From DaveD - 15mm WW2 P38J Lightnings & B26 Marauders (36 pts)

I have been really enjoying doing aircraft this challenge. This time its one of my favourite WW2 planes - the twin tail P38 Lightning. These will be added to my 9th Airforce supporting my US army in Normandy. They are a plastic 1/144th scale kit I picked up from a Chinese manufacturer - I got all 3 including delivery for less then the price of one Battlefront equivalent. It was a nice little kit to put together. I have added in a ball bearing to the underside so they can be fitted on to my new magnet gimble mount telescopic aerial flight stands too.

More "Jabos" to worry JamesM's Germans ...

yet more hand painted invasion stripes .... aargh

I have also completed a  a trio medium bomber B26 Mauraders as well - might as well give James's flak corp a target rich environment.! better find your tin hats James... and that's just for your British... 

These are a die cast version - nice string magnets used here!

These are little heavy for these flight stands - i will need to have some a little wider based version made in due course

 I have given the 3 them partial repaint , sorting out invasion stripes etc., markings etc  so i would look at 12 points for that work . 

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It's a return to the skies once again with DaveD! Some classic WW2 air power on display here Dave, excellent work.  While the P-38 has always looked a little alien to me, the B26 is a fine, classic medium-bombing ride! 

Those die-cast models do seem a touch precarious all the way up on those flight stands - I expect all concerned will feel better once you find some wider bases to support the bombers :)

36 points? Seems right to me...bombs away!

Greg

From Barks: Star Wars Saturday! (25 points)

Now that I've finished Pinkstone Fortress, I'm relieved to move on to my staple Challenge Star Wars diet.

Death Troopers were one of the cool things to come out of Rogue One- Stormtroopers who were actually menacing again. I thought I'd be able to get away with a bit of drybrushing, but wound up being more satisfied with some edge highlights in light grey. Thankfully, there's only four of them.

I'm a bit of a fan of Grand Admiral Thrawn. A pragmatic thinker, a devestating opponent, an appreciator of art, a commander who cares for his men, a non-Force-user, and a senior officer who has defied the systemic xenophobia in the Empire. He was fun to paint as well.

5 figures, 25 points.
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Well, some more fine work from the Star Wars universe - indeed, as Barks as noted in the appropriate title for his post, this is a "Star Wars Saturday".  

Sadly, I must confess that the force is weak with me - "Death troopers" are a whole new thing to me, although they certainly look menacing. Stormtroopers who are "actually menacing" - that would be terrifying to the universe, wouldn't it?

Thrawn is another character I have heard and seen references to, but never understood or followed closely.  But I quite enjoy your description of him! Some blend of Renaissance Man, Imperial warships and a unique tint...your painting captures your description of him well.  He looks to be contemplating something rather deep, if non-force related.

That is fine, fine brushwork all around. Highlighting something that is mostly black is always tricky, and highlighting a fellow in a crisp white uniform - why, that is even trickier in some ways! 25 points well-earned!

Greg

From LeeH - Normandy Bocage (60 points)

The Bocage countryside of Northern France is a very distinctive feature of pretty much any game set during the Normandy Campaign of 1944. Bocage consists of mixed woodland and pasture with fields enclosed in very high banks topped with wild and unruly hedgerows. These have built up over centuries as farmers cleared rocks from their fields and threw them to the edges. Eventually, these have built up to form large rocky banks covered in a thick-rooted and largely unmanaged crown of hedgerow and trees.

About nine years ago I made a load of Bocage hedgerow for my Normandy games and wrote a tutorial about how I did it. But I pretty soon realised I needed much much more. Now (just 9 years later!) I have decided to finish the job and make some more. I have been gathering the materials I needed for several months now as this was always going to be a large project involving a lot of greenery. 

The basis of my method is the use of wooden mouldings bought from a DIY store. These form the core of the earth bank and are then topped with stone chippings and sand. I then spray painted the whole lot brown before dry-brushing with a combination of light brown (on the banks) and grey (on the rocks) before adding static grass. With the earthen core completed the next step was to add the hedgerows and trees. I had bought a wide variety of scenic hedges and model trees (the sort sold by model train shops) and decided to cut these up and mix and match as much as possible. Liberal amounts of PVA were applied with additional grass tufts and flowers added to complete the build and give them an individual and wild look. 

The only problem with this new batch is that they look a little different to the stuff I made 9 years ago. I wasn't going to do anything about it I couldn't ignore the problem and in the end, I pulled out my old Bocage and spent a few hours adding new grass and turf to 'blend' these with the new stuff I have made. You can still see a bit of a difference but its less startling now and I think I can use both sets together without it looking incongruous. 

