From TeemuL: Gunslinger and Greenskins [Westerns][Fantasy] (90 points)

"Westerns have much in common to Superheroes, at lesat they used to. Character by John Wayne was the good guy and good guys had a happy end. That Italian genius then ruined the whole industry and now Westerns are a sub-area of comedy... So while we are here, we can think what we can learn from Westerns. Yes, there are good and bad guys (sometimes ugly, too, but they don't sell). Lots of outdoor scenes (unless playing poker) and wide shots. Men are men and women are there to be rescued. All these things are very close to Middle-Earth, not may be exactly (looking at you Galadriel), but very close. So there is lot of plot twists and themes we can use, I guess we only need a script..."

This mini is from YourModelBox, one of the exclusive minis they had. It is plastic and bigger than 28mm, but 40mm either. I painted him mainly in Contrast paints, the belts are old school paints as is the base. He has a scarf of some kind which hides his whole face, and while he is carrying something at the same time as shooting, I guess he is a bad guy. A robber of some sort, I'd say. Quite nice to paint, not too many details and an open pose.

I gave him a desert base, ideal for outdoors. It is one of GW's basing "paints" with a light drybrush and couple of tufts.

I'm rushing here a bit, we now move to the Fantasy Studio. There is a month left in the Challenge and I realized I will be away for almost two weeks, so if I want to handle the Red Chair Challenge by Snowlord, I better get there sooner than later. So yes, walking from Westerns through the already visited Swords & Sandals we get to the Fantasy. I know, some Lotr minis would have been an obvious choice, but instead I have these old Orcs ans Snotlings from Games Workshop.

Here are three bases of Snotlings, each having 5 of these vicious beasts. They are a mix of two plastic designs, randomized on the bases. The bases itself are a mix of two plastic bases and one mdf base, because I didn't have enough similar bases... And the skins have at least three different green shades on them, just under that green Biel-Tann Green wash, of course. Red cloths and clubs are of course mandatory. The eyes and teeth have some colour, too. The bases are covered with PVA glue and sand, then washed and painted green.

Snotlings are not to be trusted to be alone, so here are 3 Orcs to look after them. They are old plastic monopose orcs, but with rather modern shields. These three will boost my second unit of Orcs from 12 to 15, which is just one standard bearer short of 16, which will make a nice square.

And yes, these are an addition to an existing army, so I followed the original colour choices (originally from the box cover) with modern paints. These are not Contrasts however, regular acrylics, but from the 21st century. Bases are covered in same way as those of Snotlings.

And then the scores. 4 minis in 28mm scale for 20 points.

15 minis in 15mm scale for 30 points.

2 studio locations for 40 points.

In total a nice 90 points.

I should be now well over 2/3 of my target, but large amount of my points come from Studio location bonuses and like I said, I'm away for almost two weeks, so it will be a struggle to reach my target. At least I managed to reach The Director's Chair, let's see what he expects from me...

Minion Miles: Not 1 but 2 submissions from Teemu and who said today wasn't going to be a GREAT day!

(For Curtis)From JamesM: 15mm REME vignette (Directors Chair) - 50 points

Hi folks,

Having reached the rarefied gates of the Directors Studio, I paused to survey my pile of 'wouldn't it be cool if...' minis. 

Viewing the assembled hodgepodge of projects I quickly had to decide what submission would best get the executive principle to shift long enough for me to film my much awaited documentary. Which currently has the hard hitting working title of 'Storage Wars - What Really Useful Boxes are ACTUALLY doing with your hobby money'. 

I've got my clickbait documentary thumbnail all ready to go!

Could I persuade him to relinquish his chair through the excitement of 3mm Titans? Or perhaps the nostalgia of more Battlefleet Gothic? The pharmaceutical effects of 1980's Dutch?

In the end, I decided my best bet was to lull him to sleep with a version of my well known classic 'Vallejo Russian Uniform 70.924'. 

So 15mm WW2 British trucks it was!

Vallejo bottle for scale - please note the decals are f*cking tiny

For my directors chair entry, I sheepishly submit a 15mm vignette of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 'somewhere in Normandy'. 

A REME related diorama piece for my collection has been in my head for a while, as I have had a idea  in the past that it would be cool to represent all the various combat arms of the 51st Highland Division. This idea happened to collide with access to 3d printed models through Battlefield3d, and specifically the ability to request models from the Marco Bergman catalogue. 

