From MichaelA: Elephant-Drawn Indian Mutiny Artillery, Injured Grey and 'Hildy' (90 points)

MichaelA begins his ascent up the Challenge ladder with this amazing entry ranging across the Indian sub-continent, the American Wild West and all the way to Area 51.

From Michael:

Having had the good fortune and foresight to have the school holidays coincide with the start date of the challenge, I have been blessed with a couple of days of dedicated painting time (once, of course, a substantial amount of family and festive related duties were completed first!)  so without further ado, I can present my first entries.

A combined post of Mutineer Miniatures, 28mm Indian Mutiny range finally sees the completion of a the Elephant towing carriage, complete with Mahoot and an 18/24lb siege gun.  This was quite a chunk of metal and in some ways not as well sculpted as the resin version I had previously done, with the two halves of the body needing a fair bit of filling but once prepared it proved to be an enjoyable project that then inspired me to paint up the Naval Brigade crew, again from the same range, with another 18/24lb siege gun. 

Now it may seem a ridiculous leap from the Indian Mutiny to a Zombie Alien, but it was all to do with the paint!  Yes, British gun carriage grey seemed such an obvious choice for this poor infected freebie from the good people at 'Tengu Miniatures'.  Part of their 28mm zombie range, it is a little smaller than the others, but still holds the same exquisite attention to detail that I have come to expect from the company.

And then there was Hildy, my entry fee to this year's challenge.  What could be simpler than painting up a 28mm cowboy and sending it to Curt, saying inspired by Sam Peckinpah?  But then I started having a closer look at the man's oeuvre and came across the lesser known masterpiece that is 'The Ballad of Cable Hogue'.  Now as luck would have it, I still had a couple of those rather scantily clad cowgirls from the 'Black Scorpion' range and thought - perfect, Stella Stevens immortalized in resin!

I imagine that, like a good many of us, my carefree hobby days are about to become a tad problematic; progress may be hampered over the next week,  so I wish you all a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Brilliant work Michael! The elephant-drawn artillery team is wonderful, the poor 'Grey' is suitably spooky-yet-pathetic, but 'Hildy' is the piece de resistance for me. She has such sass, such poise and such impressive...erm, guns! (Sorry, it was just crying to be said) And those embroidered 'Daisy Duke' shorts are something to behold as well!

This wonderful selection of models will give Michael 90 points (with 65 counting towards your 'Victorian Duel' with Phil and Greg). Great stuff Michael and thanks again for 'Hildy'!

From PhilH: 28mm Pulp Adventurers (35 points)

From Phil:

You'll never guess what I wrap up my challenge with. No sandbagging here, just another small entry : yet another eclectic collection of miniatures! 

First up, four Artizan Designs French Foreign Legion that I got on eBay or in a bargain bin ('they'll be useful some day' syndrome). Classic uniform, painted in a 1930s Khaki, these will be useful for Pulp - some hired guns for the Societe, perhaps?

Next, an investigator for Pulp, this lady looks like she means business. I really liked the sculpt, from Hasslefree Miniatures. I've no use for most of their modern range, but figured she could pass for a little earlier. Kev White does lovely females, while often very petite (this one particularly so), they seem quite natural and believable sculpts. 

Third, another lady, this time from the Victorian era. She is from the Mutineer Miniatures 'Defenders of Lucknow' pack that Gharak grabbed. I bugged him to let me have this feisty lady. She looks like she means business and can add some colour to my Sudan Brits! I've done a lot of ladies in the challenge it seems. Not entirely intentional, but they have been great to keep it varied! 

Finally, one with a story. With the Sarah's Choice rules this year focusing on noncombatants, most of the ladies I had in stock wouldn't fit the bill (I've painted them anyway, of course!). I pondered for a while and came up with two options: a single figure and a small diorama. Time ran away from me and I didn't get the diorama done, so this will have to be my stab at reclaiming the prize. 

When I saw the miniature, I was a little struck by the ethereal grace of her. I thought she'd look great alone on a cliff edge, looking out over crashing waves. Perhaps a sailor's wife, waiting for his return, quietly watching for sails on the horizon, with the breeze catching her hair. 

There's only so much space on a 30mm base, I wasn't up for making cliffs and crashing waves. But I thought I'd position her offset slightly from the usual position on the base, which I think draws out her loneliness a little. A simple paint job to bring out the simplicity of the sculpt, in my usual clean style. I tried a new recipe for the blonde hair and am rather pleased with it. She was a pain to photograph though, the flash often makes the dress look harshly pale. 

A lovely miniature and a joy to paint, Hasslefree once more. 

The paint is still drying on her. With these submitted, it is late and its off to bed I go! 

Beautiful work Phil. Though all are excellent I have to say that my favourite is the solitary lass. You've done such a nice blending with her dress and hair. Lovely stuff.

This final submission will give Phil 35 points to close off his roster. Well done and thank you for joining us again.

