From TeemuL: Odd Gun and some Orcs (45 Points)

Odds and Ends are presenting this week: Odd Assault Gun and Orcs

Like the previous challenges, I like to push myself to get something ready for each week rather than "finishing" something and publishing it once it is ready.

While I was painting the Armor bonus round entry, I also painted another Battlefront miniature for Soviets, an SU72M Assault Gun. I used the same colors on both in case these two comrades find poor tank commander Vaderov in his mid war crisis and offer him a helping hand.

If the T-60 tank was not very effective in the war, I believe this assault gun was much better. It was the first self propelled gun the USSR army had in the WWII. It is open topped, but they say it helped the crew to survive, when hit by AT fire.

Some reference pictures I found, these guys wore light brown uniform. The 52 on both sides looks bit messy, I should have picked up numbers with straight angels instead of curves... The other side is missing the railing (is that the proper term?), I might have dropped it when opening the blister or it never existed. Well, in the war, things go broken.

Hold on Vaderov, we are coming!

All in all, I really liked painting these little things in this completely new 1/100 or 15mm scale. Both of the vehicles (part metal, part resin) felt good in my hand, something that wouldn't break like GW stuff I mostly paint. I have heard, Battlefront is not may be the best company to make these (quality-wise), but if I would like to start something new after my Odds and Ends, which manufacturers sale I should be looking at? I don't believe in playing Flames of War in the near future, but maybe something else. Or maybe just decorating my shelves. Some supporting infantry could be a nice addition.

Anyway, with this SU-72M, my Battlefront miniatures (T-60 is the rest) are all painted up, I have managed to "finish" one project.

All right, back to the 28mm world, Middle-Earth and Games Workshop. I'm playing a slow LotR campaign with a friend of mine. In the first scenario I was using warg riders in my Isengard force, but he started shooting the wargs. I realized, I need dismounted orcs to represent these guys.

These seven are what I came up with, they are actually Mordor Orcs and bit bigger than the warg riders, but I didn't have anything else available. I think I might be using Moria Goblins as mountless riders, because they look more similar than these. These are bigger and bulgier fellows, with more armor.

I painted some of the metal parts brown to represent wood, leather or cloth to make them look less elite and more like a rag tag force. I used several different browns and Chestnut Ink from Coat d'Arms range (I believe this is a method called dipping) to create unified feeling to these. Then I used some lighter browns to pick up details and textures.

Some of the orcs are pale, some are green, the orcs in the Middle-Earth have many forms. I didn't paint the white hand of Saruman on these fellows, the warg riders didn't have them and now I can use this as Mordor Orcs as well.

Last pictures shows two riders with wargs and these seven orcs, their equipment and weapons do not match, neither do size, but the colors tie them together quite nicely, I think. I'll call these as Odds, because I have many more of them still unpainted, I just needed these for the next game (in case the wargs get killed again...).

I already started the next Bonus Round project and there are lots of different Odds in the painting queue, so you will be hearing from me more next week.

There's quite a lot of pictures this time, it was difficult to take decent photos in the Finnish snowless winter. Some are taken in daylight, some in artificial light. I tried to choose the best and from different angles.

ByronM: That is quite a mix of figures Teemu from WWII to LOTR.  Well done on both sets though, the orcs looks really sharp with their limited colour pallet and then your dip of shade to unify and mute everything further really worked.  On the 15mm vehicle, for an early attempt at the scale you have done very well.  

Something to know when painting figures is as they get smaller, you paint with more contrast and shade up to brighter colours.  Meaning, if you paint a 28mm figure a certain shade that is correct in real life, at 15mm that colour will now look too dark on the figure so you need to go lighter at the highlight to make it "look" like it is the real color, even though it is in fact really too light.  I hope I am making sense with that statement, if not someone else can chime in and say it in a cleaner way.  Either way your 15mm vehicle looks great as is and I like the weathering you did on it, I am just trying to help for future as you will really notice that effect when / if you do 15mm infantry.