From RayR: Retreat from Moscow - 1st Portuguese regt (42 points)

Yep! More Retreat from Moscow figures, and more French allies too. This time we're heading to south western Europe, to Portugal. In Ney's Third Army were two regiments of Portuguese, the 1st and 2nd regiments. This is my version of the 1st. who were in Brigadier Gengoult's brigade along with the 24th Light Infantry.

The Portuguese Legion were formed from Portuguese nationals in 1808, with a strength of 6 Infantry and 2 Cavalry regts. They were re-organized in 1811 into 3 Infantry and 1 Cavalry regt. The Legion lost so many me in Russia that they were disbanded in 1813. 

Once again no company (that I've found anyway) sell the Portuguese Legion in greatcoats. Perry minis make 1 figure in pack FN171, so that's out. So I came up with the idea of buying some plastic Victrix Waterloo Brits wearing a Belgic shako and cutting and filing those down to kinda match what they wore. Its not a bad match if I say so myself. The next problem I came across was the heads were a little small to match the Foundry figures I was going to decapitate.......so Warlord French is was, but they still didn't fit because the heads had no collar. So once again, my trusty pack of Green Stuff came out, to make some scarves and collars. 

The Warlord figures are a little smaller than the Perry's, so I squirted some No More Nails from a tube onto each base, then gently pressed the figure onto the base, its hardly noticeable.

So onto the points, its a nice and easy one.......8 figures at 5 pts each makes 40 points, maybe a few extra for the conversion work, if Teemu's feeling generous??

TeemuL: Congratulations Ray, you have now reached your Challenge target! Let's celebrate that with two bonus points to make your total a nice round number. You seem to have gone the hard way to get those Portuguese wear the greatcoats, lots of chopping and sculpting. Or are they British with Belgic shakos, French heads and some green stuff? Still very devoted and the brushwork is brilliant as ever.

From DaveD: It’s still snowing, but the Veldt is filling up (161 points)

I am still cracking on with various items for both the Ardennes and now for the Zulu war (oh and some Naps)

First up are the rest of the infantry to finish my Volksgrenadier company. When I looked at the organisation I found I had missed a stand from each of the two previous platoons having done 5 rather 6, so I had to do 8 this time to make things up . I also added the company HQ and the 2IC 

The shell holes are also new additions this week - picked up from the bits box at Pendraken 

35 figures in these 

 

So here is the full company and the Pz Grenadiers .

I can now add some more support items , HMG’s and Mortars and of course some 88’s and ATG’s .

 

Next up are more vehicles for the US forces 

It’s the US army - you need jeeps 

One if my favourite vehicles the M8 Greyhound armoured car.(or3)

My other favourite US Vehicle 2 x M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer- don’t call it tank , cause it isn’t !

Got to sneak in an M16 AAA halftrack - 4 x 50cals ouch.

Oops - is that Skorzemy’s Kommandos pointing them in the wrong direction?

 

I have a decent amount of US vehicles completed now . Well it is now covering nearly 8 feet (or 2.4 metres ) as a column 😆😆

Is that Henry Fonda in that Piper Cub ? No they seemed to film “The Battle of Bulge” in Spain in summer, no snow involved  …

So for the Ardennes I now need more German vehicles  and guns , and more US infantry . All of which are in the stash which is good .

And now to the Southern Hemisphere. Last week I had most of the lads done for the first regiment. I was able to get things prepped up ready for starting on the next 4 after my holiday , so I took the opportunity to add the extra 35 figures (only needed 28 but a few more to fill the bases was the aesthetic choice)  in 3 bases to finish it off

And here is the full iButho  the uMbonamvi the Seers of Evil.

The frontage as deployed here is 360mm - 16 inches , so it’s taking up a decent bit of space

Thus unit represents about 10% of the initial Zulu army - so only another 13 various sized iButho (regiments)  to go - time to crack on .

 

The next lot 420 Zulus ready to meet the brushes 

Scores :-

35 x 15mm inf = 70 pts 

7 x 15mm vehicles = 56 pts 

35 x 10mm inf - 35 pts  (and 35 to colonial duel) 

TeemuL: It still snows and the minis are still small, all is well! Looking forward to see the 420 Zulus next week...

Your column looks impressive, almost like 1:1 ratio of real columns and well enough for your winter table. And your Zulus look good, too, they need a bit different table to game with - a lot of empty space I guess, because the army will need a lot of room to deploy.

From MattW: Στρατηγός, Αχαϊκός οπλίτης, ψιλοί (122 points)

Stratigós, Achaean hoplites and skirmishers 

More additions to the Greeks last week, my first command base, skirmishes and Achaean hoplites. Again miniatures from Immortal Miniatures now sold by Warlord Games. 

Hoplites 

Psiloi

Hoplites

24 x 28mm miniatures @ 5 points = 120

Total 120

Cheers

Matt 

TeemuL: I do hope the title doesn't contain any curse words or other inappropiate content. :) Well, of course it doesn't, we are all well mannered AHPC participants and I'm glad the rest of the entry is easily readable for me. And the photos are easily watched, very nice photos of very nice minis on a very nice scenery! I'll throw couple of bonus points for the excellent base work and athmosphere of the photos - I need to paint my hoplites at some point, too!

From KenR: 1/700 HMS Punjabi (Ship of the week) (40 points)

Well this Challenge has turned into a ship fest against all my planning but with work commitments getting through a ship a week is a challenge in itself at the moment. It's definitely helping me progress the ship part of the Narvik Project.

