Welcome to the Painting Challenge. Here you will find the fabulous, fevered work of miniature painters from around the world. While participants come from every every possible demographic, they have three things in common: they love miniatures, they enjoy a supportive community, and they want to set themselves against the Challenge.
This site features the current year's event along with the archives of past Painting Challenges.
Enjoy your visit and remember to come back soon.
Greeting (again) from Kyiv - a city glad to have gotten out of winter.
So, challenge 16, and my fourth: two miniatures painted and barely one-tenth of my target hit, but its not all bad. So, borrowing from Signore Leone, a quick 'the Good, the Bad and the Ugly' wrap-up (albeit out of title order).
The Bad: Well, not really bad just a bit short of target...see note on two posts and only 1/10th of the point target hit! :-) I should know by now that going in with a loose sketch of a plan and being completely sidetracked is also a bit of a me thing.
They're not lonely, just unique: Challenge 16 in a nutshell
The Ugly: February and March fell into painting hiatus as "other issues" took precedence (I didn't look at the posts through most of that time so am going to play catchup over the next few weeks).
I did have a final spurt but missed the 21 March deadline , which is probably my greatest disappointment (managed to finish them over this last weekend). Okay - its an indulgence sneaking in new minis post deadline...in my defence its not for the points and breaks up the text.
They're figures from the 3rd edition of the boardgame Haunting of the House on the Hill, including a IT 2 movie-themed expansion, the draw being Pennywise (in creepy clown and a WTF creepier clown spider form). Like any sane person, I do not like creepy clowns but fun to do.
The Good: Getting painting done while in Kyiv has been interesting - including finding the local miniatures shops (a lot of Games Workshop on the shelves). Between the local shops and mailing stuff in, I have managed to bug a pile of shame distinct from the one I have in Australia (okay, maybe that deserves filing under "ugly" but does give me another outlet for the rest of my time here).
*But* the real achievement this time around was introducing someone completely new into the hobby by virtue of the fact I was doing the Challenge and they caught the slipstream. Getting someone started on their hobby journey (from their first space marine) has been extremely satisfying - and to see them find their own niche (historical scale model figures). I'm taking that as a win from AHPC 16!
Again, really looking forward to retrospectively browsing what everyone painted, and hope to see you all for the 17th edition for which I should be back in Oz for (with the expanded pile of shame!:-)
My next submission is a bit of a throwback to a smattering of early me hobby nerdness. The miniature: Archon Studios "Durkar, the Sovereign Serpent".
This was included with an Army Painter paint set, so another one for the squirrel challenge! I didn't actually know who Archon are but turns out they make minis for a range of tabletop games including Masters of the Universe, Trench Crusade, and Dragons & Lasers(?!?), which range this belongs to.
There was the question of which colour to paint the beast. The booklet that came with the paint set showed a red dragon (aparently part of AP's learn to paint series), while the Archon Studios page for the mini shows a gorgeous gold paintjob. In the end, red got my vote -- sealed by that most intoxicating of drugs: nostalgia...from and for:
- Every illustration of Smaug I remembered from childhood (especially those by the brothers Hildebrandt, Michael Hague and Tolkien himself);
- Every piece of artwork from the original Dragonlance series of modules and books with a red dragon; and...
...the one, the only...
- D&D Basic red box cover art. This set - borrowed at that - was my first real intro to fantasy gaming (circa 1983), at about the same time as gamebooks (the gateway drug of Choose Your Own Adventure through Fighting Fantasy, Wizards, Warriors & You, and the wonderfully light-hearted Grail Quest series).
Painting process: Black undercoat, white xenithal and drybrush. Started with a red contrast paint (ivory for the claws and chest) before highlighting and washes. The base is part of the mould so a lot of metallics and washes.
Comparison photo against some Warlord Games minis (28mm and epic)
Scoring: The miniature is 165mm tall (Archon Studios webpage) so I have no idea where this falls in the points matrix. This is where I have to seek Saturday Minion Sander's wisdom for adjudication.
"Do you see?"
Oh dear, now I have to decide what amount of points to give this beasty? Well I have checked the Challenge annals and most precedent seems to hint at scoring it as a 40mm vehicle which is 25 points, I do hope you are happy with that? As to the painting and the story behind your creation: those are truly awesome! I have seen these models up close and know you have really done it up admirably!