Hence, the 15mm resin printed Austin K6 Gantry Lorry and Austin Tilly van were procured, at the same time as I picked up last years water and fuel trucks. 

While I'm pretty certain that a Gantry Lorry like the one I've painted here would be much further behind the lines - and I'm not even certain that an infantry brigade workshop unit would have something like this. It was a recovery and repair vehicles however, so I decided to represent some repair work being undertaken by 154 Brigade Workshop, 51st Highland Division. 

For this vignette the front wheel/axle repairs to a 40th Light AA Regiment Morris CDSW (another 51st Highland Division unit) is being repaired. 

The Morris is a resin and metal Battlefront mini I'd had spare, which was a bit beaten up in my bits box. I added some basic bits of stowage for fun and repaired most of the damage. A spare splinter of MDF was used to show the vehicle being propped up.  

The REME decals came from Skytrex - although the resolution is such that I couldn't make out the number on them. I also used Skytrex decals for my Highland Division markings, as my Doms Decals sheet has finally given up the ghost. The AA unit decal was a Doms Decal offering, as were some of the bridging weights. Vehicle registration numbers are a mix of Doms and I-94. Allied stars are a mix of Battlefront and Doms Decals. 

All three vehicles have unit markings front and back, registration numbers and recognition stars. 

The three infantry figures are Battlefront metals with a small amount of conversion work to one in order to remove a rifle. Otherwise, unrealistically these chaps are wearing webbing and stuff they probably wouldn't have had on while working. However, there is a real lack of non-combat 15mm figures, so I made do. The two crouching figures look like they are working on the axle, while the other chap is asking if he should get a brew on (or pop to the NAAFI wagon) 

I'm afraid I did make a conscious artistic decision not to paint the 'mikey mouse' type black camo that these vehicles might have had - both for sanity and aesthetic reasons. My usual over highlighting is done using Mig Dio Paint - Medium Green. 

Having built the scene, and glued everything down, I realised it was still a little bare, so added some bits and bobs of scatter terrain. A couple of piles of spare tyres, jerry cans, crates and barrels - along with a makeshift work bench with toolbox and tools. My usual selection of tufts and flowers rounds it all out. 

One last thing to mention, I had my dad firmly in mind while painting this. He's always been 'into' vehicles and some of my earliest memories are of riding in big trucks with him or staring into engine blocks. So this one sits in my collection in memory of my dad, and innumerable changed spark plugs and oily rags. 

Hopefully, this trio of green lorries will give me the time I need to set the Director snoring and get in get me use of the top studio for a few hours! Without Big Storage catching on to my investigation. 

Points work out as three 15mm vehicles (24 points), three 15mm infantry (6 points) and studio location (20 points) for a total of 50 points. 

Minion Miles: This is a fnatastic vintage and I would have guessed 28mm if you didn't tell me the scale,  Superb work.  Oh and ummm I KNOW WHAT REALLY USEFUL BOXES DOES WITH OUR HOBBY MONEY and it just isn't pretty........

From PeterB - The Saint and some ruins - 23 Points

 

Earlier this month I painted up some Warhammer 40k characters from the series of Gaunts Ghosts books and the title of my post was "From the Sabbat Worlds". This area of space are named after Sabbat Beati and thus Gaunt and his men take part in the Sabbat Crusade. 

Image taken from 40K Fandom

The Saint appeared to Mad Larkin when he was separated from his colleagues when a statue in a ruined church came to life and spoke to him. She then re-incarnated during the Crusade and joined the Ghosts, briefly recruiting them as an Honour Guard.

In 40K lore Sabbat is always shown in images as if painted not naturally but like a mythological being. My own personal interpretation when I read the books was that she appeared like a young, unimposing character like Joan of Arc. She is lost in a crowd of pilgrims and unassuming, only making an impact when she takes action. Luckily I had just the model.

 

As you probably are wondering...

Yes, my photos are normally lovingly edited...

and framed better but technology hated me today...

and as my day job is working in IT I had had enough by now

 (Honestly, Blogger wouldn't play today, my phone wouldn't connect to my raspberry Pi and then my Pi wouldn't unzip the folder of images downloaded from my Dropbox. I am the first to roll my eyes and say the problem is with the user not the computer, but sheesh, something was conspiring against me today.)

The other part of my entry today is actually the background of my previous images. Last September at our local wargame show, Colours. I was under strict instructions from my son to find him a gift of some pieces of terrain for our gaming table. I found someone selling back issues of the 40K bit part magazine that had this piece of terrain included and he loved it. We undercoated and constructed it together and then he declared that I had to paint it for him. (I should just start buying him pre-painted and save myself the bother.) 