This new batch comes in at a little over 16 feet in length and fills about three 6" terrain cubes. Added to the eight feet of 'old' Bocage I made before and I just about have enough for a 6x4 table!! 
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Wow, Lee! I mean, I can write "that's pretty impressive", but that would be a deep understatement. Lots of clever hobby engineering serving as the foundation of the lovely product seen in this post, and you will have more than enough of this iconic terrain to fill a nice table for some WW2 gaming.  Viewed from the lens of someone who would rather chew his own toes off than paint any terrain, that is a tremendous accomplishment!

Fantastic work Lee - and that will be another 60 points for you!

Greg

From MichaelA: Droids? What Droids? (40 points)

Hot on the heels of the Droids from last week, I present the most luckless search party in celluloid history!  I am tinkering away with various bits of terrain for a Tatooine themed board and needed a couple of ‘extras’ to set the scene, as it were.  To that end I have grabbed my Imperial Assault Dewback and five Stormtroopers from the Star Wars: Legion core box to represent the Imperial presence.  Once again I used Sorastro painting tutorials for both, which this time saw me take on wet blending with a matt medium.  I have become so impressed, and perhaps a little bit dependent, on this man’s work that I have decided to become a patron and was pleasantly surprised at the additional PDF guides that this allowed me access to.  There is no doubt in my mind that these guides have seen me change my painting style and I would like to think for the better?

 

Once again the scale discrepancy is notable between the two game systems, but interestingly the backpack on the Dewback rider and that of the Heavy Weapon Trooper are identical in size!  Speaking of the Dewback, I needed to adapt the shock lance using some brass rod.  The Stormtroopers are, of course, not really Sandtroopers, but will suffice although they have clearly only just arrived on the planet judging by their mostly pristine armour!  If the truth be told, I just couldn't bring myself to wash over my carefully painted work!

 

So that is one mounted unit and five foot for an additional 35 points.
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Great work Michael! Ah, the hapless Imperial Stormtroopers...so fun, so pointless, so essential - pop cultural touchstones who cannot hit the broad side of a barn with their shooting.  This particular Stormtrooper party is, as you say, notorious for its incompetence, and has become an infamous  punch line. 

They will be the absolute perfect addition to any Tatooine scene being contemplated, and your brushwork is, as always, outstanding.  I cannot speak to these painting tutorials you mention, but the results certainly speak for themselves - the dewback in particular is top-shelf stuff. 

Having seen the bonkers scale of the "Star Wars: Legion" figures up close, I am impressed at how well they mix in with the "Imperial Assault" lot.  Just great stuff, excellent work. 

And while we find no droids, we find 40 points - yes, a few extra points because that dewback looks so cool, and because I'm getting an opportunity for a day to be a minion, I may as well abuse my power while I can...

Greg

From DaveD - Cooke's Goose! (30 pts)

Another bit of random left field stuff. Following on from my earlier Pulp Savage Seas entry I have now completed the last part for the game that MartinC has pulled together for us to run at the Hammerhead show in Newark today. Its a mix of "Tales of the Golden Monkey" meets Jurrasic Park meets Indiana Jones.  The star of the show was "Cutters Goose" a Grumman Seaplane - so here we have "Cooke's Goose" landing on the shores of the south seas island ... what adventures await! Martin may well get cooked in large pot!

its a 1/48th scale kit - which was a mix of plastic and resin - altogether a bit of a pig to put together.It does  though I think look the part!  its a decent size with a wingspan over over 300mm.

the table is set!  i can hear the seaplane coming now...

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Well Dave, this is a fun and fabulous little surprise to find! There is just something about seaplanes that seems so classy, civilized and fun.  They offer the prospect of adventure, daring, tropical temperatures and a swig of a refreshing beverage - no matter the state of the seaplane itself.  And as you say, the culinary spectrum that awaits after a trip on one of these aircraft is rather vast - let's hope the participants at the show and game today enjoy some stewed MartinC...

As for points, well, let's see now...that would be a 28mm-sized vehicle, but it looks like it was a bit of a pain to put together, so we'll toss in some extra points for the modelling effort and the fine general result.  I shall decree 10 bonus points for all of that, for a total of 30 points. 

Great work Dave - well done, and good luck with the event. That table sure look fabulous, and I bet it will be great time!

Greg

From PaulO'G: Jeanne d'Arc (35 points)

Contemporary illustration of the Maid of Orleans

My submission this week is both a foray into a new period for me, the Hundred Years War, and my first ever submission for Sarah's Choice.

Jeanne d'Arc is an amazing historical female personality, and the ultimate glass ceiling breaker of the Medieval age.

