From Curt: Felicity Foxcroft, Femme Fatale - For Passage on Sarah's Star Yacht (25 Points)

Typical for me, I've dropped into the map not having a hot clue of what I'm doing. Yep, no plan at all. Not to fear, as thankfully we have the delightful Lady Sarah with her Star Yacht to whisk us around the various orbits, depositing us where we wish, for the low, low cost of a painted female figure. What a great deal!

Accordingly, I present to you Felicity Foxcroft, dilettante, freelance spy and all-around heart-breaker.

I've had this figure in my stores for quite a while, and for the life of me I can't remember where I got her from. She looks like a Hasslefree, Statuesque, or a Pulp Miniature sculpt. Hmm, I dunno. No matter, I think she's quite the dish with her slinky evening gown, long silk gloves, and, the ultimate accessory for a lady-about-town: a .38 snub nose revolver.

Felicity will be a welcome addition to our Pulp collection. I know for certain she'll charm the socks off of the next Shoggoth we happen across. 

Okay, I have 5 points for Felicity, plus another 20 for my passage on Sarah's Star Yacht, so 25 total.  

Oh, and this will also be 'F' for Femme Fatale in the 'Alphabet Soup Challenge' (I also have 'M' for Marvin).

Aaand, 5 points towards my 95 point 'Modern Duel' with DavidB.

Now, I'm off for Caprica!

- Curt

From Paul OG - 28mm Lovecraftian Night Gaunts and Ghosts (50points)(Istvaan V)

Each Challenge I try to get an entry done in the first few days. While generally very simple offerings, they give me a sense of first steps taken, a journey begun.  Some lads here are into the Napoleonic Horror game Silver Bayonet - I think it's a salve for the thousands of Nappy troops that should be used more often, plus its just cool! Uncharacteristically, I'm not one of those with thousands of Nappy troops (in fact I don't have a single one) so I am focusing initially on the monsters.  

Here are a trio of Lovecraftian faceless horrors known as Night Gaunts to oppose our heroes. They have been patiently sitting in my pile of potential for some years, but I believe they were by a company called Hobby Products and are now OOP.  

And a trio of Ghosts - older GW Army of the Dead model from their metal Lord of the Rings range.

Thats 6 x 28mm figures to get me off the mark with 30pts, and 20 bonus points for the planet Istavaan V due to their horror/cultist/heretical nature.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for a great AHPC everyone!

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*Spits his eggnog and sputters* Not a single Napoleonic figure?! How does that even happen?! That's, that's... that's heresy in itself. Now Paul, you know what I'm challenging you to do this season, right?  No Napoleonics... *huffs in disbelief*

That all aside, these lads are a great opening volley, Paul (love the old school metals). I especially covet those long OOP night-gaunts. Tasty those. I also need to get me a copy of those new shiny 'Silver Bayonet' rules - they sound like an absolute hoot.

Oh, and you forgot your post labels buddy. Shhh. I won't tell Tamsin. It will be our little secret. Oh wait...

- Curt

From GregB: And People With Skullz Shall Lead Them (16 Points)

Bladeguard Ancient (left) and Chaplain (right) for the Raven Guard. Figures from GW.

Hello again everyone, and welcome to AHPC XII. Great to be with all of you again. The first bit of work to share will find this edition of the Challenge picking up with me in mid-project - I am working on building up a force of Raven Guard Space Marines for Games Workshop's "Warhammer 40,000" setting. These two figures are part of that ongoing effort - both are multi-part plastic figures from GW's "Indomitus" box set. They are painted in the colours of the Raven Guard Space Marine Chapter.

Bladeguard Ancient

The Bladeguard Ancient - an ominous fellow who brings this inspiring battle standard to the heat of battle in order to inspire his fellow Marines. As one does.

