From PaulO'G & ReillyOG - AHPC XIII Wrap Up

As ever, it feels like more when you're painting it!

Reilly and I set modest set of goals to yield appropriately modest yet immensely satisfying outcomes amongst a range of other real life pressures and travels. We both had a lot of fun and pulsed hobby focus

We covered an eclectic mix of Genres: War of the Roses, Necromunda, WW2, 40k, Last War and this little game themed on turnips that you may have come across...

The least Turnipy Bits - Necromunda, Last War and War of the Roses Pikemen

War of the Roses Pikemen and the Turnip Rocket Battery

Along the way I discovered new methods of inefficiency mid-challenge; printing, scultping and scratch building. I'm keeping CAD design in reserve for AHPC XIV

Giant Crabs and Space Crusaders - the Black Templars

I was really happy to get some of those 40k guys done - I'm on a mission to get my 9th boxed set minis (from whence these came) finished before the newly announced 10th edition is released!

We eagerly await news of the turnip side-challenge: Have I grasped the coveted Silver Turnip?

So from us both, a hearty thanks to the AHPC Community, our Sunday Minion Martin, the Snowlord's Crew who helped make the Season a reality, and of course Empress Sarah and her live-in Minion Curt: Long may they Reign!

Raise horns of Ale! Skal and Farewell to AHPC XIII

See you all next Season, where I hope to break 8,000 lifetime points!

From DaveD - Challenge XIII - aka The Green Machine .

 It’s been a productive challenge . I managed to complete stuff in the start and end free fire phases and post something every Tuesday . That kept the score boarding ticking nicely , and I ended up doing almost a 1000 points more than anticipated- even with starting an unexpected new job for a few months  - which will let me travel to the US to Historicon and then visit ACW battlefields and USMC museum. 

You may have noticed a bit of “green” theme this year - pretty much everything bar buildings has green on most of it. 

The Nam collection has had its back broken with lots of vehicles added and the ARVN infantry . MartinC and I have the BIG game booked in for August where every bit of kit will be on two massive tables - each 24x6 . I really enjoyed the model making in the larger scale with the PBR being a particular favourite along with the B52. I have about 100 figures (under way now)  , 4 vehicles and a few planes to do and it will be finished if not completed .  I have the Anzac contingent and the 3rd NVA platoon under way at the moment.

The 7 Days to Rhine project has its starter forces added - with a first game completed . 

Someone said there would be “never ending Cold War challenge” - oops most of my production fit right into that ! .

My Necromunda Van Saar gang has been completed - even won its first game . See a diversion into fantasy space pixie land was had - it won’t be a long term habit - there are still historical projects in the wings . I have next years theme already building in the stash.

A new barn was added to old west/bootleggers terrain collection . 

 

My favourite creation 

I also completed the outstanding 15mm  WW2 terrain bits 

 

I ventured into Turnip 300  with Rhett in that famous film “Gone with the wind” . We managed to keep Tuesday mostly Turnip free.

 

Thanks to the director of this organisation Curt - and the person in charge Sarah. The minions as ever kept the show on the road cheers all . We had some good on line paint and chat session (we have a dedicated Discord server for challenge participants to avoid FB) especially in the doldrums periods it kept us going . Thanks for all the inspirational creations to gaze at and comment support . 

Until next year ! May your stash be suitably topped up ! My green paint certainly has been ,  after about 1500 points of creativity it needed it.

Huzzah!

From GeoffreyT: Challenge Wrap Up

Hello Challengers,

What a lot of fun this has been.   AND I painted a grand pile of miniatures, many more than I expected to.  Such is the excellence of this event that it drags the inner hobbyist out to play.

The biggest surprise for me was how many miniatures I made myself, and how much I enjoyed sculpting.  This is most of them (minus one gift troll).

There was so many I could not fit myself in the same image, so here I am.

Thanks to Curt and Sarah for organising, for Sidney for making the excellent studio theme, for Teemu and the other minions for maintaining the enthusiasm and to all the participants and commenters for the encouragement.

Did I achieve the goal of empty the cupboard of unpainted miniatures?  No, but I got pretty close; indeed close enough that I'll need to collect some up for next years challenge as there is not much left.  

See you all next year.

Kind Regards

Geoff.

From GregB - AHPC XIII Wrap Up

I may live in Ontario now, but it is still "Go Jets go!" for me...

Hey everyone! Another AHPC has come and gone, and my feelings are similar to so many of yours - glad to have finished some stuff, pleasantly surprised at finishing some stuff and a little disappointed I didn't get to some other stuff. But that's just stuff, and there will always be more stuff to paint, right?

A photo of the Hyawatha Highlands cross-country ski trails, taken in January of this year, mid-Challenge. Had to do something between painting Space Marine squads!