Hi all, like a few challengers, its been a bit of a slow start for me - travel around the globe (back home in Australia for a summery Xmas and new year, before returning back to a snowy Kyiv). It has been great to see what everyone has been posting (however FOMO inducing :-)
Belated season's best wishes.
First up (and scraping me over the cut-off line) is a modest bit of Lovecraftian badness, the large Deep One from the "Masters of Devil's Reef" set (Bob Murch as part of the Cthulhu28s range, now produced by North Star). Ironically, this set was part of my aspirational goals for Challenge XIII (which I didn't get to - as is the way).
Painting process was: black undercoat, white zenithal spray and dry brush before speed and contrast paints then multiple washes. In hindsight a lot of those were overkill. The end result is a bit too T-34 than 28mm figure at arms length to my eye, but broadly in keeping with Lovecraft's descriptions of these amphib nightmares. One thing I really wish I had gloss varnish or wet effects paints here - to amp up the dankness.
Points claim: this is an oversized figure for 28mm, so claiming a total of 7pts (notionally as a 40mm mini).
Plans for the rest of the challenge are a bunch of squirrels to start with: sample Warlord sprues from various issues of WI magazine and a dragon that came with an Army Painter paint set. Once I get my eye in with those I'll have a go at some of the 'away' pile of opportunity (built since last April). Warlord Epic Revolution is top of list, but there is a smattering of Blood Bowl teams, some Horus Heresy and Warhammer The Old World, and Pendraken 10mm British and Scots for the '45.
================================ Sylvain: Bartek, I'm glad you made it before the deadline, welcome to the Challenge! I understand that your travels keep you busy, but I hope you are also able to keep safe and stay warm. On to your work: your Deep One is beautifully ugly and lovingly creepy. Even without a glossy varnish, the pose, sculpt and texture suggest a slimy creature. You have achived with the eyes a very spooky effect. Excellent travail!
Greetings all, and glad you can join me for my first post of this, AHPC XV, which is my third
attempt at the Snowlord’s dance-through-hell-and-heaven obstacle course of
paint and banter.
If this was a sports documentary, there would be some line
in this about how I have something to prove. After a decent first outing (AHPC
XIII), I aimed high and dropped low and hard in AHPC XIV. So, this year, I’m
aiming for a relatively modest 750 points.
With a busy work year, I haven’t much time preparing and
indeed planning miniatures. Frankly, with a pile of plastic sitting dormant
since last Challenge (and some from the one before), I expect I will be spending a *lot* of time in limbo. That said,
I’m hoping to get a few new things out there – maybe have a swing at some of
Dante’s circles, and get out at least one bespoke piece before we wrap up.
So, first up, to get me out of the doghouse of the 21 Jan
cut off: Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings Hundred Kingdoms Household
Knights.
In AHPC XIII, I started painting my brother’s Conquest: The
Last Argument of Kings Hundred Kingdoms army.
Two years on, I’m still going (well, to be fair, my brother has to downsize his armies – so this is an older sibling helping out with pre-sale prep!).
What to say about these? 38mm knights on horses. The figures
are large (see comparison with a GW chaos warrior). Since my brother bought
his Conquest army secondhand, a number of them were already block painted using
Citadel contrast or similar. While this, I believe, qualifies as putting me in Limbo, these were a focus of a lot of
touching up.
The process
The 'touching up' mostly involved bringing minis into the red/turquoise
theme of the army, with a fair bit of work on the red on the cloaks and caparison to gain more depth, and shining up the armour. As it was, the paint work was a dull
metallic (heavily washed, probably Nuln Oil). Overall, very dull. Not a bad look but
not what I imagined for a resplendent household knight cavalry on the charge. This was fixed by hitting them with metallics again, and then a brushed-on gloss varnish.
Admittedly harder to see in photo, but the difference between dull and touched-up and glossed metal
The new build figures - including the standard bearer - followed the same process. Without the original recipe for the paint work, here the the challenge with was getting a good colour match. Needless to say, Citadel
Carroburg Crimson wash was relied on to get the red of the cloaks approximate.
And more horse butts
A last note on the rider with the pennant. The command element for this called for a musician,
but there wasn't any option for one on the sprues I had. So, to distinguish the figure, I used an open helmet from an infantry set and
added the pennant – metal foil from a wine bottle
top!
Process wise the I rediscovered (yet again) that despite having a generous work space, after a few days of working on the bench the inevitable spread of paint droppers/pots effectively corners me on a hand's width rump of desk space to work on, before I'm pushed off the table completely. Trying to be better about keeping this aspect of the painting process under control!