The building is technically cuboid in the dimensions of 5 x 5 x 7 inches, so 18 points? We are limited for storage space in our home, especially for bulky bits of terrain so I haven't stuck it to a base board and then also we can use the two parts separately on our table if required. 

Blatant skull close up

In photos it looks just like a grey brick

There is some detail painted on though, honest

I'm tagging Sabbat for Sarah's choice, but as I have already visited all the Studio's apart from the Directors I won't claim for the Limo bonus points.

So, 1 x 28mm = 5 pts

1 building at 18 pts.

Total = 23 points.

 

Minion Miles: love the sword color! 

 

From SimonM: Proto Keelers + E-800 Exterminators by "Papsikels Miniatures" (40 Points)

These two 32mm scale Proto Keelers are produced by "Papsikels Miniatures" and were sent to me as a free STL (Standard Triangle Language) file as part of their PAPSIPACK Welcome Models subscription set on "Patreon". The miniatures were produced using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on a Mars 3 Pro 3D Printer and are clearly inspired by the fledgling xenomorphs seen in Ridley Scott's 2017 science fiction action horror film "Alien: Covenant".

Unfortunately, one of the sculpts' hind legs repeatedly misprinted due to the area's pre-built supports failing, so I decided to strengthen the offending limbs by placing a couple of skulls produced by "Encounter Terrain" directly behind them. Both models were then super-glued onto a pair of "Citadel" plastic 40mm circular bases, primed using a couple of layers of "Vallejo" Heavy Warm Grey, and shaded with "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

I next gave the two figures a light dry-brush of (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Warm Grey followed by a lighter dusting of plain White. Disappointingly, disaster struck at this stage with one of the aliens' arms snapping completely off. Luckily, the Water Washable Resin really takes super-glue well, so I was able to reattach the offending limb and continue on my merry way with only a night's delay. In addition, the elbow joint is arguably stronger now than it was before breaking.

In order to try and blend the dry-brushing together a bit better I swamped each miniature with a watered-down wash of (more) "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson and subsequently picked out the softly-detailed mouths with a combination of "Vallejo" White and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. Lastly, I decided to bloody the xenomorphs up a bit, as seen in the motion picture, so repeatedly dipped a torn piece of sponge into some diluted "Citadel" Flesh Tearers Red, and sporadically dabbed each model with the Contrast Paint. This technique seemed to work rather well, and also allowed me to 'cover over' any mistakes, as well as the aforementioned broken joint.

Alongside my two Proto Keelers I have also pigmented seven 32mm scale E-800 Exterminators by "Papsikels Miniatures". These could be downloaded for free as part of a set of STL (Standard Triangle Language) files from their "Patreon" The Exterminator December 2022 subscription service, and are clearly based upon James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd's science-fiction "Terminator" franchise.

Produced using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on a Mars 3 Pro 3D Printer, I thought these figures would be a good subject with which to try out some more of Duncan Rhodes' Two Thin Coats paint range. So having primed the figures with some "Citadel" Abaddon Black, I gave each killer robot a double-helping of Sir Coates Silver and a generous splash of Oblivion Black Wash.

Each android was then carefully dry-brushed with (more) Sir Coates Silver and had their eyes picked out with a spot of Demon Red and a dab of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. Finally, due to wanting their metallic hand-weapons to stand out a little bit from the rest of the E-800 Exterminators, I applied a second shade of Oblivion Black Wash to all the firearms and any ammunition feeds they were carrying.

Two x 32mm scale foot figure = 10 Points

Five x 32mm scale foot figure = 25 Points

Two x 32mm scale half foot figure = 5 Points

Total = 40 Points

Minion Miles: very sci-fi, very scary - nice!

From TeemuL: In the superhero lands [Superheroes][Limo] (62 points)

"Superhero movies have much in common with Tolkien's Middle-Earth, both of them are very clearly divided to good and evil. So there is lot to steal.. err... inspire from superhero movies regarding our Murin and Drar project. One of the key things is the arch-rival, I'm quite sure we need something like that to carry our story - at least if we are going the superhero way, let's see. Anyway, that is something for the script writers to worry about, we can focus on action and special effects. But since we are here at the studio, let's take a look at these superheroes here on the left before we take a taxi ride to Westerns..."

