From PaulJ: 28mm WWII British Paras (55 points)

From PaulJ:

Here is another section of WW2 British Paratroopers in 28mm.  They are a combination of Warlord and Crusader metal figures.

A fourth Infantry section provides an additional support element to my core three section platoon. 

The second PIAT team also add a bit of redundancy to the platoon.  The PIAT isnt that good an anti tank weapon, but its handy to keep the lighter and recon stuff at arms reach.  Having only team makes it a bit vulnerable, and an extra team should help build a crossfire too.

For those who asked for more closeups of the rest of my Para platoon I've uploaded a bunch of closeups and pictures here:

http://tasmancave.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/red-devils-platoon.html

Lovely work Paul. You've really hit your stride with these fellows. They all look superb but I especially like the photos of the prone PIAT team - your garden should be free of critters with these lads guarding the verge.

This section of paras will give Paul 55 points. Nicely done! (As you see your choice of 800 points for your second points target was a bit conservative. I still think you should go for 900... just sayin'.)

From PeterD: 28mm War of 1812 Native Warriors from Grand River Six Nations (60 points)

From Peter:

Next up for the painting challenge is another War of 1812 unit - as Anne O'Leary says I've got around to the good guys. This is a unit of 12 native warriors from the Grand River Six Nations, who featured in many War of 1812 actions especially along the Niagara.

The figures are 28mm from Crusader's FIW range. I did some poking about of Webstores before settling on the Crusader figures. I was looking for figures which had a mix of European and native clothing and equipment, and these guys did the trick. I have some Crusader figs in my El Cid armies so I knew the company. Plus Caliver Books in the UK had them in stock and they ship world wide post free if you order £15 of figures. At some point it would be great if North American hobby suppliers could be even in the same ball park as the UK firms in terms of shipping costs and timeliness of delivery. OK, I'll get off the soap box now…..

For painting these figures, for me the big challenge was skin tones. I live in a city with a fair Native population so have the ability to do some people watching among fellow bus riders, shoppers and people wandering the halls of academentia. I hope I didn't come off as too creepy!

I settled on Liquidtex "Dark Portrait Pink" with a heavy wash of "Raw Umber" - being a Artist's Acrylics man at heart. This contrasts with my European figures which use "Flesh" topped with washes of "Terracotta" to give a tanned look and Raw Umber to get the crevices. This Bloom County gem from the 80s sums up the process nicely I think.

I never paint eyes on 28mm figures, or at least I haven't in 20 years or so. I subscribe to the theory that eyes are only discernible at much closer range than that implied by a 28mm fig. That and the fact that most figures I see with eyes remind me of pandas and raccoons.

I wanted to base these figs to give the impression of native warriors operating in a loose order and taking advantage of cover. Therefore I used double sized bases with 2 figs per 40mm square base instead of 2 per 40mm*20mm. The fuzzy caterpillar grass is an Evil Empire product while the other scenic items were produced by mother nature. Incidentally SWMBO had me roast the sticks at 400 degrees to make sure that no new friends were introduced to our indoor environment.

Lemme get this straight: You cooked your sticks so they would get past house-safety quarantine? You need to tell your lovely wife that it's not the outdoor critters that are the danger to your household, rather it's you being around any sharp tool or piece of cutlery. Last I heard you barely escaped cutting cabbage without losing a digit!  :)

Great work Peter! Your recipe for Native American skin tones looks very convincing and I see you have been converted to the 'Cult of the Tuft'. Good man. I look forward to seeing these fellows in a game soon.

These Native Americans will give Peter 60 points.

From PaulJ: 28mm WWII British Paratroopers (296 points)

Evidently Paul has not been idle these past few weeks...

From Paul: 

Presenting my 28mm WW2 British Airborne force.  In fact, this project was the main reason for my acceptance Alan's dare to get into this painting challenge in the first place, so that I could start and actually finish a new army.  I must admit that I have had a bit of a love/hate relationship with these guys, but it has been very satisfying to build and get a new army onto the table in  a short period of time.  Initially this force was planned for Bolt Action, but what you see here has been re-tweaked to comply with the historically correct orbats used in Chain of Command rules (which I very much like).