The result
Standard question when I finish painting: am happy with
them? Given the Challenge and these prompted me to pick up a brush for the
first time in a year, yes. Sure, given their generous scale I would love to be
more precise and bring out more of the detail, but happy enough. They were an opportunity to use up more of my legacy Citadel paints (particularly washes), having bought a set of the Army Painter Fanatic range - which i'm quite happy with. One aspect I am keen to try out is a new matt varnish - the brushed-on Vallejo matt (on the cloaks etc) was far too satin for my liking (despite vigorous mixing/shaking) so I will be keen to try out some AK Interactive Ultra Matt when it arrives.
The points
With Monday Minion Millsy's agreement, I have scored these as for 40mm:
9 x 40mm cavalry @15 pts each: 135 pts
Limbo bonus: 20 pts
Total: 155 pts
...in the background
Probably like most, music or audiobooks accompany my painting. Through he painting of these I was listening to the Joe Abercrombie First Law trilogy audiobooks, which I highly recommend - English actor Steven Pacey's narration is top notch.
From Millsy:
Lovely brushwork on the knights Bartek! I really like your colour choices and the basing sets them off very nicely indeed.
Great to hear that the Challenge motivated you to pick the brush up again, it's a wonderful motivator and hopefully the enthusiasm will persist beyond the end of March.
Having been MIA for the duration of this Challenge, this post feels part mea culpa and part a thrown towel. The short version - I started a different job late last year which was busy, but it amped up this year (long days, long weeks, some weekends). And when that wasn't nipping at my heels, 'real life' stepped in to fill the gap. Sooo, my entire contribution this Challenge was...read 'em and weep...a whopping 35 points (with Library bonus) of 40K greenskins, from a 1000 pt target.
Below is what I'd intended to get done - a 28mm Caesarean army (mostly Warlord pictured, some Foundry in the wings). This will be a slow burn over the next few weeks months.
The grand project for the Challenge
I did have a cunning plan to get with the program, jump on the team and come on in for the big win by taking a week off work, painting 9-5 and delivering salvation in a points bomb. Yeah, no, alas. What had been planned for a few weeks ago kept being shifted but finally happened this past week.
The almost-rans
So, apologies to Millsy and the Antipodean Friday crew for not pulling my weight, and to those who missed out on a place in the Challenge (honestly, if I'd known...). Of course, thanks to Curt and the 'back of house' crew who keep things ticking along, and, lastly and importantly, to everyone who took part - I've (at long bloody last) had a few days to indulge in perusing the posts. Some stellar stuff.
Despite best intentions, another close-to-deadline danger zone first entry. (Hey AHPC XV! looking at you, third times the charm!). Just a lot of busy going around (mostly work), but its great to be back for another year.
With my main intended project for this challenge nowhere near undercoated, what was i to do? The answer - digging into my very own overdue and returns box - holding those figures that never quite make it up the paint queue but havent gotten around to getting rid of.
Thus I bring you three (space) Orks from Warhammer 40K: The Goff, The Bad (Moon) and the Ugly (Blood Axe). Obviously all three are the same miniature, taken from 40K's 5th edition (?) starter box. Since i never owned that, I assume they belonged to my brother or came in a lot sale. And they have been gathering dust for a few good months having been used as experimental dollies for 'slapchop' undercoating, with the intention of testing Speedpaints/Contrast etc on them (yet more overdue).
A Goff, Blood Axe and Bad Moon walk into a bar...
Since they're all same figure (aside from my having cut off the topknot on one for a bit of variety), the question was how to paint them - all three as the same scheme (which would have been kinda boring but faster) or something more creative. Inspiration hit when flipping through one of the trilogy of GW 1st ed 40K Ork sourcebooks, 1990s WAAARGH Orks (this was in the days of 40K lore when greenskins ate but were not, I'm pretty sure, fungus).
Authored by Nigel Stillman and Bryan Ansell, WAAARGH is a pure fluff sourcebook - no rules, no army lists, no stats (these were covered in 'Ere We Go: Orks in Warhammer 40,000 - a game sourcebook - and Freebooterz, which contained army lists). Aside from explaining every bot of Ork society and culture, it also contains some fantastic artwork for different Ork clans, because Orks have clanz, and castes. So, lets introduce these fun guyz...fungis...boyz, with some self-commentary on the painting.