In Space Marine forces, the "Ancient" is usually the Marine who carries a flag into battle (unless they are a Marine interred into a Dreadnought, but that is a whole other thing). Carry a flag into battle, 40,000 years from now? Well, yes, as one does. You see warfare in the dark dystopian future of Warhammer 40,000 carries with it a sort of dark-age aura. Thus we have genetically-modified super soldiers like the Space Marines doing baroque things like carrying flags and standards into battle. A symbol to rally around is a universal combat motivator, even 40,000 years into the future. This member of the already-scary "Bladeguard" makes his buddies fight even harder with his inspiring battle standard.

The standard is huge - it's a big model. Very over-the-top, and a lot of fun to paint.

But let's reflect on that battle standard a bit, as there is something odd here. Is that a flag? Well, no. Flags are nice, but, what if we kicked things up a notch? Why stop at telling the story of an inspirational martyr? Why stop at putting this martyr's image on a flag? Why indeed, when you can just BRING THE MARTYR'S REMAINS WITH YOU TO WAR? Makes sense to me! Not sure who the skeleton belonged to - maybe a Marine who fell fighting Horus' traitors during the Heresy? Yes, probably that. 

As GW said, this guy is "handy" in a fight...amirite? 

I have to hand to it to the figure sculptors/designers for GW's "Indomitus" box set. They leaned into the sillier aspects of the setting with the right mix of OTT inspiration and affection to create some lovely and fun figures to paint and game with. Look at this nut case! He is CARRYING A SKELETON HAND TO SLAP PEOPLE WITH. I love this. I wish I had five more of these guys to paint for other Chapters.

Chaplain

"Looking for inspiration? I CAN HELP WITH THAT..."

In the year 40,000 we gain an insight into the role of the Chaplain in a Space Marine chapter with a quick glance at his rules. What's this here? "Litany of Hate"? Isn't that the name of the algorithm Twitter uses? Anyway, sounds about right for Warhammer 40,000. Whether it is the Litany of Hate or the Litany of Starbucks, this fellow will jump into battle to inspire his fellow Marines to even greater deeds of heroism in the name of The Emperor, who is of course no longer around, but Is Still Always Around.

This figure is modified, for a couple of reasons. I needed the original top of his "Crozius Arcanum" (a.k.a. fancy baton) for another project. But then when I wanted to paint this fellow, I couldn't just have him carrying a stick, so I cut another skull bit from elsewhere on his armour, and stuck on the top of the baton to create a satisfactory badge of office.

I also love his fancy pistol. Not just because it looks heavy, and has a seal on it, but its name "absolvor" - nice that the Space Marines combine the notion of "absolution" and "revolver". Ah, I love 40k. As I said, the designers for this box set really found a sweet spot - the "Indomitus" box is a tribute to the things that make Space Marines a bit silly, very nicely done. 

I just assume those are all "thank you" notes pinned to his armour, courtesy of fellow Space Marines he has inspired...

I also replaced the un-helmeted head with a Mark III marine helmet. I did this because it is nice to have 30k shout-outs on 40k models, and also because I hate Space Marine figures without helmets. Space is dangerous. The Emperor spent Lots Of Money to create you. Wear your damn helmet.

These two figures are rather monstrous 28mm figures, but 28mm figures all the same, so the two of them will account for five points each, giving a total of 10 points. Just another 990 points to go. Thanks everyone - look forward to sharing more as we go. Cheers and Merry Christmas!     

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Haha! Fabulous brushwork my friend. It is heartening to know that, in amongst the self-harm that GW seems to be inflicting upon itself these days, it's nice to see them still being able to put out quality products like this.

I really like both of these figures, especially your take on the Raven Guard armour colour - far more interesting than straight black. All the baroque details in these figures really tell a story, creating such wonderful characters. I particularly admire what you've done with the 'Ancient' standard bearer. His cream tabard is brilliant, especially when set against the red and grey armour. I can hear him shouting to his battle brothers, 'Guys, If you think I'm old, check out poor Harry here...'  Also, great work on the crozius modification on the Chaplain. I laughed at your 'thank you note' purity seals - They could also be little shopping lists like, 'If you're out, pick up some gun oil, deodorant and espresso beans...'  The Litanies of SaveOn Foods.

