From TeemuL - Last of the Dwarfs (15 points)

No King Tigers, no 3mm Italians, just these old, boring dwarfs. You know where they come from and so on.

As you can see, I had again some difficulties about choosing the colors for striped jerkins, but in the end I managed to do something. One of the dwarfs seems to wear a FC Barcelona jersey, which is purely a coincident, although it is my preferred team in La Liga.

Other striped guy had some difficulties, my purple turned out to be quite brown, but I hope you get the idea.

15 points, please. Next week: Something completely different!

The Whole Unit

Oh! So, my guesses last week were wrong! Those three dwarfs are a great addition to complete the group. great to see them all together in that last pic :)

From BillA - 28mm Frostgrave Archers and Crazy Pete the Prospector (25 points)

I've been a bit behind on my painting, as reflected by my drop down the ratings board a solid ten places - yikes! I've been painting, albeit a bit slowly, and with multiple projects in varying stages of completion instead of working away on one at a time.  I did manage to get a couple things done yesterday, so let's get those uploaded.

First up are a set of four Bretonnian plastic archers from a few years back in Warhammer.  These were, I guess, give-away figures at some tournament or event - I got them for free off a guy on the Frostgrave Facebook page, and he had something like a hundred of these archers to dispose of.  Looking at them up close, I would have been giving them away too -- the detail is very soft and poorly defined, and on these guys I felt like I was actually painting facial features on to them, as opposed to painting the features that were there.  Oh well - I got what I paid for, I guess.  I don't have any real concrete plans for these guys, but they're there if I need to add some archers to a Frostgrave warband - hence the very generic color schemes on their clothes.

Next, something a little more exciting.  This is "Crazy Pete, Prospector" from Reaper's Chronoscope line.  He's exactly the sort of character you'd see Gabby Hayes playing in an old western, and I freely admit I found myself doing a bad Walter Brennan impression to myself as I was painting him.  In fact, Gina bought him for me for Christmas for exactly that reason - I had a "crazy old prospector" type character in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'd been running, called "Old Man Walter," who had that voice, and the figure reminded Gina of him.

With his jubilant pose, I wanted to do something a bit more exciting than the lipped slotta base he came with, so I grabbed a 50mm base, built up a little ridge from Green Stuff, and pressed his tab into it to make a slot for him.  I also glued a pair of cacti from a Pegasus Hobbies scenics kit to the base for a splash of color.  I've taken to referring to the resulting vignette as "Hooray, My Luck's Finally Changed!" -- with the assumption that, while leaping for joy at having found gold, poor Crazy Pete's going to end up tripping and falling into the cactus patch.

Nice clean painting on the archers Bill and Crazy Pete is just great - the cacti on the base are a nice touch. 

From LeeH - 6mm Punic Cavalry (90 points)

These are my first batch of 6mm Carthaginians from Baccus entered into the Challenge. I'm also working on several units of infantry but the cavalry muse was with me so these got finished first. Baccus list these as Libyan Cavalry but in the TtS! army list they fall under the broader description of Punic Cavalry. Later on I will try to find some of the famed Numidian Light Cavalry but for now they are alluding me in the catalogue.

I just about finished these in time for submission today, thanks to a long session on Sunday and the tolerance of a very understanding wife! There is method in her madness because I think after 25 years of marriage she has realised that painting keeps me happy and a happy husband is also a docile husband!!

I have mixed feelings about how these turned out. I like the colourful shields and the waterproof pen I use for the shield designs is once again proving its value and utility. The pen writes best straight onto the acrylic paint but needs to be sealed with a spray varnish to avoid smudges (don't use a brush varnish as it can make the ink run). I'm less happy with how the white leather armour turned out. The ink wash I applied has made the armour look a bit muddy for my liking and I wish I had taken time to reapply the white highlights again after the wash. Still, its a lesson learned and a mistake I won't make again.

So I have just about managed to get my first Carthaginians into the Challenge but they most definitely won't be my last. I have already started on my next submission and a possible entry to one of the later bonus rounds, and all despite simultaneously working on a 1:1 scale bedroom. I wonder what the points would be for that project...ah of course, its Terrain so doesn't count!

Seventy Two 6mm cavalry should net me 72 points so I'm starting to make headway towards my 300 point target. I have a lot of infantry to work on next and although there are more of them they are worth half the points of cavalry...so I'd better stop typing and get back to my painting desk.

These Carthos look fab Lee - nice work on them, particularly the hand-penned shields. Doing individual designs by hand at this scale definitely deserves a bunch of extra points, which I will award with pleasure.

