From Barks: A light snack from the larder (35 points)

Just a little something to tide me over until lunchtime!

I really like this halfling- he's a printed figure from The Printing Goes Ever On.

This cart is also printed.

These market stalls are from Mantic, and are the most frustratingly bendy rubbish, I almost rage quit on them a few times. I'm no stranger to warped soft plastic, but these failed to respond to the hot water/ ice bath treatment, and I ended up melting the struts over a flame to try and get them straighter. Now the ejection marks offend me, and they hide the nice goods below. The tables, barrels, and wares are all Mantic as well, and they're fine. But fine bendy pieces? Avoid like the plague- do not recommend.

Meow

Oh, and the manx is a metal Reaper familiar- did you spot him?

1x 28mm halfling: 4 points

1x 28mm kitten: 1 point

Scenery: 5 points

Larder bonus: 20 points

Halfling Chef bonus: 5 points

Two entires in one day? Solid work that man!  Love the Halfling and the nod to the scene in Lord of the Rings where the Gaffer is showing off his prize gourd.  Liked the stalls too but will give them a wide berth noting your comments. Overall, a lovely entry for the theme - nice work Barks!

Cap'n Wednesday 

From TomG - Follow Your Spirit - Gallery of Ancestors - 25 points

Welcome back to another adventure in to the Chambers of Challenge, this time with a leisurely stroll through the Gallery of Ancestors, and who better to guide us than a documented namesake of yours truly. Although the surname Godson led to unoriginal nicknames at school, not helped by my Dad being the local Church of England vicar (look up nominative determinism), it is one that has been researched and documented as back as the 10th century. The was once even a Sheriff Godson during the reign of King John, or so it is thought!

With much thanks to the work of those at the University of Southampton, and their database of the soldiers documented during the reign of King Henry V, I was fortunate enough to come across one William Godson, who served in the company of John de Roos during the Agincourt campaign/raid.

Although the records show him as a men at arms, I couldn't miss the chance to build and paint this glorious figure from Salute 2015, commemorating the 600th anniversary of the battle of Agincourt. The aforementioned database really is an astounding document, also showing a Robert Godson who was recorded as serving in Orleans around the time a pesky young lady turned up and besieged the city, rather successfully. Unfortunately Robert Godson is not recorded as returning home...

The miniature wasn't given the cross of St George, as was commonly accredited to the English at Agincourt, simply because there was no logical place to imply a sewn on patch of fabric. Although the fallacy of the two primary fingers being removed by French captors, the common medieval "fig" gesture is so very similar, I like to imagine this was what he is actually doing. The account of William Godson shows that he set sail from Southampton, fought at Harfleur, was not sent home or garrisoned there, but did return from Calais along with others from the Agincourt campaign.

As apocryphal as he is, I thoroughly loved the painting process, allowing my years of studying the Hundred Years War guide my choices, and it even gave me the opportunity to use some mud basing effects. Great fun, and now the grey hound is loose from the slip.

And with these words from Shakespeare, I shall end; 

"Men of few words are the best men." 

Henry V, Act 3, Scene 2.

Points - 25pts

28mm Infantry = 5pts 

Challenge Bonus = 20pts

What a cracking entry Tom! Love the background sleuthing you've done, backed up by a special edition figure and with a quote from one of my favourite plays too. Super stuff!

Cap'n Wednesday 

(who must admit to doing a similar hand gesture in the middle of said field in France!)

from RayR - Donnybrook - Von Essen Grenadiers 40pts

 

At last a Donnybrook entry!! These 8 Essex Miniatures are painted up to represent the Grenadiers of the Dutch regiment Von Essen.

I'm afraid I know nothing about the unit, I just liked the Ash Grey coat with Yellow cuffs???

So that's it, short and sweet.

8 x 25mm figures = 40 points 

The Cap'n is simultaneously rolling his eyes at another Ray Donnybrook submission while actually quite likin' it! Who doesn't like a brace of Grenadiers? And that Ash grey with yellow cuffs is quite dashing. Perhaps I'll spend some booty and have a new jacket make for the Quaterdeck...

Cap'n Wednesday

From GeorgeS - The Larder , Girl feeding the chickens - 30 points

       Hi everyone! Another Toy Soldier repainting for this challenge.

         This is a plastic 1:32 Britains figure from the Farm Toys and figures category. Dated in 1971. These figures were produced and released in a factory simple painting, good only for young children..

Agood repainting make them really great display pieces. 

