I don't have a final entry for this post, yet it seemed churlish to roll through the end of this challenge without a final accounting.
It's been a wild ride. Last year I barely scraped 600 points to make my goal. I thought I would stretch this year and go with 650. I had been suffering a bout of PTSD for six months before the challenge and hadn't really hobbied (a word?) in that time.
My first entry followed my previous pattern. Six models. Eight. A few more. I was ahead of schedule so added some off plan entries. Before I knew it I had blown past my goal and left my funk far behind. While the challenge was not a cure-all, the camaraderie and the purpose were helpful. Somewhere in a bottle of paint and a cup of dirty paint water I left the PTSD behind for awhile.
On the way I breached a barrier with my painting and got to the point where painting armies is a realistic goal. I "completed" an entire army for Lord of the Rings as well as making huge progress on a Celt army and my Uruk Hai, which I've had for twelve years.
In terms of painting progress I painted 218 models during the challenge. This is more than I've painted in any year, ever. I gained confidence and really discovered my style. I really couldn't be happier with how this year helped me develop; not to mention the dent in the model mountain.
Thank you Curt. This was a very rewarding experience, both for it's therapeutic effects and for the journey in self awareness. Thank you as well to my fellow travelers for your support in the comments and for the inspiration of your entries. The annual Challenge is a great example of what is best in our hobby. The support of people I've never met, and the cheerful banter, the sense of fun and the fantastic examples of what our hobby can be. It's all inspirational.
Cheers to all of you. I can't wait for next year.
Thursday, 19 March 2015
From TamsinP - Two Brides for Two Brothers (20 Points)
I said there might be one more entry from me, and here it is. I noticed I hadn't done a proper mickey-take yet and also hadn't painted any ladies (I'm not counting the handful of female NSL Panzergrenadiers). I had an idea of how I could combine the two...
Now there's a little bit of history to this post. Last year, Fran emulated Ray and dropped some sandbags right at the end taking him to the top spot of Postie's Rejects. That meant the rest of us owed him a figure each. I painted up a gangster figure as my Frangeld and invented a background for him and "Postie's Mob". I later painted up a gangster as "The Badger".
Now at some point one of them asked when they were going to get their "Molls". Well, this is where they do.
Once upon a time in Salutesville...
...there lived two young men about town, Francis "The Lurker" Lee and Ray "The Badger" Rousell. They had a bit of a bromance going on and realised that the only way to stop people commenting on it would be to find themselves brides. They were very desirable after all - even the G-Men wanted them:
OK, maybe the G-Men didn't want them that much...
One fine day they were standing on a street corner outside Postie's Diner (their mob's business front) when they espied two pretty girls.
They recognised them from the newspapers as the flighty (not to mention wealthy) twins, Holly and Ivy Woods. "These are the ones for us" both thought. They decided to approach them and ask them on a date.
The girls weren't interested, and rudely turned to each other and giggled a lot.
When they stopped giggling, they turned back to the boys and told them that they had two unmarried cousins, Hazel and Rosemary, who would simply love our hapless heroes. However, the boys would have to marry them sight unseen. The boys agreed to this - after all, they were desperate and if their brides-to-be were the girls' cousins they must be just as lovely (and wealthy).
The girls left.
The boys looked wistfully after them.
At the wedding, the girls' cousins turned out to be a teeny-weeny bit older.
And not quite as pretty. But a deal is a deal, even when you've got the short end of that suspiciously brown and sticky stick.
And so our boys lived unhappily ever after.
The End
Some pics of the ladies:
Lurker and Badger were painted months ago, so it's just the four ladies. The figures are all 28mm from Blue Moon.
That'll be 20 points I believe.
As this is my last entry, it's time for the customary votes of thanks.
To Snowlord for organising it all and getting our posts up and points tallied in a very timely manner.
To Snowlady for allowing him to do this yet again.
To the sponsors - your generosity in providing the various prizes is greatly appreciated by us all.
To my fellow Challengers - the quality and quantity of your submissions gets better every year. Your comments on my posts have been most welcome. I'm always inspired by the sense of community that the Challenge produces.
