Monday, 13 January 2025

From Barks: Tommy Atkins's weird WW1 day (Limbo)(64 points)

I've been a little slow getting off the starting blocks for this Challenge, but I'm happy to be back.

My initial Limbo entry is this Martian scout tripod from Alien Dungeon, which I picked up from the good people at the War Library. I sprayed the whole thing silver and washed it black, and then hit a creative wall. Should I make it rusty and decrepit? What colour should the eye be? Should I make the details more defined? So it languished, until the Challenge inserted new life.


I decided to leave it un-rusty, and go for a red gem effect on the eye. I blended a deep red to black and orange, and then gave it a gloss coat. I'm not entirely happy, but it is done. The photos are with a previously painted PSC 15mm plastic soldier for scale. What else will poor Tommy Atkins encounter today?



I painted the tripod because I had been inspired by The Last War, a Forbidden Psalm/ Weird WW1 ruleset. My 15mm WW1 project had also been in a bit of limbo as well, and Last War has helped it approach completion. The tripod will be my 'Thing from the fog'. To add to my meagre Squirrel score, I've painted a few more gribblies.

First, I had a bag of transparent zombies from a board game. These made great ghosts, and also mud ghouls when liberally coated in mud effect.

Ghosts

Mud ghouls
I 3D printed some other figures at 50% size.

Trench maggots (Goonmaster)

Hounds of Annwn (Knucklebones)

Gas bugs (Goonmaster)

Trench rats (Duncan Shadow)

Some of these were barely painted (mud ghouls and ghosts) and others are small (15mm giant rats). So how about:

  • 1 x 25mm vehicle: 20 points
  • 24 x assorted 15mm gribblies: 24 points
  • Limbo bonus: 20 points
  • Squirrel (Last War) +1
  • Can opener duel +8
From Millsy:

Great to have you join us again this year Barks! This is a great way to kick of your Challenge and I think you did the right thing sticking with the shiny finish on the walker. I've always thought part of the otherworldliness of tripods is they were made of unknown materials and wouldn't rust. I've scored it as a 28mm vehicle given the scale.

Nice work mate, a healthy 64 points to kick of your Challenge.

Cheers,
Millsy

40 comments:

  1. Welcome back, Barks! That's a great Martian machine.

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  2. The last war is good fun. Both accumulating the bespoke monsters as well as playing the campaign. Good to see it supported.

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    1. Good to hear, one of my goals for the year is to play a campaign for it.

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  3. "Weird" World War stuff is not generally my thing, but you make it look like a hoot here Barks. Well done on getting a stalled effort moving forward once more - and fine paint work, as always!

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    1. It is my first foray into formal 'weird', but it really wasn't a big leap.

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  4. Love the tripod and those 15mm figures really fit the weird world war theme to a tee

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    1. I will struggle with individual figure conversions and skirmishing, but I've got a lot of scenery which is half the battle.

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  5. I really like the Martin tripod- the clean, brushed aluminum looks very classic.

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    1. Thanks- I think it looks a little plastic, but I wasn't going to teach myself a new trick.

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  6. Not my thing, but cool and well painted

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  7. I love this. I have 'The Last War' but never considered gaming it, BUT at 15mm/20mm? Now, that piques my interest. I like that you kept the walker pristine. As Millsy says, it uses some otherworldly alloy that shuns dirt but requires the vital essence of humans to keep it spiffy. :)

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    1. I've got a lot of 15mm WW1 stuff, so it wasn't hard to jump in.

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  8. Love that Martian scout. I am thinking that could be used for 'Tripods and Triplanes'

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    1. I do like when figures can be used for multiple games.

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  9. Really interesting proposal. That tripod's red "eye" is awesome!

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  10. Giving a whole new meaning to the acronym PBI! The Martian is fantastic, the red gem effect is a resounding success. A great start to your Challenge, Barks!

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  11. Nice opening salvo. The walker is great.

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  12. I remember years ago painting a who heap of these they are just so cool. love what you've done a brilliant submission

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  13. Lovely work Barks, that walker and its eye is… eye-catching!

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  14. Great imagination and painting.

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  15. Poor Tommy is having a bad day indeed! Great submission JB!

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    1. Thanks for giving me the idea of printing stuff at half-scale!

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  16. That's a great looking Tripod Barks, I like the wormy things as well

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    1. I do have a soft spot for cuddly grubs, I could do a sea of them...

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  17. Great looking tripod, I love the gem eye

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  18. Lovely looking Tripod Barks and a great alternate use for him.

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    1. Thanks, Byron, it wasn't a difficult leap.

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  19. Very well done! Always liked the look of those Tripods

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    1. It's interesting to see how many interpretations of their appearance there are.

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  20. Nice work Barks, that's a great bit of kit.

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    1. Thanks, Ray, I was glad to find an excuse to get one painted.

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