The First Theme Round ('Cold') Is Now Up!

Well, I'm a bit rusty after a year away but I finally got all the hamsters spinning all the wheels in the right direction.  I'm happy to announce that the first theme round is now ready for viewing so please, click on over to the Theme page, view all the wonderful entires and cast your votes. Top three get extra points and a treat from the Snowlord (me).

As a reminder to all the participants, PLEASE send me your theme entries by Saturday before midnight (my time CST). I had to spend an inordinate amount of time adjusting for stragglers today. Not a huge issue but I will be suitably ruthless next time (roars,  claws air, gnashes teeth, etc.)

As for myself I returned to a project I started last year, the 1812 French retreat from Moscow.  I managed to burn some midnight oil (actually, like, a tanker of midnight oil) and got these three cavalrymen done for today's launch. Poor lads look cold and rather harried. Well, I guess that's what happens when you holiday uninvited in Russia...

Anyway, enough blather! Go visit the Theme page and enjoy the gallery!

From Jake - 28mm WWII German Infantry

KALT

This is my first entry for this years painting challenge. I was inspired by TFL's Operation Winter Storm, The Drive For Stalingrad December 1942. So I started with four winter Germans from  the Artizan range.

It was also a good chance to try out the crushed glass I obtained from the Scenery Workshop

The Panther from Corgi is a bit out of place because the production of the Ausf D only began in January 1943. But is such a lovely model and the only German winter vehicle I got. What would have happened if it had been available for Operation Winterstorm? 

From SimonM - "Heroclix" Black Manta & The U-Men (30 Points)

This 28mm model of Black Manta is by “Wizkids” and comes from their “Heroclix” DC Hypertime range of plastic miniatures. The “DC Comics” supervillain debuted in the September 1967 edition of “Aquaman” and is my favourite archenemy of the King of Atlantis. However having removed the figure from its ‘clicky-base’ some six-seven years ago, I have disappointingly just let it sit on one of my shelves waiting to be painted… until now.

The miniature was reasonably simply to paint following a “Citadel” Abaddon Black” undercoat, as at first I just had to pick out its trident in Boltgun Metal. The three-pronged spear is rather bent and I did consider cutting it away from Black manta’s leg. But the villain has a nice ribbed pattern running down the sides of his rubber-suit and I just didn’t fancy trying to replicate this with green stuff. In addition, unless I completely cut away the trident’s shaft and replaced it I couldn’t see how I was going to straighten it; additional work I wasn’t prepared to contemplate.

However I did think the model looked rather boring all-black and decided to update the colour-scheme a little bit by painting the bug-eyed helmet, breathing tubes and oxygen tank Boltgun Metal as well. This is far more in line with the ‘modern’ version of the Black Manta. All the metallic areas were then treated to a wash of Nuln Oil before being lightly drybrushed with more Boltgun Metal. His eyes were painted using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Red” and the “Citadel” Shade Carroburg Crimson.

These five 28mm U-Men models are also by “Wizkids” but this time come from their “Heroclix” Marvel Mutant Mayhem range. In the “Marvel Comics” world these villains believe in using mutant body parts to augment their bodies and live in specially designed environment suits to protect them from “an imperfect world.” For my purposes however their scuba-gear makes them the perfect henchmen to accompany Black Manta, or any other aquatic character.

As with Black Manta, their painting scheme was simple as I used just “Citadel” Abaddon Black and Boltgun metal (with a Nuln Oil wash). These miniatures did prove a little trickier to paint than I envisaged however, as it was quite difficult getting the tip of a brush in between all their breathing pipes. I did consider doing something ‘special’ with their bases and creating some starfish and shells from green stuff to populate them with. Finch on his superb blog really does excel at this sort of thing of thing: http://minisbyfinch.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/tanked.html

But as I want to use my U-Men for a variety of roles, including German saboteurs, I’ve gone with my usual land-based “Citadel” grass flock.

From Curt:Very cool submission Simon! I really like the 'oily' black you've chosen for these figures - it gives them that wonderful 1960's evil robot look about them. No worries on the bent trident. In fact, the shaft looks sorta like what we see here on the newly designed snow shovels. Perhaps Black Manta's trident was specially crafted so he wouldn't throw out his back in pitchforking those particularly heavy heroes. :)

Well done! 

