From TeemuL - Uruk-Hai Command (10 Points)

I have been busy, but managed to paint these two fellows during the week. They are from the GW LotR Uruk-Hai Command blister and are Captain and Standard Bearer. As usual, the sun was not shining today and the light has disappeared, but I managed to get decent photos in artificial light.

Color selections are familiar from last week's entry, they are very similar to Lurtz. These fellows have the white hand symbols, captain on the shield and standard bearer on the helmet. The banner, shield and helmet are all hand painted (pun intended).

Game vise they give me more options, previously I only had Lurtz to command my Uruk-Hai force, now the captain gives me flexibility. Standard Bearer will help the fighting. They were rather easy to paint and the models are metal. The Standard Bearer has some issues with the balance, if set on rough terrain, so little precaution is needed.

Ten more points.

From Curt:

Great work Teemu! Give them a hand folks (ahem, sorry). These two louts look suitably ferocious and I'm sure they'll be welcome additions to your LotR collection. With this new captain I assume you now don't have to spend extra points for Lurtz to command your Uruks? 

If you haven't thought of it already, superglue a coin or washer into the bottom of the standard bearer's base and that should help with his stability on the tabletop.

Well done.

From TamsinP - ESU Raiding Fleet (130 Points)

Two submissions in one day and both have been SciFi :D

This is my 18th submission in 12 weeks and amazingly this is my first (and maybe only) submission of spaceships.

And so I present the 16th Patriotic Raiding Fleet of the Eurasian Solar Union Space Navy. Well, the start of it - I have a bunch more ships to add to it at some point. These are the ships in the Mega Fleet pack from Ground Zero Games.

These had already been primed black by hand, but the next stages were done with the airbrush - it got plenty of use last weekend. First up was a base coat of Hull Red. That was followed by a first highlight of Hull Red/Scarlet then a light second highlight of Scarlet. Once that was done, the final step with the airbrush was to add irregular black stripes. The airbrush paints I've been using are Vallejo Model Air.

The rest of the painting was done by hand. To help me distinguish between ships of the same class during games, I've picked out panels in either Dark Prussian Blue, Black Green or Black Red. The capital ships got panels in Dark Prussian Blue and Black Green.

They then got sprayed with satin varnish before getting a black wash to help bring out the raised details. This seems to have knocked the red back to a brownish colour - I actually think it looks better (thankfully).

Weapon tips and the SDN's hangar opening were done in Fluo Orange; the engine glow was finished with a wash of Fluo Green.

And onto the pretty pictures of spaceships!

Zheng He Class Scout Ships

Poryshkin Class Corvettes

Kuritsa Class Frigates

Ural Class Destroyers

Kiang Class Light Cruisers

 Oriskansky Class Escort Cruisers

Xinglong Class Heavy Cruisers

Pobyeda Class Battlecruiser

Khalinov Class Battleship

Morov Class Battle Dreadnought

Zhukov Class Super Dreadnought

I posted this pic on my blog last night, but for those who haven't seen it, here is a pic I took in the dark. You can just about make out a faint green engine glow.

I have no idea what these are worth in points - I've sent Curt some size pics to help him out.

I have next week booked off work, so you can expect either one huge entry or several smaller ones. I haven't quite decided what to paint up during my time off. I'm hoping to get about 300 points worth of something done though, leaving me in sight of my 2500 point target with just under 2 weeks to go.


From Curt:

Very nice Tamsin! 

I remember your excellent NAC Fleet from last year's Challenge and these 'Space Soviets' look like they'd be admirable adversaries. The ship design has a certain quasi-Klingon look about them - though somewhat more boxy and sharp edged - nonetheless, they have very cool silhouettes. Your use of the airbrush has allowed you to create some great effects with the mottled colours, while the orange running lights tie them all together. Do all of the ships have the same bright green engine flares as the Super Dreadnought? It's a nice touch.

Well done Ms. P!

From SteH - Dwarven Pirates, Uruk Hai and more Sung Chinese (90 Points)

It's been a few weeks since I last a managed to post anything, I have been painting but I've been a bit preoccupied with a new job, trying to buy a house and still getting to grips with the change in culture after we moved to New Zealand.

Anyway enough with the excuses, first up is my entry to the comedic bonus round, just a tad late I know but I was just too tired to get the darn thing posted in time, so it will just have to be a regular entry. Why is this suitable for inclusion in the comedic round, well because I present five marauder miniatures dwarves, circa 1989 (I think ), these guys were back in the heyday of fun poses and bright colours. 

