From DallasE: 28mm Afrikakorps Infantry from Perry Miniatures (Perelandra) (65 points)

So, temptation is the theme of Perelandra, and this post represents further giving into it, and the start of the infantry painting for a new project - the Western Desert. First up is a 10-man section of Perry Miniatures DAK infantry.

The models are from the Perrys' plastic box, of course. I usually shun multi-part plastic models like a social disease, mainly because of the time and fiddliness in assembling the models. However the Perry stuff is only moderately time-consuming and fiddly... they come with head, torso and legs as one piece, and you stick on arms and weapon (usually as one piece), field gear (also one piece), and headgear. That's it, unless you need to assemble a machine gunner or NCO, then you need to also stick on a tool pouch or MP40 ammo pouches. So not a ton of work, and they're way more cost-effective than metal or even the Warlord/Bolt Action DAK box.

You can pick headgear from three variants - the early sun helmet, the steel helmet, or the iconic "Afrika" peaked soft cap. It's a good idea to trim a bit off the top of the model's head (ouch) before sticking on the cap, just to help it sit down a little lower over the eyes.

Once the dudes are assembled, it's time to paint 'em... I stocked up on shades of khaki for these guys. The trousers are all painted GW Zandri Dust with an Agrax Earthshade wash and re-highlight with Zamesi, and the jackets and caps are a variety of shades, including Vallejo Khaki and Yellow-Green, GW Rakarth Flesh, AK Deck Tan, etc... the webbing and helmets are Zandri Dust and breadbags are GW XV-88. Rifle stocks are GW Mournfang Brown highlighted with Skrag Brown, as are the wool covers on the waterbottles. 

Most of the poses are pretty good. In a few cases I had to do some greenstuff work around the joins between the arms and torso, but most were good.

The one-piece field gear is good too, there's a water bottle, breadbag, gas mask canister, entrenching tool and bayonet all attached. The tropical boots are cool too - I painted them with GW Doombull Brown and Vallejo German Uniform as seen here.

So points... as noted I'm gonna try and cram this into Perelandra as I've fully succumbed to temptation to start a new WW2 period. The DAK and Eighth Army will join my 28mm NW Europe British/Canadians, British Commandos, BEF/Home Guard, US paratroopers, US winter infantry, winter Finns, Soviets, German Heer, German Waffen-SS, German Fallschirmjagers, and early-war French in the cabinets. 

8x 28mm infantry = 40 points

2x prone 28mm infantry = 5 points

Perelandra planetary bonus = 20 points

Total = 65 points 

See you again soon!

***

I am very excited to see these Dallas! Some 28mm gaming in WW2's desert theatres will be a ton of fun, and will also look awesome. I totally support your approach to multi-part-plastic historical figures, but the results here are excellent. Even the prone machine gun crew looks awesome (although prone 28mm figures are always a bit of a tragedy). I loved the variety of shades you have used to achieve the "same-but-varied" look that fits so well with DAK uniforms. Great work dude!

GregB

 

From ScottM: Perelandra & Terra (55 points)

For this post, I've managed to stop off at two locations in this Quadrant. First up is my last location in the Middle Ring: Perelandra. I went with the Ocean theme and have a Giant Octopus. This plastic figure is from Wizkids Deep Cuts line.

Simple and easy fig to paint. It does look a bit better in person. I've never been able to master the art of taking decent pictures.

And for my first location on the Inner Ring, I stopped at Terra. I went with the Earthbound theme and have a pair of Xorns. These plastic figs are also from Wizkids and from their Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures line.

And here am I so far. Hopefully I can scramble out one more post.

So that should be:

• 3 - 28mm foot figs = 15 points
• 2 locations (Perelandra & Terra) = 40 points

Total = 55 points

From Millsy:

I really like you colour choice for the Giant Octopus Scott. That iridescent blue is so saturated and vibrant. A great choice but I can understand why it was hard to photograph too. It's also the colour Aussie kids get drummed into them means BAD when you find it on the beach :-P

And what's not to love about a Xorn? All they want is hugs.

DougM: Yellow-Nosed B*st*rds! - Perelandra (60 Points)

The Spitfires need something to keep them amused, so using the finest historical research material, 'Battle of Britain' MGM 1969...  or MCMLXIX or whatever... I present the 'Yellow-Nosed B*st*rds' of the movie. Home 3d printed 1/200 Messerschmitt Me109E (Emil). 

I faffed around for a fair while figuring out what colours to use, and the cockpit framing and camouflage is inconsistent as I experimented with what I thought looked best. But here they are, ready to give 603 and 43 Squadrons a hard time. 

Of course, one of the drawbacks the Luftwaffe faced during the Battle was that they had to travel across water (Oceanic) and face the (Temptation) to linger too long in combat, risking running out of fuel on the return leg...  so pretty please a planet bonus.. 

Squirrel Points - these add another 12 x 3 = 36 points to 1/200 Luftwaffe to add to the 7 Heinkels, so enough to bring them up to Squirrel status. A grand total of 9 Squirrel points so far... 

