From SebastianR: Making basecamp (plus bonus tanks!) (111 points)

The firelight played across my silent companion as he ate his beans straight out of the can. I knew trying to engage him in conversation was wasted effort. Any inquiry about him, the island or even or road ahead was met with monosyllables or grunts. He was a good shot and a sure guide and quite frankly, that was all I was paying him for. I supposed conversation was extra; way beyond my budget. I couldn't help but feel that the other travelers through this land had perhaps raised expectations in terms of pay. The settlement where I had picked up my guide - nestled in the empty cranium of some titanic humanoid war-machine, now long abandoned - had the air of the aftermath of a party. I was here to pick my way through the empties and find the one drunk friend who had drunkenly begged for a lift an hour ago.

Regardless, I had to make the peak, and it had to be soon, the weather was clearing up, and soon the island, and its many colourful inhabitants and visitors would be gone.

My companion froze. His keen senses must have picked up another badger moving at the edge of the firelight. He slowly placed his beans on the ground and worked the action on his leaver action. Following his lead, I drew back the hammer on the badger replant and strained my eyes into the darkness looking for the telltale sinuous shimmer of bunched muscle and pencil long teeth. Even here in this gulch we weren't safe from their predation. Tomorrow, the attempt on the peak would have to begin in earnest.

***

A friend of mine is into... a very specific aesthetic. It's victoriana, meets steampunk, meets post-apocalyptic. If you're thinking Mortal Engines you're on the right path, or hell, you could just check it out yourself. He's not selling anything as far as I'm aware, just constructing a (shared) world.

The recent lead pile culling uncovered a handful of pieces which I think fit in well with his vision; this particular piece of the challenge gives me the opportunity to paint one up and gift him the lot.

There's nothing particularly steampunky about this figure (a more adventurous sculptor than I might decide to glue some gears on it) but the wild west is contemporaneous with the British Victorian period, and there's something about his gaunt aspect and demeanor that says post-apocalyptic to me.

And because I need three photos of the thing, here's Andromeda, a massive floof, wondering why she isn't getting any attention. (Also I solved my lighting setup problem!)

In my first non-challenge bonus points submission, here's a bunch of 6mm British light armour, light armoured vehicles and APCs for Team Yankee.

I've been sitting on a job lot of British late cold war vehicles for some time now, and have finally got around to stripping and painting them (plus supplementing them with a number of fresh GHQ models.

It feels almost unfair to compare the GHQ models to whatever the other ones are, such is the difference in the quality of sculpts.

I've been getting a lot of use out of my airbrush, as I feel that brushing on paint, or even spraying from a can leaves to thick a coat and can obscure details. It's a been a mixed experience.

With one whole formation from the new WWII Team Yankee British book filled out, there's plenty more in the pipeline. The best thing about 6mm is that you have both the space, time and money to do any and all forces you want, at least more so than other scales.

With 2 jeeps (proxies for the Spartan command unit) 16 Scorpions, 8 Scimitars, 4 Fox', 4 Strikers, 4 Spartans (actual spartans for the as yet unmade AT support team) plus my taciturn rifleman and 30 bonus points I make that 111 all in.

Lovely stuff Sebastian. I think it's a good idea to go with 6mm for Team Yankee - it gives a much better look than 15mm.

TamsinP