The force as shown comprises 54 figures - 3 x 9 man Airborne infantry sections, a Platoon HQ which includes snipers, a PIAT team and a 2inch mortar (proxied by the prone Bren gun team until I get the figures).  The support elements available are a 5 man Vickers MMG team, a 5 man Light Howitzer detachment, a 3 man Sapper team with a Flamethrower, a medic (already submitted for the Hero bonus round) and a Forward Observer team.   I still have another infantry section and a two man PIAT team to come as reinforcements...plus a big chunky Churchill Mk VII Heavy Tank!

I would like to thank everyone for their suggestions on tackling the signature camo denizen smocks, which I found somewhat daunting.  I really appreciated the advice and quite like the end result, though they came out darker than I had originally intended.  I spent quite a bit of time on the basing too, and have tried something a bit different.  All Officers and Senior NCOs have yellow flowers on their bases to help indentify them.  Similarly, anyone not armed with a trusty Lee Enfield .303 rifle has a small white rock on the base.  That should make it easier to pick out out the stens, brens and other special weapons on the table.  Models are a combination of Bolt Action and Crusader - the latter are a bit chunkier but not overly so and I think it adds nice variety in the force.

And so my Red Devils are ready for their first outing on the table - watch out Jerry!

Yes, its Para Monday! This is really awesome work Paul. The denison camo looks very good though I'm sure many of us would like to see some close-ups in an upcoming submission. I particularly like the howitzer team and the mix of berets and helmets. A classic force.

These paras will give Paul a very impressive 296 points, enough for him to meet and exceed his Challenge target of 500 points. An amazing effort Paul, congratulations! 

I look forward to the future additions to this collection including the promised Churchill.

From BrendonW: 28mm Dark Age Noble, Hound, Banner Bearer, Peasant & Cart (45 points)

More Dark Age goodness (?) from Brendon:

Here is another group I finished very recently.

28mm Dark Ages. Mounted Noble with a dismounted version is Crusader, Dog is Foundry, Flag Waver, Horn Blower and peasant and cart are Gripping Beast as is the big flag. Decal on the Shield is LBM. 

I didn't feel the need to keep the dismounted figure the same colours as the mounted version. I am really happy to get the baggage cart completed as that means in this challenge I have three larger bases of figures for the Saga escort mission. The big green flag will be a talking point in games for years to come I think.

Wonderful collection of figures Brendon. And, really, who can deny a faithful Irish Wolfhound? Your flag is brilliant! It reminds me of 'The Fighting Man' banner described in Julian Rathbone's excellent  novel 'The Last English King' (highly recommended to any interested in the battles of 1066).

This group will give Brendon 45 points. Very nice!

From BrendonW: 28mm Dark Age Characters (65 points)

From Brendon:

1 x Norman Knight, 2 English Heroes. The Norman is the last mounted plastic (Conquest Games) in my collection so it's a great feeling to have them completed. The other two fellas that have a mounted and unmounted version come from the Dark Ages in England (Harold & Tostig Godwinson). Both metals from Crusader games but one has plastic shields from Gripping Beast with LBM decals. They will make for great looking Kings and Nobles for my Dark Age armys. As you can see the Metal horses look a little smaller than the Plastic Norman but that's no big deal to me.

I had a bit of a stupidity attack when I went to matt spray these and picked the wrong can (German Tank Yellow) but fortunately it wasn't too much time before I had them back to how they should be. It was just a light spray but it did ruin a Viking shield with a nice LBM sticker on it. Lesson learnt.

The Viking King and his daughter are Foundry figures. The Large wolf is from Northstar for the Myths and Legends game. I mounted him on a 40 x 40 base and he will be a 'counts as' model. My 10 year old daughter insisted I painted the girls hair brown like hers so who am I to refuse. I was not sure how to paint the Super Wolf but had an idea in my head after a bit of thinking and I was pleased with the result.

