RobH - Anyscale Models - RAM Kangaroos (110 points)

 

The RAM Kangaroo APCs were used until the end of the Second World War, notably during the campaigns in the Netherlands and Germany. The Kangaroos enabled the infantry to advance at the same pace as the tanks, which allowed better coordination with the other armoured vehicles. 

When I started to build my Canadian Bolt Action force, I knew that I would need some RAM Kangaroos to act as my armoured troop carriers. Looking around at the various options available I decided to purchase them from Anyscale Models. At the time, they offered the best price for my wallet.

I had purchased a box of Warlord Games WW2 British Infantry which I knew would be used to cannibalise the figures to provide removable infantry for my APCs. I used all the whole torsos that were available and then sliced another 6 bodies off at the waist.

These were first edition. I am not a model maker. My thumbs are too big and my eyes too weak to do justice to the work. I am happier just buying a complete metal figure. I couldn't manipulate the figures for the life of me to put weapons in their hands to to get them to fit in the opening in the top of the vehicle 

Points

3 - 28mm Vehicles  x 20 Points = 60 Points

12 - 28mm Foot x 5 Points = 60 Points (discretion of the minion for sure since they are chopped off at the knees)

Total 110 Points

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Lovely work Rob! I think the Kangaroos look excellent, but its your passenger kitbash which I think is truly inspired - well done! 

This post has personal interest for me as my great-uncle served in the Algonquin Regiment during WWII, and from my understanding the regiment was sometimes deployed in Kangaroos. I'll definitely think of your work here when I decide to add some Kangaroos to my force.

- Curt

Mike W: 40K Orks & Grechin plus 28mm Normans (115 Points + 2 Squirrels + 2 Skulls!)

With the holidays amongst us, I have struggled as ever to get any dedicated painting time, certainly not enough time to see many of the ongoing batches of figures that I have on the go see any significant progress.

Three Ork Nobs from the completed batch

That said I have been able to snatch the occasional 30mins here and there over the past few days to complete the 40k Ork batch that I started before Xmas, to be totally accurate the batch is 60:40ish Ork & Grechin.

and their rear view

Additionally I have put a stake in the ground with the first small group of Dark Age Norman foot, which I have also completed, with more of these guys and their Anglo-Dane & Viking opponents also lining up to be on my worktop.

and a side view!

The other batches on the go are another group 40K Ork group plus 10 x 28mm Renaissance Spanish Horse, I stating that now to spur me on to getting these done over the coming weekend (I live in hope that I get some time!)

Close-up of Nob, with Rocket attachment 

So Back to today's posting...

The 10 x Orks, painted in pretty much the same way as I described in my first post of this Challenge, particularly as I'm trying to build a consistent look and feel to this army.

Close-up of second Nob, with the skulls!

There are 3 Nob figures in the group  considerably bigger than the regular Orks  their size maybe making up for the smaller Greychin in the group.

Third Nob with giant two handed power axe.

One of the stand out figures in this batch is the guy with the Squig. The squig was painted Vampire Red before being washed with purple ink and then dry-brushed in red. A Soft Tone ink wash was applied and then the red colour was further built up as highlights.

A group of six 40k Orks,
each armed with a 'Shoota' and some kind of axe or sword.
These will be the core figure type in the army.

Close-up of four of the Ork Boyz, with plenty of Dakka

And the remaining two Boyz, 

The head on this figure is a 3rd Party 3D print, I have got a few of these and I particularly like the 'Red Star' motif on the fur cap and the mouth full of teeth! The Red Star fits in nicely with the Red Gobbo theme that I am aiming for with this army. So although this figure is nominally an Ork Bully to keep the Grechin in line, wearing the Red Star cap shows his loyalties have been turned.

Ork 'Herder' with Squig, plus three Gretchin

On to the Grechin, 6 guys painted in the same way as their larger Ork brethren, the only real difference being that once I have completed the green wash on their skin, I then highlight using Foundry Paint's Phlegm Green. This paint is somewhat transparent and to my mind gives these guys an overall lighter look and feel to the Orks.

All six Grechin, in one shot, note the 'Red Star' tee-shirt

Business end of the Squig and Ork 'Herder' figure

These rebellious little Grechin often sport the Red Star symbol of the 'Red Gobbo', be it on armbands, belt buckles, grenades or tee-shirts!

and the Gechin with their tame Herder!

And now for something completely different, as the saying goes - The second group of the post are a few 28mm Norman Foot, adding to the seemingly endless collection of Dark Age warriors that I have been collecting for some years now. Still being readied for a 1066 campaign, which seems to be getting more & more ambitious as time passes!

The first of a number of Norman batches that
I'll be hoping to get completed this challenge

These guys were sprayed silver with rattle can paint from Halfords, non chain mail areas were then painted white before various colours were used to clothe them and to add in flesh areas. Chainmail areas were washed with watered down Dark Tone ink, whilst flesh areas were washed with Sepia ink. Other areas were washed with suitable coloured inks before shield transfers were applied.

Showing off their right flanks, five sword armed,
one with mace and one with axe.

For all the above figures bases were given a fine sand and electrostatic grass finish.