This year's output was dominated by a particular passion for GW's "Age of Darkness" setting, and I was particularly pleased to have cranked out another 68 or so Space Marines for the collection. But I was quite pleased to have made a dent in my "Star Wars" pile of shame - and to manage to get into some long-overdue historical projects, such as the Varangian Guard and Hospitaller Knights. The Varangians saw service on the gaming table last week, one of the most fun games I have enjoyed in years (even if the !@#!@#ing Normans ran over them in the end) - those sorts of sudden projects, inspired by gaming friends, are the most fun, and most fun to share. 

Once more...this time with my trusty companion Joey. He "helps" me paint, and keep an eye out for the right priorities in life!

Thanks to all for sharing their work and passion for the hobby, and for encouraging others. Thanks to Curt for hosting and the Minions for their work helping things go along. I also have to recognize my wonderful wife Linda, who puts up with my hobby, and the mess it sometimes (always) makes because she recognizes that it is something I enjoy so much. She even took these photos for me, and she enjoys seeing the work of all the participants.

Cheers to all, and hope to "see" you all back here next time!

From DallasE: Cut and Print!

Well, that's another Challenge wrapped, and it was great fun as always! My thanks to the Minions and especially Mr. Curt and Lady Sarah for all their hard work, and also to everyone who took the time to look at my work and comment.

My Challenge, by the numbers:

    28mm Titans                    2

    28mm vehicles                 3

    28mm bikes                     5

    28mm terrain pieces        1

    28mm cannon                  1

    28mm infantry               64 

As it happened, I crushed my (admittedly low-ball) goal and came within a gnat's of breaking the 1,000 point mark. Small potatoes compared to some here I know, but I did play a lot of ice hockey this winter too!                
 

That's it for now and as always, see you at the after-party!

From PeterB. The grand finale

So, we are done. That flew by quicker than the lifespan of a GW rulebook. Once again I had an excellent time seeing all the super work you all have posted from the 50 pointers to the 5000 pointers. I can only apologise if I missed any and didn't comment, or if it seemed I ran out of vocabulary and used the same words to describe the excellent painting. 

When I first started this hobby back in the last millennium, painting my models was just a means to an end. I was a gamer that was told I had to have paint on my models to take them to my local store to play every week, so I painted them as quickly as possible. (They were terrible and yes I did finish some at four in the morning). Now I game a few times a year and instead I get great joy out of spending hours painting models, some of which may never take part in any gaming. 

This challenge is full of an inspiring bunch of people who are encouraging, informative, constructive and generally just darn nice. Yet, for some reason we have a weird fixation with accumulating as many skulls as possible?

Anyway, here is the obligatory photo taken by Mrs B once again this year, with a double thumbs up again. (I know you approved of the pose last year Ray, so why change,)

I knew i was busy this year and so kept my target a low 500 again, but still managed a good round 1000 points and surprised myself by how much i did do. The to do pile is once again looking thin (It never completely empties does it?), ready for Salute next month for which my shopping list is already under construction. 

I shall, like others take this opportunity to thank Curt for being the crazy brainchild behind this great endeavour, Sarah for supporting Curt in his crazy endeavour, Miles for his minioning duties and wrangling the spreadsheet of doom and everyone else for just being you. (Oh and Teemu for an informative education on Finland. I am almost tempted to visit, but I really don't do cold. -10 not really cold,  really? You're all crazy)

We had one day of snow this year. A nice novelty, it was enough.

So, may your paint pots never run dry, your brushes never split, your glue never stick your fingers together and your bayonets never snap off. (Oh, and if you are in the area, see you at Salute next month!)

From TomC: Aaaaaand cut!

I would like to (forgive me) set the scene before I go through what I managed to get through during the Challenge: it is late 2022, Liz Truss squats athwart the helm of the United Kingdom, and I have only completed one figure so far in the year.

There she is, 5 points worth of Corporate Security Unit from Corvus Belli's Infinity game. That was it. So, cut forward several months and I am very pleased to have at least managed to best that!

 All in the light-box (if not all quite in focus...), with plenty of firsts for me in there and thankfully just enough to get me over my points target! I was a little short of my stretch goal of reaching the Director's Chair but all in all I'm glad to have managed what I did get done. 

 So thank you, once again, to Curt for engineering the Challenge, Sidney for the wonderful locations, Phil and his phellow Minions for herding us cats, my wife for her patience, and to the many people kind enough to comment on any of my posts, you are all wonderful.

 With the spirit of the Challenge in mind, here is what I have on my list to do next and, now that I have offered that information publicly, I have no choice but to actually get them finished!

I did try (and failed) to get this corn-fed chunk done before the Challenge...
...perhaps before AHPC XIV?

 
As a post-credit treat (?), here is the Maestro with some biped:

She knows not personal boundaries

Until next time!

From Barks: AHPC XIII completed

I like looking back at the end of each Challenge to see what I have painted. It is often a surprise and a reminder of what I can achieve with your inspiration and encouragement. Even though my points target was a bit optimistic, I got a lot of projects out of my 'to-do' tray. I can't really pick a favourite.

I made it through the studio and should now be eligible for admission to the elitist 10 000 points club. Let me in!