 

 

      A young girl feeding the Chicken, ducks , or something hungry anyway :)  Didn't cover the base since I wanted to be more "Toy Soldier" miniature rather than a realistic model. I didn't cut the mold lines and regret this when I was painting but is too late now..

       Hope this is correct for  "The Larder" challenge room and so I get to the next chamber.

That's all for now, hope you like her :)

..'Till next time..

Keep Up The Brushes!!

Nice work George!

Cap'n Wednesday

From MartinC 1st North Carolina Cavalry (121pts)

 When I 1st joined the challenge back in number 4 or 5 (when you could go into shops with 50p and come out with 5 bags of crisps, a bottle of pop and 20 Benson and Hedges - they've installed CCTV now so that has stopped) the 1st unit I ever submitted was a 28mm Union ACW infantry regiment. That project ended with a division of Union and another of Confederates. I love painting and playing ACW so like Lazarus it keeps getting back up. One of my wargaming buddies (Matt, not of this parish) and I play massive ACW battles on a 14ft by 6ft table.They last all day and usually end in a draw - too many figures - but God they look good

Shiloh played in the lockdown gap

I've painted a Rebel Cavalry regiment, 1st North Carolina, to give me a complete Cavalry brigade of 3 regiments, horse artillery to follow. There will be an equivalent Union one, thanks to Christmas pressie from Dave.

There is something weird going on with the buglers kepi but it's an optical illusion

I have 1 more cav regiment (mtd and dismtd), 4 cannon and 2 x 6 horse limbers, and 2 Union infantry regiments to paint and then it will be Lazarus' nap time.

Scores on the doors

12x 28mm cavalry and a standard - 121pts

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The Thunder of hooves is not usually heard at sea but this one woke me up! A great start to an excellent project Martin!  About time you stretched your target goal me lad :-)

Cap'n Wednesday

Richard P - 28mm Gloranthan Agimori (60 Points)

Finally off and running! Took a while to get going but I've got lots of progress done over the last week and first up is the start of a project that I've been wanting to do after seeing some of the great Gloranthan themed games put on by Simon Miller and friends at Salute over 10 years ago now. 

First up is a unit of Agimori Pikemen from the Plains of Prax. They are supposed to be 1.5 the size of men but as I had a load of left over 28mm plastic Zulu/Natal Native Contingent sprues left after another project that will be posted at a later date I though I would have a go at converting them into suitable looking Pikemen. Red is main theme as they are able to withstand extreme heat.

Figures are all 28mm Plastic Zulus/NNC from Perrys, Warlord and Wargames Factory with a few Victrix Numidians added. Mostly head swaps and different arms added to allow the pikes to be held at an appropriate angle. 

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The sight of any Zulu has me reaching for the Martini-Henry and ther's no mistake! Great crisp painting on these Ricard and the skin tones are excellent - nice job!

Cap'n Wednesday

From Mike W: 28mm 17th Century Cossacks in Polish service (60 Points)

The workbench has a few items that are coming up for completion but first I offer you a small group of 6 x 28mm 17th Century Cossacks for my Siege of Vienna collection.

Nearly forgot the 'before' picture again! Undercoated and with horses given their base coat...

The Zaporozhian Cossacks have an interesting history but in the 17th Century they were nominally subjects of the Polish/Lithuanian Commonwealth, as such they fought alongside the more famous Polish Hussars.

Finished Cossacks

When armoured they were known as Pancerni, but there were also large numbers of these classic 'light' Cossacks with just sword and lance, scouting and clearing the way for their heavier colleagues.

And a re-shuffled view of the completed unit

These figures will represent an additional squadron that I can add to two pre-existing squadrons I painted a couple of years ago, so the painting style has deliberately been adjusted to try and fit in with these existing Cossack units.

Showing detail of the chest braiding on some figures

The figures are plastic Gripping Beast Arab Cavalry, in this case based upon the Heavy Cavalry variety but I have opted not to add armour to these figures. The existing 12 figures were painted with predominantly light blue jackets and where possible with yellow braid on the chest.

View of two more of the little guys

My aim this time round was to add a little diversity in to the colour of the jackets and also include a couple of figures with out chest braid, but with a wrap around top instead.

Last view of new batch

So most of these are brown or green jackets and  only three have decorative chest braid! As with the others in the existing unit I have sourced a variety of spare heads, weapons etc from other kits - can you spot a GW goblin quiver and arrows? Scavenged from the spares box to help make up numbers. To be fair its hard to see, on the figure in front row, extreme left of eth top two photos. 

Believe me - it looks OK, better than it sounds!

