The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

Welcome to the Painting Challenge. Here you will find the fabulous, fevered work of miniature painters from around the world. While participants come from every ethnicity, gender, age and nationality, they have three things in common: they love miniatures, they enjoy a supportive community, and they want to set themselves against the Challenge. This site features the current year's event along with the archives of past Painting Challenges. Enjoy your visit and remember to come back soon.

Thursday, 13 February 2020

From Barks: 15mm modern Australians (54 points)

I have a very soft spot for Australian infantry, and Eureka released these lovely 15mm modern diggers a few years ago. I snapped some up, whereupon they mocked me as I held off painting them because I wasn't sure I could do them justice.

They are wonderfully detailed and posed Alan Marsh sculpts. They've got the latest kit with all the add-ons. If I must nitpick, there should be more eye protection and night vision attachments. I selected a variety of figures to represent a sniper team and other observers with a protection detail, to fit with the RSTA theme here at Bromley's Butte.

Commander and signaller

F89 Light Support Weapons

F88 with underslung 40mm

F88

Sniper with SR-25

I've painted them in DPDU, the desert version of the iconic jellybean Auscam. They're unusual in that their uniform, webbing, body armour and helmet covers all match! DPDU was seen in Iraq and Afghanistan from ~2003-2013ish, but has been superseded by other designs. I'm not sure if the inbuilt-kneepad uniform even comes in DPDU.

Afghanistan 2008. Source

Moderns can be challenging for the painter to show different details on the figure, and to get that tabletop presence- particularly in 15mm. I'm pretty happy with these.

I think they could be used as Irish or Austrians with the Steyr AUG.