From Dave D 

I Wondered when these might be along - another grand addition

From EdwardG - A little last minute planet hop (Vulcan and Perelandra) (55 points)

 Evening all, 

I hope that although this is coming in late on the submission day, I can still slide under the slowly closing stone door and make it through while still wearing my hat! 

Within the lead pile I have managed to excavate a couple of minis that are useable for my last planetary landing attempts. After this I am planning on getting my head down and attempting to finish the main target project for this Challenge. While the last few weeks speed their way past in a blur. 

My first planetary port of call is Vulcan. Now this called for something logic (not a hope in hell), or with pointy ears (slightly more potential, but only slightly). I was inspired when a comment to a previous post of Moonstone minis was commented on that the Bunnies would have fitted the bill for Vulcan had I not already entered them for another planet. This got me thinking! So a re-visit to the moonstone stockist nearby, and I came away with another box of minis! Which of course I needed....This was the Malachite Mystics box set for anyone in the know. Within this box were a couple of minis that fitted perfectly the pointy ears requirements. I decided to paint the one with the pointiest ears of the bunch. So I present Raegan, Leshavult Priestess. She has some very useful powers and seems like she could nicely buff up Boris in his bunny summoning, so I am looking forward to trying to play the mini! I decided on a yoda-esque colour scheme, and was quite happy with the final result. 

Now I have managed to finally complete the outer planetary ring, I can finally start to take small steps deeper into the Quadrant. Even though I am very late in my ventures. 

For my next planet fall, I would look to land on the sea based planet of Perelandra. The Oceanic theme was a tough one for me, as I never normally paint naval or anything of that genre. However, I did remember that I had a mini which I had bought during the course of last year on the basis that it looked fun and might be useful as a Curtgeld or similar in this year's Challenge (I really like having this reason when explaining purchases...) Tbh, I cannot remember where I found him, or his make. But for me, there are few things more of the ocean, than a pirate from the golden age of sail! Yaharrrrrrrrr!

The final mini for my submission this evening sadly did not fit any of the available planets. He is neither Good, nor Evil, and certainly not a friend to any. The mini comes from the Medieval Marginalia kickstarter, which are some brilliant sculpts that I am sure will pop up in several future Challenges. It is crazy what people would draw in the margins of books! He is mounted as my 25mm Barker Marker (a 'technical' term for Zone of Control(ZoC) markers. The ZoC being a standard part of Mr. Barker's rules). I attempt to paint a new one for each 25/28mm DBA army that I paint. It is an odd thing, but I feel the Barker Marker is almost part of the army, although it is certainly not something I do for my 15mm DBA armies. But back to the mini. He is pleasantly playing a tune on his lute, but I fear for any of the opponents minis who can hear the tune. 

So down to the scoring:

3x 25mm foot miniatures = 15pts

Vulcan visit = 20pts

Perelandra visit = 20pts

Total = 55pts!

Hope everyone stays healthy and looking forward to getting one final entry in to close out this year and with any luck, just make my points target!! 

Take Care!

Ed

***

"And I came away with another box of minis! Which of course I needed." - the story of our lives. Well said, and well-painted.

Also - squeezing 55 points out of three figures. Now THAT is what we call "Wednesday"!

GregB

From MartinC - Running out of ways to describe Random Painting. So. Stuff. (302 pts)

 I've done some painting, no messing about, here it is

Moorish Black Guard, a 2nd hand buy and no clue who made them. They are fine, in the English style meaning OK.

I have quite a few Moorish types but they are a bit colourful so needed some in standard black. Even then I couldn't keep them all black.

Moorish shields are intricately patterned. Struggle to paint intricate random shield designs and hate transfers. So in such cases I write in Arabic script (or Sanskrit for my Indian elephants). I think it looks cool. These shields say "Sinner" which works both ways.

Next up a Reaper bones Were-Gorilla. Not a fan of these soft plastic figures but it was £1. Also got a new phone and working out how to use it

I have a large back of beyond collectionm and we have started playing very large battles with Russian Civil War, Turks and Brits. This is an Empress British radio mule

Will use it to control off map artillery

Couple of mules and a couple of converted Wargames Foundry figs as Anzacs

Final stretch. Dave and I are planning a gangster campaign and I fancy a few masked investigator types. These are from Pulp, so are great figures.

This masked Venus is my Perelandra entry. Tried to give her a tattoo but it looked rubbish.

And finally Crash Callahan, ace reporter. She, her dog and motorbike sidecar combo are fab, again Pulp.

Scores, hang in there Tamsin I think I've got this.

Arabs = 36 figs x 5 = 180

Gorilla = 1 x 40mm fig = 7

Back of Beyond = 5 men @ 5 each and 3 mules also at 5 = 40

Pulp = 6 figs + 2 dogs (2.5 each) + vehicle + Perelandra = 75

Total = 302 pts.

Feel free to add more.

