From QuinnM: New Old World Models (155 points )

The last couple weeks for me have been really hectic and busy. But I have been able to squeeze in some painting time. 

To start with, I finished up with my unit of Jade Warriors which are from the new Warhammer fantasy faction Grand Cathay. Normally I don't like buying GW new because it's soo expensive. But around Christmas I got a good bonus and decided to treat myself with some of these new models. They are highly detailed models almost to their detriment as doing anything fun or unique with them (at least how I paint) would be too time consuming.  

So for the Jade Warriors I painted them up in a lighter green and highlighted with teal to make them very vibrant and pop and normally I paint things in a much darker style. I think ultimately they turned out really good and look great all ranked up. 

I ended up doing two units all totaling 25 

10. Halberdiers 

And 15 with sword and shield. 

I've already submitted one for points so it was left out of the photos with my freehand Banner

Also, I was reached out to by a 40K player to paint up his army of white scars for him. I don't do a lot of commission stuff but he was just running a simple paint job so I agreed to do it. Ultimately, I think the final result on the first unit went better than I expected as I've never done white armor before. Always was scared of messing it up. 

And here are two more heroes for my Warhammer quest that I painted up and realized I forgot to post. These guys are like a month old at this point. 

Point wise this week.

31x28mmfootman@5points = 155

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Sylvain: Good progress on your projects! I am especially interested in your Cathay army. It's always interesting to observe how a British game maker "sees" what an ancient Chinese army is. There is lot of jade in there and you rendition is splendid. I also agree with you about your White Scar commission: they turned out good. This should provide you with hours of fun game play. Fabuleux! 

 

From Paul O'G: Lunar Supply lander (15 points)

I've got a brief window at home before my next work trip - just enough time to complete this remote Lunar vehicle, to go with the Astronauts I submitted as the second Bonus Round entry. 

Technically this lander is named the "KANGA-R.0.0" (love it!). It's perfect as an objective for games of LUNAR, where it will deliver key supplies (like air bottles and suit repair patches) for the moon walkers to fight over. This is resin print and was a special release model by Black Site Studio for Adepticon 2025. 

Its a 32mm scaled vehicle but a small one so, so I think it appropriate to downgrade and classify it as "artillery/crew served weapon" for 15 points (instead of 25).

 

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Sylvain: A simple lunar vehicle, but your color scheme is so evocative of the glorious days of space exploration. And your moon surface for the base is spot on. I wish you fun games with this "objective". Fabuleux! 

From GregB: More Legions Imperialis Marines (44.5 points)

Some more "Legions Imperialis" Space Marines - these ones in the lovely green of the Warmaster's own legion, the Sons of Horus.

I have been doing a lot of painting, but I'm not too focused on any particular project. Thus my efforts are spread all over the place, and I've very little to show in terms of actual completed work. Thus I'm back this week with only a few odds and ends from GW's "Legions Imperialis" game, the reboot of the classic small-scale "Epic" game set in the Horus Heresy setting. There are elements from two different Legions Astartes - the Sons of Horus and the Thousand Sons. 

XVI Legion - The Sons of Horus

High command base for the Sons of Horus.

To the surprise of nobody, I already have a chunk of figures painted for this, the finest of the Legions Astartes. But you can always use more basic infantry. And in the case of the Sons of Horus, my initial efforts really disappointed me...I was pleased with the vehicles, but my method on the original infantry looked sloppy - I didn't care for how the green turned out. And if you don't like the green...well...the Warmaster won't be pleased, will he?

Tactical Marines and their Rhino APCs.

I had assumed I would not be able to replicate the green recipe from my 28mm collection on these smaller troops. But decided to experiment with it...and...well, it's actually not too bad! I like these much more. I painted up a high-command stand, and then a tactical detachment comprised of four bases. They also have Rhino APCs to give them a ride on the battlefield. 

Re-painted dreadnoughts - I like these much better!

Chuffed with the results on the infantry, I pulled the dreadnoughts I had completed before out of the box...knowing now that I could have done the nicer green on them drove me nuts - the OCD hobby monkey in mind started to scream and break things, so I opted to do a re-paint on them. Boom - OCD monkey at peace...for now...

Mobile fire support - Rapier on the right, "Quad Launcher" on the left.

To keep building up the firepower we have a couple of tracked fire-support platforms. Long-time Space Marine fans will probaly recognize the Rapier. The other one is a "quad launcher" - heir to the famous "Thudd Guns" of yore. There are supposed to be four tracked platforms in the unit, but I f*cked up a pair of the chassis from the box, so the XVI Legion will have to settle for a pair of them for now. 

Ready to drop some ordnance on those who would defy the Warmaster!

Finally, the Whirlwind is a classic mobile artillery support system for the Space Marines. The plastic kists for these are just lovely, and they allow for you to make two variants. These are "Scorpius" variants, with ammunition that hits vehicles a little harder at the expense of covering a much smaller target area. I just love the look of these things. Again...the kits have LOTS of tiny pieces, so assemble with care, but, wow, credit where credit is due - these are just a real treat to paint up.