Special thanks to Alan and Ian for keeping me on my toes early on and Martin C for the same over the last few weeks. Battling you guys for placings was the spur I needed to keep my output up.
More special thanks to my side-betters. It's been fun producing stuff for those. I lost my 1500 point race with Alan - congrats again mate! I have a sneaky feeling with all my 6mm ACW that I have probably won the "10mm or Smaller Challenge", but I'll let Curt tot up our teeny-tiny points and announce the winner. Lastly Clint has conceded on the Spaceships Challenge, meaning I win that one - Woot! Woot! I get bragging rights and Curt gets to bestow me with some made-up title!
It's been a great Challenge for me - new periods, new techniques, returning to the madness of teeny-tny 6mm figures. I'm absolutely stunned by the amount I've painted. I haven't broken 2000 points before, even with the bonus points for theme rounds last year, so to have busted through 2500 points without any theme bonuses is astounding.
And that's it from em for this Challenge (apart from commenting on other folks' posts).
Sayonara!
Auf Wiedersehen!
Adieu!
Toodle-pip!
Love and kisses,
Tamsin
Nothing to do now but sit back and wait for Ray's sandbag to drop. And have a long overdue drink:
Slainte!
From Curt:
Ahh, what a great way to end your Challenge Tamsin! It's been an absolute blast watching you climb up the points ladder. This has been a banner year for you and I'm absolutely delighted to have been made a part of it.
Enjoy your Glenlivet and bask in the glow of your victories!
Now there's a little bit of history to this post. Last year, Fran emulated Ray and dropped some sandbags right at the end taking him to the top spot of Postie's Rejects. That meant the rest of us owed him a figure each. I painted up a gangster figure as my Frangeld and invented a background for him and "Postie's Mob". I later painted up a gangster as "The Badger".
Now at some point one of them asked when they were going to get their "Molls". Well, this is where they do.
Once upon a time in Salutesville...
 |
| Ray "The Badger" Rousell and Francis "The Lurker" Lee |
...there lived two young men about town, Francis "The Lurker" Lee and Ray "The Badger" Rousell. They had a bit of a bromance going on and realised that the only way to stop people commenting on it would be to find themselves brides. They were very desirable after all - even the G-Men wanted them:
OK, maybe the G-Men didn't want them that much...
One fine day they were standing on a street corner outside Postie's Diner (their mob's business front) when they espied two pretty girls.
They recognised them from the newspapers as the flighty (not to mention wealthy) twins, Holly and Ivy Woods. "These are the ones for us" both thought. They decided to approach them and ask them on a date.
The girls weren't interested, and rudely turned to each other and giggled a lot.
When they stopped giggling, they turned back to the boys and told them that they had two unmarried cousins, Hazel and Rosemary, who would simply love our hapless heroes. However, the boys would have to marry them sight unseen. The boys agreed to this - after all, they were desperate and if their brides-to-be were the girls' cousins they must be just as lovely (and wealthy).
The girls left.
The boys looked wistfully after them.
At the wedding, the girls' cousins turned out to be a teeny-weeny bit older.
And not quite as pretty. But a deal is a deal, even when you've got the short end of that suspiciously brown and sticky stick.
And so our boys lived unhappily ever after.
The End
Some pics of the ladies:
Lurker and Badger were painted months ago, so it's just the four ladies. The figures are all 28mm from Blue Moon.
That'll be 20 points I believe.
As this is my last entry, it's time for the customary votes of thanks.
To Snowlord for organising it all and getting our posts up and points tallied in a very timely manner.
To Snowlady for allowing him to do this yet again.
To the sponsors - your generosity in providing the various prizes is greatly appreciated by us all.
To my fellow Challengers - the quality and quantity of your submissions gets better every year. Your comments on my posts have been most welcome. I'm always inspired by the sense of community that the Challenge produces.
Special thanks to Alan and Ian for keeping me on my toes early on and Martin C for the same over the last few weeks. Battling you guys for placings was the spur I needed to keep my output up.
