From Barks: More Underhive denizens (30 points)

My painting time has really stalled out this Challenge, but I forced myself to get some figures done. These are a variety of beings you may find in the Underhive.

The malstrain is a corrupted genestealer. I slightly trimmed back and toned down the excess spikes of the original sculpt, as I thought they were a bit much even for me. I've got more of these to paint but its a slow fiddly process. He's a big boy on a 40mm base. I've gone for a severe cataract eye. The pustules remind me of the original plastic 'stealers.

With an untrimmed figure

Next, I have some winged figures- two caryatids and a cherub. Caryatids are nearly mythical figures to underhivers, and are associated with good luck. The smaller metal figure is a very limited sculpt associated with Colony 87- read more here. He's on a 20mm base, and is definitely a 'he'.

This cherub had a goatee and hair
but I trimmed it back to be more Churchillian.

Somewhere in this medic servoskull is a skull!

I really like this underseer sculpt. It nails the bizarre bodies and mechadendrites of the tech-priests.

Postscript: I was bullied/peer-pressured into painting some patches onto flight suits and trying to get a mirrorshades effect onto Ferro's aviators. Are you happy now?

Six figures of varying sizes... 25 points?

+1 skull for the skull challenge (total 45)

From Millsy:

Any submission that makes use of the term "denizen" is a winner in my books! These are all superb mate but I am particularly impressed and at the same time a bit disturbed by the underseer. I have little idea what mechadendrites are but I suspect I'm better off that way.

Kudos for your efforts on the mirrrorshades and patches. I've awarded a bonus five points because I resist every temptation to revisit something so if you can be bothered it should pay off.

Cracking stuff Barks. 30 more underhive credits for you.

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

From Barks: Underhive denizens (65 points)

I have really misunderestimated how much painting time I have this Challenge, and am well off the pace. Anyway, here are some figures I've been keen to get some paint on.

The first batch are malstrain cultists- mutated genestealer cultists, what's not to like? They're all kitbashed and greenstuffed, which makes them nicely unique. The bodies are Stargrave Scavengers I & II, which are my favourite Stargrave kits. Speedpaints Noble Skin, Brownish Decay and Desolate Brown make up most of the khaki browns. By sitting the heads low with no neck you get this pleasing hunchback appearance. I've left two with empty hands so they can more easily pass as harmless civilians in my Guards of Traitors Toll reskin.

The next is a Delaque informant, also from the Scavenger box. I liked this hand pose that looks like he's using a wrist communicator. I carved off pockets and extra webbing straps to give more of a Matrix trenchcoat look.

These two are based on 30K Mechanicum Thralls, which is a fun kit. I was inspired by Kill Sample Process's cyberpunk malfunctioning murderous cleaning bots, and used some peasant bits for the arms. The cleaning rag is a ponytail. Servitors are shaved during the servitorisation process, but I thought the braided hair on the sweeper added to the body horror.

I have no mouth and I must clean

13x 28mm figures (65 points)

3x skullz (total 44)

Big Stompy Robots +2 (Three lies in one!)

From Millsy:

Wow, these are just wonderful mate! I'd not considered making 40K-esqe stuff from Stargrave kits but it really, really works! Your cultists aren't just cool, they have a real old skool vibe which is just brilliant. I've got some metal tech gangers and I'm now imagining how I might give them arms and weapons without selling a kidney, plus building some mates to support them. Brilliant!

Your skin tones, saturated blues and pinks/purples are the perfect counterpoint to the muted greys and metallics. They just feel right.

Wonderful stuff Barks. More please!

Cheers,
Millsy

From Barks: Space cops (35 points)

One of my main goals this Challenge is to paint some figures for Guards of Traitors Toll... in space! I've been inspired by GoTT, which has you play as City Guards in a fantasy town- very Ankh-Morpork Night Watch. You need a good amount of town scenery, scatter, and citizens- not to mention some watchmen.

Anyway, I thought I'd give it the lightest of re-skins so I can play it in a Necromunda-type setting. I made my own Enforcers mostly using Stargrave Troopers. One of the first challenges is to port across the weapons- ranged weapons are rare, and empty hands are useful. Not to mention spears, swords, billhooks etc. Despite having a plethora of bits, the Stargrave sprues rarely have exactly what you need in the pose you want, so there's a lot of green stuff going on.

I like this guy's thumping arm, from the Automatons kit. I went for a black beret, I think it suits the paramilitary look.

I used a blue wash (Army Painter Magic Blue) over the shock mauls for that electric look.

I think this hand was reloading a grenade launcher, but it looks like she's using her wrist comms. I should paint her amazing eyebrows.