Points wise, from previous challenges I believe that Warhammer Orcs & Goblins all count as 28mm figures - so I have scored accordingly. I'm disappointed to say that these guys had only had 2 Skulls on them, whose both on the same figure! 

and another view

But with 5+ figures in each batch I'm claiming 2 Squirrel Points.

POINTS

16 x Orks & Grechin @ 5 Pts ea      80 Points

7 x 28mm Normans   @ 5 Pts ea      35 Points

TOTAL                                             115 POINTS

2 x Squirrel Points

2 x Skull Points

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Orks and Normans, what a wonderful clash in settings - love it!

Mike, your Orks are wonderful! I always love looking at the whacky weapons and armour sported by the Greenskins. The poweraxe and Squig Herder have to be my favourites here.

And then there are the Normans! They look suitably nasal-protected and invader-like. I especially like the hand painted shields you've done (cue Peter's habitual comment on hp shields...). ;P They all look ace.

Great work Mike!

- Curt  

DaveX - A Zombie Horde (125 Points)

Hi I'm DaveX, you may remember me from such Challenges as 2018 and 2019. Well now I am back and it is a really nice community to be part of. I have spent the last few days going through everyones amazing submissions so far. For my first post, I have not submitted something under the AHPC Studios challenge however I have many ideas for it. I am a HUGE fan of Zombicide and I kickstarted the 2nd Edition. Zombicide is the ultimate gateway game into miniature wargaming. My OCD does not allow me to play a game unpainted so I am yet to play 2nd Edition. I recently sold my 100% painted Zombicide First Edition with some expansions to free up some space. So here we have 25 Walkers ready to be played! For anyone who has played Zombicide, walkers have an extremely short life on the table and are often dispatched quickly. As there is so many of them (40 in the box) i give them a simple yet effective paint scheme. My technique is as follows: Prime Black

Zenithal Spray White

Army painter speed paints blocking in

Drybrush with a shade of Khaki/Light Brown Pick out eyes, teeth, equipment etc. Paint Bases and add some pigments to the bases Varnish Cover mistakes etc with Citadel Blood for the Blood God

I think they look really nice with such a simple paint job. I have been using this technique for years now, especially for painting Zombie Hordes before a silly term for it was invented via youtube. I only have a few Fatties to paint and then I will put some effort into the Player Characters. I can finally play my game :D So we are looking at: 25 x 28mm Zombies @ 125 Points. Not a bad way to kick off the challenge.

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First, welcome back to the Challenge Dave!

I agree, Zombicide is hella fun, and your recipe for fast-paint zombies (slap chop, dare I say) is brilliant. Very effective and eye-catching, I think. I will definitely take this to heart when I next have to do a similar horde army. (In fact, I'm actually doing something similar for a set of entries later down the Challenge.) 

I look forward to the upcoming Fatties and the player characters!

- Curt

From SimonM: Cybermen by "Big Mr Tong" (25 points) + Sci-Fi Studio Bonus (20 Points)

These five 28mm scale Cybermen were sculpted by "Big Mr Tong" and can be downloaded for free as part of a ten-figure set of STL (Standard Triangle Language) files from his "Patreon" subscription service. Based upon Eric Saward's incarnation of the Mondasians as first seen in his March 1982 "Doctor Who" story "Earthshock", the miniatures were produced using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on a Mars 3 Pro 3D Printer.

Having been washed, cured and then removed from their supports (applied through "Chitubox" Basic following each figure being rotated at a thirty degree angle), the silver giants were undercoated in "Citadel" Abaddon Black and given a double-helping of "Vallejo" Gunmetal. The models were then washed using "Citadel" Nuln Oil, dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Gunmetal, and treated to a combination of "Scalecolor" Speed Metal and "Citadel" Flesh Tearers Red on their hand-weapons’ power cylinders.

I thought these figures would be a great way to start my journey through Challenge Studios, starting off at the Science Fiction filming lot.

Five x 28mm scale foot figure = 25 Points

Science Fiction Studio Bonus = 20 Points

Total = 45 Points

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Haha! I knew you'd have a Doctor Who themed entry for us for the Sci-Fi studio. In fact, I'm wondering how you may fit Mr. Who and your encyclopedic knowledge of superheroes into most of the themed locations this year. ;P

I have to say I was a bit taken aback as I thought the Cybermen's sculptor's name was 'Big Mr Thong', thinking, 'Now, there's an appellation', but I regrettably my glasses were far down my nose and I misread :). 

Great work Simon!

From ScottC: High Adventure - Harry Dresden and Snow Yeti's (46 points)

A double whammy for ScottC this week

For my journey through the Studio I knew that my High Adventure had to be Harry Dresden and I had the perfect models lined up for him to face. 

I had a lot of fun painting this group of miniatures. Last year I read through the Harry Dresden book series and desperately wanted to find a miniature to represent him on the tabletop. Prior to owning my 3d printer I had used a reaper miniatures bones figure, but it never felt quite right. Now that I was able to print STL files I actually made this character using Heroforge. 

The yeti are Reaper Bones figures on 40mm bases.

All in all, a very fun group and a painted Harry Dresden just looks so darn cool. What's not to love about a pyro-wizard that uses a revolver?