From ClintB - 28mm Kent Miners (82 points)

Only one entry this week Tamsin; real life is getting in the way. But here this week are the first detachment of my Kent miners for a VBCW. The figures are a mixture of makes including "Sloppy Jalopy" "Ironclad" and "Musketeer Miniatures" All clumped together and in this instance bearing the flag of the "Peoples Assault Column-Kent Miners" . The Betteshanger Colliery will be shown in the future.

They have all been painted in sombre colours as befits the time and place as not everything in the "Garden of England" is bright and cheerful. Most of the miners are wearing hard hats a few are carrying them on their belt at the back and just a couple are not carrying them at all. We have to assume the ones not carrying hard hats work above ground. Historically in Kent 4/5 did work below ground so a couple without hats is about right.

The Flag is by Solway, but the Kent Miners Flag will be shown next time. As Pete Barfield has done one specifically for me. But I am happy to send it out to any VBCW player in the Kent area. (Yes even to Tamsin in London IF she would use it!)

Thanks for looking and see you again next week.

It looks to me as though these chaps are quite rightly upset about the actions of an American manager with a Scottish surname who has been brought in by the government to screw the miners while they, allegedly, sc[redacted on instructions of our lawyers due to ongoing police inquiry]ors.
Nice bunch of figures Clint and I think they deserve a couple of bonus points.

Terrifically Tamsin Tuesday

Ladies, gentlemen and badgers. Flight AHPC6 out of Challenge, Blogland is currently cruising at 33,660 points aiming for a new target altitude of 71,750. I think some of our late boarders will have to pull their fingers out and produce their boarding passes if we are to meet that vertiginous target. Or maybe lock Alex, Miles, MartinC, Kyle and Sylvain in a room together with everybody's lead piles for the next 6 weeks...


In the cabin crew cabin yesterday, myself and my crew were discussing this snippet of industry news. I was tasked with asking the flight's owner (not to mention our esteemed pilot) Curt Snowlord if we could also wear trousers. He was actually quite agreeable to the idea, provided the trousers were like these:

but in Campbell tartan.

Hmmm, so we'll be sticking with our current skirts (closer to belts if you want my opinion) for now.


But that's enough of that. What entertainments do we have in store for you today?

So far, not a lot. It's all suspiciously quiet. Perhaps everyone is working on their "Ray and Fran Bromance" entries for the "lAmour" bonus theme?

What we do have is:
Some miners
Some tiny horsemen who enjoy plays-on-words
Some more chilly people

AdamC- Two and Two-Thirds Tercio (120 points)

  These are 10mm figures form Warmonger Miniatures a local company in Worcester MA that I supported via the Kickstarter they have a small line of landsknecht troops.  There are 60 Pikemen and 60 arquebusiers.

 The Front two stands each with 20 Arquebusiers are in gray and red...

 They are painted to match a unit of Pikemen I painted a few years ago.

 The second groups is 30 Pike men in brown with orange in the slashes typical of the landsknecht uniforms.

 The two sleeves of arquebusiers are in matching uniforms.

 As above.

 Rear view of the pikemen

 One of the things I love about this set is the musician is a fiefer not a drummer.

 Here we  have the last group another 30 pikemen in golden brown and with blue in the slashes

 Hear are the two sleeves of arquebusiers are show form the rear since you saw the other guys from the front.

 Rear of the pike men, the flags are hand painted.  This isn't my best work but it is only the second time I have worked in this scale and the detail on these small figures is impressive, I think they have more detail then many 15mm figures.  I think I might need to give them a wash I can't recall if I did or not with the last set or note.  Any way please check out Warmonger they have great products. Also a pack of 30 arquebusiers are available on my blog as a part of my 1000 post giveaway 

Something I didn't expect Adam, nice looking Tercios.  It's nice to see some other P&S figures on the challenge blog.  I wasn't aware of Warmonger, but will be checking them out.  I have painted 10mm, for WW2 but that was years ago.  There is a lot of detail to bring out on these Warmonger figs.  I like the plumes on the hats and the units look great with the pikes all bunched up like that.

Well done for 120 points.  I had to check the rules for the scoring since these are my first 10mms on the Challenge. 

From SimonM - 28mm "Horrorclix" Aliens (20 Points)

This rather oversized 40mm pre-painted plastic "Wizkids" model of the Alien Grid (also known as Nethead) is from the "Horrorclix" AVP Alien Verses Predator: Aliens Collector's Set. The sculpt is based upon the "alpha-Alien" which kills the predators Chopper and Celtic in the 2004 science-fiction horror film "Alien Verses Predator" and carries the distinctive head injuries caused by its being momentarily incapacitated by a net launcher.