I acquired these second hand and stripped them down but never actually did anything with them. Then after painting up one of them as a pirate when we arrived in NZ (for variety as I'd been buried in Lord of the Rings) I got the urge to dig them out and get a small pirate company completed. 

Just a shame I was slack and didn't get em completed in time.

Next is the obligatory Lord of the Rings Uruk Hai, eleven of the angry looking chappies. These guys have been the theme for my painting challenge and hopefully by the end of the challenge I'll be able to have a very large game against ScottB with all the models I've painted during.


I managed to convert an Uruk captain, a few spare bits lying around, the application of a sharp knife and voila!



And finally some more Sung Chinese painted up for a fledgling Tsurannuanni force, this time five Shinzawai archers in their trademark blue. As the leading house of the Blue Wheel party it makes sense that they're in blue, we'll just have to see how long it takes me to paint up a few more houses and get a few Kingdom forces to pit them against.







From Curt:

A wonderfully varied submission Ste!

The Sung archers (15mm?) and Uruks (nice conversion on the captain) are great, but the show-stealers for me are those fabulous Dwarf pirates!  I remember coming across these years ago but have never seen any painted up - fantastic! I love the cacophony of colour, especially with the pistol-wielding conquistador with the puff & slash tunic.  Marvelous stuff.

Best of luck in your house hunting!

From TamsinP - NSL Reinforcements (142 Points)

This entry is rather picture heavy, but there is a lot to show, so no apologies from me on that score!

I had decided that my NSL forces were in need of some reinforcements. After all, Panzer grenadiers do need some Panzers and APCs otherwise they'd just be, well, grenadiers.

All figures and models in this entry are 15mm from Ground Zero Games.

The Vehicles

I'd decided a while back that my NSL would utilise hover technology for their armoured vehicles. This was on the basis that it would give them mobility over a wide range of possible dirtside terrain whilst being easier (and cheaper) to repair and maintain than grav vehicles - Teutonic practicality is alive and well in the future!

The radio antennae are plastic bristles from a washing up brush.

Wombat Armoured Personnel Carriers

Four APCs

Flatbed, command APC and missile APC

If you look closely, you will spot that a couple of these APCs have been in prangs and lost headlights.


Rommel Tanks

Three gun tanks

SLAM artillery tank, air defense tank, missile (AT/AA) tank

These were mostly done with an airbrush - the first time I've used it in "combat". They were primed Dunkelgelb then the camo scheme was added. First layer was Hull Red sprayed straight up. The second layer was Dark Grey Blue sprayed though diamond pattern wire mesh - this didn't work as well as I'd hoped; I need some more practice to get the distance from brush to mesh and mesh to model right. The top layer was Camo Light Green sprayed through a mesh with round holes. This worked better - obviously I was getting more practiced. The detailing was then done by hand.


Power Armour Reinforcements

I'd come to the conclusion that my Power Armour company needed some reinforcements, so this is the core of the heavy weapons platoon and some specialists to add to the "rifle" platoons. I'll probably be adding another "rifle" platoon and finishing the rest of the heavy weapons platoon at some point after the Challenge.

These were primed with the airbrush, then painted by hand.

Plasma Gun Squad

Plasma Gun Specialists

SAW Gun Squad

SAW Gun Specialists

Support Weapons

I've also painted up some support weapons which can be used to provide extra firepower for the Panzer grenadiers or power armour troops.

These were primed black and basecoated in camo dark green with the airbrush, then finished by hand.

Hover Drones

Missile armed drones

Tri-barrel cannon drones

Mobile Autonomous Weapon Platforms (MAWPs)

These MAWPs are hover tech, for the same reason as with the armoured vehicles.

Plasma cannons

I quite like how the blue glow of the plasma coils has turned out

AA/AT missiles

Tri-barrel cannons

Phew! That's a lot of pics!



From Curt:

Wow! What a wonderful looking force Tamsin. I have to say that my eye was first drawn to the burnt and mottled groundwork - I think it provides a terrific 'alien battleground' setting for these models and really sets the tone for them.

Like you, I really like the effect of the vibrant blue glow of the energy weapons and the various lens colours add a nice contrast to the olive green armour. 

My only suggestion would be to drybrush a slightly lighter tone on the groundwork to the rear and sides of the hover vehicles to reinforce the impression of them blowing a dusty wake. 

Again, a great looking army Tamsin.