From SimonM: "Copplestone Castings" Terminator Robots (25 Points)

"I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle."

These five 28mm metal models of Terminator Robots are manufactured by “Copplestone Castings” and can be bought as code FW15 from their Future Wars range. A robotic assassin and soldier, designed by the military supercomputer Skynet for infiltration and combat duty, these miniatures are clearly highly influenced by the 1984 film "The Terminator".

"Phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range."

The figures were initially primed using "Citadel" Chaos Black and subsequently given a double layer of Ironbreaker. They were then heavily washed with Nuln Oil and dry-brushed with more Ironbreaker. As the models were predominantly metallic silver in colour I decided to try and break up this monotonous appearance by 'picking out' their automatic weapons with Chaos Black. These rifles were then highlighted with "Vallejo" Heavy Charocal, washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil and then finally, had an L.E.D. painted on them using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

"Come with me if you want to live."

To be honest I had hoped these particular models would be a relatively pain-free painting experience. But I actually found their sculpts a little questionable around their firearms, particularly underneath their arms where it wasn't very clear whether I was looking at part of the weapon, part of the arm or torso, or just a lump of metal where there should be a space. As a result I spent a good while repeatedly shading certain parts of these figures to try and give the illusion of shadow around their automatic rifles.

Very nice work on the SkyNet Inc. Tin boys, Simon!  They do look very fine with the fine job you did on accenting their parts ( that sounds dirty) umm components! 
I appreciate the red spot color which not only gives them life, but an ominous presence as well!

From PeterD 28mm SYW Light Dragoons (FOR THURSDAY FINAL)

For my second entry I have a group of 9 British 15th Light Dragoons (or Elliot's Light Horse) from the Seven Years War.  These are the second of the three projects that I started on Boxing Day (that's December 26th for Yankees or St. Stephen's Day for the Irish).  The figures are Perry Miniatures from their AWI range and are lovely figures that I really enjoyed painting.  These will serve in my Sharp Practice British SYW force alongside Keith's Highlanders. 

It seems that you can tell a Brit that he's a light cavalryman and dress him like a fop, but he'll still try to run over what ever is in his path.  The 15th was the first British Light Dragoon Regiment (raised in 1759) and set the tone early for this tendency.  Shipped to Germany they joined the polyglot Allied army on July 15, 1760 and fought at Emsdorf the very next day.  Elliott's did most of the fighting at Emsdorf, charging French Infantry twice and capturing an entire battalion.

Enough history and back to the figures.  Again I am morphing AWI figures to serve in the SYW.  In this case, it doesn't seem that uniforms for light dragoons changed much between 1760 and 1776.  I checked with my goto source and got the following info on the SYW uniform (you could probably heat my fist pump as I read this).

We have not found any primary source describing the uniform of this regiment. Several part of our description are assumptions based on the uniforms of the regiments of dragoons.

I took this to read "we got nothing, do what ever looks right".  War-games fashion police might try to haul me on minor issues with shabraques, cuffs and shoulder straps to which I reply Pffffffffft!   

The figures themselves are excellent, a little beefier than other Perrys with good active poses, lovely detail and great horses.  They certainly look like hard campaigners with their carbine muzzles wrapped for protection and the well stuffed extra saddle bags of fodder and plunder.

I didn't notice one bit of detail until I was finishing the figures.  There is a lovely plate embossed on front of the elegant helmets which picks out nicely with white paint.  However, the Perrys correctly sculpted these as 17th Light Dragoon, and therefore gave helmet the skull and crossbones emblem specific to that unit.  I tried to be selective in picking out the details in order to give the impression of the White Horse of Hanover instead.

I make this 9 28mm cavalry figures at 10 points a pop = 90 points.

They look brilliant, Peter!

I rather like the jackets with the black facings, and you even picked out some gold trim on them too! They do have some very healthy horses too, I admit I'm a very big fan of the Perry Historical line and would have a lot more if my wife allowed me to. ;)

9 dragoons on galloping horses in 28mm is worth 90 pts, but I'll pip you up to 95 for the gold lace. I've a project lurking and paint splattered on my desk that is well outside my norm and comfort zone. Groups like this may make me a touch trepidatious, but are also great inspiration! ;) 

Thursday Minion

And so it begins, 

Curt asked me to join the ranks of the minions and although I've been occupied with moving, training, school athletics with the children, the holidays, AND my own wish list of AHPC possible submissions...