I'm going to give some bonus points for the big, honkin' standard as it's pretty darn cool.

Welcome back to the Challenge, Greg!

-Curt

  

From SamuliS: Over the Hills and Far Away - Arda (40 points)

Dang it feels good to be back! By my counts this should be my tenth challenge though couple of the last ones haven't been exactly the most glorious points wise. Being away from home constantly due to business travel and constant overtime on top of having a new kid last year kind of burned me out a bit. But now I've been at home on paternity leave for 9.5 months and now starting a new position at work with far less travel and somewhat shorter hours so I'm ready to tackle this challenge full of energy again! I'm starting with a modest goal, but I'm optimistic that this time around I can easily reach it and increase it mid-challenge ;)

I'll kick things off with a simple terrain submission of a few different hills that I quickly painted up and flocked during a few meetings yesterday. Four generic ones for my own use at home as I'm slowly building up a proper gaming area at our new house and one for our clubs growing Warmaster terrain collection. For the Warmaster terrain I had originally test printed some 28mm terrain in 8mm scale to see how it would turn out, but hadn't really done anything with it since. Finally got around to painting it and it fits in for Warmaster quite nicely with a steep hill and ruined tower on top being a suitable hideout for a Necromancer and just provide some blockage for movement and line of sight to force the armies to manouvre a bit more.

 

Nothing really special about them. Just some XPS foam cut to shape with a foam cutter and then with stairs carved out with a hobby knife. Some spackle on top to give it texture and protect the surface followed by craft paints and some flocking. The ruins had several different washes applied on top of each other while wet to give it some blended shading that starts greenish at the bottom and moves to more basic grey tones at the top. The colours don't really come through with the bad lighting in my gaming room so you've gotta take my word for it ;)

With the Warmaster terrain I'll use it as an opportunity to take some cheeky extra points from travelling to Arda on my fantastical ruins ;) I'm only really counting the Warmaster terrain piece for points as it was the only one that involved a bit more painting and work. The other hills feel a bit like cheating. That piece of terrain is roughly 7x4x4 inches by size so probably fits the 6" cube nicely for another 20 points.

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Warmaster? Now you're talking my language. I have a bunch of 10mm fantasy stuff I want to do this Challenge, so this is very inspiring. I particularly like the whimsical carved stairs leading up to the ruined tower. Great use of online meeting time (I'm just assuming you were online and with no camera). :)

Welcome back to the Challenge, Samuli!

-Curt

From Barks: Snowflake the Black-Heart Paindeer (10 points)

I won't be getting stuck into the Challenge until next year, but did want to get some festive points on the scoreboard. I'll put up more of an 'about me' post later as well. Maybe this entry says plenty about me anyway?

This is Snowflake from Imitation of Life, a growing 3D sculpt range I really like. He's on a 40mm base and is 8cm to the tip of his antlers. I'm getting more confident in the use of Contrast as a time saver.

80mm tall monster: 10 points?

Slowpainter's ABC Challenge: C for Christmassy

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Pretty trippy, Barks. I really like him. I can't decide if it's the ornaments hanging off his antlers, or the red rockstar pants. Delightfully weird and cool mini.

- Curt

From Dave S - Demons Run - Skaro - 83pts

Thank you for everyone who wished me well.  The covid is more of an inconvenience to me than a sever illness, although it has left me tired all the time, and feeling guilty at staying away from the hospital at a time when things are starting to ramp up again.

What it has done is left me with lots of time to paint, which is why I have a second post in 24 hours.

The "Strange Doctors" theme led me to the big sack of Dr. Who miniatures from Warlord games that have been sat in the cupboard of shame for a few years.  I recently rewatched all of the new series, and I really enjoyed the "Demons Run" story arc.  To that end, I decided that I would paint up some of the forces that were in the episode.  Demons run, when a good man goes to war (or starts to paint toy soldiers).

First up, we have three Headless Monks.  These appear in several of the episodes, and are a good, mysterious bad guys.