More special thanks to my side-betters. It's been fun producing stuff for those. I lost my 1500 point race with Alan - congrats again mate! I have a sneaky feeling with all my 6mm ACW that I have probably won the "10mm or Smaller Challenge", but I'll let Curt tot up our teeny-tiny points and announce the winner. Lastly Clint has conceded on the Spaceships Challenge, meaning I win that one - Woot! Woot! I get bragging rights and Curt gets to bestow me with some made-up title!
It's been a great Challenge for me - new periods, new techniques, returning to the madness of teeny-tny 6mm figures. I'm absolutely stunned by the amount I've painted. I haven't broken 2000 points before, even with the bonus points for theme rounds last year, so to have busted through 2500 points without any theme bonuses is astounding.
And that's it from em for this Challenge (apart from commenting on other folks' posts).
Sayonara!
Auf Wiedersehen!
Adieu!
Toodle-pip!
Love and kisses,
Tamsin
Nothing to do now but sit back and wait for Ray's sandbag to drop. And have a long overdue drink:
Slainte!
From Curt:
Ahh, what a great way to end your Challenge Tamsin! It's been an absolute blast watching you climb up the points ladder. This has been a banner year for you and I'm absolutely delighted to have been made a part of it.
Enjoy your Glenlivet and bask in the glow of your victories!
StefanK: Last but not least: Curtgeld (20 Points)
All good thing come to an end and so does the 5th Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. So I'll take my last entry to fulfil our hosts justified claim for an entry fee. But before I unveil the identity of the villain who will soon haunt Campbell Mansion let me thank you all and especially hardworking Curt. It was once again a pleasure as much as an honour to me to join your exquisite company and queue my humble work between the unique pieces of art you submitted. Kudos!
Gladly I'm able to announce that I mastered the side challenge I had with our gifted fellow the Honourable Mr Michael Awdry Esq. We both were lucky and persistent enough to submit an entry for each and every bonus round. My contender was even able to win two of the bonus rounds against all other submitters. Well done, Sir Michael, you well deserved winner. Kudos!
But now... Without overstraining your patience any longer:
My entry fee, the Curtgeld or simply
Blackbeard the Scourge of the Seven Seas
I know he is no official or historically correct figure of Edward Thatch but when I first saw him at Crisis 2014 I knew that he'd represent this well-known pirate. With the long beard and the variety of pistols in his belt he should be a credible embodiment of this heinous rogue.
The figure is a resin miniature by Black Scorpion and it's slightly larger than 28mm and of course rather brawny as you see. The details are cast extremely clear and it was a joy to paint this fellow. As last year I added a small reminder of the occasion Curt received this miniature for:
Under Blackbeard's base I applied a small badge displaying this year's motto and logo. Hopefully you like it, Curt.
Well then... Actually that's it from me. As soon as I'll have finished this post I'll go to the bar and get me a sip of nice Scottish single malt whisky. Then I'll proudly raise my glass on the 5th Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, on our host Curt and on you my appreciated fellow participants:
Hip hip hooray !
Hip hip hooray !
Hip hip hooray !
From Curt:
Thanks so much Stefan and congratulations on hitting your Challenge points target!
(I have to be brief and careful as Blogger is being very weird right now and is deleting images while I'm in edit mode. Why now?!)
I absolutely love this figure - everything about him is absolutly debauched and heroic. So very cool.
Stefan, I will tip a glass to you as well tonight. It has be a delightful having you with us again this year and I hope to see your name on the roster the next time we go on campaign. Best wishes!
From SimonM - Space Commander Travis & Terran Federation Guards (25 Points)
This Stefan Travers model is by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" and is a ‘dead-ringer’ for the brutal and ruthless Space Commander Travis, as played by Stephen Greif in the BBC science fiction television series “Blake’s Seven”.
The figure was initially given a double
undercoat of “Citadel” Abaddon Black before being rather roughly dry-brushed
with “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal. In addition I used this ‘off-black’ for both his
cybernetic hand and bionic eye. I then gave the miniature a couple of washes of
“Citadel” Shade Nuln Oil just to tone down the contrast a little.
As I wanted to try and give the figure at least some colour, apart from his flesh, I painted his hair with “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna but then washed this area with more “Citadel” Nuln Oil just to darken it a bit more than normal, and appear similar to the actor’s hair colour.