For my superhero studio I present pretty much every superhero miniature I have. These three came from a YourModelBox box some time ago and they are from Warlord Games for Strontium Dog, which says nothing to be, but I learnt that it means Judge Dredd. I don't know much about Judge Dredd either, I have seen the Stallone movie, but that's about it.

I painted these with Contrast paints, the guy on the right is most likely a judge and from the good side. The other two probably are not and I have painted them in different colours than judge. I think them as underhive people, but I don't know if such things exist in Mega City One. All the colours choices are mine, I vaguely remember Judge Dredd being in black-yellow-and-red, and those are the colours I chose for the good guy. I hope I don't offend any Judge Dredd fans with this post. :)

And then there is this thing, which I believe is at least related to the superhero worlds, if not a superhero by itself. This is Pting from Doctor Who series. It is from Warlord Games, too, and I got it from their mystery box last autumn. Doctor Who is even a bigger mystery than Judge Dredd, but based on my knowledge from this Challenge, it can be categorized as a superhero world, at least if thinking loosely.

This is plastic, while the Strontium Dogs were metal, and very small. Take a look at the top photo. I learnt from internet, that one of the colours valid for these is red, so I painted him red. And the thing it is carrying, I painted in metal and yellow, because those were the colours I saw on the mini while researching in the net. Very simple paint job. Sorry again, if I offend any Doctor Who fans. :)

Once again I need a limo to take me to a better place. I have something almost done for western, but I can't get there without help. I wonder how I always seem to corner myself this way... This lovely lady is Tughaib of the Spirits, Mithril M166, for supporting the MERP range. Not the goodest person, so I painted her in similar darkish colours as the Strontium Dogs baddies. Nice and characterful mini. And she will provide me a ride the Westerns studio.

From manufacturer: "Tughaib, or "Tughaib of the Spirits" is a handsome woman, born of the harsh highlands of the Misty Mountains. Said to have Elven blood, she was tall, strong and wily. She had a power, born perhaps of that rumoured Elven blood, but also the product of long years of training and learning at the feet of the priest Eribhen who gave her the Ghostbane Staff in heritage.
With the power of the staff, she was able to bend unquiet spirits to her will. There, in the foothills of the Misty Mountains, overlooking the barren crags of the Dunmen, she dreamed of becoming a power, a queen of ghosts.
History does not tell precisely what happened to Tughaib of the spirits, but the wise believe some brave souls slew her, and scattered her army of dark things to the spring winds in the mountains."

And then the points: 4 minis of 28mm category is 20 points.

1 mini (Pting) in 15mm category is 2 points.

2 locations (Superheros and Limo) is 40 points.

That is 62 in total, if the minion approves.

Minion Miles: I approve!

From BruceR; Return to Terrain; Under Construction Studio; 61pts

 A return from my Ranch isolation.  Hound photos required:

CSM Loki sharing the rear seat of the land cruiser with Wibaux

Doc in the gunners seat.

The protected beasties

Under Construction Studio:  Last challenge I managed to finish two Sarissa ruined European buildings and realized I had two more flats.  This realization came as I ogled some cabins for FIW and my inner hobby voice commented "you said you would not buy more houses with other flats in the hobby cave". 

Only one way to fix that.

Over the weekend I broke the seal on the remaining two ruined flats and proceeded to construct these little beasts.  They are quite different to build as the buildings consist of 6 sections with 3 tiers.  They are amazing as the brick work and planking all fit together (with a little force).  One, I rattle canned the flats and added brush work after gluing the bugger together.  The Second I put together and rattle canned the constructed building and did some distressing with the every handy make up brush.  I'm not sure which works better.  As the build is rather tedious I think four is enough.  

The First Build:

I'm going for speed and a distressed look.  

Second build:

The two side by side with a German battalion headquarters setting up shop for scale.  

The completed 4 building block ready for action.  (only two challenges to complete)  Huzzah!

Added some color to the doors and some fallen brick and debris.  Couldn't resist putting some battalion support in front while I had them out.  The maps are out as Hauptmann Fritz and Neidermeir attempt to convince Oberstleutnant Hauk to push on to better accommodations.  

Points

Buildings are 7x7x4 so a cube per =  40 pts

Under Construstion Studio =              20 pts

Total for the week                                60 pts

Everybody have a good week and stay safe.  

Minion Miles: Love the distress look and the modular nature of the buildings.  Plus you get the 1 point dog bonus!