From ChrisW: Long overdue - 15mm sci fi vehicles [244 points]

 

So, I was hoping to get two posts up this week (or maybe 1 big one) but that will not happen, instead I have these low tech aliens to present. The models are a mix of GZG, Alternative Armies, Brigade Models and two kitbashed.

I drew inspiration for this paint job from THIS BLOG 15mm Sci-fi small soldiers. Actually he is a wealth of ideas that have inspired me to finally tackle this project. The post specific to the rust/red that he did IS HERE and while it offered inspiration I wound up using pretty much none of the paints or technique that he did. The biggest difference would be that I have yet to start using my airbrush, so everything is standard paint brushes. The other thing I did differently was the fact that I used mostly craft paints to achieve this look(the penultimate colour was paprika).

These vehicles will represent the Hanuman army that is currently attacking the Fifth Foreign Legion in an effort to drive all aliens from their planet. I have 150+ aliens on the painting table to go with these tanks. (maybe for next week)

Decals have still not arrived😞 I may come back to these and paint some weird markings on them to represent their system.

 

The big guns [alternative armies]

The main battle tanks [GZG]

Keen eyes may have noted some missing items on these main tanks. While I was painting these models I figured I would go through my stash of stuff and locate the hatches and remote light weapons. Much to my chagrin I could not locate them. So, I just placed an order from GZG to replace the missing items and continued on with the painting. These are some of the long overdue models and a testament to my lack of organization!

Two kitbashed tanks

These tanks came with the Lindberg landing craft model kit. I relocated the turret, added the missile launchers, stowage items and the square armour skirts. The gun came from GZG, I might swap them out sometime for lighter looking weapons.

Support elements [AA tank by brigade models rest by GZG]

Heavy APCs [GZG]

Fast strike light tanks [GZG]

Light APCs [GZG]

 Maybe, just maybe I will have the Legion forces ready for next week. 

So the totals

• 224 points for 28 x 15mm vehicles (8 per)
•   20 points for overdue and returns (most of the GZG vehicles have sat primed on a shelf for at least a decade)
  

Squirrels this post +1

Squirrels to date [3]

• Hammers Slammers
• Ikwen alien infantry
• Hanuman (Alien) vehicles
  

Chris, these vehicles look really cool. Good on you for getting back to these models after a decade, but that's short term in this crowd! I like the weathering, I'll have to check out those websites you mentioned. 244 points for you!

Dallas

From PaulSS: General Hood and other ACW goodies - 40pts

Only a small addition from myself this week, it was great to help out Drew with his Knights of St Lazarus, but it rather broke my production line. 

First up is a Confederate commander for my forces, Major-General John B. Hood, from the Perry Miniatures Confederate mounted Commanders pack.

Major-Gen John B. Hood.

He is accompanied by a drummer that was left over from the firing line that was posted a few weeks ago. 

Major-Gen John B. Hood.

More astute observers will notice that from the Perry website this model is actually supposed to represent General Longstreet, what can I say, I got a little confused, the real General Hood model will do duty as Longstreet.

Major-Gen John B. Hood.

I hope to have the rest of the Confederate generals painted in time for next weeks entry, two of them and their attendants are already painted, just need basing, two are in process and the last one cleaned and primed.

Major-Gen John B. Hood.

Major-Gen John B. Hood.

Also added to the collection were some bases of Confederate skirmishers/militia made up of troops from the Crusader Miniatures Bushwackers. 

 

These are a lovely set of characterful ne'er-do-wells.

Like the generals, the other half of the pack are next on deck on the painting table and all being well will feature next week. 

I so liked the look of the Renedra Cross & Rail Fencing that I painted last month I picked up another pack of them.

This time I decided to model one of them with a broken down end. They appear to be out of stock now in my usual places, but I'll pick up more when they become available.

It's all well and good now having several feet of fencing, I didn't have any gates. A search of the bits box turned up some Warbases 5-bar gates, I added gate posts from some balsa wood, and one of them links into the cross and rail fencing with a spare cross-piece.