I of course said yes! 

I've been looking forward to the challenge all year and have a large tote filled with prepped models awaiting a brush. Since we've moving into a new home, I've even rescued my massive drafting table from it's former spot in an unheated garage to a now climate controlled basement where it is now groaning under the weight of the first wave of my own possible entries as well has hurriedly assembled holiday gifts and butterflies that need a quick airbrush prime.

I really should just focus on one thing at a time!

Yet today is not about me, but about the stalwart guinea pigs  er, participants that have been enslaved. . (Strike that) assigned to Thursday.

I have been given access to an infernal spreadsheet of dubious nature that I am told will allow me to calculate the entries.

I'm a little foggy on the whole sacrifice part, but perhaps a yard bird from KFC or Popeyes will suffice.

I have also taken advantage of the blogger schedule to preload this as I have last minute training scheduled for Thursday.

I'm not a desk jockey sort, so I will be off running, exerting, and visiting ranges like a proper eyeball thumper. 

Since this is for my civilian job and not the military ( that will be this weekend) I should have periodic downtime to enjoy coffee and wifi. I will also be home well before supper, so any issues can be resolved easier then.

Note: Any complaints about the service will be given a force slam or cake....that will entirely be dependent upon the quality and quantity of my coffee supply.   ;)

Now get those brushes to work! 

From DavidL - Sisters of Battle (70 points)

After noodling around with painting up a Black Templars force for Warhammer 40K, I have fallen hard for the Kill Team variant. I love the small, intimate scale of the game, particularly because it has allowed me to collect several factions, something that would be impossible if I were building full armies. I'll get back to my 1,500-point Black Templar list eventually, I'm sure, but this year is all about Kill Team.

First up is an Adepta Sororitas force. (Note: my rules of choice are the Heralds of Ruin variant, and my 250-point lists have been built using the codexes found on their site.) I've long admired the aesthetic of the Sisters of Battle and picked a list that gave a good cross-section of their coolest units.

This team consists of a Seraphim Superior armed with twin hand-flamers, two Seraphim, five Battle Sisters, two Dominions, three Sisters Repentia, and a Hospitaller.

The Battle Sisters are old sculpts but were lots of fun to paint up. (I elected to continue using 20mm bases, as I am a stick-in-the-mud who prefers the smaller bases and also have no plans to enter any tournaments or the like.)

The Dominions (a heavy bolter and multi-melta) are suitably shooty and look like they can lay down all kinds of hurt. I ended up with identical sculpts (that's what I get for buying after-market figures on eBay...), but their weapons are the focal point anyway.

For the Seraphim I went with a variant color scheme I'd seen on the Internet that I felt matched the angelic nature of their name nicely.

Way back in the day I played an Empire army for Warhammer Fantasy, and I always included a unit of Flagellants. The Sisters Repentia nicely capture that same energy, both in their backstories and in their appearance. What could be better than a trio of chainsword-wielding maniacs to lead your charge?

All together, that's 14 figures for a 250-point Kill Team force. I've got four factions more I'm hoping to paint up for the Challenge, so keep an eye out!

And yes, with this all-female force, my shameless grubbing for a Sarah's Choice award continues unabated!

ByronM: Wow, a second very nice entry from DavidL in one day!  

A very tidy little force here for Kill Team, and one that should be able to keep their domicile clean too.  The whole cleanse with fire people, no sexism here, get your minds out of the gutter.

I really like the accent colours with the clean bright whites, reds, and golds standing out against the black armour.  Making the jet back girls white is an awesome way to make them stand out, and they have always been a favourite unit of mine, since WAY back (probably 15+ years ago) Curt did a unit on pillars of flame and smoke blasting into the air.  The Sisters Repentia also brighten the force up a bit as well with all that flesh tone.  Very nice work and 70 well deserved points.

WEDNESDAY from BillA - The Cult of Set (55 points)

I've been sitting on these figures for a while, and decided to take them out of the lead pile and finish them up.  I've been a fan of the 1982 CONAN THE BARBARIAN movie for years - it's Arnold's best, bar none, and James Earl Jones excels as the villainous Thulsa Doom.  So when I saw that Dark Fable Miniatures had a Kickstarter of the Cult of Set, I knew I had to back it.  Having backed a prior Dark Fable Kickstarter, I was able to score a bonus "Prophet of Set" figure in Jones' likeness.

