From GregB - 20mm WWII German Infantry Platoon (84 points)

20mm WW2 German Infantry Platoon

My second entry for the Painting Challenge is a set of opponents for my first entry - here is a platoon of WW2 German Infantry.  With one exception, these figures are all from the Plastic Soldier Company's 1/72 Late War German Infantry box sets.  Some of these figures were painted prior to the challenge starting, but I finished most of them after I powered through the Russians.

The fellow in the front is a 20mm casting from Warmodelling - everyone else is plastic from PSC

There are enough figures for a full regular infantry platoon, three squads of 10 men each, each with a two-man LMG team. This PSC set has the same challenge as the Russians, in that the LMG figures are either prone (sigh) or marching merrily (useless).  But it is lacking in a figure that looks like a proper platoon commander/officer, so I ordered a metal one from Warmodelling.

One LMG per squad in this platoon of foot sloggers

The figures are based as the Russians, with NCOs on square bases and senior leaders on hex bases and everyone else on round bases.

Prone LMG gunners - a disappointing sculpt, but better than marching!

I find painting German uniforms to be the hardest part of collecting figures for WW2. Even getting the basic green/grey correct is tricky (at least for me), and once you advance past a certain period of the war a wide assortment of camouflage smocks and helmet covers start to appear.  Painting camouflage is tricky at the best of times, and with the Germans their 700 different versions of camouflage, I go bonkers trying to figure it out.

Different base types visible in this shot

In the case of these figures, they are wearing later war boots/pants/gaiters, and many of them also have some sort of camouflage cover on their helmets.  On most of them I attempted a weak copy of the most "standard" German camouflage that I could find, and on others I imagined that perhaps these covers may have been improvised at times, and I painted them a dark yellow.

Decent modelling of the German kit on these PSC figures

For their overall uniforms I used a few different types of green, grey and green grey to try and vary the appearance a little bit, and washed liberally with GW's Agrax Earthshade, with a few highlights picked up again following the wash.

There are a total of 27 foot figures and three two-man LMG teams.  Of this, eight foot figures and one LMG team were painted prior to the Challenge, leaving a net of 19 foot figures and two LMG teams, which I think works out to 84 points.

Up next is...I don't know, maybe more WW2, maybe sci-fi? I'm all over the place. 

From Curt:

Greg, I feel your pain with painting WWII German infantry as their uniforms were bewilderingly nuanced and complex. This being said I think you've done a fantastic job on this platoon. Like your previous Soviet platoon the shading is very nicely done. 

Figure-wise, I know Greg hates prone models but I must say it's nice to see such crisp modeling on the MG-34, especially the bipod - with many other manufacturers it's often a vague triangle, or you discover that one 'arm' is missing or misshapen. It looks like another good offering from PSC.

This mid-war German platoon will give Greg 84 points.  I looks like you're building up some good steam Mr. B!

From AlanD - 28mm Breton Warriors for SAGA (88 Points)

I've been wanting to add a couple of points to my Breton warband for SAGA, so my second entry for the challenge is a unit of 8 Breton warriors. The javelins were harvested from my trusty broom which is absolutely NOT for sweeping things up with, and as always the shields are hand painted. Figures are from Gripping Beast, but weren't really their finest hour.

I think these chaps will earn me 80 points towards my terrifyingly aspirational target.

From Curt:

Beautiful word Alan! God bless your denuded broom as your spears look great (it must be a shop broom with very rigid tines). I know what you mean about the early Gripping Beast sculpts: some they hit out of the park while others... not so much, but they all seem to recover well once paint has been applied. The piece de resistance are your shields which are absolutely brilliant. I honestly thought they were transfers at first glance. Bravo!

These harse lads will give Alan a base of 80 points but I'm adding a point each for the wonderful hand-painted shields. Great work Dux!

From VincentC - "Lonely men are we, Rangers of the wild" (45 Points)

Well I decided I didn't like languishing down in 21st so I thought it best to get a wiggle on with the rangers! I must confess I got half way through painting these when I decided that I really don't like these models at all! but I pushed through and, though they aren't some of my better works they are done to a good table top standard and so I'm happy to put them with the rest of the collection, I think they look especially good as a group and for the most part I really like the green of the cloaks.

I have a not insubstantial collection of Gondor and these will make a nice little warband for Faramir to lead in normal games however these were painted for the Fellowship of the Ring sourcebook. Along with the 2 Nazgul in my previous post that means I just need to paint the Witchking to have the first phase of my project completed!

This is definitely going to happen (this time...)

What do you all think of these guys?