From SteH - Uruk Hai Scouts - A starter for ten! (30 Points)

It looks like the Challenge has had a roaring start with many people surging out of the starters gate liked the proverbial greyhounds after the tatty pretend rabbit. Me, I'm more like the scruffy old scotty dog with myopic eyes and a nervous twitch, struggling to chase the spider that sneaked out from the skirting board. But I digress!

My first entry to my first challenge are some of Games Workshops Uruk Hai scouts from their Lord of the Rings range. These are the metal versions that have been lingering about for ages on my painting table and, since I moved to NZ and have finally found both my painting mojo and an opponent who plays GW's LoTR game for fun rather than to win I thought it wise to use the challenge to get some focus into my painting activity. Therefore expect to see more LoTR models to come (with a little WW2 chucked in for good measure).

And it's only good and proper that those pesky scouts have a leader who can not only fill them with cuddly warm thoughts on doing their (evil) duty but also provide lunch - Ugluk!

So that's a piddly 30pts methinks for six 28mm figures. Not exactly the points bomb that others seem capable of but as Tamsin said recently, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon people so I'm happy with that to get me off the blocks!

From Curt:
Is there something going on I don't know about? What's with all the LotR submissions this year? It's completely weird as when I kicked off the Challenge with Boromir I thought, 'Well, this will be a bit out of left field...' Not that I'm complaining, mind you, as the entries have all been wonderful but I do find it kinda wild. Maybe it's the impending last movie for The Hobbit that is making us nostalgic for the first three movies?   

Anyway, I digress. Great work here, Ste. I really like the Uruk captain brandishing the goblin head. It just makes you want to yell out the classic line,  'Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys!' 

From ScottB - Beorn, in bear form (10 points)

The first week is over and I get my first submission up. Technically its my 2nd submission, but as my first was to Curt direct for the cold theme it hasn't appeared here yet. No matter! So I break my duck offering you Beorn in bear form, from the Hobbit.

Beorn is a skin changer , a man of great stature, capable of transforming himself at will into a bear form (rather than being forced to by full moons like a werewolf). He is a somewhat aloof character, looking after himself, and not necessarily being on anyone's 'side', much as the Ents started off in LOTR... but he hates orcs so that at least has him leaning towards the good side!

In the movie he is played by Mikael Persbrandt, a Scandanavian actor, who is a big man which matches the height requirements for the part, and his accent is an excellent touch I think, giving him that 'other worldly feel' in the Middle Earth setting. The additional scenes in the Ext Ed of Hobbit DOS I greatly enjoyed, and found the "Making of" info on the additional disks, very interesting.

Back to the Bear, and this was clearly CGI, but various sources were used as inspiration, including looking at prehistoric bears for the shape and bulk... The model itself was an easy job. It was in several pieces that required gluing together and joint filling with greenstuff. Then a simple black paint job, drybrushed with dark grey then washed black again. Its produced very subtle contrast which sadly doesn't photograph too well... The claws and facial features were then added, and after varnish, base decoration effected. Oh, that base is a 60mm round, so its quite a big model, towering over a regular man-sized 28mm figure.

I am unsure of his points value so Curt may have to rule on this one. He's 28mm scale but about 60mm tall. For all that, the painting was easy.

In the game, he is brute strength nastiness, but at a substantial points costs. I look forward to trying him out and tearing orcs limb from limb...

 Finally, I don't think it was my turn to post today? But I believe we were all allowed to in the first week so I may have just sneaked this in there in time... right, back to the paints!

From Curt:
Lovely work Scott! That is a very impressive model to be sure. This is one of those models where it pays to do the eyes. Brilliant bit of detail there.  Scott, if you get a chance, come back and upload a shot of Beorn next to a standard LotR model.  

I'm going to score Beorn like a 28mm piece of ordinance, which seems appropriate. So 10 points. Well done and welcome back Scott!

And, at Curt's request:

It's not a good day to be an orc! ;-)

From PeterT - First Timer, First Post: 15mm WWII Soviet T-34s (39 Points)

What's that they say about plans not surviving first contact? All was set fair for making some progress when real life intervened with a bang. Sunday, No 1 son gets injured playing rugby, so the day gets spent in A&E (thankfully nothing serious, just heavy bruising). Mon-Wed work goes ballistic, Thurs No 3 son fractures arm falling over playing football! All in all, I am moderately pleased to have managed to complete these PSC 15mm T34s.

