From PaulS: 28mm 'Qu-Sh-Ug' Monster (8 points)

From PaulS: 

This time we've got one, large beasty to terrorise the other entries with. This model, a Qu-Sh-Ug, is from PureEvilMinuatures and was funded through their kickstarter last year. Sadly it is not available to the general public though  which is a real shame as I want another one!  You can see some great versions over on their Kickstarter page along with some scale shots towering over one of their 28mm figures.

The kit consists of three major parts, the body and both front legs, plus a metric ton of tentacles to customise your nasty however you wish. All of the examples had different numbers of tentacles coming out of the mouth, but I decided to be different and turned one into a tail instead as it seemed to balance out the reaching paw. 

Painting wise he was a joy thanks to all the fine texture in the skin. This took a few layers of drybrushing, followed by a series of different washes to target specific parts of the model.

This guy is pretty darn awesome.  He reminds me of how I feel after a day in which I've skipped lunch.  I love the colours Paul's chosen for him, especially that turquoise for his veins and soft tissue. A very cool figure. I would have joined the Kickstarter if I'd realized that he was destined to be a limited edition figure. Oh well, you snooze, you loose.  

This stout fellow with his great gnashing teeth will give Paul 8 points. Nice one.

From PaulS: 28mm WWII Soviet Infantry (85 points)

From Paul:

Here are 17 more additions to the painting challenge. I seem to be on a roll finishing things this week!

These Russians are the first half of a 500point Bolt Action force to face off against the Commandos from earlier in the challenge as well as providing a pool of Russians to feed into the Mythos meat grinder against the horrors of the Achtung! Cthulhu models that have also been dribbling in.

Having a standard bearer seems to be pretty iconic in Russian propaganda, so I decided to steal one of the spare Warhammer Empire army standard bearer arms to make one of my own. I've no idea if there's an in-game use for one, but he adds that little extra touch to the squad. These guys had a lot more time spent on them than the Commandos and it shows (in person). I really need to work on better photography this year... 

Finally we also have a Russian spotter. Originally he was part of a sniper squad, but basing two guys laying down was becoming a pain, so he's now a solo spotter instead.

Beautiful work Paul. The use of the Warhammer Fantasy banner is genius. It really amps up the 'heroic' aspect of the figure. I know I've mentioned this to you in the past but I really like the minimalism of the clear bases. I know they may not be for everyone but I think they look quite elegant (and certainly saves time and money on doing groundwork!).

These Heroes of the Soviet Union will give Paul 85 points. Well done!

From PaulS: 40K - Severin Loth of the Red Scorpions (5 points)

From Paul:

Here's the next one. It's a small update, but it's a nice one. In the dim distant past I had a Red Scorpion space marine army, back when they were the Forge World poster boys. Shortly after the Badab War books came out, I'd become bored of painting power armour, so sold them, keeping one or two unpainted bits and Sevrin Loth. 

I'd originally started painting him up, but recently decided to start again. Same colours, but much neater... this time I actually managed to finish him. It feels nice to finally have him done, especially now I can add him to the Ally pool for my Guard. Somehow I doubt I'll be looking at painting too much more power armour in the future...

Great work Paul! I've typically found that the Forge World designers do a better job of reflecting the 40K universe than GW itself. They seem to keep stuff more grounded and not so overwrought with extra skulls, spikes, etc. You've done a wonderful job on this fella. I particularly like the fine detail with the scorpion insignia and other iconography. I also like the book mounted over his head, 'Return your tomes to the Librarium on time or you'll be sent into the Eye of Terror...'

Severin Loth will give Paul 5 points to add to his tally. 

From PaulS: 28mm 'Achtung! Cthulhu' Servitors, Hound of Tindalos & Chthonian (32 points)

From Paul:

This entry consists of six of the Achtung! Cthulhu kickstarter models, bringing the horror of the Mythos to WW2 skirmishes. Currently they are only for use in their RPGs (assuming you're one of those that like miniatures in their sessions), but there are two sets of miniatures rules coming out later this year, which should be fun. It's also why I've painted up the commandos and some other Bolt Action stuff (more to come later in the week).

First up we have three Servitor Overlords. These are officers that command the chittering hordes of Servitors of Nyarlathotep. 

They are nice models, but like the heroes that I painted up with the commandos... scale is a bit wonky with these guys. Each one is a slightly different height and scale. Believe it or not, all three of these are lined up next to one another, so should be the same height. They symbol on the armband has been left off for the sake of some forums I'm on being based in Germany... don't want to break their forum guidelines!