From Curt:

I think they look marvellous! The shading on the cloaks is excellent, but what really draws my eye is the yellow buff leather of their jerkin and aprons - those really make the figures leap out. It's interesting how this first week of the Challenge has seen so many figures from LotR - a very nice change of pace, I think.

From Millsy - 28mm Warhammer Skinks (100 points)

Looks like I've got time for one final batch of stuff before the early Challenge open season ends - this one's a bunch of scaly reptilian warriors. These chaps were originally intended to be my entry for the 'Cold' theme round (being cold-blooded and painted ice blue), but it seemed a bit borderline cheese to me so I bailed out. More to the point I didn't want to risk a repeat of last year's "Spider Incident" :-)

So what do we have here? The answer is 20 Skink skirmishers from the Warhammer Lizardmen army, in this instance armed with javelins and shields. Really its two units of 10 (red vs green shields) but I won't tell if you don't. I can vouch for the fact that they are a right pain in the rear end to face having been on the wrong end of their poisoned missiles several times now. Which begs the question why paint more? Best not to ask sensible questions like that really...

All that aside, unlike teeny-weeny black-clad naval infantry these are a something of a mobile rainbow and jolly good fun for it. They paint up easily have lots of character which is all you can ask really. Nuff said!

From Curt:Ah, Skinks... These little guys take me back to my salad days with Warhammer. Good memories. These looks great Millsy. I really like the vibrant blue and bronze metalwork you went with. The red/green shields as unit designation is a smart move as well.  

100 points and securing first place... for now.  Great job!

From JohnM - One Hundred Years of Big Guns (188 Points)

As usual, the start of the Annual Painting Challenge coincides with my busiest time of year. This year to be prepared I prepped everything I thought I would do during the contest prior to the start date. It is a big help, but unfortunately having everything prepped resulted in me having difficulty deciding what to start with it. So I started 5 projects at the same time! Here I present 4 of them, the 5th will be my COLD bonus entry. 

So here we have some 4 projects associated with big guns. Otherwise this submission is somewhat incoherent as it covers different countries and eras. I know photograph storage is at a premium so I have limited myself to one photo per entry, with one extra because I just could not resist.

I have not had time to comment on the individual entries so far, but there is some really superb stuff, this year's contest looks like it is off to a great start.

PSC 20 mm Pak40 AT Gun. This is a very nice kit, I will need it soon in my 29, Let's Go Chain of Command campaign.

Two Achilles mobile AT Gun's from Armourfast. Not a whole lot of detail, with with some stowage they look OK.

PSC Firefly, very nice model, I think I will have to tone down the rust a little.

French Napoleonic Caisson from Front Rank, this is a big model and was quite a lot of work as there is a lot of detail.

Could not resist a second photo, the whole thing was a bugger to assemble especially with the tracings.

A British Heavy Artillery Foot Battery, bit of a mixture here the cannon and one figure are from Front Rank, while the Howitzer and most of the figures are from Perry. That's it for British Napoleonic Artillery, that specific lead pile is done!

From Curt:Great work John and welcome to your 5th Challenge! Wow, that is a nice collection of guns and vehicles. First, congratulations on finishing your Napoleonic British artillery collection - I know how long you've been working on that project so it's an achievement in of itself. Also, congrats on preservering with the French caisson as I know how fiddly they can be to complete. I really like your Firefly. This is inspirational as I'm in the midst of assembling a few of the PSC Shermans myself and have been really impressed with their overall quality and ease of assembly. 

 
(Slipping on anorak) One thing about the British variants of the Sherman (including the Firefly): they usually didn't keep the .50 cal machine gun as many crews found them more of a hinderance than a help - it had to be fired from outside the turret, got caught up in low-hanging foliage and if the crew had to bail out it risked getting in the way (a glowing vote of confidence for the Sherman itself).  This being said I think it's fine to have a few within a unit, as there is photographic evidence that a few were used, but, by and large, they were absent on British Shermans. Sorry, couldn't help myself (anorak shrugged off). :)

Anyway, enough blather. Again, welcome aboard John - I look forward to seeing what you'll come up with over the coming months.

From IanW - Black Tree and Gripping Beast Vikings (30 Points)

Just a small group of 28mm figures to prove I can do something a little larger than 6mm. These are for my Saga army that I play with my eight year old son, he is painting his own Anglo-Danes.

First up the leader of my warband, we have them on larger bases than the rest so they stand out. My son has two men and a Great Dane dog (his idea) but I just had space for this big chap so added a rock to the base.

I wanted him to be extra bright so went a little OTT with the colours but I am OK with that. He is Gripping Beast Viking Hero and as such sold as a single figure.