This week I present HMS Punjabi, the final one of 4 Tribal Class Destroyers for the project and this one is a 1/700 scale Trumpeter kit, just like last week's entry. I've opted for a dark grey lower hull with light grey upper on this one and it does make quite a nice contrast.

The ship spent its career in home waters and on the Northern Convoy routes, she was involved in the 2nd Battle of Narvik where she was badly damaged, losing all power for over an hour. She was lost escorting Convoy PQ15 in May 1942, the deck watch believed they had see a mine and ordered a 15 degree turn to avoid it, unfortunately it was foggy and without knowing the ship turned in front of the British Battleship KGV. The larger ship sliced Punjabi in two however the impact and explosions of depth charges on the Destroyer caused serious damage to the KGV.

So that's another 40 points to the total, I'm a country mile of my target but at least I'm getting a bit done each week. With this ship complete, I have 5 more Destroyers and Warspite to do. With 3 weeks to go, I'll need more than a ship a week and the Warspite is a huge job on its own. Never mind a half done unit of Prussian Landwher !

Anyway, I'm going to aim for two ships next week, until then here are the 4 Tribals for the project.

TeemuL: Let's start with a safe and familiar first entry of the day, 1/700 ship. Thank you Ken, I know there are lots of followers on this project. And two ships a week next? I just hope that those people who are waiting for the Prussian Landwehr and other 28mm models are not neglected too much.

It is interesting to see, that even when those four ships are more or less similar, your skightly different colour choices make them all individuals, but they still look like a group and they all look very real. Splendid job!

Thursday

Yeah, quite an simple header this week. My vacation was good, but on Monday morning I got a flu and have been more or less ill since then. So no history lessons, I just don't have energy for that. There were some questions about snowshoes last week, so here are couple of photos.

Here's my son and his snowshoes. The trail we walked was well trodden and the snow shoes were not necessary for most of the time, but it makes it easier to climb up and down (there are some spikes at the bottom).

And these are mine. Pay attention to the camouflage pattern, something wargamers surely want to add to their models. ;) As you can see, modern snowshoes doesn't look like tennis rackets and are quite easy and comfortable to use. It is good to have ski sticks, too, gives you balance and helps if the snow is very deep and you fall.

Of course, if there is snow and it is dry enough (meaning it is cold enough), then two pairs of woollen socks are all you need. They are an excellent insulation, the coldness stays away and warmth stays inside, so the snow doesn't melt.

--- In other news ---

Here in southern Finland we don't have any snow anymore and temperature is couple of degrees above zero. The Thursday crew has quite a lot of posts, as usual.

From SylvainR: Balrog and Lava Demonettes for D&D (45 points)

 

This week, the cleric encounters a Balrog and his posse of lava demonettes. All the above are vinyl models from Reaper.

I had this idea to create a group of "lava demonettes", so I gathered some figurines that could be "adapted" for that purpose. Except I had no idea how to paint "lava". I started with the model on the left, below. The grey rocks did not look right and I used the sponge effect too much. The next two figurines are naiad, I think, and their floating hair evoke flames. They look like they are spewed out from the magma. 

 

After a few trials, I developed a technique I felt comfortable with to create the lava effect, especially on the base. I am providing a short tutorial, so I can refer to it later, if I decide to do this kind of base again.
First, the model must be primed white and then completely painted yellow using ink, which makes it "glow". Rocks and other elements like the scorched tree are painted hull red instead of black or grey, as it gives the effect of some internal residual heat. Then the rocks are outlined with red ink (not paint), as you will want to be able to dilute and mix later.

Using diluted red ink in layers, I created variations in "temperature". In this case, the zones of the body closer to the source of the heat (the ground) are left yellow while the upper parts are more red.

 

Finally, using a sponge, I added speckles of black paint all over the model, but more generously on the tree. It makes the tree look "carbonized" instead of just "black".

Below, you can see the final result for the demonette used in the tutorial. I painted her hair black and her weapon copper. She was a dryad, but I think her new life as a "magmaiad" suits her well. For the demonette in the center, I was wondering what color I should paint her clothes, since she is made of lava. I opted to use metallic color, especially gold, since, at around 1000oC, metal becomes malleable like fabric. For the base of the "snake(d) lady", I aligned the stones in a circular pattern in an attempt to suggest some sort of magic power flowing from her.

After gaining confidence with smaller models, I was ready to tackle the boss. I wanted to avoid cloning the style of the Peter Jackson Balrog and instead tried to make the skin look like hot lava. I also wanted a base oozing earth's magma, pushing from beneath. The loin clothe is painted with metallic colors.

One wing is glowing, the other not. Must be the lighting...

 

Points claimed:

6 x 28mm foot figurines at 5 points each = 30 points

1 x 54mm foot figurines at 10 points each = 10 points

Total = 40 points

Thanks for reading!

***

Great work here Sylvain - well done once again on tackling new and different approaches to painting challenging subject. As Curt has often remarked to me, this is a Painting CHALLENGE after all, and good on you for exploring new techniques - and also sharing process as well as the results, so we can benefit from your work. This sort of reverse-lighting-glow called for by subjects which are meant to made from literal fire is really, really tricky to paint, and you should be pleased with your results!

And what D&D exploring party won't be...uh...thrilled to see a Balrog, right? I mean, I doubt any prior encounters with Lava Demonettes will have burns that were TOO awful, so no doubt the cleric and any friends will have plenty of strength and many options to..."cope with"...yes, let's say "cope with" a Balrog!

I am awarding five extra points for the hard work you have shown on these new and different painting approaches. 

GregB