I initially gave the vicious extra-terrestrial an undercoat of "Citadel" Abaddon Black before simply dry-brushing the model with "Vallejo" German Grey. Grid was then washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil before I applied a second, significantly lighter dry-brush of more "Vallejo" German Grey over its more prominently raised surfaces. The Alien's mouth was painted using a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil, whilst its head's carapace was given a coat of Abaddon Black. Finally I picked out its ‘bleeding’ head injury with some “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki and “Citadel” Thrakka Green. As the fresh lacerations were very fine, I tidied up my brush work by dabbing a face blusher pad with some Abaddon Black on it over the area. These helped cover up any stray areas of “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki and restrict the bright green paint to just the deepest recesses of the wound.

 

In addition to Grid I have also painted three more of the Xenomorph drones born inside the pyramid found beneath Bouvet Island. These Aliens were all painted in the same way. Although one of them, which was depicted having had their tail partially severed required its leaking acidic blood to be painted using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki and “Citadel” Thrakka Green. 

These guys give me the creeps Simon, well done.  Once again you've added a lot of detail and texture to shiny mostly mono-colour figures.    Great stuff and 20 points.

From IanW Reaper Bones Gargoyle 10 points

Well I have painted up more Fantasy figures in the last eight odd weeks (did a few just before the challenge kicked off) and here is another for the intrepid adventures to come up against. It reminds me of the cover from my rather battered and well used Creatures and Treasures, still in use today.

It's one of the Dark Heaven Bones from Reaper and rather a good one. It cost me just £2.30 and I can only guess how much if it was made of metal.

So here is Mortar the Gargoyle sculpted by B. Ridolfi. It comes with the wings far close to each other but a bit of hot water and a bit of patience gave me a pose I was happier with.

An undercoat in grey followed by a black ink wash set the tone. I then used progressively lighter shades of grey with especial attention to the ribs in the wings. The base was washed with a lighter stone colour to make it look different to the gargoyle but not so much as to shout at you.

I then gave a fight drybrush of a few shades of green but went over again with another of grey where the green was more obvious. I wanted a look that suggested it's been there some time without over doing it. Maybe a bit light as Cath could not really see the green until pointed out.

Last job was to paint the eyes and teeth though I left the claws without extra highlights as I wanted the stone look to be all over (except the teeth and eyes).

Unfortunately the base was a little uneven on the bottom and sanding had not worked so in the end it got glued to a 2p coin. From base to highest wing tip it measures around 65mm but head to toe it's around the height of a 28mm figure so another 5 points to my total.

What a great bit of nostalgia Ian, I love this guy.  I think ewe all have a love-hate relationship with the Reaper Bones line, but Mortar turned out well.    Good catch on the wing re-positioning - I'll remember that for future Bones figures.  The paint job really brings this figure to life (or semi-life, whatever the case with Gargoyles).  I too use coins for basing single figures, they are often cheaper than the cost of a similarly sized washer.  It's less of a legal issue in Canada now that the open was discontinued but it still doesn't feel right.

Numismatics issues aside (that's two visits to the OED today), it's a great post and I'll award points as a cavalry figure due to bulk. 

For Monday - From PatG 8 28mm Mounted Martian Askaris (80 points)

After some issues last week with glue failure and primer not sticking, I finally have 8 mounted Martian askaris (or is that askarii?).  Editor's note the OED lists the plural as Askari (like fish) or Askaris.

These were a last minute purchase arriving after the competition started.  They mark a couple of bitter sweet moments. At 80 points, they bring my total to 620, well above my target of 500. More importantly, they mark the end of the figures and painting side of my Space 1889 project. Well - almost there is another unit in the queue but they are a re-paint and of course there are always bits and pieces that can be added to project, but after this unit, anything else is an indulgence.

Thanks to everyone in the challenge for the directly or indirectly pushing me across this particular finish line.  While work is about to get very busy, I'll be seeing if I can push my total a bit higher before the Challenge wraps up.

Pat I am continuing to love the old school Rafm wonders that you keep rolling out.  I am rather disappointed that you've almost run out of figures to paint, but pleased for you on hitting your two goals.  Do you wish to formally up your target, or just keep it as is and see where you end up?  