They are the first two platoons in what is going to be a tank company for IABSM. Actually, one of these with an unbuttoned TC will be swapped out and used for the Company Commander.

The nice thing about the PSC kits is that you also get the parts to make the turret with the 85mm gun - they are next on the painting line - so all of the tanks can be upgraded to T34/85s with a simple turret swap. The Russians tended to keep the two versions in separate units, so two units for the price of one - nice (reference for fans of The Fast Show).

Looking at the fantastic entries already up, I feel a little fraudulent with this very simple paint job, with more to follow. Still, as Comrade Joe said, quantity has a quality all of its own. Not sure that 6 tanks counts as 'quantity', but at least I am off the mark. So that's 36 points in the bag. Now, if I can just ensure no one else in the family gets injured...who said sports were good for you?

From Curt:

Great job Peter and welcome aboard! This past week sounds like it was a bit of tough sledding - let's hope the rest of the season is smooth sailing. These T-34s look the business, though your photos are a bit dark. (I'll see if I can lighten them up a touch in Photoshop when I get home.) I've added a few more points for your commanders to pip you up to 39.  Again, well done.

From JamieM - Twelve Men and a Dog (65 Points)

This is my very first Painting Challenge.... And I have to say that I was utterly unprepared for the speed at which people are painting great figures and posting them!

My aim for the Challenge is twofold. Firstly to get some of the things that have been sitting around for an age painted (to bulk up my points) and secondly to get some of the cracking new stuff I just couldn't resist done and on the tabletop.

These first 12 chaps are most definitely the former as they've been sitting around staring at me whenever I opened their carry case for about 2 years now, stuck together but unpainted.

Twelve peasants for saga from Gripping Beast and a dog from somewhere unknown. I have 6 points of Saga figures painted already, but no peasants, so wanted to get these done so I can get towards two painted starter forces on the table.

These were something of a chore to do, but the points available kept me going!  I tend to stick to very simple painting for these types of figures and I further kept the palette relatively simple for the peasants as I figured their "betters" would steal any nice clothes they may have found.  The dog was a little addition as at one point I was a figure short for the 12 strong unit until I found the missing chap, but decided to paint the dog anyway.

Just another 8 warriors to go and the Painting Challenge will have nudged me to do something I've been meaning to do for ages, so exactly what I was looking for!

From Curt:
Great work Jaimie and welcome to the Challenge! I'm delighted that the Challenge has provided impetus for you to get some projects off the table - always something I love to hear. Your peasants are suitably revolting and I quite like that mastiff (I wonder if it is one offered by Warlord?).  Which SAGA warband is this for?

A tidy 65 points for you Jamie - I look forward to seeing those warriors come up next.

From GregB - 20mm WWII German Infantry Platoon (84 points)

20mm WW2 German Infantry Platoon

My second entry for the Painting Challenge is a set of opponents for my first entry - here is a platoon of WW2 German Infantry.  With one exception, these figures are all from the Plastic Soldier Company's 1/72 Late War German Infantry box sets.  Some of these figures were painted prior to the challenge starting, but I finished most of them after I powered through the Russians.

The fellow in the front is a 20mm casting from Warmodelling - everyone else is plastic from PSC

There are enough figures for a full regular infantry platoon, three squads of 10 men each, each with a two-man LMG team. This PSC set has the same challenge as the Russians, in that the LMG figures are either prone (sigh) or marching merrily (useless).  But it is lacking in a figure that looks like a proper platoon commander/officer, so I ordered a metal one from Warmodelling.

One LMG per squad in this platoon of foot sloggers

The figures are based as the Russians, with NCOs on square bases and senior leaders on hex bases and everyone else on round bases.

Prone LMG gunners - a disappointing sculpt, but better than marching!

I find painting German uniforms to be the hardest part of collecting figures for WW2. Even getting the basic green/grey correct is tricky (at least for me), and once you advance past a certain period of the war a wide assortment of camouflage smocks and helmet covers start to appear.  Painting camouflage is tricky at the best of times, and with the Germans their 700 different versions of camouflage, I go bonkers trying to figure it out.

Different base types visible in this shot

In the case of these figures, they are wearing later war boots/pants/gaiters, and many of them also have some sort of camouflage cover on their helmets.  On most of them I attempted a weak copy of the most "standard" German camouflage that I could find, and on others I imagined that perhaps these covers may have been improvised at times, and I painted them a dark yellow.