For my (low) tally completed for the week, a single 28mm mounted, five 28mm foot and a quarter cube of terrain for 40pts added to my total, although I'm now comfortably past my target 750pts.

Well done Paul, I really like the style of your ACW models. The painting is crisp and the groundwork is superb as always... "faces and bases" right? Nice work on the fences too and I appreciate the scratch-building on the gate!

Dallas

From SylvainR: D&D - 28mm Heroes and Zombies (60 points)

 I really enjoyed painting these D&D miniatures and for the first time in my painting life, I was able to work on two different projects at the same time. Usually, my lizard brain is completely focused on one project that I need to finish before starting the next one. However, my 6mm-WW2 project is so big that it will take me years to complete and my family wants to play D&D NOW. So I needed to get on these heroes and monsters NOW.

So my new "business model" is to leave the D&D figurines on the edge of my painting desk where "I can see them". Then, "naturally", after painting 20 tanks in a row, I feel like "just adding the base color for the skin on that wizard", and then I add "just some blue on the necromancer", and so on. Somehow, the two projects now seem to complement each other in my brain... Or should I consult a doctor?... Please write your diagnostic down in the comment section :-).

Anyway, here is a family picture of my last batch of D&D goodies. All the models were given to me by JeremyM and are soft plastic miniatures from Reaper. By the way, you know how these models can sometimes end up with bent parts. Instead of hot water, I use a heat gun for tile removing, set to shoot upward with a narrow nozzle. I just expose the mini a few seconds in the hot air flow and voilà, it almost instantly becomes soft and can be easily re-shaped.

Let's start with a closer look at the zombies. For their skin color, I came up with an tone that would evoke both normal flesh and the dirt they stand on. In retrospect, I think I should have done more variations on their skins, to represent various stages of decay. I'm sure there will be more zombies to paint in the future, it's such a classic feature of fantasy games.

Next we have a necromancer with a nice collection of skulls that I could sell for a fair price to any Challenger taking part in the Skullz duel. I set up rocks on its base to represent either some kind of mystic circle or some kind of underground magic going on. Next to him is a Valkyrie-like warrior. I opted to paint her armor as leather instead of metal and I really like how this combination of brown and blue turned out.

Here is a monk and a young wizard. The lady is from Wizards-of-the-Coast. The monk's gear was an interesting challenge because I wanted his cloths to be white, but still showing the details. The picture from the back reveals a long mold line going up to the head that I did not notice before.

Points claimed:

12 x 28mm foot figurines at 5 points each = 60 points

Thanks for reading!

"A change is as good as a rest" so they say, Sylvain. I think it's much more normal to have multiple projects on the go, honestly. But I really like your work on these models, the zombies look suitably horrible and disgusting, and I especially like your work on the valkyrie-esque gal. Those Reaper models and their bendy-bendy parts can be tricky - I like your pro tip. 60 points for you!

Dallas

It's SATURDAY, Yay!!

Hey kids it's Saturday! (Thank God). This is me after another week of work ^^ (don't ask)

But fortunately I get to minion some amazing posts today! These will include: 

• More tiny Cossacks and some much larger D&D figures from SylvainR!
• Lovely ACW models from PaulSS!
• Some pretty cool 15mm SF vehicles from ChrisW!
• More White Scars Space Marines from DavidB!
• Heroes and villains from AaronH!
• aaaand... maybe a surprise from the Snowlord himself!

Enjoy your Saturday, I know I will!

Dallas

From Kerry T - Sheep, Welshmen with a proper Men of Harlech and a few others - 410 points

Morning afternoon and evening all

Apologies but I missed last week's Friday deadline and I suspect only just made this weeks by the skin of my teeth. Thank you Millsy for your forbearance

Maybe my opening picture leaves me open to some jibes - because its a picture of sheep -yes I know there's no way my Aussie mates are going to miss out on the opportunity to rib somebody living in NZ (and a Welshman at that) when he mentions sheep! But here we go.....

Baa Baa Black sheep have you any wool?