The Goff
I've named him Carl McCoy. The most militaristic of the orks, they favour black clothes (the name gives it away?), with red and black/white chequered decoration ubiquitous to GW orks. They also bring in German military and biker vibes (they have a unit called the Stormboyz, and wear coalscuttle helmets), not evident on this fig.
I couldn't not try it and turned out quite well, if i say so myself, for a impetuous attempt at freehand (and after a couple of glasses of adult beverage to boot). After using an Artline 0.3 pen to draw the lines, filled in the black then white, and didn't fuss too much about precision given these guys wouldn't be OCD about getting things between the lines. Equally happy with how the pitted and worn red on the body armour plates turned out - inspired more in my mind's eye by Firefly Reaver ships than anything 40K.
The Bad Moon...rising
The Bad Moon clan are rich, mercantile traders (I guess in a particular Ork way), and wear lots of yellow.
Yellow is a colour i have been hit and miss with - seemed to work out this time: Citadel 'FlashGitz' yellow base, light wash of Citadel earthshade followed by Citadel's yellow wash, then army painter Moon Dust (a pale yellow) for highlights. Armour given a bit of a earthshade wash to give it a yellowish tone. The red face paint/tattoo is straight from one of pics in WAAARGH (though I'd been loking at this guy and wondering what was missing, when i realised I'd painted it on the Goff instead - quick redo was in order). Lastly, the striped pants - a tribute to David Lee Roth and Iron Maiden's lycra years.
The Blood Axe
In this lore the Blood Axes were almost wiped out in the internecine and genocidal 'Da Big Party', and - being weakened - were willing to receive covert indirect support from the Imperium. Result - human military style influence - they wear combat helmets, fatigues and forage caps. Thus the cam outfit - it came out alright but a bit disappointed as had a decent tigerstripe going before hitting it with a Citadel shade which washed it out in green tones. Just not as black/white tigerstripey as before - gotta love a good tiger stripe cam.
Paints used: A mix, as usual. Citadel Contrast and layer paints, Citadel Shades, Army
Painter Warpaints and Speedpaint 2, Vallejo Metal color airbrush colours
which are amazing, but need a lot of control when applied by brush because they flow like crazy.
A postscript: AOver three decades ago, in the days of 40K 1st ed (Rogue Trader!), I was an Imperial Guard player: structured hierarchy, shiny helmets, lasgun pennants, flak armour or breastplates...they used s's, had Commissars (and Commisar Training Squads...and the more sketchy 'human bombs') in their orbat. Pure antithesis to Orks, so I definitely never got into the
whole "Orky" thing. Thirty years on I am starting to see the appeal, of the minis at least...green chaos in plastic.
Points
3x 28mm @5pts each = 15 pts
'Overdue and returns' library bonus = 20 pts
Total = 35 pts(and only 965 to go to target!)
From Millsy: Welcome back Bartek! Great to see you make the cut in 2024 and with a wonderful trio of greenskins to start. I don't typically like remakes of my favourite films but I would pay to see this one.
Speaking of green skin, I love what you've done with the flesh tones on these chaps, lots of depth without being too bright. That leaves room for some bright clothing and other adornments to really make these orky boys pop.
A much belated wrap up - I’ve
been travelling for work but to put a full stop on my AHPC XIII
Adding my voice to the thanks
and appreciations: to Curt and Sarah as our gracious hosts; the hardworking minions
for getting the posts up and keeping things running (big shout-out to Martin
for keeping the Sunday Crew on the rails, and for his patience as I
found my feet). A nod to Mr Roundwood for creating the Studio challenge -
fantastic stuff which had me diving into random pockets of my pile of shame
(and at least one impulsive purchase of Murch Pulp figures). Lastly, thanks to
everyone for their posts and comments – inspirational and sometimes intimidating stuff, but the sense of community and camaraderie has been a definite high point.
Challenge XIII was my first time
participating in the AHPC and a definite case of 'long time listener, first
time caller'. Its been an absolute blast despite/with its periods of pressure (a few late nights). Most importantly (and I can't overstate this), its pushed me
from what has been for years pretty much ‘collecting’ (hoarding) and being in this hobby in investment and theory ('fellow traveller' might be an apt description) to actually
getting paint on plastic and metal. Really baseline stuff but a massive shift after close to a decade of overthinking and umming and ahhing on getting back into the doing.
In terms of actual output, I
aimed low in terms of points and walked away pretty satisfied with the result – a lot to improve in
terms of technique (I am an utterly inefficiently slow painter) but happy with
the journey so far.
