From TeemuL - Kurt & Kampf, 1/35 German Shephers (10 points)

This is my second Challenge, and I have learned to understand, that as this is much of painting, this is also much of teasing/tributing other participants. I hope this falls in the tributing part. :)

I needed something fast to paint after the monstrous nautical entry, so here are two German shepherds, named Kurt and Kampf.

They are actually 1/35 scale models instead of miniatures from Riich.Models. Scale models work better with constructed items like tanks and airplanes rather than living things, where joins are not so easily hidden. These are also realistic scale meaning that the fur texture is very soft, or non-existent, making drybrushing very hard. Anyway, I bought these with discount from Helsinkin ModelExpo 2015, because I have not seen very many 1/35 animals. There were total six of them in the box, I painted four of them earlier, here are all six of them.

Here Kurt and Kampf are shown in their natural environment: Near German tank factory guarding a brand new Sd. Kfz. 166 Sturmpanzer IV Brummbär (Tamiya model, painted about 12 years ago) driven out to the Eastern Front.

Pointswise I think 5 points each is about right, they are based on 25mm washers, so that should give some idea of the size.

Well, you were promised sheepdoggies - you've had one from Fran and now two from Teemu!
Very nice German Shepherds - nice to see them with their friends.

From LeeH - 6mm WWII Italian Breda 20/65 Autocannon (6 points)

These Italian Anti-Aircraft trucks are an addition to my North Africa/Desert Raiders project. I painted a small unit of these last year but decided I needed a few more to put in and around the Italian Airfield I have put together. The models are by GHQ and as with all their 6mm (1/285th) scale models the details are crisp, clean and therefore very easy to paint.

The Breda 20/65 was a fast firing Auto-cannon designed primarily as an Anti-Aircraft weapon. It was developed in 1932 and was soon adopted by the Italian Army and saw use throughout the war although by 1942 it was become a bit redundant in its original role. It was still a pretty good weapon and its lightweight design and general reliability meant that when captured it was often used by the allies in a ground, anti vehicle role. The LRDG in particular liked the 20/65 and mounted it on some of their Chevy Trucks. 

These three 6mm vehicles will earn me six points but more importantly they finish off my Italian airfield defence force that I have put together...that is until I have another brainwave and buy something else!

Nice vehicles Lee - 6 points well earned.

From BillA - Two Frostgrave Warbands (109 points)

I think this is the closest I'm going to come to a points bomb this Challenge.  A new gaming store opened in my area recently, and in the past couple weeks I've been there...five or six times now I think.  I've begun running store demos of the Call of Cthulhu RPG (which alas, I don't use miniatures for, otherwise I'd have a larger collection of Pulp-appropriate toy soldiers!) and the owner is actually working to assemble an in-store Frostgrave league.  I'm one of three regular store attendees interested, and both the other guys are getting their spouses and kids involved as well.  I'm working on wearing down my better half Gina's resistance.  Reaper's "Mousling" figures may be the key there, but her fear is, tender-heart that she is, she'll feel too bad when her figures fall in battle.  That's why you play a Necromancer, love...

But, in the interest of supporting my new friendly local gaming store, I've been buying miniatures and paint there.  Kind of a lot of miniatures.  Kind of two whole Frostgrave warbands.  In fact, two whole Frostgrave warbands.  And I got them both painted this weekend.

So first up, here's my Necromancer warband, the Undying Host of Sutekh-Ra:

"Shhhhh...no screaming, now.  Your end will be swift."

First up, here's my Wizard, Sutekh-Ra himself.  Gina suggested the color scheme, based on the villainous Mumm-Ra from the late-80s cartoon Thundercats.  Normally a withered mummy in a red bathrobe, Mumm-Ra can occasionally turn into a more powerful, barely-wrapped form ("Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living") swathed in a red cape, which is what I tried to evoke here.

"Nyaaahhh!"

Next, my Apprentice.  Well, if my Wizard was based on Mumm-Ra, I knew my Apprentice needed to be based on the other undead supervillain from my childhood cartoons, so here's "Skelos-Ptah",bedecked in purple and with a bare, grinning skull.  

Here are three Men-at-Arms, equipped with shield and khopesh, and three Thugs, shambling to their master's service.  I felt like "Treasure Hunters" and "Thieves" are not the sort of people Sutekh-Ra would want hanging around, so I went with more martial choices.  Finally, here are two swarms of scarabs, acting as Warhounds:

"Hi, we're thirty-two 6mm figures! I don't think Tamsin's buying it, guys..."

These work out to just above the 500 "gold crowns" of a regulation starter warband; I figure I'll use either all three Thugs, or two Thugs and two Warhounds, depending on how things play out.  