Here's a pic of yours truly after an incident trying to get a glass marble into a 200mL bottle of Vallejo Grey Surface Primer.

Looking forwards to XIV!

From Skully McSkullface: The Champion of Skullz AHPC XIII

And the skully overlord is... StuartL!

• StuartL 1575
• DavidB 697
• TeemuL 512
• Sander 97
• ChrisW 86
• MikeW 29
• Barks 29
• PeteF 26
• GregB 18

DavidB painted a mighty 97 skullz in the last week, but we were all swamped in a skullslide from StuartL with his 40K scenery. As winner, Stuart gets to keep last year's winner's skull- which was CurtC! Hopefully Curt has looked after your trophy well.

StuartL's winning gambit

Skullicious detail

Some of DavidB's skullz

DavidB's peak 90's nostalgia

KyleC painted a fellow skull-collecting enthusiast

MattT's evil seven dwarves

ChrisW's distressed damsel

RichardH shares his bony collection

JamesM's Goliaths accessorise with skully motifs

StuartL also painted a rat skull banner!

Skull of the week:

SteveA's classic Warhammer Fantasy

Skully McSkullface has enjoyed counting your skullz and hopes you've enjoyed painting them. He will return!

S McSf, powering down.

From TamsinP: AHPC XIII RoundUp

 

Can you spot what's missing? Apart from me.

This year's Challenge for me was all about what became my final entry - the huge space carrot, and the extra bits I painted to go with it. I kept putting it off and only just got it finished in time, mostly because of the silly joke that I should paint it like a carrot which led to the name, which needed a story, which needed figures, which needed a backdrop, which needed home-made decals...

In putting it off, I found myself painting lots of little bits (some left over from AHPC XII, some purchased or 3D printed since), almost all of which were able to be neatly fitted into the different studios. In past years, I haven't done all of the map locations... actually, I didn't do the dungeon or Quadrant maps - just Treasure Island... but this year saw me visit all fifteen studios and take two limo rides; the only locations I didn't visit were the Gift Shop and the Yellow Brick Road.

Apart from the Spirit of Camberwell, the entries I'm most proud of are the two Judge Dredd busts. The black and white one was actually easier to do than the colour one, and not just because it was smaller - thinking how the colours should be shaded and highlighted (and deciding to go with non-metallic metal for the metal bits) on a larger model where there would be more natural shadow than you would get with a 28mm figure took some adjustment.

Despite my reduced final score compared to most years, I'm still very pleased with everything I've got done. 

From SylvainR: How do I Feel about the Wrap Up? Tray Bien!

I am quite happy with the outcome of this year's Challenge: the desert project is completed and I took a big bite out of Early WW2 armies. I love the fact that we are encouraging each other, although I could have certainly provided more comments to fellow painters. I promise to do better next year.

Many thanks to all the participants, the indispensable minions and, of course Lady Sarah and the Snowlord. And my thoughts are with Oscar whose big fluffy head I will miss petting.

Now that the Challenge is over, I will organize storage for my new units, start putting aside unpainted stuff  and prepare my trays for next year's Challenge.

Ce n'est qu'un au revoir!

Rob H - Wrap Up!

Thank you Curt for organizing the event and thanks to all the minions who help make it run smoothly, and finally to all the participants who made it through the winter.

I am afraid that AHPC XIII ended in late January for me.  I am happy to have succeed my goal by almost 50% . My best showing yet. Three weeks of antibiotics and a request to move after 25 years, put a damper on my grandiose plans. New housing has been secured and packing continues at a brisk speed. My miniature storage units have been dismantled and all the nicely organized boxes packed away in preparation of Der Tag. 

From SimonG: Wrapping Up Another Great Year

With some sadness I've come to the end of my third cycle around the AHPC quarter. It's been another great experience and a points total I'm sure I will never get any where close to again given an unexpected bonanza with my Jewish Revolt Temple Mount terrain!  

Once again I get to bless you with my ugly mug and the fruits of my labours, which included this time around ...

... The last vehicles for my 1980s Cold War Gone Hot project -- all that remains are the BAOR infantry figures (10mm camo, fiddly stuff) ...

... A smattering of vignettes to meet the needs of the AHPC XIII Studio Challenge -- luckily I have lots of shelf space to display these things ...

... More Descent and Black Rose Wars characters, always fun to try out different painting techniques ...

... And the Jews ...

... And Romans for my Jewish Revolt project along with the temple as a sample of the large terrain I worked on -- still plenty more to add for this one and I'm taking delivery of lots of other base figures to work up and add in!

It only remains to say thanks once again to my fellow Tuesday toreadors, to Tamsin for excellent minioning once again, to Lady Sarah for inspiring an exploration of the world of high fashion, to Curt for being the mastermind and ongoing inspiration for this whole shebang, and to all who participated in, commented on and overall made this another great experience -- see you all again in December!

Postscript- I forgot my Nogs, now that my Wife has them in the Kitchen, so here’s a hello from them too