From IanH: 28mm Pulp Cultists, Napoleonic French Light Infantry & Ronin #13 (95 points)

...and from our other Ian:

I've scrabbled together one final entry for the competition to be honest this past few weeks I've felt a little burnt out and it's been a real struggle to find the energy to keep painting. Only those final tantalizing points to my target and the pile of undercoated miniatures that leered at me kept me going. 

My first entry is a small group of French Light Infantry, 28mm Perry Brothers sculpts as usual. These were a Christmas present from my wife and 2 units of these pretty much round off my French force for the moment, though the 2nd unit will have to await next years competition I fear. 

Second up is my entry fee, Ronin number 13 unlucky for some but I feel not for me, my daughter was born on the 13th so in our house it's a lucky number. It's another Perry sculpt, one of their unarmoured Samurai, I actually had another miniature lined up for the fee but I fluffed the paint job and so had to start a fresh one for you. I kept the colour scheme simple and in my current favorite colours, deep red and contrasting white. I pondered some freehand detailing but unfortunately time was against me and I had to skip it. 

My third entry is a mix of miniatures for my Kali Cult pulp miniatures, a rifle armed Zealot painted in the same colours as my sword wielding ones submitted earlier in the competition. The miniature is from Mutineer Miniatures, part of their Indian Mutiny range and is a really good clean sculpt with virtually no flash. I also have 3 mounted Kali Cultists, again in the black and red colour scheme which ties the group together. These came out really nicely and didn't take much more than a few hours to paint, embarrassingly I notice a little mistake or two on the close ups but I'll clean that up before they go in the cabinet. 

Overall the competition has been a resounding success for output, whilst I'll never manage the 3000+ points of some of the heavy hitters I've painted more in the past 3 months than I've painted in probably the past 2 years. 

It's been a real pleasure taking part in this and I'll be putting my name straight on the list for next year hopefully. 

More lovely work to close off your Challenge, Ian - excellent. Thanks so much for Ronin #13. I really like the red and white and he has a wonderfully maniacal look in his eyes which warms my heart. The Kali Cultists are fabulous as well and I particularly like the dynamic horsemen.

This selection will give Ian 95 points to end his run on the roster. It also places him over the top for his Challenge goal. Bravo! Thanks so much for taking part in this little bit of silliness and for treating us with your work.

From IanH: 28mm Pulp Adventurers & Minoan Warriors (70 points)

From Ian:

First up I've a number of new Pulp miniatures, a desert guide from Artizan designs who was a lovely miniature to paint, really nice crisp detail and a characterful face. I gave him that interesting shade of ginger beard which may suggest he's Afghan. The second individual is Yusef, once again from Artizan Designs, perhaps he's another guide for our heroes but then again he may be the member of a secret organisation sworn to protect the grail and keep it's secrets. Either way I kept the colours subtle and went for a linen suit look but decided on different coloured trousers just to break up the miniature a little. 

I follow those two up with a group of four fanatical turbaned warriors for my Kali cult, the miniatures are the Gazi from Mutineer Miniatures Indian Mutiny range. They've been painted up to match with my Thuggee stranglers my brother painted for me last year and are clearly inspired by the Thuggee from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Once again really nice crisp miniatures that were very easy to paint. 

Finally I've a group of Ancient warriors, these are some playtest miniatures for my Greek Mythology inspired game and will be representing the Minoan Faction when I get back around to some more play testing. The miniatures are a mix of plastic Zulus and Numidians from Wargames Factory. They're not my best paint job and I have to say I hated painting them after the pulp miniatures, poor detail and not well defined at all. but they're off my desk and can be added to the tally.

That's it for now, handily a couple of orders have come in to I have some more assembling and prepping to do over the next week.

Really nice work Ian. Those Artizan sculpts are so characterful. I particularly like the russet beard and blue and white cap you gave the Afghan tribesman. 

This collection will give Ian 70 points.

From IanH: 28mm Pulp Adventure Characters (10 points)

From Ian:

I've finally got off to my slow start, just a couple of miniatures for my 1930s Pulp Games I've had lying about for and age. 

First up Is a nasty looking strong guy, some kind of German or Russian mercenary for hire and no doubt will become someone for our heroes to go toe to toe in some precarious situation. I'm afraid I can't name the manufacturer as I've no idea where he came from, one of those figures I picked up years ago and never got around to doing anything with him. 

Secondly I've an important looking Indian fella, once again for pulp gaming, I've not decided whether he's the useful trader who happens to stock whatever our heroes require or perhaps he is the Maharajahs Lieutenant and leader of the Thuggee Cult. Either way the miniature is from Mutineer Miniatures part of their Indian Mutiny range.

A very nice and characterful duo, Ian. The face on the 'Indian fella' is just fabulous - great work.

These two figures will give Ian 10 points to kick-off his climb up the roster.