Next up, a mounted Boromir to get me across the yellow brick road and some Western Figures from gunfighters ball for my "Historical Drama"

Points:

4x 28mm figures: 4x5 = 20 

AHPC Studio High Adventure completion: 20 points

Total: 40 points

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Nice entry, Scott! 

I'm not familiar with the Harry Dresden series, but I'm going to correct that as they sound like a lot of fun (and it extends trend of heroes named after geographical places). Love the Yeti (and why do all Yeti have blue faces?), and the flame on Harry's torch, which is brilliant, literally. 

I'm going to score the Yeti as 40mm figures as they look rather imposing next to Mr. Dresden.

Great work!

- Curt

ScottR English Civil War Command Bases 28mm (136 points)

Here are my completed English Civil War Command bases for the Royalist Scots - Irish Army under the Marguis of Montrose.

First off is the CIC, the Marquis of Montrose himself.  Standing around the table at the local hostel drinking ale with one of his sub-Commanders while the young bar lass brings more ale.  A young officer plays the violin. (Female figure is Colonel Bills figure - Becky Burton)

First Command  is Alisdair MacColla.  He is accompanied by some of his body guard including Maggie Maclean carrying one of his standards.  A young brash lassie. (Colonel Bills figure)

The next Command is Colonel James MacDonell mounted with one of his Colonels of Horse.  Young Big Arm Guy, drinking from his wine skin and filling the Colonels cup! Big Arm Guy is a conversion of a Warlord Games metal artillery figure.  removed his cleaning stave, put a kilt on him from green stuff, moved his stave arm and gave him a resin barrel.  then removed his hat and put on a bonnet.

Last but not least, and after all it is a Scots-Irish Army is Colonel Manus O'Cahan and his retinue.  Manus is in the company of one of his buxom sub commanders.  Lilleth of the Valley. (Colonel Bills figure - Molly Cutpurse)

19 by 28mm foot figures for 95 points

2 momunted figures for 20 points

3 female figures for ?? points

Total is 115 points .

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Wow, fabulous work on these command stands, Scott! I particularly like Montrose's base with the crowded table, fiddler and serving girl (also, any base with a dog on it gets extra points from me).  Very nice groundwork on all of these as well. I must say, Col. Bill must be a lascivious little satyr, as it seems most of his female figures are experiencing various forms of wardrobe malfunctions. I don't know how any of these commanders functioned with all these distractions. :) 

I've added a few more points for the banners, and as to the female figures, they are scored as other 28mm figures.

- Curt

From Millsy - Star Wars Legion - Studios x 2 (90 points)

G'day All!

What a thrill it is to be back in the Challenge saddle once again. I think this is my 11th event having missed the very first edition and the 2019 edition. Every year I'm as excited as a 7yo kid at Christmas and it's a wonderful thing to be so engaged by something as simple as painting toy soldiers and sharing them.

My first submission in 2022 is a couple of Challenge Studios lots, to help clear a bit of a backlog of Star Wars Legion stuff. There's more SWL toys inbound at Chez Millsy so moving some on early doors is a good thing!

Casting Couch - Cassian Andor and K-2SO

I've thoroughly enjoyed the recent Andor series and love a troubled hero. Seeing the development of the character made his Rogue One incarnation much more meaningful for me. I'm really liking the new darker, grittier Star Wars we're getting now and it's made me a much bigger fan of the milieu than the movies ever did.

More head tilts than a pair of huskies

Scoring: 2 x 32mm infantry + location bonus = 30 points.

1980s - 1.4 FD Laser Cannon and General Veers

The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980 and remains my favourite of the films, despite the fact Tatooine remains me favourite location. My SWL project focuses on Mos Millsy so everything is being painted up desert-style regardless of origin. Growing up I had the official laser cannon toy that exploded in pieces when a button was pressed so this is a real nostalgia piece for me. Veers is also my favourite bad guy, seemingly unperturbed by the threat of Vader's wrath, calmly going about crushing resistance from his vantage point in the nose of an AT-AT.

OK Dave, was it you that swapped all the LEDs with pink ones?

Love your work Veersy mate!

Scoring: 5 x 32mm infantry + 1 x 32mm laser thingy + location bonus = 45 points.

So that's a tidy 75 points and half the minimum outer Studio locations knocked off.

Cheers,
Millsy

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Welcome back to the Challenge, Millsy!

Fabulous work on Andor and K-2SO. I especially like the dark armour sheen on the droid-buddy. I'm with you, Empire, Rogue One and Andor are my current Star Wars triumvirate. I loved the Rebel infighting in Andor, it has that 1936 Spain feel to it, where the Rebulicans were made up of a wildly disparate range of patriots, all fighting for their own reasons. I'm very much looking forward to the introduction of K-2SO in the series.

I laughed at your Mos Millsy comment. Great work on the cannon, crew and Veers. I loved that laser cannon toy! (though most examples I came across had several bits missing from rough play.) I think it's a good idea to stick to one colour of groundwork, so all your figures mesh together.

I'm going to score these as 40mm as that is what I've seen them listed as.

Great post Millsy!

- Curt