From MarkG: 28mm Railway Tracks (50 Points)

My first, and rather mundane, terrain entry; a set of 28mm railway tracks.

These were part of my effort to create a Russian Civil War Armoured train set, though they will have much use for other WW1 and WW2 wargaming scenarios. 

2 Metres in length, composed of seven sections, each 28.5cm long and 6.5cm wide. In creating these I was very much inspired by an article that appeared in the Lardies 2014 Xmas Special by Pat Smith "Building the Deutsche Reichsbahn."

The tracks are from Sarissa Precision. I used model rail ballast to fill out the base, and then mix of cheap paints from the hardware store and stationary shop (all tones mixed from basic black, white, brown and beige bottles). Painting them was straightforward enough, but time consuming, starting from dark brown layers, through mid gray, to stone gray highlights, and rust for the tracks (a drybrush of Vallejo Cavalry Red). Ballast though is a devil to paint if you don't want to completely drown and warp the track and base.

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The tracks look awesome Mark, and having worked with ballast before I can sympathize with how much of a pain it is to paint!  Mainly because for model trains it is not usually painted, or even glued down a lot of the time, but rather just laid in, which obviously does not work for our uses.  

As for painting time, it sounds like you spent a ton of time on them, but I have to judge based on an average paint job, not the great job you did.  I am going to award 7 points per strip because I think if I was to soak these in glue first to make painting easier, each strip should take a bit more than painting a figure.  Not sure how you did them, but I would paint the ballast area quick and dirty and messy, then paint the ties and tracks after neatly.  Therefore 7 strips  would come out to 49 points but I am going to round it to 50 points.  Great work.

- Byron 

From Kerry T - A home from home (60 points)

Morning afternoon & evening all 

I've printed off a lot of terrain in the past 18 months and just stored it under the gaming table. Last week when I put a castle together I rediscovered something I'd printed off but forgotten about and thought it would be good get finished.

Its from the Printable Scenery King & Country range and is labelled as a Norman Garrison. I think I know who Norman was but I believe this garrison/fort will suffice for earlier periods including the Viking  & Saxon era and perhaps even a home for a Romano-British warband as its effectively a walled palisade

This is intended to sit on the table edge so there are no back walls

None of the figures or thatched houses were painted for this and have just been included for the setting and the pictures were taken quickly outside on a cloudy day

Can you see the block of wood holding up the backdrop? (doh)

The gateway

The STL files come with straight sections, inward and outward curves, a gateway and raised 2 story section. Ruined versions are also included allowing great overall variation and good value for money. I've only printed off a few pieces

This was a quick and simple paint job using my usual terrain recipe of Black undercoat, then Vallejo Flat Earth dry brushed with Iraqui sand then Pale sand and then flocked to match my terrain boards. The wooden bits were painted in various browns from Vallejo and dry brushed

Dimensions are 100cms in total length, 10cms wide and 7cms high

Many thanks and best wishes

Valleyboy

 

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What a great looking piece here that can be used for so many different games. The effect you got on the wood and the ground work are both great and very effective. I am going to guess it would take about 4-6 hours per strip here and I count 5 strips, with the middle one with the gate taking longer to paint.  With that I am going to award 60 points and say great work the final result looks really great!

 

- Byron 

From SteveA: Hagglethorn Hollow Ruins (40 points)

Three pieces of "Hagglethorn Hollow" ruins, 3D printed with black filament in scale suitable for 28mm gaming.  While filament was indeed the best choice for cost and durability, the downside is the many many layers of print lines that form small surface ridges meant a simple dry brush paint job would result in very little suspension of disbelief that these were the shrunken stone ruins of a once great and maybe somewhat real castle 

So I took a "two thick coats" painting approach, using a ~ 4:1 mix of Artist Loft craft paint mixed with baking soda, aiming for the thickness of craft paint and the add texture of baking soda would obscure the print lines. 

