From Mike W - Odds & Ends (55 Points, 1 Squirrel)

 I don't know about everyone else but I'm often trying out new figures to see how they paint-up or to add one or two additional details to existing collections etc.

Here are a few that have been on my workbench the last few weeks awaiting finishing and I finally go around to completing them.

First up is a 35mm Gladiator figure to add to my Jugular collection, this guy is in the Greek style, armed with a short sword and a small shield, with just his sword arm armoured.

Jugula Gladiator

I kept the paint scheme simple, with a red loincloth, brown leather straps and shield cover and brass and iron armour and fittings.

Rear view

The skin was given a flesh wash and coloured washes were applied elsewhere as appropriate before varnishing and basing

Another view

Next up are two Spartan warriors, not your historical kind but more akin to those found in the 300 films. These are 28mm 3D prints and were so much fun to paint. Red cloaks, a lot of brass work and a lot of skin tones!

The two '300' Style Spartans

Spartan spearman

Spartan swordsman

Next, some people may have caught a sneak peek of a couple weeks back, a 15mm mounted figure representing Captain Nolan at the Charge of the Light Brigade, by Eureka Figures. Not much to say here but a lot of gold braiding & bullion on show

Capt. Nolan charging headlong down the valley

Reverse view

Next two 28mm Ottoman Turkish Officers. These have been converted from the Perry Miniatures Afghan plastic set by adding resin heads and that's pretty much it! Painted to represent Ottoman Officers and to be used as markers to impart additional morale to units in upcoming games.

The Two Ottoman Officers

Without too much scrutiny, these simple conversions make passible Ottomans!

Another view

Rear view of the Ottoman Officers

Next is a Space Marine on a Motorcycle, I usually go for Ultra Marines but this guy was part of a set given to me some years ago and believe that these from the Deathwing of the Blood Angels? Anyway  have been playing with it for the last few weeks and finally gotten round to finishing it.

I counted the Motorcycle as a vehicle for 20 points and then added the marine for an additional 5 points. Not sure if this is OK but will allow Peter D to decide. If OK this will count as an additional Squirrel point for the Space Marines

POINTS

1 x 35mm Gladiator            = 6 Points

2 x 28mm Spartans             = 10 Points

1 x 15mm Captain Nolan    = 4 Points

2 x 28mm Ottomans            = 10 Points

1 x 28mm Motorcyclist       = 25 Points

TOTAL                                 = 55 Points

When you say odds and sods you really mean it Mike. 

Love the gladiator, your simple is best works very well on this figure.  As an owner of a historical Spartan army, I keep a 12 foot xyston's distance from those type of Spartans, but I appreciate your fine brushwork. 

 Really like the quick converts on the Ottoman, if I can figure out where you sourced the heads I may try that one my self.  My biggest issue was trying to figure out what the round sword pommel attachment was on the first picture of the lad in pink.  Then I realized that it was the hole punched in the piece of looseleaf used as a backdrop!

Capt Nolan looks a right nutter, and has his match in the motorcyclist.

From PeteF: Ambush! Arab Bowmen (80 points)

SAGA is one of my favourite games. To build an army for your faction the model count is in the 25-73 range and with so many "Ages" in play there are many factions to choose from. My wargaming group plays a decent amount of SAGA - we started with Age of Vikings, then Age of Magic. Three years ago I got the rulebook for Age of Crusades and even painted my first unit - Mutatawia Hearthguard on camels for Challenge X. Since then the pace has been glacial - Before this unit of bow warriors I've only finished a unit of 12 spear warriors. If I can get my act together I might even have a completely painted army when we play our first Crusades game in 2 weeks' time.

The figures are a mix of the official Gripping Beast metal Mutatawia bow warriors and Gripping Beast plastic Arab bowmen. I like the heft of metal but I also like the price and posability of plastics. It was fun to individualise these warriors - googling "Medieval Arab bows" turned up some nice colourful laquered examples so I went with that. 

The bases are supposed to be cracked earth/sandy desert. I used GW's Agrellan earth and painted/washed/drybrushed.   

They're going to ambush a lot of hapless crusaders so I'm entering them for Caprica. Just realized I'm still on the outer ring and we're more than halfway through the Challenge. Work and injury have certainly kept me behind the pace this year. I request  our Monday Minion to transport me through a warp maelstrom to the Middle Ring - let's see where we land.

12x 28mm = 60 points plus 20 points for Caprica = 80points

Squirrel +1 (total 6)

Skulz +0 (total 1)

My brain can't quite grip onto Saga asa set of rules, but I do like the period and the scale of action.  And having modelled El Cid era armies, I really like Arab bowmen.  Yours are just wonderful, love the research into bow colours.  Kudos on the basing too.

