From PaulSS: [The Laboratory] Fellows of the Royal Society (45pts)

The Laboratory: From bubbling glass jars to smoking bunsen-burners, from Dr Frankenstein’s experimentation chamber to a alchemist’s study - laboratories and scientific figures, terrain and vignettes are the things created in this Challenge Chamber.

When I first read the Chambers of Challenge rules I knew exactly what to do for this one. 

Brigade games do a pack of French Scientists for their Napoleon in Egypt range and I thought they both fitted into my main theme of painting 28mm Napoleonics and would be perfect for this.

The first fellow of the society has rather a military bearing with the sash and cut of his jacket, maybe he is a retired military gentleman who is now pursuing his interest in natural philosophy. He has appointed himself leader of this expedition.

The second gentleman is probably my favourite of the set. He sits writing down his thoughts, so I thought the telescope from the Wizkids navigation set would be a useful addition.

The large area of the notebook he holds is really suitable for even my iffy motor skills to map out some text and diagrams as he records his findings.

The legs of the scope had to be broken off and reattached as they were at so steep an angle the thing looked awkward and would likely have easily broken.

For the lens I use the same 'non-glassy-glass" technique that I used in truck windows for my 20th century stuff. I really like how this figure came out.

The final pair of fellows are examining artifacts at the workbench, dragged out of some tavern to the site of their investigations. 

The chap in the green coat seems to be holding a very early model gold Nokia 3300 while the chap in the grey coat has arrived with a satchel of new finds.

The bench and tools are from the aptly named Workbench and Tools from Wizkids, as the figures are quite small and the bench quite large I chopped down the legs a little.

I really enjoyed turning these out and they will hopefully see some usage in our Sharpe Practice games.

Four 28mm figures plus I think another five is fair for the workbench and telescope and the location bonus will add 45 points to my total.

28mm Napoleonics Duel Totalizer: 28 mounted, 141 foot, 3 guns, 1 boat.

For Sander & Arthur: The Altar of the SnowLord

Altar of the SnowLord (brought to you by the kids of Kinsmen Park South)

 

Congratulations Sander and Arthur for making it down to the Altar of the SnowLord! 

Okay, Arthur, you can paint me any type of figure you want, but it has to be in at least four different colours - the brighter the better. :) Sander, it's been dog's years since you've done up any Napoleonics for us, so let's see at least one unit from that period - any nationality. Once you two meet the challenge then you can claim your prize (specifically painted for the both of you). 

Arthur and Sander's Prize: by Sidney Roundwood

From JamesM: 28mm W40k Ur-Ghul - Curtgeld (40 Points)

Hi folks,

In a change to my usual posting, these are not green. As I knew I would have limited in time this challenge, I decided that my Curtgeld should be relatively quick and simple. I picked up a few Blackstone Fortress models which I figured might fit in a range of settings. 

These are 28mm plastic figures from Games Workshop, and represent 'sci fi' ghouls - unfortunately with fairly limited poses. I've put them on Necromunda bases, which I also painted as being pretty grotty and scuffed up. 

These should net 20 points for the 4, with an additional 20 points for Curtgeld (I think?)

From DaveS - It's An Abomination (77pts)

 So, continuing the Wild West Exodus painting (I've really found these models have inspired me to up my work rate, they truly are things of beauty)

First, we have Rabecca Capelle, sister of Missy, who I posted last time.  Another Outlaw/Lawmen model, another "Soiled Dove" and another beautiful model to paint.

Moving on from one of the newest models I own, to some of the oldest WWX ones.  A few years ago, I bought a few bits for the game, and then never did anything with them, as I only ever got a single demo game in before my local group shelved it somewhat.  I managed to dig them out from the black hole of shame, and decided to give them a quick paint job.

So here we have 5 Abomination Widowers, and 5 Abomination Seekers.  Beautiful models when assembled, but honestly, each one of those monowheels comes in about 7 parts.....

One thing that this run of painting has proved again is just how much of a Magpie I am when it comes to painting.  There are 8 factions in WWX, and since the beginning of January I have collected and painted models for 6 of them.  The only ones that I have left alone are the Warrior Nation, and the Union, and that is probably just a temporary thing, if I am honest.

So this is 11 40mm models for 77 points.  I've just built 15 of the less fancy Constructs for the "Enlightened" faction to go with these, along with their de-facto leader, Kyle the Black, so expect to see them soon.

From JasperO: One man and his Lard (the Larder - 50 points)

With 10 days to go until the end of this year's Challenge, it's high time to get myself across the half-way point towards my own goal. To do so, I present my entry for The Larder. 

This vignette consists mostly of two sets from the Black Hussar Miniatures 7-Years War bakery range, but I figure it'll work well in a corner of my AWI tables. I've painted the workers in various colours that might be parts of a uniform, especially if this is the Continental Army.

The thief making off with a piglet is a Foundry figure from their civilian range. Size-wise, I suppose this is meant to be a child in torn pants. I painted his clothing as a sort of random combination of items he 'found' here and there, just like he did the piglet (and I see I forgot to paint the buttons on his vest - better do so quick!)

Overseeing the entire operation, perhaps the personification of the Larder, is a figure from a Eureka Miniatures 18th century civilians set. I find their range is very fun to paint, and it was interesting to attempt a fat face, generally a rarity in wargaming (figures).

This was a nice, colourful variety on all the green and brown that I've painted recently and with six figures and the Larder bonus, should net me 50 points and neatly across the midway point to my goal!

from RayR - Warfare Miniatures - Ottomans Balkan Timariot Siphis 60pts

More great Warfare Miniatures figures for my next post and its more Sipahis, this time from the Balkans.