Flocking hell, that's a Baaaahhd joke.........

I'm going to claim this as my children's books entry - its a nursery rhyme after all and how many of us in our early years didn't have a book of nursery rhymes?

Hmm.... how many points do you reckon I can claim for this? If you do a quick Google you'll find that there are apparently 25.14 million sheep in NZ, I reckon at least half are in the picture above...

So who looks after these sheep? I hear you ask...

Well its obvious innnnnnnnit...

Little Bo Peep

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep so now she's gone on a bender...

No idea where this figure came from but if you closely at what you see pouring out from the jug then you wine aficionados will clearly see that is a perfect NZ Pinot Noir colour.. nectar of the gods...

Trust me, I know I've just had a few glasses...

Now talking of gods leads me on to the next subject - yes - gods - otherwise know as Welshmen...

Footsore Miniatures Late Medieval Welsh

Please note these are not running away, they are Welsh, we don't do that, they have just turned  face 

So what's the difference between Plaid and tartan?

Google says.... "

Both plaids and tartans are woven strips that meet at 90 degree angles. Tartans have an identical pattern if stripes rubbing vertically and horizontally. resulting in overlapping square grids. Regular plaids are not necessarily the same in both directions, with variation in colour, size, and /or pattern of stripes"

Don't ask me I just put paint on them

Welsh Knights pack from Footsore

2 packs of Welsh Hearthguard from Footsore

See the man 3rd from right, his bloody sword arm fell off just after I took this photo

Hopefully this lot of handsome valleyboys will count as my local history bonus

Now I'm sure you've all heard Stanley Baker and his mates sing "Men of Harlech"  in the film Zulu...

If you think that gives you goosebumps then the original Welsh version surpasses that by so much and will make your heart stop. I wish I could sing it for you and record it here

"Wele Goelcerth wen yn flamio a thafodau tan yn bloeddio, ar y'r ddewrion ddod i daro'n unwaith eto'n un"

(Behold a bright beacon flaming and tongues of fire shouting for the brave to come fight once again as one....)......

..."Wele faner Gwalia'i fyny....rhyddid aif a hi"

(See the flag of Gwalia on high....freedom she shall have")

Welsh commander, champion and standard bearer

Ye olde Tom Jones and the bishop

Now having posted the Welsh, we'll go down a notch and post some pictures of English 😁

Bloody Miniatures ECW cavalry

Bit of a rush job painted in 3 days

The Lobsters

The Flashing blades

The Moss Troopers

and finally the Troopers

These are such lovely figures and so well advertised by Captain Blood on the Bloody Miniatures site . Its really good to hear that he's expanding the range now to produce units rather than just figures for skirmish sized games, For the moment these cavalry have been based singly but in time I anticipate incorporating and probably re-basing them for cavalry regiments in close order.

Final offering, more Victrix Normans , this time painted up as  Andalusian/Moorish cavalry for the Reconquista. Shields by LBMS transfers - its extraordinary to think that this is the same pack of heavy cavalry painted up in an earlier post, well done Victrix

Thanks as always for your encouragement

In summary

1 Flock of a million NZ lamb shanks - say 15 points?

1 female figure for Lady Sarah's library cart bonus  = 20 points

Children's book bonus = 20 points

18 x 28mm Footsore Welsh Medieval figures @5 points = 90 points

Local history bonus @ 20 points

12 x 28mm Bloody Miniatures ECW cavalry @ 10 points = 120 points

12 x 28mm Victrix Andalusian Cavalry @ 10 points = 120 points

Total 405 points

Squirrel x3 

Many thanks

From Millsy: BOOM! That's quite the points bomb Kerry and contains a boat load of beautifully painted kit. I've been waiting almost a week to see these sheep after our chat for starters. Love the detail on the plaid and the shields especially, and I'm a little gobsmacked at the level of quality here given how fast you churned these out. You neglected the 5 points for Little Bo Peep herself so that lifts you total for the lot to a stonking 410 points! Cracking effort mate.