AdamC: Spanish Ship of the Line San Justo Perelandra (35 points)

 

Another naval offering the San Justo from the Spanish Ships of Renowned set. (For a better history see JJ's excellent blog) She was built in 1779 and took part in the Spanish actions of the AWI including the the siege of Gibraltar.

Her figure head is my best effort at something like the Spanish arms. After the American Revolution the San Justo was put in ordinary but was refitted in 1790 as a result of the Nootka crisis

She was put back into action for the Napoleonic Wars though as with other ship in this collection her actions where hardly glorious. Indeed it seems that the San Justo was unengaged at Cape Finisterre and barely fought at Trafalgar. She was one of the 11 Ships of the allied fleet to make it back to to Cadiz. 

A 3rd rate is 15 points and despite he lackluster combat record San Justo is certainly a Nautical entry so I should another 20 points for Perelandra.  

A fine looking vessel even if her battle record hardly makes a ship of renown!  Excellent work on the rigging and stern gallery. 

From Mike W - Classic Orc Archers (60 Points)

One of the fun things about these challenges is sorting through old boxes of stuff and unexpectedly coming across items that you forgot you ever had. Such is a case here.

Not just old classic Warhammer Orcs, but very, very early plastic Orcs that I'd obviously gotten round to undercoating with black primer but next then taken the plunge to paint before packing them away to the oblivion of the loft for donkeys' years...

The completed unit of 12 Orc Archers, dating back to the 1990s I believe

By way of recompense, I have now painted them and a fine looking bunch of greenskins they appear to be!

The figures waiting to be painted

I kept the black undercoat and used this as a basis for their clothing, dry-brushing the whole with a mid grey before blocking in their skin with an appropriate green colour.

I picked out the details of the bow, chainmail, quiver & arrows, boots and hat etc as appropriate and then allowed to dry.

Close-up of the unit's left flank, I opted to go for uniform colours which was much in vogue back in the day

After repairing my mistakes, I applied green ink to the skin, brown ink to the bow, hat and equipment before applying black in to the rest of the figure.

Head on view of the unit's right flank

Once dry the figures were matt varnished and then based in my usual manner.

POINTS

12 x 28mm Foot = 60 Points

Great looking bunch of classic green skin archers.  I like the retro uniform vibe and the basing.

From FrederickC: Siberian Veterans and Soviet BA-10 Armoured Car (170 points)

 

More Soviet infantry were completed this week, specifically 32 Siberian Veterans from the Warlord Games boxed set of the same name. The set consists of four identical sprues of multipose miniatures, enough to build 32 soldiers, plus two metal figures. (I diverted two of the plastic figures, and some of the Mosin-Nagant rifles to my Winter Soviets to beef up the numbers.) You also get a selection of metal heads and arms to add further variety to the figures, such as captured weapons, bandaged heads or hands, Eastern facial features, etc. 

These were all painted in my usual style, starting with a black primer. All the basic colours were painted using Vallejo acrylics, followed by a coat of Army Painter Strong Tone Quickshade. The end result is a platoon of three 9 man sections each with two submachine guns, a mix of Mosin-Nagant rifles and carbines,  a DP-28 light machine gun team, one Tokarev semi-automatic rifle, plus some hand grenades, Molotov cocktails, and a captured Panzerfaust, all led by an officer with a pistol. Add to that a sniper team, a soldier dragging a Maxim machine gun, and a Commissar with a speaking trumpet. 

Siberian Veterans defending the approaches to Moscow

 

Captured MP40, Molotov cocktail, and bandaged heads

Bandaged hands and captured Panzerfaust

More bandaged heads and hands

Machine-gunner pulling a Maxim and an officer with a pistol

Sniper team with scoped Moisin-Nagant rifle

"The man with the rifle shoots, the man without the rifle follows...."

Next we have a Soviet BA-10 heavy armoured car which is a 1/48 model by Uni-Model, another Ukrainian company stocked by my local hobby store. Like the Ace Model kits that I built earlier, these are very detailed and contain a lot of parts that I probably could have left out given that I am building something for the wargames table. The parts lack locating pins and holes to correctly align them, and the diagrams didn't always give a good representation of exactly where things were to be positioned. (One diagram actually had all the part numbers printed backwards. 😱) I also found the plastic to be a bit fragile, and a few pieces broke when trying to carefully cut them from the sprue. In the end I left off the optional tracks from the rear wheels and some of the tiny etched brass parts, and replaced the headlights and the steps outside the side doors with something more robust than provided by the model kit. 

Despite all the trials and tribulations, I eventually got it all together. It was primed black using an airbrush and then painted Russian green using acrylic paint. Highlights and decals were applied, and then the entire vehicle was given a wash of AK Interactive Dust. (In case anyone is wondering what 'А. Невский' means, it is for Alexander Nevsky, a medieval military leader who defeated the Teutonic Knights in 1242.)