Group shot

"What is steel compared to the hand that wields it?"

The cultists, Doom and Priest of Set are from the Kickstarter, and the two axe-wielding guardsmen I purchased separately from Dark Fable to round out a potential warband for Frostgrave or Broken Legions.  Finally, the Medusa and Giant Snake are from Reaper; the Giant Snake I'm particularly proud of, I feel like I really captured the coloration of the giant snake from the film.

All in all that's 11 28mm figures for 55 points.

ByronM: I always loved that movie, it doesn't hold up awfully well, but I still love it.  These figs really capture the essence of the characters from the movie, and you paint job works well on them, especially the darker skin tones, you can instantly tell who he is. The pattern on the snake is also nice.  Maybe its just the lighting, but I think the white cloaks could use a bit of grey in the folds for definition.  Maybe it is there already though and the photos don't show it. Also was there no Conan with the set?  It was just the cult?  Or was he part of the earlier set you got?

WEDNESDAY From TeemuL: End of Orc Unit (15 points)

Some orcs this time, from the Old World of Warhammer. Keeping up with my theme, these are the Ends. My orc unit was 17 strong and it just didn't feel right, so I painted 3 more to get a nice even number of 20. Not very orcy, but looks better.

The first picture is a bit dark, but you should get the basic idea. The colors are the good old orc colors from the last millenia, the same age as the miniatures. Two of them are a bit newer, while the last one is the oldest plastic GW made. I didn't have a proper shield for him, so he got a brand new orc shield. The bases are from the same time machine as well.

With these three orcs, the unit is "finished." Although, if you take a look at the last picture, you will notice that the unit is missing musician and standard bearer. When I get proper minis for them, the size will be 22 and the unit will be unfinished. Or the unit will be finished, but the second unit will be just starting...

Here you can see the whole unit, got a much better light for this one for some reason. There are both of the old plastic orcs there with couple of HeroQuest orcs and very old metallic Giant Black Orc acting as the champion. The three new guys are in the back row, right.

Next I'll be focusing on the bonus round, but I'll try to get something finished for the next Wednesday as well.

ByronM: Nice to see other areas have gotten into Old Hammer as well as we have around here.  With the new AoS game sucking so bad everyone here has been playing either old editions of Warhammer Fantasy or switched to Kings of War.  While those old sculpts don't have the detail that the newer ones do, there is a real charm to them and they have a lot of character.  

You have done a good job on them making them look as they should have back then, keeping that old school look alive and well.  I like that you kept with the old look right down to the simple glue sand to the base as well.  It makes them really look like they stepped out of the 80's.  Well done!

WEDNESDAY from IannickM - The Vordania II Insurrectio (65 pts)

The "Insurrectio" is my second Sci-Fi outfit, after the Effigy Corporation. It is meant as a small "spaceband" of resistance fighters (see my blog in a few days for a more complete background), to play in various Sci-Fi skirmishes. I find the figures, just like the Effigy Corporation, would fit equally well in some Space Pulp, Cyberpunk or distant future Sci-Fi. They could also be used in a pinch as Imperial Guards in a Rogue Trader game. And of course, could be used as the small principled band of resistance fighters against the highly trained Havoc Teams of the Effigy Corporation! Same as my other outfit, the project is largely an excuse for me to paint some lovely Sci-Fi figures I've been eying for a while and which don't neatly fit in any actual game system. They also make for easy "transportable forces" when playing Sci-Fi away from home.

This merry band of female fighters is from the "Resistance Fighters" range from Statuesque Miniatures and it is a lovely little range. The sculpts are truly fantastic and full of personality, and were a joy to paint. My only criticism would be that some delicate assembly is involved, and gluing small hands or arms is always annoying, even more so on delicate female sculpts. I believe this is my first ever all women outfit! It is made-up of 13 members, including a (sexy) Cyborg!

The "Vordania II Insurrectio" 

I tried to give the outfit a unified theme of green and purple while still giving each figure some personality. I'm happy with the end result.

First up we have the Command group: Antin Sanu in her commissar uniform and her cadre of officers. The two middle figures are probably my favourites of the range, they have *loads* of attitude!

Next up the heavy weapons and communication specialist. 

I love the extra-sized Thompson-style heavy machine gun! (last right)

And then we have the regular Insurrectio fighters, with the Cyborg in the middle. Actually, the Cyborg was part of Statuesque's Pulp range, and is meant to be a Fembot of sort, but the addition of the cyborg head makes all the difference and I find the figure fits very well with the rest of the girls. I also wanted each of my Sci-Fi outfit to have a robot of some sort, and she fits the bill.