XV Legion Astartes

A bit more fire support for Magnus' sons. 

A much smaller component for the Thousand Sons, but considering this collection is just getting started, they'll take it!

Beakies with shark-fin-style missile launchers - a classic!

Rhino APC with fancy markings for the "devestator" unit. 

Up first we have heavy support marines and their Rhino APC. If you look carefully, fans will recognize the classic "shark-fin" style missile launcher has been replicated in this scale. Now, this is a bit of a b*tch, as they come in two parts! But whatever frustration caused in gluing these tiny Marines together is lost once you are painting them - just wonderful to have "beakie" style Marines with these weapons. 

Mobile rocket artillery for the Thousand Sons.

Even space wizards need mobile firepower...

Finally, since I had assembled all of the Whirlwinds from the box, I thought I would paint two of them up for the Thousand Sons as well. You get eight models in a box, so there is still more to do there - maybe I'll even paint some for the poor loyalists? 

Let's get to the tally of points:

39 x 6mm infantry: 18.5 points

2 x 6mm crewed guns: 2 points

12 x 6mm vehicles: 24 points

Total: 44.5 points 

That's all for this week - hope to have more stuff next week. Cheers!

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Sylvain: How can you make so many details pop out on these tiny models? Maybe I need some of your painting recipe? Anyway, another smashing demonstration of your mastery of everything 30k. The master will be pleased, very pleased indeed. Fabuleux!

 

 

From PeterD: The Beiyang Fleet (22 points)

 

More naval oddities from me this week, this time the opposing fleet in the Sino- Japanese War, The Beiyang (or Northern Seas) fleet was the largest of the four fleets operated by the Qing dynasty in 1894, operating from the ports of Lushunkou (also known as Port Arthur) and Weihaiwei.   Both ports were captured by the Japanese in the war, but ended up being in Russian and British control due to European skullduggery.  The fleet operated two reasonable but dated battleships and an assortment of rather lousy cruisers.  Information on the Imperial Chinese navy is sketchy and often contradictory.  It doesn't help that there are two sets of Chinese characters and three different English translations used by different sources.  It can be a handle keeping track of ships under all the different names used.

She flies the rainbow flag of Admiral Ding Ruchang.  Love the Dragon on the Imperial Ensign.

First up is the flagship, the battleship Dingyuan.  She was built in Germany in the early 1880s along with a sister ship in the mail from Tumbling Dice.  A turret ship with her 12" guns in the then fashionable en echelon arrangement, she was typical of her time.  Similar ships were operating in the Royal Navy's front line squadrons in 1894.   She was damaged at the Yalu River, but still operational due to her armour.  After repairs in Lushunkou, she left for Weihaiwei before the Japanese army could lay siege.  She was then involved in the siege of Weihaiwei, being torpedoed in a night time attack on the anchorage and eventually blow up by her crew to prevent her capture.  In 2005 the Chinese state finished a replica of her which is now operated as a museum ship (Trip Advisor Review).

To my very Anglocentric eyes, Chinese names are very similar and I expect confusion on ship names among my gamers.  Therefore I gave each ship label a number as well.

Next up the Pingyaun and Jingyaun  Pingyaun was a costal defence battleship, with a 10" gun in a turret.  She was captured at Weihaiwei and incorporated into the IJN as the Heien and then lost to Russian mines in 1904..  Unlike most of the fleet which were purchased overseas, she was built in China.  She managed to damage the Japanese flagship at Yalu.Jingyaun was an armoured cruiser built in Germany.  She had decent protection but was slow (as were her guns).     

Next a couple of UK built cruisers  from Elswick, providers of cruisers to the world's smaller navies before 1914.  Zhiyaun was a protected cruiser and better than most of Chinese fleet, but lacked the larger QF guns of the IJN.  Her captain is a folk hero in modern China and apparently they've built a replica of the ship.  Chaoyong was another attempt to overstuff a small hull, with a pair of 10" and no armour.  She and a sister were both sunk at Yalu River.  Oddly enough a third sister served in the Japanese fleet, wisely kept out of battle.

Most navies' TBs were painted black to make them harder to spot, and that's certainly the case here.  I wish to confirm that there are two TB hulls on that one base.

Finally some smaller ships, very similar to ones that served in most navies.  The Guangjia was a Chinese built corvette which was on loan from the Guangdong fleet.  She was probably sunk at Yalu River (but may have escaped).  Kwangping was a torpedo gunboat, captured at Weihaiwei put into service by the IJN.  Lastly, a base of two torpedo boats.

I make that 9 hulls for 18 points, and most of a squirrel. The rest of the squirrel will appear next week.

