AnneO's Counterblast Bot and Seeker (10 Points)

Caught up in the excitement of this years Challenge I rushed my first entry across the finish line in order to be part of the initial "Avalanche"  Further, I wanted to see if I could turn my submission in before 'Paint Monkey' (aka Clint).

These figures are from Counterblast/Bombshell Miniatures, are 25mm and were sculpted by Patrick Keith.  I carved the Bot base insert using Super Sculpey.

Since I switched from Fantasy to Pulp, I have found that bots are one of my favourite figures to paint. Further, Pulp, with its use primary colours allows me to work in brighter palettes.

Because I felt this figure needed to appear menacing, I chose to paint it black.  In addition I have a rather large Command Center and practice with this colour will be necessary before I tackle that piece. I used a "pure" black and am not pleased with how it turned out. Right now I am working on a small spaceship and will be trying out a chromatic black that has been worked down from purple.  I do not like the silver and mint green accents. For the next space ship I will be accenting in red and gold.

With this entry I have earned a whopping 10 points. But have I beat Paint Monkey to the post?  I certainly hope so.

From Curt:

Lovely stuff Anne. I love the Bot - he's kina got a R2 meets WALL-E meets Claptrap thing going on there. And the yellow rocks (one of my favourite colours). I like the drone-seeker as well (especially its transponder dish thingy) but I'm curious to see how your next efforts with the purple-down-to-black and the red and gold accents work out.  I'm sure, like this, it will come off like a charm. 

You're on the board Anne (and ahead of Paint Monkey) with 10 points. Bravo! 

From DaveD - A little bit of Pulpiness .. and the entry fee (25 points)

Another year another challenge. This is my 4th one, and I've really been looking forward to it. There will be a mix of projects old and new. A return to the colonial era Sudan with the Imperial forces in my sights - more Mahdists as well. There will be a Cowboy or two, and perhaps a few left field bonus round entries.

For those of you following my blog you will have seen the mean town of Serenity has grown in a Serenity City, picking up the action into the roaring 20's - an era of Gangsters and classic Pulp. So here is the opening entry - and entry fee .. I will claim a certain "John Dillinger" as my Rogue - so Curt he will be winging his way to the Frozen North soon enough , hope ya like him.

Now someone said something about a Pulp side challenge? Or will it be a khaki point bomb?

Next up we have "Long Sarah" .. a tough woman , who runs a certain establishment down the seedy end of town..

Both are 28mm Pulp Alley miniatures (the Tommy Gun toting one is badged as the local DA.. but like it so much as Bad Guy he has changed sides).

From Curt:

Haha! Guess what pair of figures are sitting on my paint desk at this very moment? Well, they're getting quietly moved to the back of the queue now. You've beat me to the punch, Dave, so they'll have cool their heels for another day.

Cracking work and thank you! I love Dillinger's charcoal pinstripe suit and the black and white tiles on Long Sarah's base is a great touch (and it's almost impossible not to think of this figure in a red dress). Since I also have these two figures I have to mention how superb the castings are. The DA's Thompson is a separate piece and it's an amazing work or art in of itself (I particularly like that it has a straight clip instead of the ubiquitous drum magazine). Highly recommended.

Thanks again Mr Docherty. Dillinger will find a very warm welcome in the Challenge V's 'Rogue's Gallery'.  

These two hard boiled characters will give Dave 25 points. 

MartinC's Opening Volley (92 points)

This is my first completed unit since the start of the Challenge and my first foray into ACW, recently I've been flexing my imagination on a VBCW with the brave miners of Dinnington fighting off evil Lord Ridley for control of Northumberland.

I had a day off yesterday and it was freezing so I hunkered down and painted what are nominally described as the 63rd Pennsylvania whilst listening to Half Man Half Biscuit.