These gals are my second entry and will net me a total of 65 pts (13 28mm figures). Now, let's move to smaller things, like Halflings and Epic stuff...

ByronM: Where to start with these....  I love the sculpts, but even better is your paint job on them.  Very nice smooth transitions and shading.  The colour choices are really nice as well.  I don't know if it was what you were going for, but to me, despite being sci-fi based they have a kind of pulp look which I like a lot.  You managed to get enough shadow and dark to setup definition in the figures but not enough that it actually breaks up the models, something that I (and many others) find really hard to do.

Excellent stuff, keep it coming! 

WEDNESDAY from KyleC - Change of Weathers... (60 Points)

So I survived the weekend's festivities with only minor hangovers and remainders of a cold. Speaking of cold.. I finally started, and then subsequently finished my Frostgrave gang that I had assembled for the last competition, but never got around to!

I really want to try this game out in 2017, and so I went to town on the models. Plus it was a nice respite after the mass of US Rangers as I could be a bit more free in the colors here.

I tried for a muted color theme overall. Keeping to some cowardly browns of various shades throughout the gang. Though tossed in some reds here and there to liven them up slightly. Still muted overall, but enough to add some color to them.

One thing that I really wanted to do with my Frostgrave set was to really put some snow and ice onto them. You can see in the photo above how they look differently between with and without. With looked more interesting and so I tried it for the entire gang. And I was aiming for a blizzard like conditions for them as well.

Am not fully sold on it for all models, but at the same time it does look neat. I just hope to see it last overall!

Product used was this, which is normally for showcase, so I am curious if it will last or not with extreme gaming ( or lack of it if I can't get anyone local to play! ).

I then quickly swapped over to some cowgirls to warm myself back up after all the snow and ice ( something that we have not seen much or any of in the UK thus far ). These were a lot of fun, and also held over from last year! I know that there are a few western gamers at the club with Dead Man's Hand being played at times. So now I have enough models overall to play with ( when looking at my less brightly painted cowboys ). Should be interesting to see them on the table and how well they do ( especially the maiden in the middle with her Sunday bests on ).

And quickly just a status update on what I have gotten done over the xmas holidays. The Judges are going to their owner so will be the last photo with them in, but you can see the rest. Am really happy with the output so far and getting back to some gaming models ready for the new year of gaming. Lots of new games to try out and play, and I have yet to start in on the ECW set! Maybe next?

ByronM:  Two very different entries, but both very well done.  The second entry (the cowgirls) are full of character with what I see as a Daisy Duke style country girl with a gun, to a potentially hired gun in the middle, to some Mexican Banditas, all of which show character in their own way.  The high contrast shading on the red dress is especially nice.

The first entry (Frostgrave figures) are a completely different style, but are done equally well and are my favourite of the two entries.  I think the very muted / faded colours completely works for the Frostgrave setting, and the snow on them adds even more to the effect, really selling the fact that they are in the middle of an adventure.  I would keep the snow effect on all the future models you do for the force as it looks really sharp.  Hell, I will probably even steal the idea for my Frostgrave force!

Overall, these two entries net you 60 points.

WEDNESDAY from: PaulS : Where the wild buffalo roam... (20 Points)

This here challenge is being challenging this year, with life and bonus round entries taking too much time away from the main challenge. The Armour bonus entry has taken a lot longer than expected to complete, so last night saw a very quick entry being pulled together for today's weekly post. Not sure what has happened to the colours in the photos, but there is a lot more contrast and tone in reality (honest!). So for now, that is 2x 28mm buffalo.

One of the projects in the pipeline for this year is Western themed, so I thought it would be good to have some wild buffalo to wander the plains... and be hunted until there are no more. I picked these up at Salute from Warbases. The casts are better than the cattle I bought at the same time (coming in a future week), but still not brilliantly good. At least they don't have gaping holes in their stomachs!

ByronM: I will believe you Paul, since I have similar issues taking pictures all the time!  I like the figures and the paint jobs.  It's always nice to see something on the table other than just the game figures and basic terrain, it adds a lot of character to the setting.  Sorry to hear that they are not great casts though, but hey at least they worked out and its a bit easier to take poor castings on terrain type pieces than actual game figures.  