A few scratches really help add subtle texture and interest to the plain armour plates.

I'll make another shotgunner (I'll use the crossbow rules from GoTT).

I was pleased with this torch- it's a big RPG rocket with the nose cone cut off.

This shield is Imperial Roman, with a transfer. Are chequers used for police in many jurisdictions? I'd like to do a second one, but will need to kitbash a different right arm as that's the only pose holding a maul.

I've got a few more figures I'd like to build for this watch house, but this first bunch were a good test of concept. They're lacking in the grimdark gothic over-the-top-ness I enjoy (not to mention the absence of skullz), but I like the blue and black scheme. It's fun to try and make them all have character, despite wearing identical black uniforms, helmets, and glasses. I know gloves would make more sense, but it adds a bit of visual interest.

7x 28mm

From Millsy:

Dang! I've been tempted by GoTT and this is an angle I'd not considered. I can feel my limited resistance crumbling by the minute, thanks in part to this wonderful lot.

The way you've edge highlighted the armour, and used a blue tint across the minis to accentuate the cool black/grey is some amazing brushwork mate. And the stubble effect! Very cool indeed.

35 moving violations added to your total Barks.

Cheers,
Millsy

From TeemuL: Scifi and Peninsular War [Science Fiction] (100 points)

While working on the Rare and Antique Books I wander to the new section, Section 5, and to the Science Fiction topic. Here I present another 4 Grey Knights, finishing another 4 previously during the Challenge. They are from Games Workshop for their Warhammer 40k universe, I initially planned them for Kill Team, but the squad is growing and soon I might be able to field an army for 40k itself.

Three of these are metal minis and one (the one with two swords) is a plastic one. I added quite a lot of purity seals and other trinkets on them, trying to emphasize the motion of the minis, where possible.

I went with the silver power armour and red, blue and yellow details - a working combination. The same combination is used on my Imperial Guard 40k penal division (or re-enactor) army, so it gives a link there and allows a nice possibility to field these together. One of the knights has this small shield on him and I have painted it with a simple checkered style, which is a visual link to Howling Griffons space marine chapter, another small contingent I have painted over the years. I run out of the yellow paint I used before and these guys have a bit brigher yellow. To my eye it looks too bright and the highlights are not that visible, but they might mix up nicely on the table.

There are lots of skulls. And purity seals, but mostly skulls. I tried to count all of them from weapons, backpacks, trinkets, helmets, armours etc and got a total of 13. Quite nice from four minis. There might be even more, small ones, that I didn't recognize/paint.

Details on the shield and deamon's head

The next group, I'd like to say, that they were "inspired by my travels", but I never been to Peninsular War area, so that would be a lie to grab bonus points, so I won't. One drunken trip to Barcelona and another to Lisboa and Faro won't count, I guess. We mainly saw exotic drinks and azulejos plates. So no bonus points from here. There are Victrix miniatures, British Napoleonic Highlander Flank Companies to be exact, painted as the 92nd reqiment.

This is my first time with 28mm Napoleonics, I got the box and couple of others quite cheap last summer and decided to bite the bullet. I painted one base of 4 last year as a test and I have been slowly painting these as a side project alongside everything else. I set a target to paint a base of four in a month, so that means I should have 12 bases (or 2 units for Black Powder) in a year. If I keep that pace I should have an army or two ready when I retire...

I have experimented with different paints and techiques between the bases (or even in a base), trying to get a nice and rather easy/fast way to paint these. Yes, they are Highlanders and they have tartan, so not the easiest way to start a Napoleonic project, but I figured out, if I can handle this, then I can handle the rest, too... :) Some of the red is for example painted with traditional acrylics, some minis were painted with contrast paints, for example. Then some washes, some highlights, sometimes drybrush, sometimes not. The bases are cowered with sand and brown coarse turf.

The tartan was rather simple to do, although depending on my choices with paints, the pattern is not that visible on all. It is the red-white checkered pattern on the socks and "bandana" (I guess there is a proper term for that thing, but I'm a young newbie) that tries to kill me... And I didn't paint the regiment number on their water bottles.

I should have the first regiment of six bases ready before the summer and then I can start the next one (the box has 60 minis, so enough for two units and some command bases).

The all four bases shown together

4 28mm Grey Knights = 20 points

1 Science Fiction location = 20 points

12 28mm Highlanders = 60 points

Total 100 points

13 skulls

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Wonderful work Teemu! I really like the vibrancy of your Grey Knights. I too have a small contingent of these for Kill Team (some painted by our GregB no less!), but I've not expanded it beyond that. Your efforts makes me want to test the water again.