Finally a snap of the new guys integrated into the existing Cossack units,
the aim is to have a total of 24 Cossack figures. Just in shot - top left - 
Armoured Turkish Cavalry and dismounted Polish Dragoons waiting on undercoats... 

Most of the figures have the same top knot hair style that was typical of the Cossacks and the wider Polish army at this time. 

I have another 6 to make up in the near future as well.

POINTS

6 x 28mm Mounted Figures @ 10Pts        60 Points

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Quite the posse of ponies there Mike! That massed Cossack units looks great!

Cap'n Wednesday

AdamC: L' Aigle or USS Independence

 Here we have the first of the named 3rd rates from the French Fleet Box.

The Aigle was a French 74 that fought at Trafalgar and was captured by the British. Her crew managed to retake her but she was lost in the storm.

She has a great big Eagle for a figurehead so I decided to do her in Black and White like an American Ship (French ships did occasionally have a similar paint schemes). 

There is another Eagle on the stern I set up the flags so I can switch them out. She'll do nicely as the USS Independence the first American Ship of the line launched in 1814.  3rd rates have been scored at 25 points on the past I would suggest another 5 for rigging and maybe 1 or 2 more points for the flag(s) so perhaps a total of 31 or 32 points?

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Ship Ahoy! Now heres a prize ship and there be no doubt! The Cap'n knows the hazards of rigging and you've done a mighty fine job with her. I like how you can switch between fleets too.

Smooth sailing to ye Captain!

Cap'n Wednesday

From StuartL - The Greatest Treasure of All - 25 points

 Hello again. The Laboratory is in the rear view mirror and the chilling depths of the Alter of the Snow Lord are only a couple of chambers away. Today I am planning to pass through The Snow Lord's Treasury and as such had to find a model with treasure of any kind. 

When I get the chance to play an RPG, rather than run one, my favourite characters are always sagely wizards, wise researchers or knowledgeable clerics. The gold and jewels may attract the rogue and barbarian types, but as any spellcaster will tell you, a good book of spells is the best treasure you can find in a dungeon. 

This is (yet another) mini from Reaper's Bones range. Each of their kickstarters has had one model of Reaper's mascot character, Sophie the Succubus. In this case, the model is levitating, cross-legged in the air and reading a book. A small pile of other books (and a goblet of red wine, at least I hope it's wine) are next to her.

Like most Bones minis, this was is very flexible and bendy, which made painting under the wings a bit easier. 

Ah, actually it seems that I was mistaken. The real treasure is neither gold, nor ancient grimoires, it's the friends we have made along the way. 

And that's it for this chamber. This mini adds nothing to any of my side duels, but 1x 28mm mini plus the chamber bonus gets me a cheeky 25 points for my tally and opens the way to the penultimate chamber, The Lair of the Spider Great Beast. My entry for that is well underway, so the Snow Lord had better start preparing his traps and getting his fearsome minions in order, he's going to have company soon.

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A lovely additional to your collection of minions there Stuart! Great work on the book detail and who doesnt like a saucy succubus?

Cap'n Wednesday

From Barks: Ring a dong dillo (35 points)

Ho there Barks-a-dol, merry Barks-a-dillo,

What is that you’re painting, for the teleporter?

Why, it's Bombadil, he’s a jolly fellow,

And his lady Goldberry- pretty River-daughter.

Old Tom Bombadil, and the River-daughter!

Teleport time! Goldberry is some sort of river spirit in Middle-earth. Her gown is the colour of young reeds, her hair and belt are gold. I don't usually use flowering tufts, but I think they look great here.

Goldberry, Goldberry, merry yellow berry-o!

She's the wife of Tom Bombadil, an even more enigmatic character with his yellow boots, blue jacket, and great big bushy beard. I love this Hildebrandtian sculpt! I can see him carelessly skipping up to Sauron and giving him a bit of a cheerful slap and dancing away.

Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!

These are both resin prints from The Printing Goes Ever On.

2x 28mm figures: 10 points

Teleporter use: 20 points

Sorceress bonus: 5 points

Next-stop: also Middle-earth!

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I've got to say you've done a great job with the most annoying characters from the book Barks. Was anyone else hoping for the Witch King of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgul, to just show up and steal their souls? No? Just me? Well, thats awkward...  Lovely minis though mate!

Cap'n Wednesday

Cap’n Wednesday sets sail!

Ahoy shipmates! Aye, it be Wednesday again so I’ll take the helm for the day…God save us!

Who knows what mysterious entries may come forth from the depths of the Challenge Sea?

Lets chart a course through the wonders and treasures together :-)