First coat dark grey stippled on with sponge ensuring total coverage, second coat a lighter grey focused on the upper and outer areas, resulting in the desired "I cant really see the print lines unless I am looking for them" effect I was seeking.  However,  small snag in my paint plan was encountered after I performed and dried my first paint wash, when the science of exposing the Baking Soda(Sodium Bicarbonate) to a very watery paint bath resulted in some of the baking soda from stippled on paint dissolving into the paint wash and then later forming a undesirable clumps of white crust on the paint surface after drying.

So a third coat of stippling with an old craft bush became necessary to conceal the white crusty bits, but in the end was to positive effect as it did lend to more subtle colour texturing.   A craft quality paint brush to anoint miscellaneous bricks with the liquid talent of Agrax Earth shade or Nuln Oil, and then some line work with thinned black craft paint to fill in the spaces between bricks completed the application of pigment, with the last step an application of a few ground level brown grass tufts, achieved the effect I was looking have in my future table top adventures.

I'm looking forwards to using these pieces for games such as Burrows and Badgers,  Frostgrave and maybe a return to Mordheim.

Dimensions of these pieces is roughly 6"x6"x3,  6"x5"x3",  "5,2",10".

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Hmmmm, Let's try this again, shall we???  I commented and scored this yesterday and then published and got a message from Steve today asking about points and comments....  No clue what happened, I blame the big dumb Ukrainian (me!)... so here we go again!

Great work Steve,  I despise the print lines as well, but doing multiple layers of paint and baking soda is a whole level of insanity beyond even me...  It works and looks very effective, so I like it, but not sure I would do it myself.  I also really like the look of multiple different shades of stonework which really help to bring it all alive. Great work.

As for points, I am going to go with just over 13 points each as I feel the probably would take about 4 hours each to get done as they are quite massive (having printed them for you).  I know this doesn't count the stippling time, but I view that as assembly/priming which we are not rewarded for for miniatures, so the same applies to terrain.  I am rounding it up to an even 40 points though.

- Byron 

Ians:10mm Mumakil; ( 44 points )

Hi All At last i have finished the first of the Mumakil. This model has been a nightmare, i got the stl file free on 3d Cults and just could not print it, in the end i went to a local printing company Colourful 3D Creations in fornbourgh in the UK. Even he had trouble as it turned out the models were hollow. There was alot of filling and adding bits that just wouldnot print like the ropes holding on the platforms. But here is the first one. The figures are from Wakelessrex and are their version of the Hadarhim archers {Kabiliat Aljanubi archers) all printed by me. The mounted figures is my version of Erkenbrand from ROK minatures and is a 10mm model.

From the front (i just cannot paint tusks)

and from behind

Close ups of the platgorm with archers

Only another 5 to go {help} So thats 11 x 10mm infantry so 11pts Erkenbrand 3 pts Mumakil ok no idea here

From DaveD . Well that is indeed a beastie . I will class it as 54mm vehicle so that gives you 44 points 

From MartinC - I Built a Forest (120pts)

 So another challenge draws to a close, and its been another good one. I've painted loads of Bloodbowl teams, 9 I think, and some random other stuff. Somehow I have more stuff to paint than I started with, bet I'm not the only one. Many thanks to my wonderful minion, you've been great mate.

I thought I'd close with one for Byron, he obviously doesn't have enough to do.

Like all wargamers terrain can be a nightmare, my collection of trees is mainly rubbish. Old, tired and tatty, kinda like their owner. Whilst playing a game a couple of weeks ago, 28mm Naps, we had a damascene moment. You could built trees using expanding foam. So I bought some tree frames, Woodland Scenics. These are ok and flexible. So I bent them into the required shapes. Once ready I sprayed expanding foam onto the frames.

Gravity is not your friend, I tried a couple of different ways to do this but both gave the same result. Too much foam.

Luckily it is easy to cut and crave

Cleaning up the base gives a nice canopy effect

Paint with cheap acrylic paint

Paint with PVA, spray glue would work better, or melt the foam. Then cover in scatter, i used 4 different colours of this and blended them together incrementally to give different colours 

Finally do loads of them. I think they look good, and suitably random. 