Next, we have the Silence.  These are easily one of the most creative bad guys in all of the new episodes.  For those who haven't seen them, they are bad guys who erase themselves from your memory when you are not looking at them.  This causes no end of confusion and stress for our heroes.

By my calculation, that makes

9x40mm Figures - 72pts (provided that the Silence don't erase themselves from Curt's memory)

Skaro Bonus - 20pts

For a total of 92 points.

All of this has served as a distraction from my planned main projects for the Challenge (some armies for Basic Impetus 2)  Next up, will either be the start of some HYW French, or more participants in the Battle of Devils Run.

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Great work Dave, you've been very industrious! I particularly 'like' those Silence figures. Now, for the life of me I can remember why... Anyway, I'm sure they were great, um, whatever they were. 

Your math is a bit off as the 40mm figures come to 63 points. So, 83 points total. :) 

I look forward to seeing your upcoming Impetus 2 projects!

- Curt

From TamsinP: Who's A Good Boy? (14 points)

Row-row-row  huh-huh-huh row-row-row huh-huh row-row-row-row huh-huh-huh row-row-row-row-row
>
> Translation mode engaged:
>
> Language Detected: Canine Canadian
>
>Translating To: Human English
>
>Translation starts:

Hallo! Hallo! I'm Oscar! Have you got treats for me? No? Sob!

Anyway, you might be wondering why I'm here today. Well, last year Daddy-Curt painted figures of my brother Felix ("Sarah Bella and Felix Out For a Ride" and "Sarah Bella and Felix Redux"), but didn't paint any of me. Luckily their nice friend Tamsin (she sends me lovely treats - British squirrel droppings* - they taste so much nicer than Canadian ones) decided that I shouldn't be left out and has painted figures of me.

You probably want to know what I'm up to right now. It's almost Christmas and I know, I know, I know that Mummy-Sarah and Daddy-Curt have hidden my presents somewhere. I'm hunting for them. I've searched the house and they weren't in there, so I've sneaked into the new hobby room.

Sniff-sniff! Hmmm, that box smells of Tamsin - she must have sent me treats! 

I'll just knock it off the shelf and see what's inside...

Sob-sob! No British squirrel dropping treats! Sob-sob!Hmmm, there's a metal box with buttons though. It must be a toy for me! I like toys! Tamsin likes me!!

So, how does this toy work? I guess you push one of these buttons...like this...errrr...ruh-roh!

Stay tuned for "The Adventures of Oscar: Time-Traveler, Slayer of Squirrels** and Very, Very Good Boy***"

* they're actually dog-chocolate drops

** if eating their droppings or barking loudly at them counts as slaying them

*** well, Curt, is he?

Although there are three dog figures in the penultimate photo, I'm only claiming for two of them in this submission (the third will be part of another post).

The figures are 28mm from The Assault Group, part of their "Lurchers & Hounds" pack. They are each about the size of a 15mm horse, so I'll ask for them to be scored as 2 x 15mm foot which comes out as 4 points. 

A small start, but it puts me onto the table on Day 1. 

ps - thanks to Curt for sending me some photos of Oscar so that I could get his markings right-ish.

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Awww, Tamsin! Such a good girl!! :)

Wow. This is just fabulous Tamsin, I'm really very touched. Oscar has indeed been missing out on some of the K-9 attention from my paint desk, so it's good that you have his corner for him. You did a great job on his colouring as well, especially his russet patches. I'm definitely going to have to nab a pack of those from The Assault Group to add to my doggie stocks.

As you put in such amazing efforts on this, I think it warrants a few bonus points.  :)

Thank you Tamsin, and welcome back to the Challenge.

- Curt

From TeemuL: Elrond on planet Vulcan [Vulcan] (25 points)

I'm starting my journey in Space from the planet Vulcan, where I found this pointy eared and apparently very logical creature, Elrond the Loremaster, a 28mm scale metal miniature from Mithril Miniatures, code M338. I wanted to start gathering points as soon as possible, so just one miniature and happily one of my primed random miniatures was a nice fit for one of the Outer Ring planets.

