to differ!  Far too much excitement this week so really looking forward to wrapping up warm and getting some painting done.  Don't forget to get your entries in for the final bonus round.

From MichaelA: "This is no cave..." (15 Points)

The X-Wing Miniatures Game remains a firm favourite at the school tabletop gaming club, a combination of simple, fun rules and great looking models sees it played on a regular basis.  It has been great fun building up the fleets to include special abilities, but I was keen to broaden the range of scenarios available in the time that we have allotted; enter 'Mr. Chompy!'  This Giant Space Worm is from 'Combatzone Scenery' and is made from plaster that has been specially impregnated with a resin to make it more durable and comes primed and ready to paint.  The detailing is such that having airbrushed the basic colours, I simply added further colour by dry brushing before picking out a few details here and there.

Although the space slug comes in a few piece it is fairly simple to put together.  That said in my enthusiasm to get it ready for painting, I forgot to pin the head and tail, all seems fine and secure at the moment, but I am worried that I may come to regret that somewhat hasty decision.  At some point, I might try and mind some clear plastic rod to replace the rather obvious black one, but it is fine as it is for the moment.   

This is a fun addition to any game, with unwary ships likely to be missing a chunk or two if they fly too close! The additional rules allow the 'Mr. Chompy' to attack up to range one, causing another variable to an already fun game.
  

As for points, well the longest edge of the base is a 120mm, as is the height of the piece, but is it a terrain piece or monster on a base?  Fortunately, I don't have to make that decision. 

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Be still my beating heart, a regular submission from Mssr. Awdry outside the theme rounds?! This is a propitious day indeed! :)

What a cool figure and a great addition to the X-Wing game. I like the colours you've  chosen for the whale/worm, especially his blue tongue. I know that the kids at  your school will love it.  Actually, I could see that this would work very nicely for Armada games as well, especially with the greater contrast in scales. Hmm, I think I need one...

Looking at the dimensions of this beastie let's call him the equivalent of a 28mm vehicle - so 15 points for you, Michael. This will put you well within striking range of your points target for this edition of the Challenge, well done sir!

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Must dash!

Must dash, lots to do!  There is always lots to do, and never enough time, but today the exhaustive list of chores needs to be completed before the rugby starts this afternoon.  The 6 Nations rugby tournament is always enjoyable and the clash between Wales and England a particularly tasty affair so excuse the brevity of introduction; on with the Saturday Showcase!

What a week!

Well what a week, no really what week!  There I was minding my own business, looking forward to another spell at the brushes on Saturday morning when we hear that we are going to be inspected!  It doesn’t matter how well prepared you think you are, these things are never fun and just the mere mention of inspection can send shivers down the the most senior of teachers.  Still we have survived and, by all accounts, made a good fist of it so hopefully that means we will be left alone for a couple of years – we shall see!  So what with all the excitement with the day job and the builders knocking chunks out of ‘Awdry Towers’ it has not been the calmest of weeks.

Fortunately it's not all about me and once again I am delighted to share some more splendid examples of brushmanship.  Of course today is also the deadline for the third bonus round, 'Musician' so let’s see some more outstanding entries please.

 On with the Saturday Showcase!

Quiet, perhaps too quiet?

It is suspiciously quite around here this morning!

Not a huge amount in the inbox for Minion Michael to deal with, I can only assume that everyone is entering the second bonus round, due to be submitted by midnight tonight, I know that’s what has been taking a lot of my time of late.

That said we have some noteworthy additions this week with Keith, another massive submission from Alex, (how does he do it?) and a debut post from Grahame.

 Anyway enough wittering, let’s get on with the Saturday Showcase!

Hello Saturday!

Well good morning, can it really be Saturday again already?  I have decided to take a slightly different tack this morning as, on reflection, the haughty schoolmaster with his billowing academic gown and clouds of chalk dust just didn't really scream minion!  Making it all about me was in dreadfully poor taste and I will be atoning for my overreaching just as soon as I have performed this morning's duties.  My new mantra, 'Minions should be very rarely seen and only heard from when they have something to post' will be tattooed with a blunt spoon over my entire body.  On a more cheery note, as is permissible in the minion code, let's get on with the Saturday showcase!

Roll Call!

*The swirl of his academic gown lifts a cloud of chalk dust as Minion Michael enters the classroom.*

Right! Good morning, sit down please.  Raymond, I said sit down!  No, not there boy! 

Thank you Mr. Campbell for Friday’s lesson; a masterclass in decorum, creativity and style.  Whilst today’s might be less eloquent, I am hoping that the work presented will make up for  stylistic shortfall on my part - first the roll call.

Outstanding painting skills – present!

Clever basing solutions - present!

Creative terrain building – present!

And a paint bomb – oh yes, it’s time for the Saturday showcase to begin!

Raymond! Take that finger out of your nose!

From MichaelA: Sadako & Well (Ring) (15 Points)

I trust that you have all had a good Christmas and allow me to wish you a very happy New Year!  With the news that terrain would now garner points, I had hoped to snag a couple of easy wins with some plastic and resin scenery - I wonder how many Renedra barns we will see this winter?  I know I have one primed and ready to go!  That said as soon as I saw Curt's stunning, opening entry, I was so inspired that I had to try something a little different.

This then is my homage to the Ring, a 1998 Japanese, psychological, horror film directed by Hideo Nakata.  A wonderfully odd piece of celluloid that revolves around a cursed videotape that kills the viewer seven days after watching it.  Without wanting to give too much away a young girl, Sadako is killed and her body disposed of in a well; her grisly return forming part of the cursed tape.

The build started with a Fenris Games well, but thinking that I might want to use it in my 'Witchfinder' games, I added some little extras in the form of a rope and bucket, some mushrooms and even the remains of some luckless soul, perhaps Sadako herself?

I have subsequently 'filled' the well with some epoxy resin, which helps to convey a much needed feeling of depth to the piece.  As for Sadako, this was another of my Studio Miniatures horror characters and was relatively simple to paint on account of her damp, matted hair covering her face.  So hopefully my first points on the board and with a suitably monstrous theme to boot, let's see how many more times I get distracted before the challenge is over! 

Artist: Beyoncé

Title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

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Ahh, it's great to see you back with us Michael. Welcome to the Challenge.

What a wonderfully evocative (and seriously creepy) vignette. I loved 'The Ring', even though it scared the bejezzus out of me. The film has a great aesthetic which I think you've done an admirable job conveying here. I particularly like the little details you've added like the mushrooms and the rope and pale next to the well. You need to come back with another shot of it with the addition of the epoxy resin water - I'd like to see the effect of that with the human remains just below the surface. 

An excellent opening to your Challenge this year. Now, get ready for your minion duties next week - I think you'll be busy. :)

AND with Michael's entry we now have half of the participants with points on the roster. Great work people!! Let's keep the steam up.