So they are 28mm scale and took me about a week to do them. I think they are about the same effort as a 28mm foot figure. So

24 trees x 5pts = 120pts

Have great year everyone and I'll see you for the voting. Obviously it is going to be a bloodbowl year

 

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This is a great idea for trees and should hold up great over time without getting damaged too much from packing and moving them.  Being 28mm scale I have to assume they are fairly large and will therefore go with your suggestion of 5 points per.  Great job Martin.

 

- Byron 

from RayR - Vienna 1683 - 15mm Ottoman Janissary's 96pts

  

I'm carrying on with my Vienna 1683 shenanigans, but I've shrunk back down to 15mm once again.

For my army list I needed 4 units of the famous Janissary's of the Ottoman army. Two would be Musket armed and two would be Firelock armed.

The Siege of Vienna saw the elite Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire deployed as the main assault troops during the campaign led by Kara Mustafa Pasha. Renowned for their discipline and training, the Janissaries were originally formed through the devshirme system, in which Christian boys from the Balkans were recruited, converted to Islam, and trained for imperial service. During the siege they were heavily involved in the complex engineering work that characterised Ottoman warfare, digging mines and tunnels beneath Vienna’s fortifications in an attempt to collapse the walls, while also carrying out repeated infantry assaults when breaches appeared.

The siege reached its climax on 12 September 1683 during the Battle of Vienna, when a large relief force from the Holy League arrived to break the Ottoman encirclement. The allied army was led by John III Sobieski, whose forces launched a coordinated attack from the hills surrounding the city. The battle is particularly famous for Sobieski’s massive cavalry charge—often regarded as one of the largest in history—by the Polish Winged Hussars, which helped shatter the Ottoman lines. Despite the determination of the Janissaries defending the Ottoman camp, the army was forced into retreat. The defeat marked a major turning point, halting Ottoman expansion into Central Europe and beginning a gradual shift in the balance of power between the Ottoman Empire and the Christian states of Europe.

I've not named any of these units, but will call them by their coats colours.

The Green regt are armed with Firelocks

As are the Red regt

While the Blue are armed with Muskets

As are the Yellow regt

Usually with Beneath the Lily Banners foot regts are 18 figures, but for this specific scenario they are only 12's. I'll have to ask Barry, why he chose to make them that way?

The figures are all from Essex Miniatures, unfortunately in their Janissary Command pack, the standard bearer has a caste on flag, I really didn't want to paint the flags, so the figure went into the unloved pile and I bought some Janissary halberdiers and converted them into new standard bearers. 

The flags are made by my good self, I found an image online, copied it over to Microsoft Paint, where I changed the colours around to suit. I have enough flags to paint another 17 units??? Gulp!

Points mean prizes, or do they?

Each unit had 12 figures, so its 24 points per unit.

4 x 24 makes 96 points!! 

Ottoman Army under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha

1st Line (Independent Commands)

Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs

Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs

Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs

Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs

2nd Line indie command

Timariot Sipahis Blade, Lance Drilled 6 figs XXX

Timariot Sipahis Tribal, bow/carb drilled 6f XXX

Timariot Sipahis Blade, Lance Drilled 6 figs XXX

Timariot Sipahis Tribal, bow/carb drilled 6f XXX

(Already painted before the Challenge)

3rd Line indie commands 

Sekban musket, loose Raw 12 figs XXX

Tufeckci musket, loose Drilled 12 figs XXX

Sekban musket, loose Raw 12 figs XXX

Tufeckci musket, loose Drilled 12 figs XXX

Janissary Brigade & Brigadier

Janissary Orta All Musket Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket/Flintlock Drilled/Elite 12