Ottoman Cavalry force

Unit of Elite Sipahis of the Porte - armoured, lance, pistols and shield - 3 models
Unit of Drilled Balkan Timariot Sipahis - armoured, lance, pistols - 6 models
Unit of Drilled Anatolian Sipahis - spear, bow - 6 models
Unit of Recruit Tribal cavalry - bows - 9 models

The figures are a mix of  Lance, Pistol and Musket armed figures.

I do like the 2 chaps with pistols best. I might well have to get a few more of these???

So these 6 figures will add another 60 points to my total.

6 x Mounted 25mm figures @ 10 points each. 

English HYW archers Matt Williamson 40 points

English HYW Longbowmen

My basing material has arrived so more Perry HYW metal archers, then onto some more english lowbow, then English foot tomorrow.

8 x 28mm Miniatures @5 each = 40 points

cheers

Matt

From MilesR: 6mm Seleucid Army, part 1 (327.5 Points)

 

Despite a lack of updates for the challenge, there has been a bit of work going on at my painting desk.  I present to you my Seleucid army, part 1, in glorious 6mm scale.

Please accept my apologies for photographing these chaps on my messy painting desk but due to the ongoing repair work after the basement flood there just isn't any room.  These miniatures are from Baccus and are superb.

The heart of any Successor or Macedonian army is the Phalanx and my little Seleucid contingent is no exception.  12 bases with 32 pikemen each.  Half are advancing and half standing.

Baccus makes 2 different types of pikeman cast - one with a cast pike and one open handed where the pike is added on.  I opted for the latter and really like the look but it was very tedious to do.  I'm also a little worried that about tabletop mishaps but we shall find out later on.

I went to a hardware store and picked up a wire brush to serve as the source of the pikes for the mini's

I think they came out really well

I clipped a bunch of extra pikes, as I suspect there will be a lot of battlefield damage.

Supporting the Pike are 9 bases of Seleucid Agema or heavy cavalry and 5 generals.

on the other flank are 10 bases of Light cavalry and a single Ellephant.  There are more Ellies on order from Baccus.

In reserve are 3 bases of skirmishers, 2 bases of Hoplites and 2 bases of Archers.

There are a good number of other types of supporting infantry to be painted up - include some imitation Legionnaires.  It's unlikely those will get done for this Challenge.

There are also enough standing pike figures for 6 additional pike bases but I'm pretty sure I just cant stomach clipping and gluing on the pikes

Total figures for this entry are:

472 infantry for 236 points, 

89 mounted for 89 points and

1 Ellie for 3.5 (scored as a vehicle plus 3 figures)

Total Points: 327.5

From: AngusW - 28mm The Preacher Man - Shrine - 25pts

Moving from the Orc's Pit I enter the Shine with The Preacher Man. Yet another lovely figure from the Foundry's Prussian Camp Followers pack.

Not sure where this will get used. I keep meaning to buy a town cross as a piece of tabletop clutter, he'd fit well with that for Sharp Practice.

I was heading to the Adventurers Landing, but I now realise I can already have painted something for the Oubliette so I may change direction.

The Preacher Man (5pts) + Shrine (20pts)

From SimonG: The Dark Lord for the Snow Lord - Lucifer Is My Altar Offering (40 points)

Finally I complete the descent into the Chambers of Challenge and my offering at the Altar of the SnowLord is the lord of hell himself -- Lucifer Morningstar!

Once again this is a Ludus Magnus Studio Black Rose Wars figure -- nominally it's 38mm scale but Lucifer is actually 54mm tall and the overall figure is about 12cm top to bottom and side to side. It's a technical tour de force with barely visible assembly marks or mould lines and accessibility for painting throughout despite the intricate inter-twining of snakes and clothing -- a real pleasure to paint. This WIP shot gives you a sense of scale relative to Citadel paint pots. I also really loved the attention to detail on the wings -- the upper set (the webbed ones) are actually greatly expanded hands with five grossly distended fingers and webbing between them.

The weakness of the model was his sword which was both bent and also broken at the joint to the hilt. After thinking about glueing it back on I elected instead to make a new blade from brass strip I use for labelling my 10mm tanks! Overall I think it came out OK -- sorry the etched (ok scratched with a knife) design on the blade doesn't come out too clearly in the photos! For more on Satan's sword I recommend you check out "Rachel Rising" by Terry Moore -- a great story by one of my favourite artists and writers.

The fun thing in this paint job was to choose how to paint the snakes. The eagle eyed among you should be able to identify the following: Russell's Viper; Yellow Lipped Sea Krait; Black Mamba; Eastern Coral Snake; Tiger Snake; Boomslang; Green Pit Viper and a Brazilian Rainbow Boa. All of these bar the last are exceedingly poisonous so good choices for Beelzebub himself!

Wings were modelled on a crow and the leathery wings were originally green but repainted half way through to the finished ochre. I finished the ribbons of clothing with Citadel Spiritstone Red as it gave them extra energy and glow -- the jewels all over the wings have the same finish. 

Overall I've really enjoyed navigating the Chambers of Challenge and believe it has really pushed my painting forward so congratulations to Carl and all the minions for a superb job organising everything this year and I can't wait for AHPC XII!

Points wise if we think of him as a 54mm mounted that's good for 20 plus 20 for the chamber to get to my suggested total of 40 and takes me above 1K overall