My original plan was to add this figure to the base, another GBM but one of the plastics and as he would not fit on the base I just slapped him on his own 2p base. So he will have to join one of the units I am building up.

The shield has a Little Big Man transfer on it so is much better than the freehand I have done on the following figures. The detail on the figure is great and I don't see any reason to not use plastics in your forces.

Onto the Black Tree guys and these four slingers will finish off the levy unit I was fielding with only eight figures. These are brighter than the bow troops and look better for it. I do like the Black Tree figures and think they are easily overlooked.

I still have plenty of Black Tree figures prepped and ready to go including about twenty more Vikings so these are not the last of these Danes you will see. These get me 30 points making me over 100 in the first week and ahead of schedule for my target, lets see if I can keep it up.

From Curt: Wonderful work Ian. I think it's great that you and your boy are getting into SAGA together - get them hooked while they're young!  I also like how bright these fellows are, in fact I think your warlord could easily moonlight as a superhero with that cloak. :)  

These six men of Scandinavia will give Ian 30 points. Well done!

From GillesW - SEMPER FI (5 Points)

Welcome to the Jungle!

This is the first model I use to find the color chart I would try on my USMC  Company for Bolt Action. In fact it's a GI body from the GI sprues, the other parts are from the USMC sprues I bought recently (during the  Warlord black friday). If you like it and you find the colors OK, I'll put the color chart on my blog.

My project is do as many conversions I can.

Here is the 2nd lieutenant Jethro Gibbs, he is unshaven while he spent some time in the jungle with his patrol:

The camera will turn around him

The basing is simple to be re usable in Korea or in the western front

Next batch, next tuesday.
   

AnneO's DOOM Bunny (5 points)

This quirky little figure is from Bombshell Miniatures and as I've nothing really to go with him, I'm posting him as a single.

He stands at 20mm and was sculpted by Patrick Keith.

I didn't particularly need this figure, but a Bunny with wonky eyes holding an axe was too much for me to resist.

This little guy will add 4 more points to my already staggering 10 points. At this pace I've no idea how the rest of you will keep up with me.

From Curt:

Haha! I love this guy, especially his pruned right ear and rather bemused eyes. You've also done a brilliant job on his fur (particularly his paws). 

As he stands in at 20mm I'm going to class him as a 28mm figure, so another point for your dash to glory Ms. O'Leary!

From TamsinP - 15mm Seven Years War Russian Hussars (72 Points)

OK, so I'm not as quick off the blocks as some of my fellow Challengers and this isn't a points bomb, but here is my first entry. I had thought about waiting until I'd finished painting all of the cavalry (there are another 4 regiments part-painted - 2 of cuirassiers, 1 each of dragoons and horse grenadiers) but decided it would be nice to get some points on the table early on. I will probably submit the remaining regiments as one batch in a few days' time.

These figures are 15mm from Essex. You might spot that two of the figures on the command bases have rather odd-looking sabres. That's because the swords were originally standards, which is rather odd as Russian hussar regiments weren't issued colours during the Seven Years War.

So, my first entry - two regiments of hussars.

Slobodskiy Hussars

Zeltiy Hussars

That's 18 figures, so should give me 72 points.

From Curt:

Lovely work Tamsin. What system are you using these figures for? I know you've been trying out a few different rules lately. Anyway, these are wonderful. Your usual nice, clean painting. I particularly like the Zeltiy Hussars, but then again I'm always partial to yellow. I look forward to seeing the cuirassiers, dragoons and horse grenadiers in the coming days! 

From AaronH - Eight 28mm Uruk-Hai swordsmen (40 Points)

"There were four goblin-soldiers of greater stature, swart, slant-eyed, with thick legs and large hands.  They were armed with short broad-bladed swords, not with the curved scimitars usual with Orcs; and they had bows of yew, in length and shape like the bows of Men.  Upon their shields they bore a strange device: a small white hand in the centre of a black field; on the front of their iron helms was set an S-rune, wrought of some white metal."

Eight swart, slant eyed gobin-soldiers.

The above quote is from the first chapter of The Two Towers.  It is the first time that the fellowship comes in contact with Uruk-Hai.  The imagery from the movie is different of course.  Bare shields and the white hand on the helmet.  That is how most people paint their Uruks.

A closer view of four of the orcs.

I do want mine to look like the movie but I prefer the imagery from the books where there is conflict.  This will also make my Uruk-Hai stand out from everyone else's.  The S rune is the elvish rune as, obviously, that is the language that a wizard would use over Dwarfish.

The other half of the line.