Next up, the Diabolists of Belphegor, a Summoner warband.  With these guys, I wanted to play up the traditional Faustian summoner feel, hence the Reaper "Cultists" used as my Wizard and Apprentice:

My Wizard, Belphegor, is holding the book, while his Apprentice, Bifrons, holds the sacrificial knife at the ready.  I hadn't realized this while painting them, but the black robes with the bright scarlet lining are a pair of handprints away from being the robe from the terrible movie MANOS, THE HANDS OF FATE.  

Next, a trio of Thugs (Belphegor made matching uniforms and custom shields part of their retainer) and Tivriel, a Thief with more than a hint of the Infernal in her family tree:

"How about a kiss, soldier?"

Following them are a pair of Knights: The albino Cassiatta, known sometimes as "Lady Zenith," and Vaeloth, Tivriel's older and more violent brother.  The sigil on their shields suggest they may ultimately serve some power other than Belphegor - perhaps they belong to a cult, one that involves blue oysters:

Rounding out the warband are a pair of Hellhound Warhounds.  

But of course, what would a Summoner warband be without fiends from the darkest abyss to summon? Here are two Imps, and a Minor Demon.  I have a figure handy for a Major Demon, but did not get a chance to paint him over the weekend, so he will be posting next week.  

"Red next to yellow, kills a fellow.  Hair of flame, you've lost this game.  Coal black skin, call next of kin."

I had a much harder time with Belphegor's Diabolists than I had with the Undying Host - I just couldn't get the paint to adhere to the Bones material, and eventually I figured out that there was still mold release agent stuck to the material - going forward I'm just going to give all my Bones figures a dunk in boiling water, even if I'm not planning on reposing them, just to make sure I get all the grease off.  Here's a group shot of everybody in this update together:

Let's see, if we count the two Imps as 15mm and the two bases of Scarab swarms likewise, I think this should add up to 103 points.  Does that sound right, Tamsin?

Nice work Bill. I think my favourite in this lot is Tivriel.Given that we have been scoring 28mm halflings as full 28mm figures, I was going to score the imps the same, but if you insist on me scoring them as 15mm figures... 

From FranL - 15mm Modern Australian Platoon with Bushmasters (104 Points)

........from Eureka Minis.

The modern Australian army has seen action in recent years in Iraq and Afghanistan. With peace keeping duties in East Timor, Bouganville, Sinai and the Solomon Islands

A brick is 4 personnel.

2 Bricks make a section.

3 sections make a platoon.

The Bushmasters are based on a design from an Irish company.......... 

The rods/poles at the front are IED protection............

A couple of extra personnel for the platoon, includes EOD team, K-9 unit, mine detector, Carl Gustav team etc......... 

Nice work Fran - will these be taking on the insurgents of the Republican Australian Youth Maoist-Orthodox Nature Defenders?That looks to be 40 foot figures and the four vehicles, which will score you 104 points.

From ClintB - 28mm Rusty Necrons (25 points)

Yep nothing so exciting,
Just 5 more rusty Necrons.

Nothing special and not any real difference
From what I showed last week.

  

 Just the left 2

Then the right 2.

Not a lot more to say.

Easy to paint while I get on with other things

And I am getting on with other things.

A lot more started.

But not as yet ready to be seen!

Gadzooks! Posting your blurb in poetic form on a Tuesday? That's just not on Clint! This is a painting challenge, not some versification exercise! Another five rusty rusties - that'll be 25 points.

From PaulS: Wars of the Ghosties (110 points)

This week has been limited to finishing off a few bits and pieces for units or kits that were started last year, or earlier in this round.

When I first started the Wars of the Roses/Lion Rampant force last year, I intended to create two small forces. Unfortunately I never got around to creating the other force last year, though I did stick together the plastics. So we now have 12 foot knights for the Earl of Stafford.

There were complaints about too much grass on the ones last time around, so this year they come with some added mud and flowers. I have, however, just noticed that I forgot to edge the bases, so they look a bit scrappy. Dammit.

These four are some initial figures for the other foot units for the Stafford force.

After I posted the cowboy ghosts last month, moaning about how bad they were and I was grateful to have painted them... in typical foot/mouth style I found another 6 in the box with all the game cards. Doh! At least this time I'm done with them... until the missing sprues show up in the KS wave 2 that is :/

That is another 22 28mm figures for the tally. As I went past my original total weeks ago, I need to really up it to 1200 for the new aim. Co-incidentally, this is the 1200th post according to the post tally in the editor, so go team!

I also need to get back to Frostgrave related things as well as sorting out a little surprise.

Very nice work Paul. Isn't it always the way? You think you've finished a project, then a while later you find something you had forgotten to paint. That's 110 points towards your new target. I hate to break it to you, but this will be the 1197th post published, not the 1200th - so close, so close...