Decent modelling of the German kit on these PSC figures

For their overall uniforms I used a few different types of green, grey and green grey to try and vary the appearance a little bit, and washed liberally with GW's Agrax Earthshade, with a few highlights picked up again following the wash.

There are a total of 27 foot figures and three two-man LMG teams.  Of this, eight foot figures and one LMG team were painted prior to the Challenge, leaving a net of 19 foot figures and two LMG teams, which I think works out to 84 points.

Up next is...I don't know, maybe more WW2, maybe sci-fi? I'm all over the place. 

From Curt:

Greg, I feel your pain with painting WWII German infantry as their uniforms were bewilderingly nuanced and complex. This being said I think you've done a fantastic job on this platoon. Like your previous Soviet platoon the shading is very nicely done. 

Figure-wise, I know Greg hates prone models but I must say it's nice to see such crisp modeling on the MG-34, especially the bipod - with many other manufacturers it's often a vague triangle, or you discover that one 'arm' is missing or misshapen. It looks like another good offering from PSC.

This mid-war German platoon will give Greg 84 points.  I looks like you're building up some good steam Mr. B!

From AlanD - 28mm Breton Warriors for SAGA (88 Points)

I've been wanting to add a couple of points to my Breton warband for SAGA, so my second entry for the challenge is a unit of 8 Breton warriors. The javelins were harvested from my trusty broom which is absolutely NOT for sweeping things up with, and as always the shields are hand painted. Figures are from Gripping Beast, but weren't really their finest hour.

I think these chaps will earn me 80 points towards my terrifyingly aspirational target.

From Curt:

Beautiful word Alan! God bless your denuded broom as your spears look great (it must be a shop broom with very rigid tines). I know what you mean about the early Gripping Beast sculpts: some they hit out of the park while others... not so much, but they all seem to recover well once paint has been applied. The piece de resistance are your shields which are absolutely brilliant. I honestly thought they were transfers at first glance. Bravo!

These harse lads will give Alan a base of 80 points but I'm adding a point each for the wonderful hand-painted shields. Great work Dux!

From VincentC - "Lonely men are we, Rangers of the wild" (45 Points)

Well I decided I didn't like languishing down in 21st so I thought it best to get a wiggle on with the rangers! I must confess I got half way through painting these when I decided that I really don't like these models at all! but I pushed through and, though they aren't some of my better works they are done to a good table top standard and so I'm happy to put them with the rest of the collection, I think they look especially good as a group and for the most part I really like the green of the cloaks.

I have a not insubstantial collection of Gondor and these will make a nice little warband for Faramir to lead in normal games however these were painted for the Fellowship of the Ring sourcebook. Along with the 2 Nazgul in my previous post that means I just need to paint the Witchking to have the first phase of my project completed!

This is definitely going to happen (this time...)

What do you all think of these guys?

From Curt:

I think they look marvellous! The shading on the cloaks is excellent, but what really draws my eye is the yellow buff leather of their jerkin and aprons - those really make the figures leap out. It's interesting how this first week of the Challenge has seen so many figures from LotR - a very nice change of pace, I think.

From Millsy - 28mm Warhammer Skinks (100 points)

Looks like I've got time for one final batch of stuff before the early Challenge open season ends - this one's a bunch of scaly reptilian warriors. These chaps were originally intended to be my entry for the 'Cold' theme round (being cold-blooded and painted ice blue), but it seemed a bit borderline cheese to me so I bailed out. More to the point I didn't want to risk a repeat of last year's "Spider Incident" :-)

So what do we have here? The answer is 20 Skink skirmishers from the Warhammer Lizardmen army, in this instance armed with javelins and shields. Really its two units of 10 (red vs green shields) but I won't tell if you don't. I can vouch for the fact that they are a right pain in the rear end to face having been on the wrong end of their poisoned missiles several times now. Which begs the question why paint more? Best not to ask sensible questions like that really...

All that aside, unlike teeny-weeny black-clad naval infantry these are a something of a mobile rainbow and jolly good fun for it. They paint up easily have lots of character which is all you can ask really. Nuff said!