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Sylvain: As usual, very informative post. You're my weekly dose of naval history! And your ships are lovely. When we get to play these ships, it will be a fun game: fun because new strategies will have to be used and fun because trying to pronounce the names of the ships will be a challenge. I will add 4 points for the flags. Fabuleux!

From ChrisW: This time with heroic deep sea divers! (190 points)

 

Heroic Deep sea divers [5x 28mm 25 points]

Last week I erroneously listed some Heroic deep sea divers, but failed to post any pictures. Well the truth of the matter is that I thought I would have them done in time for posting, after all they have been sitting on my table, nearly done, going on 3 or 4 weeks now. Well it works out that I hit a wall with them and just kept putting them off. Not this week, this week I decided to 'eat the frog' as some say and deliberately tackle them, but not until Sunday. (oh well the thought was there) 

These came from recreational conflicts some years back. Some assembly was required as each figure is made up of 5 parts (more if optional attachments are used) For the most part I used the arms with hands only substituting the tool arms on a couple of them. For paints I went primarily with the new Vallejo metal paints, except one of them that was painted with an army painter speed paint metal. For colours, I confess, I went a little overboard making them stand out quite a bit, emulating the old Major Matt Mason figures from my youth. 

VSF Free State armoured vehicles.    [2x 28mm vehicles  40 points]

These miniatures are from Ironclad miniatures, I believe they are now carried by Pendraken. I am using them for my Fenian Free Stater forces on Mars. They are painted in Martian Khaki shade (so reddish/orange shade) This was done with a black primer, followed by a spray of regular khaki then highlighted with some P3 khaki and Jack bone. Over this I applied a GW orange wash. As an example of my planning, I did not think about the orange wash until I stumbled upon it in a drawer. The wash was applied with brush and sponge alternately sponging the wash off and then on again. I also added a black brown wash to bring it down a tone. Finally some highlights of a craft paint Autumn brown and some Vallejo dust to finish. For the wheels I mixed up some dirt with the craft paint and some dirt effects.

The symbol on the side is courtesy of a request to AI to generate a flag and a decal for a VSF Fenian force on Mars.

Back of Beyond Muslim troops in British service    [10x 28mm 50 points]

These are Copplestone figures that will see some service with my BoB forces. I followed an LAF post for the khaki, and Sonic Sledgehammer for the flesh (it worked out well) I tell you, there are times where I just do not want to paint historic figures what with all their straps and pouches and difficult to reach areas, it is almost enough to make me not want to paint.

It does not belong in a museum! Guardians of Antiquities [10x 28mm 50 points]

A mix of figures here some from Old Glory (the dynamic poses) and the others are from Foundry. While these had been placed on one of my pile of potential figures for this challenge, they really were not in my sights. However while looking for inspiration for Minerva I stumbled upon a You tube video by Chris Abby. It suggested some speed paint combinations for some Arabic figures. Well I saw that vid Monday morning and had them painted up by the afternoon. While I did use most of the suggested paints I did use a different flesh paint and fixed up the yellow paint job with a P3 paint.

These figures will most likely show up as opposition for the Explorers of Egypt.

Minerva's Flying Circus            [5x 28mm figures 25 points]

These are yet more figures for the Pulp Alley games that me and my mates play. They are actually Pulp Alley figures and form up a league. 

So, my camera seems to be burst! It has decided to live up to my blog name and become unfocused! So Minerva and her crew were the best pictures that I could take and I even had to resort to using the wife's phone for the last few pics.

This is it for this post. I am on vacation as of Friday and will be out of the country, so there may be no post next week, but maybe I can finish off some stuff before I go and hopefully take pictures of them! 

Points this time

• 25  points for 5x 28mm Heroic Deep sea divers (the scourge of Evil minion deep sea divers)
• 40  points for 2x 28mm Free staters  armoured vehicles
• 50  points for 10x 28mm Muslim troops in British service BoB
• 50  points for 10x 28mm Guardians of antiquities 
• 25  points for 5x 28mm Minerva's Flying Circus

190 Points Total

Squirrels

5 more squirrels for a total of 19

1. Gladiators
2. Epic Orcs
3. Epic Imperial
4. Warlord Chinese
5. Red Russians RCW Back of Beyond
6. Alien Invaders
7. Pulp US Marines
8. Urban Cultists
9. Egyptian cultists
10. VSF Japanese armoured vehicles
11. Tripods
12. Bugs!
13. Evil minion deep sea divers
14. Puritans
15. Explorers of Egypt
16. Jungle explorers
17. Heroic deep sea divers
18. Muslim troops for the British
19. Free stater Armoured cars
20. Guardians of Antiquities
21. Minerva's Flying Circus

Lady Sarah

Minera's Flying Circus 

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Sylvain: Reading your post is like watching an action movie, there are lots of extras, fun machines and cool heroes. What is there not to like? Thanks for explaining your painting processes, it might come handy. 190 points well deserved! Fabuleux!