From MilesR: FOW FJ Pak40's and an Elephant (60 points) For Monday

 All I got completed this weekend are some odds 'n ends for the 15mm FOW armies.  Specifically a Pak40 Fallschirmjager AT unit and an Elephant.  All of the mini's are metals and resin from Battlefront.

 I managed to start and finish these guys this morning.  The PAK 40 is a good all around AT asset in the game.

 The giant Elephant isn't really points effective but it's big, mean and a whole lot of fun to play with.

I haven't played a lot of Flames of War lately but am getting excited about the game again with the impending publication of the Pacific books.

This submission consists of 19 crewman/command figures (38pts), 4 guns (16 pts) and a single vehicle (6 pts) and yields me a grand total of 60 pointeroonies.

I haven't been totally lazy as I've finished the L'amour challenge and made good progress on the Nautical project.

Sadly, work is getting in the way for the next two weeks with a business trip to Europe next week and then my firms annual meeting in the Turks the following one.  British Airways still refuses to let me paint in long flights - very disappointing.

Well Miles 60 "pointeroonies" (were you in Joisey recently?) may be a slow week for you but it's a good week for me!  That's a hefty amount of anti-tank hardware you've got going there.  You seem to be pachyderm obsessed these days given your choice of armour.    Nice work on the vehicle camo and the basing for the gun teams.  As for the Heffalump AFV, if it's about the points cost you're doing it all wrong!

Good luck in your travels!

From AnneO'L-Hasslefree Moderns (25 points)

Rather than paint for points or for prizes in bonus rounds, I chose to use this years Challenge as an opportunity to push myself as a painter.  With that in mind, I set three specific goals for myself.  Expand the scope of genres I work in by painting historical miniatures (more is to come), paint teams and make a serious effort to improve my work on skin tones.

Today's figures represent my first attempt at trying new techniques to produce more realistic skin tones.  This first exercise involved using colours such as red, purple, pink, blue and lavender along with the Reaper Tanned Skin Triad to produce different effects. I will briefly discuss what colours I used on each figure and why I chose those colours.  All paints used are from Reaper.

Figures are from Hasslefree Miniatures, are 28mm and are sculpted by Kev White.

I wanted a very warm skin tone for this figure.  In order to achieve that I mixed different colours with Tanned Skin Shadow and glazed down from the base colour, Tanned Skin.  For most of her face I used Crimson Red. However, to produce the darker tones where the hair obscures the face, I used Burgundy Wine, which has a strong purple tone.  For the deeper recess on her arms I used Burgandy Wine, then worked up to Crimson Red and finally up to a pink using Old Western Rose.  This allowed me to produce different gradients within the shadows.  This is most noticeable on the back of the miniature I think.

As there is little skin showing on this figure, the technique was simple and straightforward.  I wanted a warm tone that was consistent with the overall palette.  This was achieved by glazing down into the shadows using Tanned Skin Shadow mixed with Burgundy Wine.  The resultant purple tone would contrast well with the red of his beret without compromising the warmth I was looking for.

In keeping with the cooler palette of his clothing, I wanted to produce a cool skin tone with this figure.  In order to do that, I mixed Winter Blue with the Tanned Skin Shadow and glazed down from the base colour, Tanned Skin.  As the highlights on the top of his head were quite high, I decided to finish with a pale lavender glaze to tone them down a bit.

Oftentimes there is some confusion when talking about glazes and washes.  When I am referring to a glaze I am using paint that I have thinned down with water to the point of being translucent, with very little pigment noticeable on the brush.  When doing this, one must use many, many layers before the colour is noticeable. However, as the paint is translucent rather than opaque one gains the advantage of producing interesting gradients and a multitude of colours. This is a watercolour technique. Also unlike a wash, the paint is not applied to the entire surface, rather it is targeted solely to the areas where one wants to produce a colour shift.   

There are two more figures as part of this group of Moderns.  Both are being done in a deep ebony skin tone.  I have completed the work on the skin tones and am now working on their clothing.  As the technique for producing such a deep ebony is more complex, I will post those figures on another day.  

These figures are worth 15 points and put me over my 100 point target.  

First of all Anne, congrats on hitting your target.  I understand that you will hang time on the benchmark but may have some more figs to add over the back half of the challenge.

Now that my administrative duties are over with let me just say "WOW".  Once again you have produced a triumph!  Wonderful paint jobs and I appreciated the tutorial on flesh tones.  Since you've rendered me almost speechless I'll just let the figures tell the story.  But I have doled out some more of my limited supply of bonus points your way once again.