From IannickM : Cobra Troopers (25 Points)

File name, unknown. 
Primary military specialty: Infantry
Secondary military specialty : Sabotage

Five of the nameless, faceless legions of Cobra command. Each Cobra is highly skilled in the use of explosives, all NATO and Warsaw pact small arms, sabotage and the martial arts. 

Cobras swear absolute loyalty to their fanatical leader, Cobra Commander...their goal, to conquer the world for their own evil purpose. 

Five more Cobra troopers this week, to go along my 80s Pulp duel with Sander. They were originally meant to be part of the duel, but I decided to include 5 Crimson Guards instead, to add some colour and variety to my entry.

The Cobra troopers are the "cannon fodder" of the Cobra organization, i.e. think of the classic James Bond villain henchmen (aka minions). So they will be quite useful in the games I intend to play with this project. They were mostly inept in the cartoons (poor sods afflicted with the famous Stormtrooper Marksmanship skill), but I loved them nonetheless, as once again I had a soft spot for all masked evil grunts! Doing all the work with oh so little recognition! 

 Cobraaaaaaaaaaa!

I tried to give them the classic cartoon bright blue, instead of the darker blue we often see on cosplayers and the figures. My blue is probably a bit lighter, mostly due to the highlights, but I'm satisfied with it. I actually used my base recipe for 40K Ultramarines, and then added extra highlights using two light blue colours. Couldn't do the white suspenders, though, that was too much siliness for me! When I started them, I thought they would be super easy to paint, what with them all blue, but I quickly realized the bastards have so much leg straps (and suspenders) they'd make a Napoleonic soldier proud! 

Of course Seb (creator of the range) gave them a more realistic outfit, with realistic guns and equipment. Gives them a slightly more serious look, and they fit right in an evil terrorist organization!

...aaaand another 25pts to add to my total. Once Curt adds my points from the 80s side duel challenge, I believe I will have surpassed my goal of 550pts! (yeah)

ByronM: Cool flash back to my childhood Iannick.  I remember when all those came out and all of us lost our minds and wanted all the cool GI Joe toys.  As you state, your colour is lighter, but its a comic and tv show, so whatever colour you like is good, no one is going to hold it against you.  They look awesome. 

In Honour of International Women's Day: Boudicca FTW! *No Points*

Sorry for horning-in on today's entries, but I wanted to submit something in honour of International Women's Day. These figures will not count for points as they're from several years ago, but I thought they were apropos for the day. 

I had decided to do something in homage to the great illustration by Angus McBride depicting a Briton chariot team.

I know Warlord produces a great set which models this specific scene, but I wanted something a bit different, perhaps a little more ferocious, with Boudicca celebrating an early victory over the Romans. So with that in mind I pulled a charioteer from another boxed set to depict a 'show off' charioteer. The figure was originally designed to have a sword and shield in his hands but I decided to reposition him as if we were hauling on the reins of the horse team. 

I first removed his sword and drilled out his fists so I could thread thin plastic rod through to simulate the reigns. I then slightly repositioned his arms and legs and pinned him into place. I think it worked out pretty well though I need to go back and give him some woad tattoos (I ran out of time before the submission deadline).

I really like the figures of the children running alongside the chariot team. I painted the dog in homage to our own little scamp Felix.

Felix plotting mischief...

These rather daunting Celtic ladies were fun to paint as well. 

That, m'dear, that's a real close shave...

Perhaps a bit militant for International Women's Day, but sometimes a lady has to take things into her own hands to get noticed. Boudicca FTW!

From TeemuL: Oddities of the Week (20 Points)

So now I'm back to painting odds and ends as my AoS Slaves to Darkness army is "complete". I have managed to paint something, but being extra busy now as the deadline for blog entry is getting closer, I probably have only some low quality pictures and little words.

This is a Slaughterpriest (of Khorne) from the Gorechosen game by GW. It is a spin-off of Age of Sigmar and this (and other 3 figures in the game) have also rules in the AoS, which is part of the reason I bought the game. I have not yet tried the game, but looking forward some pit fighting carnage.

Slaughterpriest is a huge model, 40mm to eye level. My first plan was to really make this look great, but there are just so many details that I lost my interest. I tried to be neat anyway and I'm quite happy with the outcome. I chose red and yellow as the colors, somehow I don't like the brass (or gold) which Khorne usually does. So I experimented with some non-metallic non-metal technique. :D

Then two goblins, standard bearer and hornblower to accompany my earlier goblin hero as a command group for my night goblins. Usually goblins and night goblins are in separate units, but I have not many of them at all, so I just use all as goblins.

They are Grenadier models from 1988, pre-slottabase. I glued them on regular bases and used green stuff to hide the edges. It makes them stand a bit taller than others, which is ok, because they are command.

Here they are with the rest of the unit. With 20 models, it is "finished".

During the last Challenge I started to paint Legend of Drizzt, I only managed to paint to spider swarms. There were three in the box, but I missed one. So here it is.

I have several almost finished miniatures, but since it has been very busy yesterday and today, I was not able to finish them in time. Next week should see quite a mixed bag.