From Curt:Ah, Skinks... These little guys take me back to my salad days with Warhammer. Good memories. These looks great Millsy. I really like the vibrant blue and bronze metalwork you went with. The red/green shields as unit designation is a smart move as well.  

100 points and securing first place... for now.  Great job!

From JohnM - One Hundred Years of Big Guns (188 Points)

As usual, the start of the Annual Painting Challenge coincides with my busiest time of year. This year to be prepared I prepped everything I thought I would do during the contest prior to the start date. It is a big help, but unfortunately having everything prepped resulted in me having difficulty deciding what to start with it. So I started 5 projects at the same time! Here I present 4 of them, the 5th will be my COLD bonus entry. 

So here we have some 4 projects associated with big guns. Otherwise this submission is somewhat incoherent as it covers different countries and eras. I know photograph storage is at a premium so I have limited myself to one photo per entry, with one extra because I just could not resist.

I have not had time to comment on the individual entries so far, but there is some really superb stuff, this year's contest looks like it is off to a great start.

PSC 20 mm Pak40 AT Gun. This is a very nice kit, I will need it soon in my 29, Let's Go Chain of Command campaign.

Two Achilles mobile AT Gun's from Armourfast. Not a whole lot of detail, with with some stowage they look OK.

PSC Firefly, very nice model, I think I will have to tone down the rust a little.

French Napoleonic Caisson from Front Rank, this is a big model and was quite a lot of work as there is a lot of detail.

Could not resist a second photo, the whole thing was a bugger to assemble especially with the tracings.

A British Heavy Artillery Foot Battery, bit of a mixture here the cannon and one figure are from Front Rank, while the Howitzer and most of the figures are from Perry. That's it for British Napoleonic Artillery, that specific lead pile is done!

From Curt:Great work John and welcome to your 5th Challenge! Wow, that is a nice collection of guns and vehicles. First, congratulations on finishing your Napoleonic British artillery collection - I know how long you've been working on that project so it's an achievement in of itself. Also, congrats on preservering with the French caisson as I know how fiddly they can be to complete. I really like your Firefly. This is inspirational as I'm in the midst of assembling a few of the PSC Shermans myself and have been really impressed with their overall quality and ease of assembly. 

 
(Slipping on anorak) One thing about the British variants of the Sherman (including the Firefly): they usually didn't keep the .50 cal machine gun as many crews found them more of a hinderance than a help - it had to be fired from outside the turret, got caught up in low-hanging foliage and if the crew had to bail out it risked getting in the way (a glowing vote of confidence for the Sherman itself).  This being said I think it's fine to have a few within a unit, as there is photographic evidence that a few were used, but, by and large, they were absent on British Shermans. Sorry, couldn't help myself (anorak shrugged off). :)

Anyway, enough blather. Again, welcome aboard John - I look forward to seeing what you'll come up with over the coming months.

From IanW - Black Tree and Gripping Beast Vikings (30 Points)

Just a small group of 28mm figures to prove I can do something a little larger than 6mm. These are for my Saga army that I play with my eight year old son, he is painting his own Anglo-Danes.

First up the leader of my warband, we have them on larger bases than the rest so they stand out. My son has two men and a Great Dane dog (his idea) but I just had space for this big chap so added a rock to the base.

I wanted him to be extra bright so went a little OTT with the colours but I am OK with that. He is Gripping Beast Viking Hero and as such sold as a single figure.

My original plan was to add this figure to the base, another GBM but one of the plastics and as he would not fit on the base I just slapped him on his own 2p base. So he will have to join one of the units I am building up.

The shield has a Little Big Man transfer on it so is much better than the freehand I have done on the following figures. The detail on the figure is great and I don't see any reason to not use plastics in your forces.

Onto the Black Tree guys and these four slingers will finish off the levy unit I was fielding with only eight figures. These are brighter than the bow troops and look better for it. I do like the Black Tree figures and think they are easily overlooked.

I still have plenty of Black Tree figures prepped and ready to go including about twenty more Vikings so these are not the last of these Danes you will see. These get me 30 points making me over 100 in the first week and ahead of schedule for my target, lets see if I can keep it up.

From Curt: Wonderful work Ian. I think it's great that you and your boy are getting into SAGA together - get them hooked while they're young!  I also like how bright these fellows are, in fact I think your warlord could easily moonlight as a superhero with that cloak. :)  

These six men of Scandinavia will give Ian 30 points. Well done!