From LeeH - 6mm Carthaginian Veteran Infantry (21 points)

My 6mm Carthaginian Army has grown again this time with the addition of a Veteran Infantry unit. I wanted these guys to stand out, both in terms of the colours used and the quality of painting, so I made a real effort to get these looking nice. As with the Citizen infantry I painted a few weeks ago I have gone for white shields but have added some hand painted details to enhance them.

Carthaginian Veteran Infantry

This will be the last Carthaginian unit for a while - other than some Generals - as I have some Numidian's to paint next. I also have a bunch of Balearic Slingers ready to go under the brush, so those should be a pleasant diversion from ranks of infantry. I'm also thinking about some more models for my WWII North Africa collection but I haven't decided what to do with these yet.

Rows of white shields and red plumes!

A tough bunch of hard bitten warriors

One veteran unit of 36 infantry should earn me 18 points and (bonus rounds aside) should take me comfortably over my initial target of 300. I have asked Curt to increase my target score to 500 so I had better knuckle down and get a load more painted in these last few weeks!

Lovely work Lee - you've taken to these 6mm ancients like a duck to water. Nice job on the hand-painted shield designs - I'm giving you some bonus points for those as it can't have been an easy job to keep them neat (especially on a white background).

Tamsin's Tuesday Terrors

Well, they are terrors my lot. Especially that Ray!

Good morning ladies, gentlemen and he who has already been named. We are currently cruising at 43,734 points with a target altitude of 73,250. With under three weeks to go it will take a spectacular effort for our target to be achieved. So, put on the coffee, forget sleep and hit those brushes folks!

Today's lunch will be tiny, cold, corroded hauntings of down-under sheepdoggies.

Today's crayons are lime green and aquamarine.

From SimonM - "Heroclix" The U-Men (50 Points)

These ten 28mm U-Men pre-painted plastic models are by “Wizkids” and are all miniature number 001 from their “Heroclix” Marvel Mutant Mayhem range. Created by Grant Morrison for the 2001 "New X-Men" Annual by “Marvel Comics”, 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.”

However having painted and submitted five identical models to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge last year (as "the perfect henchmen to accompany Black Manta") I thought this time round their scuba-diving gear would simply make them excellent Pulp deepsea saboteurs or Nazi Invaders.

Whilst painting one of the models though, I did decide to see just how easily these miniatures could be converted, and as a result I created a slightly recognisable squad leader by replacing the relatively straightforward barrel of his rifle with the more complicated weapon of an old plastic "Citadel" Cyberman.

As with the underwater villains I've previously painted, I initially gave all the figures an undercoat of “Citadel” Abaddon Black and then started to 'pick out' all their breathing pipes, air-tanks, weapons and face plates with Ironbreaker. These metallic areas were then heavily washed with the Shade Nuln Oil.

Well at press time this looks to be our last post of the day, but I'm not counting Adam out for another lot!  Great looking frogmen Simon - you seem to have a fixation of shiny black figures.  Nice metal detailing on the face masks and breathing apparatus.  And those look like evil underwater weapons they are carrying.  They remind me of the stories my ex-RN dad told me about Commander "Buster" Crabbe and the Russian cruiser in Portsmouth in the 1950s....

 I notice that this puts you 6 points shy of your target of 500.  Since I am sure that you will easily hit that goal, spend the week thinking about possibly upping it for the rest of the Challenge.

AdamC- 5 Musketeers for En Guarde! (25 Points)

 My second entry some 17th Century French Musketeers with matchlock muskets.  I once again used the Regiment Saintonge as my model.  The troops are in various stages of loading and firing the musket this seemed right for a skirmish type game like En Guarde!

 This fellow who is blowing on his match as he readies the musket to fire.

 Priming with his powder flask as the 12 apostles (as the cartridges were called ) carry only the charge not the priming powder.

 Firing, show from the back so you can get a look at the fine detail of buttons on the tails of the coat.

 Ramming, this face came out really well in the picture, all of these faces came out really well but this one shows best on film.

Last of all we have at the ready... waiting for orders or a target.  In addition to his musket each man also has a plug bayonet that doubles as a dagger  and the "epee soldate" a sword that with minor changes would be carried by French line troops through the Seven Years War.  These guys are all Front Rank 25mm scale figures so another 25 points.  I need some officers but I want them to by in dynamic fencing or shooting pistol type poses not just pointing or exhorting the troops so if you have some suggestion I would love to hear them.

I like these fine musketeers Adam!  In fact I think these are the best figures you entered to the Challenge this year.  Your technique of painting faces really suits these Front Rank figures and your got clean crisp lines on the uniforms which seems to fit the period.  I've been eyeing a late 17th century skirmish force for En grade and you are inching me closer to that end.