From BartekR: From the Under Construction Studio comes...Chaos Warriors of Khorne (65 points)

With Director’s Cut warning klaxons and lights in the distance…

...from the desolate wastes of the ‘under construction’ part of my pile of shame come the (Warhammer Fantasy) 8-strong Red Cleaving warband of Kraal the Bronze, Chaos Warrior devotees of the Blood God Khorne. (There is the ninth equivalent of the fifth Beetle in the photos – Bob, the name I gave to the additional figure which became the guinea pig for techniques before I applied them to the rest of the figures.)

Kraal and his killers, the Red Cleaving (with Bob skulking up the back)

The figures should be fairly recognisable – GW’s 28mm Chaos Warriors from 2008(?). An evolutionary step in plastic over their predecessors, the in-step pose is a bit too uniform for chaos warriors. That said, I’m fond of them…the design makes a stunning appearance in the trailer for the 2008 Warhammer PC game Mark of Chaos (viewable here).

The whole 'under construction' crew - before

Backstory: These nine are part of 25 my brother handed off undercoated to paint for one of his WFB armies back in 2012/13. A few initial coats of paint aside (to denote which would be marked for Khorne or for the Plague God Nurgle), the lot have been gathering dust for over a decade - I had to rinse them before painting. [I’ll come back to the Nurgle ones when I revisit the ‘under construction studio’, time allowing]. 

The plan is to come back for the rest

I’m bloody stoked with them (no pun intended) – not the painting etc but the simple fact I have finished not only a figure but a unit for the first time in decades (2012/13 was when I last made steps to get back into painting but made stilted progress). A lot of finding my feet and re-learning the body mechanics of painting but rediscovered the joy (I actually found myself grinning a fair bit of the way), though can't hand paint banners to save myself. Having been MIA from the Challenge the looming Director’s Cut deadline helped to get me moving at a clip.

I discovered I was out of flat varnish - so a bit glossy still

Take aways: Mostly about self-care. With so many years since last painting regularly and for periods of time, I'm being mindful of regular breaks, maintaining posture, pacing myself etc -- this has been the first time I've worn reading glasses to paint (and also used a magnifier) and have periodic lower back issues. Pulling a few long sittings were a reminder about back and eye strain. I’ve also made a mental note – underlined and with exclamation marks – to close paint jars when not using them: I managed to knock not one but two over as I was clumsily finding my way around what was a cluttered bench. Onwards and upwards…

Can't do hand painted banners...so...more blood!

Going forward: given my -technique and doing' (rather than moving projects along) aims for the AHPC, I've realised the Studio challenges is where I’ll be spending my time, with the aim of spiralling my way through the whole lot (cha-boom…see what I did there?).

Points: 

9x 28mm foot = 45pts 

Under Construction Studio = 20 pts

Total = 65 pts. 

On to the silver screen next…

  love these, esp the cloaks - do like a good cloak. Well timed on the entry, now you just have to out score Kyle by about 4000 pts to over take him