From a humble French peasant background, Jeanne believed that she was chosen by God to free France from the Anglo-Burgundian invaders.  At 16 she persuaded a judge to nullify the arranged marriage her father had brokered for her.  At the age of 17 she petitioned and amazingly gained an audience with the Crown Prince.  Despite all advice to the contrary, he agreed to place her in Command of an Armed force to help relieve the besieged city of Orleans, which she forsaw would result in him being crowned King.  While the exact nature of her position remains unconfirmed (not well documented and the story has grown in legend through the centuries), her presence and the inferred divine inspiration definitely had an effect. The enemy was defeated and the siege lifted, though Jeanne was wounded by an arrow in the process.  The Dauphin was subsequently crowned King Charles VII in Reims, as Jeanne had promised.

Romantic period depiction

Jeanne was subsequently sent to Campiegne to attack the Allied forces there but her force was ambushed and she was captured.  The English moved her to their Headquarters in Rouen where they tried her for a range of crimes including heresy, witchcraft and dressing like a man (!) in order to discredit both her and Charles VII.  In 1421 she was found guilty of Heresy and burned at the stake in the town square, aged just 19.  A memorial and Church in her name stand there today and I had the opportunity to visit a few years back.  20 years after her death the Pope overturned the Heresy ruling and she was eventually cannonised as a Saint in 1920.  But long before that her martyrdom and reputation had been well established and she has represented French Unity and Freedom for centuries. Her annual feast is held on 30 May.

This model is a 28mm dioramic figure by Baueda Wargames and is a great tribute to this amazing Lady.  The figure herself is metal while the wood piles are two piece resin. I really enjoyed painting her and used a heavy black outlining technique so she would stand out more dramatically in her white gown.

I kept the pyre sections seperate so that I can also put her on the table in a less dramatic fashion

When assembled the two tiered pyre and figure stand at 75mm in height - I'll leave that to Curt to decide how many points that is worth.
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Well that's just great - Curt is off somewhere plotting mischief, and I must now make some sort of points decision...hmmm, we have one 28mm figure for sure, but then all of that firewood...I shall declare that this equates to another six 28mm figures' worth of painting, for a total of 35 points. Hopefully no martyrdom will be required...

Great work Paul on a very interesting piece - and truly, what an amazing character from history. This was a great read for me, as I must admit I had only the haziest understanding of the story itself, so this is much appreciated.

Well done Paul! As you continue into this new period, I'm sure this piece will inspire you to keep going!

Greg

From EvanH - Sun Dome Templars - The Rank and File (45 points)

Yes, it's back to Glorantha again for the rest of the Sun Dome pike detachment (well, maybe not all the rest, but certainly the elite heavies at the centre of the line).

"Where's your linothorax, you 'orrible little man?"

Oh dear, it looks like an unfortunate recruit is being shown the error of his ways by his Hekatontarch; a proper Sun Dome Templar is equipped with a helmet, a cuirass, a shield, a pike (regulation size, soldiers for the use of), and greaves, whereas Private Outis here has clearly forgotten his body armour. Looks like they'll have to put him at the back of the phalanx again...

The Aventine Miniatures range of Tarentine figures has been perfect for the more technologically advanced Gloranthan military units.

The elite pikemen of the Cult of Yelmalio are now complete. There's a bunch of others still in Undercoat Limbo, but their less ornate kit means they'll probably be fielded as militia. Stout chaps, but not the sort you'd hire to take a strategic hill. They're more like Dad's Army.

These fellows, by comparison, are all kitted up to the nines, as befits a famous heavy infantry unit  (well, except for that one on the right - he'll be doing guard duty out at the Old Sun Dome ruins for the next two seasons, I know it!). The shields were painted freehand, mostly with the Truth Rune beloved of the Cult, but I varied things a bit with the Fire/Sun and Light Runes as well.

So here's the unit ranked up on the Warbases sabot base for "To the Strongest!" Thanks to Millsy for the idea; this way I can use them in skirmish or RPGs as well!

What's with the three vacant spots at the front though? That's for the command group from a couple of weeks ago, so here they are in their rightful place;

It was hard to find time to get these guys done now that I'm back at work, but these lovely sculpts really repay the effort. And it's the first actual unit I've competed in ages, which is nice.

Still got a lot left in the lead pile though - stay tuned!

Ev

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Fine work again Evan! As I contemplate another miserable winter day here is the Canadian Prairie, I must say the idea of this "Sun Dome" is very compelling.  As is this other notion you mention so briefly in your post - this so-called "summer"....

I won't need to resort to any Truth Runes to tell you this all looks very lovely and is a fun read.  And I continue to be impressed by how sharp all these mass units are looking even with sabot-type basing. Excellent work all around - that will be another 45 points for you. 

I, er, strongly suggest following up to ensure you get your points, as the Google Spreadsheet is working about as well as these things ever do...*cough*....

Greg

Commit the Guard

As I beaver away preparing for our last bonus round GregB, our grumbling grognard of all things GW, Franco-Prussian and Napoleonic will step into the breach today. Thanks a bunch Greg!

Be sure to check back in tomorrow for when our last theme round, 'Fellowship', is launched.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Curt