The headlights were made from round push pins filed flat on one side

А. Невский on the side, just above the rear wheels

The plastic piece to support the step on the side was replaced with florist wire

The points being claimed are as follows:

1 x 28mm vehicles @ 20 points each = 20 points

30 x 28mm foot figures @ 5 points each = 150 points

(I am counting the four prone figures as two)

 A tough bunch of Siberian veterans Frederick.  I like the movement on the fellow pulling the Maxim, although that can't have been easy over anything but smooth ground.  I was amused by the trials and tribulations you went through with the BA-10, but it is a fine end result that you achieved.

From FrederickC: Superheroes and Snowtroopers [Krypton][Gethen] (70 points)

 

We continue on our journey around the Inner Ring with two stops this week. Our ship is holding together, but we are going to need major repairs, if we survive to the end of the trip. Most importantly, the engine is still generating power. (Never underestimate the power of Duck Tape. 😉)  

-----

Luke Skywalker: [on first seeing the Millennium Falcon] What a piece of junk! 

Han Solo: She'll make point five past lightspeed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself.

-----

Krypton (#13 on the map) - a planet which orbits a red star. Before its destruction, it was home to a great civilization which boasted advanced science and technology. The theme is 'Superheroes'.

I didn't have any miniatures that were easily identifiable as a specific superhero, although the figure with the helmet and gun has a bit of a 'Peacemaker' vibe to him. I don't even know where I got these figures from or who manufactured them. They all stand 30-32mm in height, so they are slightly taller than the usual 25-28mm figures. Perhaps the Hive Mind can provide some clues.

They were first primed with black, and then painted using Vallejo acrylics. I used some GW washes on the skin areas, and on the hair. The colours chosen for two of the figures were based on suggestions from my wife, who used to collect Marvel and DC comics before we got married. The colours for the 'Peacemaker' figure are based on images of that superhero found on the net. So I give you 'Blue Moon' (named for the frequency of his appearances), 'Omega Dude' (named because of his fancy wristwatch), and my version of 'Peacemaker' (who is wearing his holster on his right side, but shooting left-handed. 😕)

 Gethen (#14 on the map) - a planet in the Ekumen universe. Because of its cold climate, the planet is sometimes called "Winter". The themes are 'Ice' and 'Cold'.

Diving into my box of unpainted Sci-Fi miniatures, I found three West End Games Star Wars Snowtroopers as they appeared in 'The Empire Strikes Back' during the attack on Echo Base. They were primed in grey, and then painted using Vallejo acrylics. After the bases had been painted white, some AK Diorama 'Snow Sprinkles' was applied  While not as fancy as some of the newer Star Wars: Legion figures out there, I think they still look pretty good. 

The points being claimed are as follows:

6 x 28mm foot figure @ 5 points = 30 points

2 x Challenge Quadrant locations (Krypton, Gethen) @ 20 points each = 40 points

The Quadrant Map so far

 Course laid in for Altair, the next stop on our trip (as long as the engine holds together).

Great work on these figures Frederick.  I don't know my Superheroes from my Super Bowls but I like the name Omega Dude, it has a cool actuarial meaning.  A very chilly looking set of Storm troopers too. I am not sure if those suits have room for long johns.  

From JohnB: 40mm Homemade Toy Soldiers, KuK troops circa 1900 somewhere in Galicia. (581 points)

Once again I offer a mix of my own sculpts, gravity cast chez moi. This time 3 battalions of KuK infantry, a group of 5 KuK artillerymen, a regiment of 8 KuK uhlans, and an almost complete regiment of 6 KuK dragoons… and lastly, a sample figure from my late 17^th-early 18^th C collection…  generic musketeer. Whew, that’s a slew…

I am painting these figures in the uniform that predates the 1909 introduction of the pike gray uniform. (the Russian opposition is in summer white linen…) One infantry battalion is sporting shakos and dress tunics, while the other two are in field dress including the feldkap.

 

 

The cavalry are in all their finery. This is as it should be, these are toy soldiers after all.

 

 

The gunners are wearing their shakos with horse hair plume and are in their traditional brown tunics with red waffenfarbe.

I include the 1700 musketeer as a counter, somewhat to the mass uniformity of my 19^th C armies. I have a lot of these fellows to paint. For my standards, it is a good period, as generic figures can be painted as various nations, historical or otherwise.

No Italian actresses whatsoever here amongst the Ruthenians, little champagne, and the mess smells of boiled cabbage. We get by on some specie of hootch made from plums, and, thank God, passable pilsner. My new batman is hopeless, usually drunk and goes by the name of Svjek…?

53 40mm foot@ 7points=371 points

14 40mm cavalry@15 points=210 points

Total = 581 points

I must be doing something right if I get to minion these lovelies John.  Excellent work that appeals to my inner child.  Really like those cavalrymen.  And there's a great Little Wars?Charge vibe to those shots of the troops all lined up on table.  

Bravo sir and enjoy your Pilsner, you've earned it.