These are 28mm plastics from Games Workshop.  They are, in common with most of the LOtR plastics, mixed quality.  They have great detail in some spots and then meld into featureless blobs in others.

This close up shows a couple of spots I missed.  My camera is better than my eyes.

These models were surprisingly frustrating to paint.  My initial colors were too light.  I ended up re-painting the leather three times.  Finally opting for a brown I've never used before.  It finally gave me the dark look I was looking for.  The issues with the detail also made it hard to tell which part of the model was which until it was painted.  I had to go back over several spots that I thought were one thing, but turned out to be another.

These eight are the start of my Isengard army.  I've had these models for ten years and am only now getting paint on them.

Rear and shield view.

The next two batches will be more Uruks.  Pikes and crossbows.  The third lot is not part of my plan, but I'm ahead of schedule right now so I'm going to add them in.

It feels great to get these guys painted.  They are the army I always start new players with. They are very forgiving.  They will have more pull if they are painted.

From Curt:Excellent work Aaron! I've always liked these models, even though the detail on them can often be a bit soft at times - if you persevere (which you certainly have) then you'll be rewarded with a very nice force. The choice of marking them with Saruman's S rune is brilliant, I may have to nick that. Also, I quite like the skin tone you've chosen for them as it will make them stand out nicely on the tabletop (it's very easy to paint-up these guys too drab, which I have done). Great job!

These eight Uruks will give Aaron 40 points.

It May Be a Bit Bumpy But We're Going to Ride this One In

As the bomb bay doors open for our first Theme Round I thought I'd post a quick note to go over how this is all going to go down.

First, I have linked The Bonus Themes page to this blog. You can find it above, second button from the left. This will take you to a page that I specifically created last year for the Bonus Rounds. I thought why re-create the wheel and besides, it's nice to see all the work from the previous year. Anyway, this will be the spot where the Bonus Themes will be unveiled. As many of you know, the first Bonus Theme is 'Cold' and it will go LIVE this Sunday afternoon/early evening (CST) once I have all the entries organized. 

This brings me to the next topic: How to submit your theme entires. Well, at first I thought we could do it similar to how we are doing our normal Challenge entries, but I've discovered that it's not much fun when everyone can look at the Post section and get an idea of each-others' work before the event is supposed to go live. Sooo, we'll go all Old Skool and have you submit your Theme entries to me by email. That way I can organize them into one post and debut them as a big SPLASH - which is how this should be.  I know that some of you have already submitted your Theme entries and I apologize for not getting this sorted out earlier but, well, look at the image above: That is how I feel running this event at times. Yee Haaa! :) 

I've also had some questions regarding how the scheduled daily submissions should be organized if you have several different groupings of figures ready to post.  Well, to keep things distinct and give proper credit to your wonderful work, I think we should write them as a separate blog posts so in the future people can easily search the Challenge blog to find the specific entires that interest them. So, for example, if during the week you completed a unit of Romans, plus a unit of Space Marines AND a single Pulp figure this should be done as three separate blog entries. That way each group receives the attention it deserves. 

Finally, if you look to the right sidebar and scroll down you will find (hopefully) all of our Paint Duels & Side Challenges listed. I had great fun reading through them all and I think we'll get a lot of laughs watching these getting played out. If I missed anything I apologize and please drop me a note so I can get it properly sorted. Otherwise, for everyone involved in one of these, please keep me informed of points gained, stats, etc. so I can keep the list updated. Thanks!

That should cover it for now. Whew! Please feel free to drop me a note if you have any questions or concerns. 

Now, go paint until your fingers fall off! :)

Curt 

From SanderS - And We're Off! 28mm Snotlings (25 Points)

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with not a little trepidation that I hereby present my first contribution to this Hallowed Hall of Artisans. This little vignette of squabbling Snotlings (of Freebooter make) is my entrance fee for our esteemed foreman Lord C.

Apart from it being a very nice scene, it is also my first attempt to paint NNM's. So I hope Curt does not find it wanting too much upon arrival at his door. I do apologize for the quality of the pictures but it's beastly weather outside and therefore decent lighting is far from easy to obtain.

I wish everybody loads of fun painting and a very nice Challenge indeed!

Cheers Sander

From Curt:

What a cool vignette, thanks so much Sander! I remember coming across this range a year or so ago on a blog somewhere and thinking what amazing little figures they were. They have great character and are very fun. I love that they are struggling around with helmets and armour that is waaay too large for them (and you can't have goblins without some mushrooms in the scene!). Your Non-Metalic-Metal worked out very well, especially on the battered swords and the helmet visors - nicely done and thanks again!