In addition to Travers I have also painted up four
more Security Guards. A previous posting of mine explains how I painted
the Security Guards, which can be found here: http://fantorical.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/unit-three-move-in.html
From Curt:
How very cool - I loved the few episodes of 'Blake Seven' that I watched as a kid.
I really like how bold you painted his remaining eye as it obviously acts as a counterpoint to the bionic implant.
From ByronM - Last Entry French Napoleonics 28mm and 6mm (195 Points)
Last year I did a unit of French infantry as a promise to Curt that I would at least start some Napoleonic units. Well, right in the nick of time, I finished my last entry, a unit of French 28mm Napoleonics. All the Figures are Perry plastics other than the mounted officer which I honestly forget where he came from, I know it was in an unmarked black box, but which company, no clue.
This year the unit is made up of the other half of the boxes I got, these done in their coats in more of a marching to the battlefield look. All the figures have been dirtied up and weathered to look like they have been on a long march.
They are mounted 4 to a base other than the center command which has the mounted commander, standard bearer, musician, second in command and 2 regular foot infantry all on a double wide base. That makes for a total of 29 foot figures and 1 mounted.
Also included in this last submission is the start of a 6mm Napoleonic force that I picked up from Baccus. I got them last year during the challenge with the hope that this way I may actually get a Napoleonic army done sometime soon, rather than 10 years from now at this pace with the 28mm.
Here are two bases of infantry, one of cavalry, and a artillery base. These have been done up as test pieces to get my technique down for 6mm, which I have never painted before. The figures are really nice for such a small scale, but painting them, while fast, is a pain in the .... I keep feeling I have to do more, and that they don't look good enough. But then I look from table distance and go, what the hell they look just fine at arms reach. It's tough painting them when your not used to skipping details that you would normally paint on a 28mm version. They are insanely fast to paint though, which is nice.
So between these 4 small bases there are 52 foot troops, 9 cavalry, and 1 cannon.
Lastly, the overall picture of everything I painted this year. Sorry the image is blurry, I took it, thought it was good, packed everything up and then found it wasn't great.
From Curt:
Oh geez, these Napoleonics look fabulous Byron (in two scales no less)! That 28mm battalion looks terrific with it's mounted commander at the front and colours flying.
I see you discovered the 6mm rabbit-hole of trying to figure out just how much detail to paint. Yes, you're right, don't sweat the details as they are never going to be seen closer than an arms length away. Minimalism and impressionism is the modus operandi here. Now, you just need to do a couple thousand more and you're off to the races! ;P
I love that last image with all of your Challenge works arrayed on parade. Fantastic stuff Byron.
From RossM: The Last Gasp (154 points)
This is the final submission from myself in this year's Analogue Painting Challenge. Another week would have seen another dozen or so 28mm miniatures gracing these fair pages; however the sands of time have ran out.
This entry comprises of three elements all from different scales and genres including 15mm Sci-Fi, 20mm WW2 and 28mm Fantasy.
So the Sci-fi first, there is a total of 54 15mm figures here. Below are Ground Zero Games New Israeli Marines at slightly less than half strength. These figures will bolster another half company as needed and will also double as assault troopers.
Next up are 27 Drop-ship Troopers from Critical Mass Games ARC Infantry range. These are still 15mm figures - probably closer to 18mm and as a result are slightly larger than the GZG figures above. This won't matter too much on the gaming table as the two types of troops will be deployed separately to start with.
The CMG figures have a different style to their sculpts but are no less detail, in-fact they probably have more detail the GZG figures. Time allowing there would have been a full platoons worth of Augment troopers from this range, sadly they only saw undercoating. Keep an eye out on the blog for them though!
Lastly from the 15mm Sci-Fi are four stands of GZG New Israeli Marines that are going to used for tank-hunters. Not much else to say about these guys really as they are what they are.
Next we turn to 20mm WW2 Armour and in this case three German Panthers from Frontline Wargames. These models whilst basic are great to paint and will see a variety of use in both skirmish and larger scale games in the coming years.
The zimmerit picks up the dry-brushing particularly well on these models and really lifts the finish of the painting. Opted for a basic camouflage pattern on these as the first attempt led to a complete re-paint, it just didn't look right at all.