Kaboom! Let's start the reports off with a MartinC-shaped points-bomb! That's a great mix of figures. And another odd lycanthrope added to your tally.

Tamsin

From JohnE - 28mm Reaper Strumpet - [Perelandra] - (25 Points)

For my first stop in the Middle Ring, I thought this Reaper Strumpet fits the bill for temptation. Lots of work with InstantColors on this one, especially the hair. A joy to paint.

Points Summary: 

1 x 28mm foot @ 5 points = 5 points

Perelandra (Middle Ring) bonus = 20 points

Total = 25 points

***

Thanks John - remind me/us, what are the "Instant Colours" again? Can't argue with the results, whatever they are - this strumpet is fabulous (ly well-painted). Great job. 

 A reminder to folks to please include the planet you are visiting on the labels - thanks!

GregB

From GeoffreyT: Multi-planet mayhem (Solaris)(LV-426)(Perelandra)(Krypton)(Gethen)(161 points)

From Vulcan, we leave pointy ears behind us and move onto its neighbour Solaris.

SOLARIS - Deception

These two chaps came from a second hand bulk lot.  I have identified them as Copplestone castings Spies.  Both are wearing nondescript suits to blend in where ever blending is needed.

They don't blend in particularly well with the green grass base.

That is now the last location in the outer-ring

Solaris is adjacent to LV-426 in the middle ring, so onwards and inwards we go.

LV-426 - Aliens

My Stargrave crew consisted of various Apeonauts from the USSS Fossey.  With the untimely death of their leader, they are now drifting in space somewhat directionless, as the most likely candidate for a new leader was Bubbles.  Unfortunately Bubbles lacks leadership qualities.  This is because Bubbles is a chimpanzee.

Therefore, it is time to build a new crew, and a new crew means new miniatures.  These three are the core of the next mob.  Three Alien Greys (reaper chronoscope metals).  The greys are nominally 28mm scale, although they are a bit weedy, 24mm to the eye.

The greys have different types of equipment, which will be great for identifying them as various skill types in game.  However, I'm not sure an anal probe is equipment used in Stargrave. (I will check rulebook just in case)

Of course, in Stargrave you need random monster antagonists.  This wooly rhino fits the in game description of a "Horat".  28mm model from Reaper Warlord metals.  The Horat is also an Alien.

For some reason, this Horat has two horns and one ear.  The missing ear is probably a casting defect, but I have added gore so it looks like it was bitten off by a space monster called Mike.

The Horat is big.  This is it compared to the greys.

Now from LV426 we jump over the already completed Noels comet, to Perelandra, the final uncompleted destination in the middle ring.

PERELANDRA - Oceanic

This sculpt is a mer-bloke on a sea-horse, trumpeting on a conch shell.  very oceanic indeed.  This is a 28mm Ral Partha miniature, from their Shadowrun line.

Here he is on the reverse.  I didnt have anything oceanic, so grabbed him from a bin of old stock at my local gaming store in Perth city to match the requirement.  Probably been in the store for 25 years, as it dates back that far.

Here is his muddy cousin, that came in same pack.  

Now the middle ring is done, and I zoom around in circles till I reach the great abyssal and begin my final assault on the inner ring at Krypton.

KRYPTON - Superhero

I didn't have anything suitable for this location either, so the same old stock bin at my local store produced this beauty.  This is a Reaper Chronoscope 28mm metal miniature labelled 'Torrent - Superhero".  Leaping out of the water, it is apparent her super-abilities include having dry hair after swimming.

I don't know anything about the super-hero genre, so I could safely paint her any colour I choose.  I chose a yellow bikini, because Y is for yellow Bikini in the alphabet soup challenge.

My wife said I picked this model because she had big tits, although there may be an element of truth in that, like a dutiful husband that I am, I denied it.

The yellow bikini is not so evident from the rear shot.

Next door we cool down after all that excitement, on a planet of ice and snow.

GETHEN - Ice and Snow

These two ferocious monsters are denizens of frostgrave, from the 28mm Northstar line, designed for the game.  First, a snow leopard.

I wasn't quite happy with the leopard spots, so I thought I might re-paint them.  Then I realised a leopard doesn't change its spots, so I left it as is.  You basically just get one shot at it.

Next is an ice toad.  These guys have a nasty bite.

I wasn't happy with spots on this one either, but since it wasn't a leopard, I could change them and they are now better.

Finally a widget I found in my box of unpainted things.  Spider eggs from Wizkids.  The eggs were translucent, I painted them with a translucent paint to keep the 'Nemo's doomed siblings' egg effect.

***

Not many miniatures for lots of bonus points this week.  However, there are not many planets left for me to claim now.

10 x 28mm foot = 50 points

1 x 28mm mounted fig

1 widget = 1 point

5 bonus planets = 100 points.

Total = 161 points

Y is for Yellow Bikini.

Cheers

GT

A good variety of figures here, Geoff. Nice work on all those labels! I think I've been to that Perth store you speak of and found some antique figures there myself. Keep an eye out for your Challenge!

Barks