Speaking of the Servitors... here's what one looks like, all tentacles and claws...

Mind the corners! Next up we have Modiphius' take on the infamous Hound of tindalos. I really like the angular nature of these things; plus it's really really delicate as each ankle is about the thickness of a small pin. Do not drop...

Lastly we have a Cthonian. The colours didn't quite come out how I imagined them in my head, but it's suitably creepy and WTF? I couldn't decide if the bubbles on the side were eyes or just lumpy bits of flesh... so for now they are flesh (or eyelids).

Like the Hound, this one was really fiddly to go together as each tentacle was a separate piece. As there were no instructions with any of these it's one of those best guess things, which seemed to work well enough.

Ooh, I'm a complete sucker for all things Cthulhu so I was clapping my hands and squealing like an 8-year old girl when I first saw these. (Hmm, that's a disturbing image onto itself. Sanity Check everyone!)

The Servitors are very nasty looking in their Hugo Boss designed coats and jackboots. The size difference doesn't really bother me - as the Elder Gods know, not all Servitors are created equal. (I also like that the MP40s are a decent size as opposed to the pop-guns on some sculpts.)

I agree, the pooch is a brilliant take on the Hound of Tindalos (it even comes with its own hard edges to assist its hunting). Nonetheless I can understand your concern to its fragility as those paw-joins seem pretty thin. 

The Chthonian is very technicolour and I love that a few of it's tentacles are giving us 'The Bird' as they emerge, somehow suiting I think. I also like the spooky shadows on the white background in the photo - it reminds me of the covers on the pulp horror novels I read as a teen.

These nasty denizens of Achtung! Cthulhu will give Paul 32 points. 

From PaulS: Zombie Fatties, Abominations & Commando Force (160 points)

Okay, emerging from the crashing and smashing of the 'Vehicle(s)' bonus round we have another real treat with Paul's excellent greyscale zombies PLUS an impressive Commando force to counter this undead threat. 

From Paul:

I finally finished off the last couple of normal Fatties and the second Abomination for Season 2 of Zombicide. I've also managed to get a sample Rage fattie and Toxic Fattie complete to show the difference in the colour splashes. Hopefully the green will show up in a large horde. At the moment it's looking a little too subtle... but that's what experiments are for.

Just before I came across the challenge, I'd bought some Bolt Action figures to use in some WW2 games, mostly Cthulhu based ones like Strange Aeons or for my players in the Achtung! Cthulhu rpg. I'd originally only intended to put together enough for the players and a few NPCs, but with the challenge came the idea of actually turning them into working Bolt Action forces. So, I would like to present my first, complete, British Commando force, totalling about 500 points worth of troops (24 models). A very small, elite force. Hopefully this will be a fun little setup to learn with and is certainly a good starting point to grow from. Apart from the officer, the entire force was constructed from one box of Warlord's plastic Commandos. If I hadn't given one figure to a friend, I could have made everything from the one set, which seems like excellent value when you compare it to some other manufacturers who I will not name.

The force consists of a 2nd Lieutenant, plus his supporting rifleman. The Lt model came from a set of pulp characters one of the Lead Adventure forum members had sculpted. He was supposed to be Rorschach from Watchmen, so I replaced the masked head with a spare from the Commando sprue so that he fitted in more.

British forces in Bolt Action get a free observer to drop an artillery barrage on the enemy.

A Medic is always useful for keeping your elite squads going.

A PIAT team seemed to make sense in case I come across any armoured vehicles.

And a Sniper team to take out officers or weapon teams.

Along with the obligatory two sets of commandos to fill out the infantry slots. These guys are armed with 4 smgs and 1 lmg each, so should put out a fair amount of firepower

This week Also saw the Achtung! Cthulhu kickstarter models arrive in the post, so the two characters from the British army were painted up in the same style and colours as the rest of the commando force, seen here accompanying the commander; Captain Harris on the left and Corporal Singh on the right. Both are really nice sculpts, even if Harris is tiny compared to any of the plastics that surround him. The smg on his back was from the Commando plastics as the metal one in the kickstarter kit was far too thin and bent to be of any real use. These two will be of more use in the rpg scenarios or Strange Aeons, but could make for some interesting officers in Bolt Action if they ever get around to the rumoured Weird War 2 supplement.

Just for fun, here's a shot of some Commandos cornered in a graveyard by the zombie horde.