After a week of super hot we went to a Cyclone watch but never got a direct hit but we have had non stop tropical rain for a week or so which means dark days so it made photography very tricky.

Lovely work Brendon. I feel your pain on the matt spray gaff. I am verrry deliberate when I pick up any can of spray now. All of these figures are great but that wolf is particularly awesome - reminds me of the Stark direwolves in the GRR Martin novels. I think I need to get one for my Strange Aeons collection...

These Dark Age heroes and characters will give Brendon 65 points. Well done sir!

From BrendonW: 28mm Gladiators (65 points)

From Brendon:

This bunch of circus entertainers are 28mm Foundry and Crusader figures. The dude with the winged helmet on the left hand side is a Hermes Psychopompus. He is near a figure on his knees asking for mercy. Hermes is an arena official (non-combatant) and his job was to stab downed gladiators to check if they are actually dead! His right hand is gloved because his stabber was usually a red hot poker. I went for white loin cloths (except 1) as I wanted to see how it would turn out. I figure for entertainment purposes it would help display any blood spilled all the better. It's kind of a classical look perhaps. 

There are a variety of fighting styles in this bunch. Myrmillo, Secutor,  1 Thracian, 1 Scissor. I found these figures seemed to come with a lack of Scutum in the blisters. The large rectangular curved shield. So one is a plastic shield from Warlord Legionnaires. 

The standard description of these styles is with a Scutum except the Thracian (small shield) and the Scissor. I went for no colour on the shields to see how it would look as well. This challenge is excellent as it motivated to get these figures completed after having them in my lead stash for a long while.

Excellent stuff Brendon! That Hermes chap must have had a lot of friends amongst the gladiators. ...Not. I've long wanted to get into gladiator gaming and your submission is making it very hard to resist. 

This ludus of gladiators will give Brendon 65 points. Great work!

From JamesB: 28mm Seven Years War Dragoons, Light Infantry, F&IW Indians, WWI British & Ronin #17 (whew!) (639 points)

From James:

So as we enter the last week (or so) of the challenge an entry from me that gets me over my par mark. I have more of my SYW French, we have 8 Dragoons from Crusader Miniatures then we have 12 Light Troops from Front Rank. 

24 Musketeers from Crusader these I have painted up as a foreign unit namely the Scottish. I have 2 units of Grenadiers 2x 20 (I have changed the units sizes just to get them in my light tent.) I have also added a picture of the whole Brigade.

I have a few bits of F&IW stuff left to paint here is on nice model from Redoubt Miniatures a pair of Indians carrying their canoe.  

Next I have my entry fee. He is from Perry Miniatures.

Last but not least is another of those projects this challenge has given me the kick I needed to finish WW1 Brits, 25 miniatures from Renegade Miniatures.

So that gets me over my par and gives me a week or so to see how far I can push, I have French SYW Cannon's and Generals plus the odd F&IW figure.

Whoa! That is an staggering shedload of fabulous toys James! It's really hard to pick any favorites as its all so darn good. I have to say that the indians hefting their canoe in portage is fabulous, all the SYW is beautiful and then there's the samurai - brilliant. I love the horse colour and the sashimono is elegantly done. I could go on and on...

This astonishing haul of miniatures will give James a staggering 639 points! This moves him past Chris into First Place in the points standing. Amazing. Well done James!

From StefanosS: 28mm Napoleonic Italian Infantry (117 points)

From Stefanos:

Here I is my completed 2nd Btg of Italian Kingdom, 1st Line Regiment.

22 28mm figures, almost all are from Crusader miniatures, the two wounded from Offensive Miniatures. Fanion is from Flag Dude

1 French Voltigeur in greatcoat (see top image) by Perry Miniatures.

Lovely work Stefanos. We've had a lot of Napoleonic Italians entered during the Challenge which is a nice change of pace. I've not seen a close-up of Crusader naps before but they look quite nice - the sculpts have an almost Foundry look about them.

This battalion with their lonely voltigeur and banner will give Stefanos 117 points.