I am going to score them as mounted or monster figures and award 10 points each for a total of 20 points.  I look forward to seeing more of your Western Theme in future weeks.

WEDNESDAY From DavidL - A Lady-Centric Miscellany (22 points)

Greetings all!

I am back for my third Challenge, and, as is the custom, I'm kicking things off with a sort of "odd sock drawer" of projects that have been sitting on my table for far too long.

First up is a "35mm" Wonder Woman from Knight Models. I put the scale in scare quotes because she's really no bigger than your usual "heroic scale" 28mm. Unlike other figures of that scale, however, she's very realistically proportioned, which made for a fun change.

I painted her up last week as part of a birthday gift for my wife (who has nutured a lifelong love of Wonder Woman). She was most appreciative of my efforts—the figure now graces her desk at work—but I managed to snap a couple pictures before she disappeared!

Going from good to evil, next up we have Archdomina Makeda for Hordes' Skorne faction. Like most Skorne Warlocks, she is a holy terror in close combat. I love the powerful, dynamic pose of this figure and am looking forward to finally getting her onto the table!

"Chop chop!"

Lastly, a rather unusual dual-figure "character" for Malifaux. Back during my first Challenge, I painted up the Viktorias, a pair of dimension-hopping Outcasts. In the current version of the game's campaign rules, your leaders can eventually "manifest" in their Avatar form—essentially the core essence of what they represent. The Viktorias seem to represent teamwork and, well, bloody murder, so they manifest as the Avatar of Slaughter on a single base, functioning as a single character.

I'm really happy with how the gore effects turned out on the blades. I was a little miffed that the figures don't really match their non-Avatar counterparts, the scale being noticeably different as well as there being quite a few differences in their outfits. No matter. They'll look great on the table, though I doubt I'll have much opportunity to field them! (Avatars don't manifest every day, y'know.) Certainly a centerpiece for my display shelves, though.

And there you have it! Four figures to start the Challenge, and all of them ladies. Am I grubbing for a Sarah's Choice pick? Well, just wait and see what I'm posting next...

ByronM: Wow, three very different entries all in one post!  So much to comment on that I really like, but I will try and keep it semi-brief...

I love the work on the Wonder Woman and the sculpt, and I think your right, while she certainly has some nice curves up top, she is not the normal waif down below.  That must be one of the newer Knight Models as well as the detail looks good, some of their original stuff was a bit soft on detail.  It could also be your really nice painting skills and attention to detail.  So did the wife give you any hassle about all the attention paid to her tiny bikini bottoms, I know my wife would (in a fun way).

The Skorne figure is painted completely differently but equally as well, I really like the dark red armour and gold effects.  Lastly the Malifaux figures are great as well, and I really like the gore effect, is it the GW technical or the Tamiya clear red?  I suspect the later but am unsure, either way I really like it.

You had this down as 4 x 28mm figures for 20 points, but I know that Skorne figure is much larger and with the back banner added I am going count it as a 35mm and bump the total up to 22 points.  Well done, keep up the excellent work.

WEDNESDAY from MikeD - Six Sisters of Battle (30 points)

To get the ball rolling I decided to kick off with these Sisters of Battle who had been sitting in my lead pile for years. I think I'm eventually going to use them for a Kill Team squad. I had planned on doing them slightly before the Challenge started but with pre-holiday madness I never got beyond priming them, and finally decided I would wait to begin them after the 20th.

Not completely thrilled with how they turned out. I was hoping to give the figures themselves a kind of SS grey menace, and then add on the gory grimdark with the bases. They were old figs I picked up on Ebay and stripped and reprimed them and I think that's where they want wrong. I lost a bit of detail and sharpness in the stripping I think. Ah well, still looking for 5pt for the 6 of them, for a total of 30. Glad to have broken the ice!

ByronM: The high contrast face/hair area really makes you focus there, but also kind of mutes the rest of them almost making them look a little monochromatic.  Those old models were a little soft of detail to begin with so depending on how you stripped them, it could have made them even softer, not much you can do about there though.  If you want some more definition on them, maybe some edge highlights on the armour plates, or some accent colours?  They look good as they are now though, so no real need to change them, just offering some ideas since you say you are not happy with them.  If you plan to do a whole force, I wouldn't bother adding anything, if it's just for Kill Team and will remain a very small force, then an accent colour or edge highlight might be worth the effort.