Lastly, I turn to the start of it all, Oldhammer itself and a tribute to the first edition of the said game purchased some thirty plus years ago! Harry the Hammer or Uthmog Elvenblade as a Champion of Chaos for the Chaos Warrior Warband for Songs of Blades and Heroes. A true anti-hero in nature and an iconic figure from the mid-eighties.
Below shows another Chaos Warrior as shown in the Citadel Compendium Two - the first miniature catalogue I purchased back in the day. The other members of this motley-crew will be painted throughout the remainder of this year.
This concludes my entry for this years challenge and regarding points should deliver:
The Challenge has been great fun and the standard has raised again: applause to everyone who challenged, painted, photographed and blogged their hobby over the last three months, you have all earned it! Its been a blast again and maybe next year I'll complete this 15mm Sci-Fi army :)
Cheers for now!
From Curt:
Wow! That is an impressive last gasp Ross! Great work here and congratulations on hitting your Challenge points target. All of these are excellent but my nostalgic heart goes out to the Oldhammer models. Now, those take me back a bit. I think Harry the Hammer (inspired from the cover of the 1st edition rules) is worth a pretty penny on the open market now. Lovely to see both of these done up style.
Thanks for joining the fun this year Ross. You've been in quite a few Challenges now and it would seem very odd not to have you listed in the roster. Take care and see you next time out.
This entry comprises of three elements all from different scales and genres including 15mm Sci-Fi, 20mm WW2 and 28mm Fantasy.
So the Sci-fi first, there is a total of 54 15mm figures here. Below are Ground Zero Games New Israeli Marines at slightly less than half strength. These figures will bolster another half company as needed and will also double as assault troopers.
Next up are 27 Drop-ship Troopers from Critical Mass Games ARC Infantry range. These are still 15mm figures - probably closer to 18mm and as a result are slightly larger than the GZG figures above. This won't matter too much on the gaming table as the two types of troops will be deployed separately to start with.
The CMG figures have a different style to their sculpts but are no less detail, in-fact they probably have more detail the GZG figures. Time allowing there would have been a full platoons worth of Augment troopers from this range, sadly they only saw undercoating. Keep an eye out on the blog for them though!
Lastly from the 15mm Sci-Fi are four stands of GZG New Israeli Marines that are going to used for tank-hunters. Not much else to say about these guys really as they are what they are.
Next we turn to 20mm WW2 Armour and in this case three German Panthers from Frontline Wargames. These models whilst basic are great to paint and will see a variety of use in both skirmish and larger scale games in the coming years.
The zimmerit picks up the dry-brushing particularly well on these models and really lifts the finish of the painting. Opted for a basic camouflage pattern on these as the first attempt led to a complete re-paint, it just didn't look right at all.
Lastly, I turn to the start of it all, Oldhammer itself and a tribute to the first edition of the said game purchased some thirty plus years ago! Harry the Hammer or Uthmog Elvenblade as a Champion of Chaos for the Chaos Warrior Warband for Songs of Blades and Heroes. A true anti-hero in nature and an iconic figure from the mid-eighties.
Below shows another Chaos Warrior as shown in the Citadel Compendium Two - the first miniature catalogue I purchased back in the day. The other members of this motley-crew will be painted throughout the remainder of this year.
This concludes my entry for this years challenge and regarding points should deliver:
The Challenge has been great fun and the standard has raised again: applause to everyone who challenged, painted, photographed and blogged their hobby over the last three months, you have all earned it! Its been a blast again and maybe next year I'll complete this 15mm Sci-Fi army :)
Cheers for now!
From Curt:
Wow! That is an impressive last gasp Ross! Great work here and congratulations on hitting your Challenge points target. All of these are excellent but my nostalgic heart goes out to the Oldhammer models. Now, those take me back a bit. I think Harry the Hammer (inspired from the cover of the 1st edition rules) is worth a pretty penny on the open market now. Lovely to see both of these done up style.
Thanks for joining the fun this year Ross. You've been in quite a few Challenges now and it would seem very odd not to have you listed in the roster. Take care and see you next time out.
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