Janissary Orta All Musket/Flintlock Drilled/Elite 12

Janissary Orta All Musket Drilled/Elite 12

Reserve & Brigadier

Sipahis of the Porte Blade, Lance Veteran-Elite 6 figs

Sipahis of the Porte Blade, Lance Veteran-Elite 6 figs

Vizier's Guard All Musket, Flintlock Guard 6 

Great Gun Drilled 1 model 

Great Gun Drilled 1 model 

Holy League under King Jan III Sobieski

Polish Cavalry Brigade

Lipka Tartars Tribal Cav now Raw 6figs

Pancerni Bullet, armour Drilled 6 figs

Pancerni Bullet, Lance, armour Drilled 6 figs

Hussar Banner Blade, Lance, armour Veteran-Elite 6 figs

Polish Cavalry Brigade

Lipka Tartars Tribal Cav now Raw 6figs

Pancerni Bullet, armour Drilled 6 figs

Pancerni Bullet, Lance, armour Drilled 6 figs

Hussar Banner Blade, Lance, armour Veteran-Elite 6 figs

Imperial Cavalry Brigade 

Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 12 figs

Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Veteran-Elite 12 figs

Bavarian Cav Brig

Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 12 figs

Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Drilled-Elite 12 figs

Saxons Cav Brigade 

Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 6 figs

Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Drilled-Elite 18 figs

Field gun 1 model

From DaveD. Grand job Ray , creating in multiple scales is always the answer .lovely bold colour scheme choices too . 

Have a good run to the end.

AdamC: shipwrecks (10 points)

 

These are 3D prints of sinking/wrecked ships

The largest is a big frigate or small ship of the line.

The others are possibly a 50 gunner or frigate but since they are mostly below the water they are quite flexible. 

I used toothpicks for broken masts and bowsprit... Estimates are hard for painting time but maybe two to three hours. 

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 These will make great wrecks along the coastline or along shoals in games.  They are pretty simple but effective and therefore I am going to grant them 10 points.

- Byron 

 

From PaulSS: The Danse Macabre - 172pts

For the bonus theme round I made a start on a 10mm Undead force for Midgard, this week the Danse Macabre continues.

All the figures are 3D prints from the Forest Dragon range printed by MGS, and I must say they are bloody gorgeous figures that makes painting them a joy.

First up a quartet of characters to lead the Danse.

Three Necromancers and a mounted Wight, an avatar of Death hmself!

Excuse the extreme close ups, showing every botched brush-stroke and missed line, but the detail on these chaps is insane at 10mm!

The figures themselves are painted in the main using Vallejo Model colours and Army Painter Soft Tone, but for the raw magic I used Citadel Contrast Warp Lightning

Talking of the insane amount of detail on these figures, if you look closely, a skeletal hand is breaking ground from the grave at the Necromancers feet!

For the Wight I added a couple of figures from the Raised Skeletons set to the base. For an idea of the scale, these bases are 25mm in diameter.

Now onto the troops, starting with a unit of heavy hitting Skeleton Knights.

Because this range is designed for making Warmaster armies, the cavalry are printed two to a base, one at the front and one at the back, I managed to separate out enough of them to be able to make this "wild charge" vignette.

A couple of the Raised Skeletons set were also added to the base for scenic effect.

Moving on from the mounted heavy hitters to some solid fighty foot in the form of a unit of Wights. 

Hopefully, these stout warriors will form the core of my line and act as a bodyguard for my Necromancer.

 

Another unit of skeletons added to complement the two I did in the bonus round.

I stuck with a red, black and white scheme (Vallejo Black Red, Black Grey and Stone Grey) for the core of the force, but for the auxiliary troops I went more down and dirty, some-what of a theme for my challenge this far.

A shambling horde of Zombies in muted tones, the weapons were also painted from a rusty base.

Finally for this week, three units of Dire Wolves to rove ahead of the army and hopefully pick off any enemy skirmishers that may be an annoyance.

Again the detail is insane, not only do they have festering wounds on them, the ribs are poking through!

 Twelve mounted, 124 foot and 24 hounds in 10mm adds another 172 points to my total.

Now into the free-fire round where I hope to be adding a few more walking dead to the force.

I want to say many thanks to Dave for being my minion this year, we could not do it without these great volunteers! 

From DaveD. That’s a great mix of things there. The 10mm mass always works really well. I really like the skellies . You have had a good consistent challenge Paul, enjoy the last few days . It’s been a crew to look after as a minion cheers !