The output, minus the Conquest unit (back with my brother)
From a target 300 points, I came
away with 332 pts for painted minis with another 140pts in Studio bonuses
for a 472pt total. Not bad for a first attempt I reckon. A really scattered bunch of topics - worked against me a bit but also got me deep into the ‘miscellaneous’ stuff in my stash/pile and let me indulge a lot of nostalgia and fave topics. Amusingly, looking back on my first post, barely anything I did was in the original planned pile and there is a lot more sitting around I didn't get to. Oh well, there will always be a next time! :-)
As an aside, I have to admit the ‘Work
in Progress’ Studio really made the difference to kickstarting things at what
was up against the clock for the first post. I don’t know if a ‘WIP’ studio/space will remain
a thing, but I’m a definite fan of the concept as a fast-track gateway (even if the points values are
reduced to account for it being what it is).
Hope to see you all back here
for XIV. In the meantime, my plan is to do a hard reset on a very defunct blog and then choose a project from the pile to keep the momentum rolling on.
Okay, with the clock ticking down, a last dash through some studios, compiled in the one post. Apologies in advance for the length and the photos (the IT curse continues - managed to CTRL-Z the folder with all photos into non-existence, prompting a late night redo)
The 1980s…
I grew up in the 80s so it’s a rich topic for me: playing on
plinthed T-34s back in the old country pre-emigration to Australia, the Vic-20
(we couldn’t affort a C-64), my first sets of Airfix, Esci, Matchbox and
Tamiya, discovering D&D then Call of Cthulhu, purchase of my first ever
Citadel minis set (1985)….then later being sucked into the worlds of Warhammer
through Rogue Trader and 3rd ed Fantasy Battle. Among other stories.
But how to capture the zeitgeist in miniature?
Alas, I don’t have many miniatures from back then. And
still wonder what happened to the 40K Rogue Trader Imperial guard army I had
(and sold): shiny helmets, gang tattoos, imperial beastmen, commissar training
squad and – problematically – ‘human bombs’. I do have a box of ex-Citadel
Foundry Miniatures which are of the period (I assume) but it didn’t feel ‘just
right’.
Then I got onto the TV of the period – in the halcyon days
before interactive screens. the various
miniatures inspired by shows like The A-Team, V, Dr Who. I almost got a box of
CMON’s He-Man miniatures game. But what I really wanted was The Equalizer (also
having discovered Callan in the 1980s). Or maybe Buck Rogers, Battle of the
Planets, Star Blazers*, or Danger Mouse. That took me down to the thinking
journey to this triptych: the 1980s through screen, game and page. Enjoy.
1980s - Screen: Saturday ‘toons: Robotech
Being a kid of the 80s I can point to so many shows - some
listed above (nd many the vanilla-ised version of their Japanese originals).
But Robotech nee Macross was a standout – the tales of plucky UN Spacy pilots
in space jets slash mech armour battling the Zentraedi invaders. Happy days. So, courtesy of Kids Logic 1/285 licensed
Harmony Gold range, here we have: a VF-1S Skull Squadron Super Veritech in Battloid
Mode; Zentraedi Officer’s Glaug (Battlepod); and one of the undervalued
workhorses of the UN world government’s space defence force – a Destroid
Tomahawk.
These miniatures are high detail, to an annoying point
(missed so many fine but deep panel lines and with the undercoat!) and the
resin can be brittle but they are really nice also. Painted using Citadel,
Vallejo and with some Ammo of Mig crystal acrylics and filters. The VF-1S
intentionally left looking mostly dirty. There is an ongoing debate in the
scale model community as to how clean modern jets on ops are and I wanted to
tap into that…and because dry brushing became a pain! The Tomahawk could do
with some decals but is otherwise stock, and not much to add about the
Battlepod.
1980s - Game: Second sci-fi fiddle: Battletech
Of course, the Macross mechs (and other anime designs) would see another
life in Battletech, at least for a while.
Though it didn’t hook my friends and I in like 40K Rogue
trader, Battletech was the backup game (circa 1988). It was easy to throw the
box – with all the card minis and maps – in a backpack, jump on the bike and
ride over to a friend’s house. we never expanded with City Tech and Aerotech),
I liked the art and the story was almost as gripping (though I was also
attracted by FASA’s other offering – Renegade Legion).