Awesome work Paul! Your greyscale zombies are first rate and I think the green will stand out on the tabletop but field-testing will confirm. The Commandos are very nice as well I love the medic with the comb-over hair and the Sikh with his Kirpan. Very cool.

These arcane commandos and the zombie additions will give Paul 160 points. This entry will see him surmount his initial points target with almost two months to spare. Great work!

From PaulS: 28mm Zombie Horde (222 points)

This fabulous Zombie herd provides Paul with a huge points haul.

Here are one or two more zombies for the Challenge.

The horde continues to swell with the addition of 26 new walkers, 14 runners, 3 fatties and a massive Abomination. The Abomination is, as you can see from the last shot, absolutely huge, towering over the standard walkers. 

Just to prove that I've not cheated and stuck the last batch of zombies in again, there's a full crowd shot at the bottom with the original 14 walkers, 2 runners and 2 fatties from last time. 

I wanted to submit the finished batch of normal zombies from Season 2's Kickstarter today, but I wasn't happy with the last 3 fatties and Abomination, so those will come soon. Only another hundred or so zombies left to paint :/

Wonderful work Paul! All of them are so characterful, but that Abomination is pretty nasty indeed (and good lord, please tell me that's a belt hanging between his legs...).

This horde of Zombies will give Paul a monstrous 222 points! Wow! Great job Paul.

From PaulS: 28mm Night Goblins & Gargoyle (105 points)

Paul returns with this (wait for it): great group of goblins with a great gnashing gargoyle. Schweeet.

From Paul:

First up are a selection of monsters for my project to rebuild Warhammer Quest with newer models. We have 8 Night Goblin archers, 8 Night Goblin spearmen, a champion with spear/shield, a warlord with two hand weapons and a Netter/Clubber team. 

The Night Goblin box has 20 models, so rather than building 20 of one type, I decided that it would be better to start with a small group of different types so I can start some level 1 dungeons. Over 2014 I hope to try and flesh out lots more of the different monster slots as well as making 3d versions of all the rooms...

The lower level monsters are going to be tabletop standard, with characters, NPCs, named villains and the rooms having a lot more love and attention put into them. 

There's also a quick little addition to my Pulp/Mythos skirmish setup too in the form of a gargoyle. This guy came with the Dredd Cultists set from the Mongoose kickstarter and was a real pleasure to paint. I think he is supposed to be a demonic imp, but I thought he looked more like a gargolye, so the blips on him became glowing crystals instead of spots

Awesome work Paul! The Night Goblins are great (love the purple bows and the yellow Bad Moon shields), but I find the verdigris growing between the gargoyle's toes to be particularly fetching. Nice!

This excellent group of figures will give Paul 105 points. Well done!

From PaulS: 28mm Greyscale Zombies (90 points)

PaulS sends us his second entry with these wonderfully creepy greyscale zombies.

From Paul:

This time we have 18 zombies from Zombicide. Earlier in the year, tried painting them up in full colour, but it just ended up looking messy and took forever trying to get each one looking different enough, so, I decided to give Carmen's black and white zombies a go. 

Rather than go down the same route he has for the rage and toxic zombies I've decided to be a bit more subtle and go for a Sin City approach. Normal zombies are plain black and white; rage zombies will have splashes of red and toxic zombies will have puss green dripping from them. Nice and juicy!

This batch consists of 16 walkers/runners of various types and two much larger Fatties to tower over everyone.

Great stuff Paul! I'm a big fan of Carmen's greyscale work and you've done a very nice job with these. I also like the idea of different colour 'points' for zombie-types. And again, I really like the clear bases.

This herd of zombies will give Paul a very tidy 90 points.

From PaulS: 28mm Mummies (20 points)

Paul sends in this fine set of mummies who look as if they they are about to perform some fabulous synchronized dance moves on 'American Bandstand' or perhaps 'Egypt's Got Talent'! 

From Paul:

Day 1 started off well, with these four old boys completing quickly, only to be turned back at the gates by an old can of varnish that misted up and turned them white again *sob*. 

A quick touch up of the bad areas and they are finished again and ready to take part in Pulp and Mythos games as well as my ongoing projects to rebuild Warhammer Quest and HeroQuest. 

Further work on the challenge halted as a pang of guilt turned my attention to the unfinished Bloggers for Charity models that I meant to finish before today. 

Great work Paul! I feel your pain with the varnish, having done something similar with post-op black primer spray (the memories still make me twitch). You recovered brilliantly with these though. Also, I really like the clear bases - it provides a very clean look.

These old boys will give Paul 20 points. Well done.