ByronM: That is one huge bad ass chaos warrior there, I haven't followed AoS after a few games and saw that it didn't meet what I was looking for in a game, so have not seen that guy.  I am sure he will kick some serious ass on the tabletop.  I really like the old school unit of goblins as well, they really bring back the old days of fantasy battle.

From RossM - Mixed Historical, Fantasy and Sci Fi (146 points )

Another mixed entry as the challenge moves into the final weeks frenzy of painting. Below are four Universal Carriers from Frontline Wargames. From left to right there are MKII with canopy, MKII with canopy, WASP and another MKII. All are 20 (1/76) scale.

On a previous entry some of the constructive feedback was that there was no weathering, so here is the first attempt at the very same. Perhaps over cautious, however felt that this was the best approach until am more confident with the weathering powders.

Only the two canopied MKII have weathering added on.

Next is the only sci-fi figures painted in this year's challenge so far, and these are from Ground Zero Games New Israeli range in 15mm which will be used in Critical Mass at some point in the future.

Next is the bulk of a Hordes of the Things army in 15mm from Alternative Armies. Shown here are seven stands of undead skeleton warbands, 1 stand of wraith lurkers and 1 stand of ghouls.

A simple colour scheme and quick and easy to paint, starting with a bone undercoat, dark wash and dry brushing in various bone colours to highlight. Deliberately picked a limited pallette for these and on the whole am quite pleased.

So to recap there are

4 x 20mm vehicles at 12 points each: 48 points
2 x 15mm crew weapons at 4 points each: 16 points
41 x 15mm undead infantry at 2 points each: 82 points

For a total of 146 points which sees the challenge barrier passed.

Hoping to have another entry before the finish line.

Cheers for now

ByronM: A great entry here Ross and Congrats on getting over your challenge goal!  I like that you tried something new with powders, that's a lot of what I use the challenge for myself, trying new things and trying to constantly learn and grow as a painter.  I like the effect, it helps break up the colour and you can see that most obviously in the picture that has some with and some without.  With weathering and especially with powders, you can really go at it, and they just keep looking better so don't be afraid to play with it.  Also, if you go to far, grab a wet brush and just wipe it off!  If you want to play further, they give great effects when put on wet, they make a pastel like paint, or you can use rubbing alcohol as a setting agent as well.  Lots of stuff to play with.  If you want real hints and tricks look up James Wappel's blog, that guy is a master with them and teaches you how is easy to follow videos and posts.

Anyway, again, awesome stuff here, I like all the varied figures and painting in this post, and congrats!

From IsobelS: The Curtgeld Figure (25 points)

Hello everyone!

In this post I am presenting the Curtgeld figure that I have painted. This guy is part of a larger Landschneckt raiding party.

By Paul & Alan - Another great addition to the Team Oz looting party!  I'm sure he is just helping that lady get to the soup kitchen after she, um, sprained her ankle or something...  particularly as you posted this on International Women's Day!

From IsobelS: Spooky Scary Skeletons! (50 points)

Hello everyone!

This week has been less hectic than its predecessors so I have been able to finally get down to some serious painting. I will admit that I have been fluffing around somewhat and being finicky with a few character models that I am yet to complete. However, I have finally come around to finishing a small portion of my skeleton collection. Yay!

These 10 28mm skeletons were purchased from North Star and were named '10 Assorted Skeletons'. A very apt description. I also know that these guys were at least sculpted by a gentleman named Roy in 1992. I will most likely end up using these guys as a unit in Dragon Rampant, though I think that they would fit splendidly into any fantasy or light-hearted skirmish game.

It is an understatement to say that I was thrilled when I first acquired these models as not only were they free of heavy and ridiculous armour that seems to adorn many undead fantasy models these days, but they were also beautifully cast having near to no mold imperfections and amazing detail. I absolutely love the Jason and the Argonauts feel these guys give off and I'm so pleased that they will be among the first models of my skeleton collection to be painted. 

The group assembled in nice lines.

I will apologise for the poor quality of the pictures, my phone camera is nothing spectacular and I'm still working out the optimum lighting in our new place.

  

The Red Crew (from left to right): Bonsey 'Shield' Malone, Learing Spearskele, Grim Reaper in training, The Butcher of Bonestown, and No-Eyes Marksman

For my collection, I decided that for the skeletons red, and blue glowing eyes, would be a unifying feature. I have also tried to give the majority of the weaponry, armoury, and other bits and bobs and aged feel. I made all the wood quite dark and the weapons have rust effects. Sadly these photos don't really do a good job of showing this but trust me, it's there.

Close up of the other members of the squad.

And the back comes to the front

I painted the bases quite dark and flocked them with generic static grass to match the graves that I painted up for the Home bonus round. In the very near future, hopefully next week, I'll have a skeleton drummer to match. That being said I do have a large handful of Napoleonic Officers that need doing so that the Retreat from Moscow for I was working on can finally be playable.

That's all for this week!

Paul & Alan: Very nice Isobel - I love the glowing eyes, thats a great effect to make them stand out.  50 points for you for these boney chaps!