The paint job is quite simple, like the miniature, but I went looking for a neat and harmonic paint job, which I think I achieved. The miniature is glued on a 25mm mdf base, which was then covered in white glue and sand before wash and gentle drybrush. The miniature itself is painted with quite pale flesh, the way I think elves are, and the clothes in light colors as well. Some shades of blue and purple have escaped the photos or then it is just my phone repredenting them badly. I went for the black hair as in the movies (I don't remember if it was mentioned in the books). There is some gibberish on the pages of the book. I took some closeups and decided, that the face needs some work, I first thought I wouldn't paint the eyes, but closer looks were terrible (for me) so I painted the eyes and tried to get some texture on tha face.

I'm not super happy, especially for the photos, but this was meant to be a quick job to get things started, so I'm happy with that. More to follow, things related to space, history, fantasy and little bit of everything. @vainvader78 is me in the Instagram, miniatures and boardgames mostly.

5 points for 28mm miniature

20 points for Planet Vulcan

Total 25 points.

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Yes, I agree with you Teemu, the thoughtful Elrond would probably find himself quite at home on Vulcan. I've always held a soft spot for the Mithril Miniature castings. They have a smooth, gentle whimsy about them, similar to the art of John Howe actually. I like the rich blue you've chosen for Elrond - again, simple and elegant.

Welcome back to the Challenge Teemu! 

- Curt

LeeH - Ho Ho Omicronandonandon - Caprica (25 Points)

It's great to be participating in the Painting Challenge again and I decided to follow Curt's lead and start with an entry for the Challenge Quadrant. I have chosen Caprica as my starting point because it's beginning to feel a lot like we've been ambushed by Covid again. I, therefore, claim this world in the name of the Covidien Galactic Empire and rename it Omicron just to confuse the locals who will spend the next six weeks trying to decide how to pronounce it.  

It's becoming a bit of a tradition that my first post of the Challenge is a Christmas themed miniature and I had a couple of options in my lead pile for this year. I refrained from painting this particular miniature for Challenge XI as it seemed in bad taste, especially as Christmas was cancelled here in the UK. Little did we imagine things would still be bad this Christmas but given the rise of Omicron (sounds like a Transformer rather than a virus ?!?) I decided - bad taste or not - this creepy fella was getting the Challenge treatment. My immediate family have been fortunate to avoid Covid's tender touch thus far (triple vaccinated to ward off its ill humour's) but we are on high alert once again as both the wife and I are close contacts of someone who has tested positive. Taking daily Lateral Flow tests every morning feels a bit like Russian Roulette so the Challenge has come as a welcome distraction today! 

Until last night I was still thinking I would give the Challenge Quadrant a miss this year and focus on my main project (more on that later in the week I hope) but my resolve was short-lived. I’m not sure I will make it all the way through but I’m going to give it a try, kicking off with this colourful entry. Incidentally, this is the first time I have used contrast paints. I picked up a few bottles of the GW product cheap and decided to give them a try. I'm behind the trend as usual, but to be fair contrasts aren’t really suitable for my usual 6mm fare. I’m pretty happy with the results, and I love the rich red colour this has produced so I can see myself using them (selectively) in a few future projects. 

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Welcome back to the Challenge, Lee! I was gifted with a large dose of black humour and so very much appreciate your opening entry. I've always loved the otherworld creepiness of the plague doctor's masks and, unfortunate as it is, this treatment on Santa seems particularly apropos for this year. Also, welcome to the cult of Contrast Paint! The stuff is magic on textured surfaces and the rich red you've done on his coat is brilliant. Well done! 

At the National Civil War Museum in Newark a few years back. Remember that Sid and Sarah?

- Curt

From DaveS - Clan Heavy Battle Star - Klendathu 70pts

My first post of what I think is my 4th Challenge.  And the earliest I have ever got an entry in.  Due to me being isolated at home because of a mild case of Covid, I expect to get some brush time over at least the next few days.  I definitely wasn't sitting up waiting for the challenge to start so I could crack on with these.  Honest.