The Destroid Tomahawk, renamed the Warhammer in Battletech, was the
mech of the game for me. This one – same Kids Logic as the one above – has been painted in black
with red accents as a mount of (Battletech sex symbol/poster gal), the
notorious and enigmatic mercenary sub-unit commander Natasha Kerensky, aka the
Black Widow. The one regret I have of this is that the Wolf Dragoon’s decal on
the lower right leg is lost – I didn’t underpaint a light colour effectively
enough.
***INTERMISSION***
Armed with my fresh Blue pass, jumping in to...
The Superheroes
Studio.
In the dedicated peak of my comic book reading (pre- through
later teens), there were three ‘heros’ I followed diligently, going down to the
newsagent each week and buying the latest releases: Judge Dredd, Batman and The
Punisher. (now I think about it, might say something about my mindset in those
years). If I was to add a fourth, it would The Nam. So, for this entry, 2000AD’s
iconic and ironic (anti-)hero Judge Dredd.
And what superhero would be complete without a nemesis, in
this case Judge Death (although I wonder if Death isn’t really the nemesis for PSI
Judge Anderson?).
Sing along moment…
Both figures are Warlord releases from their Judge Dredd
game, in Warlord resin (which I understand has been improved, thankfully).
Death was mostly slapchop and kept to a faded tone – in keeping with his not-alive
and not entirely corporeal state. Dredd wasa slapchop/traditional hybrid (clearly, having kicked off a few minis
with it, slapchop is not the ‘last technique you’ll ever use’ in my book).
Meanwhile, back in the 1980s Studio
1980s - Page: There is only war: Rogue Trooper
Genetic Infantry, Souther trooper and Nort trooper
Mongoose Publishing Rogue Trooper, Nort Trooper, and
Southern Trooper. The sharp-eyed will see the Nort and ask ‘what the hell? He’s
in black” (rather than brown). Although Rogue Trooper has a long history, I
didn’t come to it until the 1989
‘War Machine’ re-boot which, for all its faults, struck a chord with
14-year old me through its grimdark art and, since I was running them as my 40K
army, the Imperial Guard-like look of the Southers and GIs (the helmets and
flak armour – a look continued in some mainstream 40K imperial guard to this
day!). So, the black rubber chem-bio suited Nort is a nod to that – the shine
achieved with Ammo acrylic filter.
With source material
Onto...
The Casting Couch….
The Director leaned back to look
up at the casting manager, the now empty whiskey glass deposited on the
oversized desk. It had been a long day, he had a headache which the whiskey was
barely medicating.
The casting manager leaned in, plucked
the cigarette from his lips and exhaled smoke over his notes before speaking.
‘So, Herr Director, I understand
you wanted to sign someone versatile. Make them a star and use them through a
number of movies on a tight deadline. Dare I say, I feel you need someone with
a thousand forms for all the roles you have planned. And, I think I have got
the actor you need…’
The Director sighed. His planned
release schedule was hectic, and costs needed to be kept down. Signing one
actor who could do a variety of roles would save a lot of headaches.
‘Mr N – hmmm, no first name given,
seems to just go by the initial - l’Hoptep. A new find. Yet to meet him in
person you understand but comes recommended. Has been doing some off broadway
and avante garde work, but apparently very impressive. Well, beyond avante garde…if
there is such a thing. His solo play ‘The Tick Tock Man’ was something of an
underground hit although marred by some drama and scandal at the end. Apparently,
the audience went wild. Literally. Tore each other up, some had guns so there
was shooting. A bloody mess’.
‘Hmmmm. That’s the avante garde
crowd for you. What kind of name is that anyway. L’Hotep – French?”
“I don’t rightly know. Probably
made up. His background is…well, you know how these actors like to create an
air of mystery. Nevertheless, maybe this is one you should take a look at’.
‘Fine, fine Rudy, get in contact.
And find a time to summon him in’.
Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, Messenger of the Outer
Gods, God of a Thousand forms and so on. For those not into ‘all that tentacle
stuff’ of the Lovecraftian/Cthulhu Mythos, Nyarlathotep is…actually hard to
describe…an entity that promotes chaos and destruction, and has a myriad human-like
and monstrous forms (‘masks’). And is the main big bad in the Chaosium’s epic
(in several senses of the word) Call of Cthulhu RPG campaign, The Masks of
Nyarlathotep. Given the many masks, you could not ask for better for
versatility in a lead role.