Starting with Highlanders for Napoleonics! Wow! You're a glutton for punishment Teemu! Nonetheless, as you say, if you break your duck with Highlanders then all the other stuff will be a walk in the park. These Jocks look terrific and I think your approach to their tartans works just fine. By the time you're finished the army we'll both be retired and able to get together for a game. :)

Well done, but now get back to your Rare & Antique entry... ;)

- Curt

From Barks: Halo Jones (Manga and Graphic Novels)(25 points)

Halo Jones

The Ballad of Halo Jones was a 2000AD comic strip from 1984 to 1986 by Alan Moore, with art by Ian Gibson. Described as a "groundbreaking feminist heroine" by The Guardian, Halo is a futuristic everywoman who decides to leave her life behind to find herself in the galaxy. The epic ballad covers her trials and tribulations over decades of her life as she travels, fights, loves, and ultimately becomes a galactic hero and transcends time and space- or would have if Alan Moore hadn't characteristically had a falling out with his publishers.

The girl who got out

Halo Jones has no characteristic uniform or look beyond her short blonde hair. I made this figure from the wonderful North Star ranges.

1x 28mm (5 points)

Manga and Graphic Novels (20 points)

From Millsy: I have to admit to being a complete n00b when it comes to Halo Jones. Such a pity that a falling out consigned her to a much smaller part in the pantheon of heroines.

Really nice work and a great entry for the graphic novel section of the library. Nice one mate!

From AaronH - Star Wars Legion Rebel Commandos (Overdues and Returns) (105 pts)

For my first entry in the Challenge I'm submitting two units of Rebel Commandos for Star Wars Legion as well as three odds and sods. One is an officer, one is a rebel trooper with a shotgun who can upgrade a rebel trooper squad and the last is an additional rebel commando that I missed when I half painted the rest of that unit five years ago.

The blue commandos. You can tell they're the blue ones because they have a blue flower on the base.

These models have been sitting, primed, on a shelf for five year, which should get them in the Overdue and returns section. The only models that have ever seen the table are the commander and the sniper. The rebel snipers are pretty un-impressive so they fell out of use. Perhaps now that they're painted they'll perform better. (Narrator - they will not, in fact, perform better).

The squad has two upgrade options, the sniper and the saboteur with the mine. He's really bad.

The unit leader. Also female. She will not be using the cart, but rebels always have female troopers so there's unlimited options.

The unit leader is the key model in Star Wars Legion. Measurements for range, line of sight and movement are all done off of her.

These models are soft plastic. They are easy to assemble but soft and bendy. Atomic Mass Games has announced that they will be re-releasing all of the soft plastic models in hard plastic, which will be nice. Some of the sculpts are really showing their age.

The Mon Cal sniper is one of two aliens in the rebel unit.

The other alien in the unit.

The plants are plastic from Gamersgrass. they come in a sheet and you punch them out and shape them. They have a great variety and really add something special to the bases.

The second female in the unit.

You can just see her pony tail on the top right of her backpack.

The commandos have not seen a lot of play until recently. They are lackluster as a whole unit but can be taken as a sniper team of two models. This was their main purpose until ewoks dropped in the summer. All of a sudden whole unit of these became pretty viable. 

Almost the same as the dude above him, but not quite.

The same as the other group, only with red flowers.

With my rebels I decided not to paint the models differently to tell the units apart. I use different colored plants on the base to tell each unit apart.

These are the same as the blue unit, other than the plants, so I'll skip the close-ups.

These last three are another commando. I have a third unit but I had started them five years ago. Somehow I missed this one dude so he got painted first. 

They guy in the middle is an upgrade for the rebel troopers. I don't take them so he'll be unused, at least for Star Wars Legion, but Rhys likes troopers and he'll be useful in other Sci-fi games.

The last model is the rebel captain. He's a solid support character. Not flashy or kill-y but useful for buffing his units. I now have four of these painted. They can either be commanders in the game or be a unit upgrade that makes the unit they are in better.

That gives me 17 32mm models x 5 pts for 85 points

Overdue and Returns x 1 for 20 points

105 points total

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First, welcome back to the Challenge Aaron!

Terrific work on these Rebel Commandos. I like the vibrant camo and the use of coloured flowers on the bases to denote the squad (I did something similar with my Russian Civil War stuff to try to keep it all straight on the tabletop). I also enjoyed reading your inference to the game's meta with the appearance of the ewoks making these troops more viable. I always find it fascinating how many modern games now can now easily tweak their rules, compositions, etc. during the game's lifespan - in fact they're designed that way. Cool. I hope that your fully painted sniper will buck the trend and give you joy. :)

- Curt