Battletech has always been a game that I have longed for, ever since I first saw it in Dragon magazine in the early 90's.  I've played it in just about every form I can think of, from the initial copy of Citytech I found at a boot sale in my teenage years (along with the Ghostbusters RPG, the very first edition of Bloodbowl and Star Frontiers), various computer games, the MegaMek online campaign, and the short lived CCG.  So when it was rereleased a few years ago, I was over the moon.

I have painted the last of the models that were sat on my desk from the Clan Invasion Kickstarter.  This is a "Clan Heavy Battle Star", and they are painted up in the colours of the Beta Galaxy Smoke Jaguars.  These were famously part of the battle of Tukkyaid which ended the clan invasion of the inner spehre.  Where they turned up, landed in a swamp, went the wrong way, and got ambushed and destroyed.  Seems to fit the Klendathu "Invasion Gone Bad" criteria as far as I am concerned.

These are also notable as the first models that I have painted since I finally got the hang of my airbrush.  I've had it for nearly 4 years, but never really got the hang of cleaning it, making using it an exercise in frustration.  Fortunately, I have discovered a spray airbrush cleaner, and now have a routine where I can quickly get it cleaned and running perfectly.  This was used to apply the undercoat to the models.

"Beta paints its ‘Mechs in a multilayered grey camouflage consisting of horizontal streaks, meant to represent a mist. Bloodnamed warriors paint large felid eyes on the torso of their ‘Mechs, and may even add other felid features as well. Kills are marked by smaller pairs of eyes placed randomly on the ‘Mech, though some warriors have taken to placing them near the weapons which delivered the final blow. The Elementals of Beta Galaxy have been seen in both this scheme and the traditional jaguar spot camo."

 I've chosen to forgo the eyes for now.  I have decided that these mechs will "earn" them when they get kills on the tabletop, starting with the main pair, and then adding them over the course of the campaign.

In terms of scoring, these are Between 50 and 60mm high.  I think based on previous scoring of mechs from other challenges, that these should count as

5x54mm = 50

Klendathu Challenge = 20

For 70 points total.

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First, I hope you recover quickly, Dave - this is the world we live in now, and we all have to take care of ourselves and one another.

Great work on being so early off the mark!  I have fond memories of the first edition of Battletech as well and was delighted to see it re-released recently. These mechs look terrific, with your airbrush giving you good service with the mottled streaking and smooth colour application. From reading your enthusiastic description of both the models and the setting, I expect their eyes will be added sooner rather than later. :) 

- Curt

From Curt: Opening Entry for the 12th Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge - 'Marvin the Martian' (27 Points)

 Hello All!

Well here we are. After weeks of journeying we find ourselves on the outskirts of the Challenge XII Quadrant. 

I've decided to land on the planet of Klendathu, and discovered I was not alone in my explorations. A hostile alien, calling himself Marvin, is bound and determined on invasion and subjugation. Knowing the history of this planet, I tried to talk sense into the little fella, but he won't have any of it, being bound and determined to claim this world for Mars.  I think it will all end in tears (if not disintegration), so I decided to beat a hasty retreat to my lander.

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For our first entry I thought it apropos to start with the character featured on this year's Challenge poster, the persistently pugnacious 'Marvin the Martian'.

Marvin is a 3D print I came across while browsing through Thingiverse (thank you Amandasubic). Since he's sort of a wee chap, I scaled him up to around 40mm so he'll be noticed in the display cabinet. As you can see, I've kept it fairly simple for his paintjob. I wanted to keep true to how he was depicted in Looney Tunes, so I stuck to blocky, vibrant colours, with just a bit of edge highlighting. 

At 40mm, Marvin gives me a base of 7 points, plus another 20 for Kendathu. I hope he'll be okay down there...

And that will be 'M' for Marvin (or Martian) for the Alphabet Soup Challenge.

Welcome to Challenge XII everyone! 

Now, let the entries roll.

- Curt