Figs are part of 2 Perry infantry brigades I have planned to paint  for the challenge (236 infantry, 4 cannons and 2 mounted generals). I plan the paint them as Early's Louisiana Tigers brigade and Collis' 1st brigade of III corps. Picked them as they both have zouaves and I have box of them to paint as well. That makes me sound like a technical detail nerd (c.f. Rimmer's Risk diary - Red Dwarf on TV as I type) but really I think they'll just look cool in massed ranks.

Overall I'm fairly happy with the unit but the lighting makes them look like I've painted them with a wallpaper paste brush as all the shading has disappeared or become opaque - will have to work on that from both ends of the problem.

Having seen the entries so far I will have to up my game, or maybe just buy some cavalry and supersize my target.

Oh and my score is 90 I think.

Martin

From Curt

Wow, fast work Martin, excellent stuff. You have a good-sized project in front of you and I look forward to seeing it debut through the upcoming months of the Challenge.  

I'm going to give you an extra couple of points for the standard bearer as I know how fiddly they can be, so 92 it is. 

From SamuliS: Early War WWII German Armour (45 points)

Looking at everyone's point targets I figured I'll never have enough time to achieve fame and fortune by winning the challenge so I decided on another route with a quick dash to glory and taking the first place for at least a day! And with December 6th being the Finnish Independence day it's only suitable that I'll try protect the honour of all Finns by leading the challenge for a while :)

So to achieve this I whipped up 6 Flames of War German AFV's with a quick simple paintjob that could be achieved really fast. I got them base-coated in dark grey yesterday and painted the rest this morning by applying a few consecutive drybrush layers, decals, some enamel washes and mud. A nice quick job that in my calculations should put me just in front of Miles and hopefully with a large enough of a point lead to hold the position through the 6th :)

The vehicles themselves are Battlefront Flames of War minis, 2 Sdkfz 231 8-rad reconnaissance vehicles and 4 Panzerjäger I light tank-hunters that both saw service during Operation Barbarossa. These are the first submission of my second larger project for the challenge that is an Early War German Panzerschützen army for Flames of War.

Now with the early morning rush of painting done it's then time to relax for the rest of the day and prepare for watching the parades and independence day reception and gala on the TV.

From Curt:
Great work Samuli and Happy Independence Day! 

I've always loved the design of the 8-rad armoured car - it's so futuristic for something that was designed in the 1930s.  

The vehicles give you a base 36 points and I'm also awarding you 9 points extra for the partial crews. You've pipped Miles to gain the front of the pack and claiming the lead... for now. ;)

From IannickM : "Kitty Bonny"; a gift to a friend, and my first entry (5 points)

The last few competition it took me a few weeks before submitting a first entry, so I decided to break the habit by submitting something straight outta the gate. It will put me on the board and motivate me to add to this early start.

2014 was a very difficult year for me; I spent most of the year unable to walk after undergoing three knee surgeries and at one point, after a series of complications, I seriously feared I might never get to walk normally again. Although I've mostly recovered now it's in those difficult times that you get to know your real friends, and I am lucky enough to count on a few amazing ones who supported me, visited me and cheered me up through these hard times. So I decided that, for Christmas, I would do something special and individually paint for each of them a unique figure as a show of gratitude. I rarely if ever paint for someone else and the plan is to paint something which represents them or something they love.

So my first figure of the competition is a gift to one of my best friend, Emilie, a great girl with a love of cats. In fact, she even has a cartoon cat as a tattoo on her arm. The figure is from Dark Sword Miniature's "Anthropomorphic Animals range", obviously a cat, and it's an awesome sculpt full of personality. The pink details and plumes are also a wink to Emilie's favourite colour.

I named the figure "Kitty Bonny" and I cannot wait for Xmas to give it to her.

That should give me 5 pts to start the competition with panache.

From Curt:
Iannick, it's wonderful to hear that you're on your feet again and are able to join us for the Challenge. 'Kitty Bonny' is a marvellous figure (I especially like the ears poking out from the tricorne) and I can appreciate the sentiment behind it - well done. I think your friend will be delighted with the gift. An excellent first entry.