I managed to get two avatars painted up – The Haunter of the
Dark and The Bloated Woman. Both miniatures are from the Nyarlathotep expansion
to the Cthulhu
Wars boardgame (a kickstarter I sold years ago) so boardgames figures, with
all the problems that come with those.
“I see it—coming
here—hell-wind—titan blur—black wings—Yog-Sothoth save me—the three-lobed
burning eye. . . .”
A large partly corporeal batlike entity that detests light, with
its most obvious feature being a tri-lobed eye, it doesn’t lend itself to a lot
of use of colour. The eyes are the obvious focal point. Minis was black
undercoat highlighted grey, with the eyes painted red then orange. To finish
off I used the Ammo of Mig acrylic crystal paint red on the eyes, and Ammo’s acrylic
filter ‘Night Black’ to smoothing out the dry brushed greys and get a sheen.
The Bloated Woman - Pure body horror that appears first in Chaosium’s The
Masks of Nyarlathotep. I’ll draw on that for the description of this avatar
(all rights reserved etc Chaosium Publishing):
This particularly disgusting form of Nyarlathotep is known on
Earth only among the Order of the Bloated Woman. The avatar crudely resembles a
human woman, even though she appears as a 600-pound (270 kg), 7-feet (2 m) tall
horror, with tentacles in place of arms, and more tentacles sprouting from
rolls of sickly yellow-gray flesh. Below her eyes waves another tentacle, and
below and beside that are four lumpy chins, each sporting a mouth; all a
perfect bow made hideous by clusters of fangs. Multiple smaller tentacles
sprout from the rest of her body…tucked into the belt is the Black Fan which,
when held just under her eyes, permits her to take on the appearance of a slim
and beautiful Chinese maiden. The fan pulls all attention to her gaze and
somehow conceals the avatar’s bulk and her true form—everything but those lovely eyes. When the fan is removed,
her full monstrousness is gruesomely apparent. Assisted by the Black Fan, the
Bloated Woman may seduce men and women alike, giving her victims unearthly and
degenerate pleasure before smothering them in her flabby bulk.
The miniature is different to this description but still, not something you want to run into. Ever.
Arthouse
I was struggling what to do for Arthouse until the conversation
on the back of one of Curt’s posts about Mork Borg and then Cy-Borg. The cover
of Cy-Borg, Stockholm Kartell’s Mork Borg-esque rules light take on cyberpunk.
Johan Nohr’s cover art prompting this neon flouro-tastic arthouse entry,
painted in a new technique which I am sure will create as much a buzz on the
socials as ‘slapchop’ did: I like to call it slapdash’.
(Ok, I’m taking the micky here).
The miniature started as a GW 40K chaos cultist but was wantonly
Borg’ed with green stuff until it looked suitably chaotic, undercoated black
and then…well the technique literally involved: remind self it is the last
night before the end of the challenge, simultaneously accept that one has had
one or two too many adult beverages to paint with much degree of skilled coordination,
defiantly declare ‘f it, we’ll do it live’, get a bit Jackson Pollack with
flouro paints, wake up the next morning and redo some sections being a bit more
deliberate.
If I was to redo I’d use less colours and starker white
(there is a few bits of art in the Cy-Borg rules in which Nohr uses just black,
white and one other colour – normally yellow – with good effect, in keeping
with the ‘Borg aesthetic and also on black (which helps).
So, do I think it works? Yeah, kinda. Placing the mini on
the rulebook cover – the palette is ballpark,
the figure has the offbeat look that could be Borgian? Borgish? Ultimately
there is nothing (I’m gonna use the term again) avante garde about the figure…until
the UV light goes on 😊
Conclusion (and points)
With my with my lower back about to write a letter of
complaint over some longer-than-usual days in the office and late nights at the
bench, I am drawing a line under my entries for AHPC XIII. But obviously not
before calculating the points:
2000AD and Cy-Borg – 6 x 28mm minis @5pts ea: 30
pts
Lovercraftian nasties – this is where it gets
awkward since there is no ‘monster’ category I’m going to pitch for 15 points
each: 30 pts (welcome adjucation on this)
Bartek, from my reading of your post I think you and I would get along just fine. We are of the same vintage and have many of the same hobby recollections. It was nice going down memory lane with your last submission. So much to like here, from the Battletech to the Cy-Borg, Robotech to Call of Cthulhu, it's all wonderful stuff. Thanks for pitching in with us this year, Bartek, I hope to see you in the ranks for Challenge XIV.
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