From SidneyR: 28mm Great War French Poilu (90 points)

Sidney treats us to a taste of his upcoming Great War project which focuses on the gruelling Battle of Verdun.

From Sidney:

Here’s my first non-themed submission for the challenge, painted in the odd times and spaces during the frantic Holiday season!  

There’s twenty-one standing and one prone (wounded) late war Poilu, all from Brigade Games in 28mm.  They’re depicted in the M2 gas-mask, used from late 1915 onwards.  I painted the figures using the painting tables for late war French infantry posted on my blog.  I was glad I’d posted that table, because when I came to painting some of the aspects of the figures like gas masks and rifles, I’d completely forgotten which paints I’d used before!

I converted the basic infantry figures to gas-masked infantry way back in the Autumn, so it has been a relief to finally get this demi-platoon to the painting table.

The basing is a mixture of plain, Autumn woods and more built-up/village (with fallen bricks and masonry).  I thought about going all wooded (lots of Autumn colour), and may try this with the next submission.

Beautiful work Sidney. I've always found your Great War collection very inspirational and these do not disappoint. I think you've done a very nice job on the French 'horizon blue/grey' and your gasmask modification has been brilliantly executed. Bravo!

Being a perfect gentleman Sidney approached me before the Challenge and asked whether he could submit a few figures that were a little more advanced beyond primer. I took a look at his preproduction photos and so have adjusted the points awarded accordingly. This wonderful demi-platoon of French Poilu will give Sidney 90 points to add to his tally. Well done Mr. Roundwood! :)

Entry #2 to the Lead Painters League: Greyscale French Poilu and Officer

I managed to pip a victory in the first round of the Lead Painters League with my Napoleonic  French battalion command stand (many thanks to all those who took time to vote) and today we head into the second match.

For this entry I've put forward a small squad of WWI French 'Poilu' dressed in their early-war uniforms. They are being led by a grizzled one-armed colonial veteran who is attended by his loyal trumpeter.

The infantry are from Great War Miniatures whereas the officer is from Artizan Design. I'm not sure how this entry will resonate with the voters as I realize my greyscale stuff is a bit esoteric and is probably a little narrow in its appeal. Nonetheless, it's nice to get another squad of Gauloises-smoking 'hairy ones' done and in the cabinet.

Again, please check out the League's 2nd round over at the Lead Painters Forum and place your votes for your favourites of the wide variety of subjects on display.

From SidneyR: 28mm Great War Germans and French Casualties (85 points)

From Sidney:

I’ve been really enjoying watching the entries arrive in the Challenge, there are some super-fast quality painters out there!

Here’s a 1918-vintage polygot selection of German Stosstruppen with MP18 Bergmann sub-machine guns, a German sniper, a couple of German Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 13.2mm anti-tank rifles and part of a “ditched” crew of an A7V tank, all in 25/28mm. They’re some of the “odds and ends” I’ve had around which I just wanted to get done before the main event. Think of them as a canapé with light champagne before the French arrive proper!

I played around with a couple of things here. The green-stuff German camouflage cloak on the spotter for the double-based anti-tank rifle is improvised, but not completely unrealistic I hope. The camouflage cape on the sniper matches the terrain colours of our gaming boards and the improvised painted-on camouflage on German helmets in 1918.

The German tank crew figures are from Old Glory. This is the only manufacturer (to my knowledge) making German tank crews with their distinctive overalls. They’re OK sculpts, painted up very easily, and the officer has some super facial details. As many of the A7V tank crews transferred from other units, I’ve painted him in the uniform of a JägerSturmBataillon officer in some rather jazzy regimentals.

Et les Francais? Ah, well, I wanted to test Horizon Bleu on a couple of casualty figures first – mixing Vallejo Neutral Gray with Vallejo Mirage Blue seems to give a reasonable result, adding black and white to shade and highlight. So there are a couple of fallen Poilu on the bases as well, each scratch-built from a generic casualty figure. Let me know what you think to the colour!

So, 15 figures (if I count the casualties), and started after 20 December 2012. I’m off the mark at last, thank goodness!!

Amazing work Sidney! I've always loved your Great War stuff and these certainly don't disappoint. The over-saturated colours are fabulous and I really like the little touches like the sniper cape for the spotter, the fallen masonry and the wine bottles next to the Poilu (at least he died happy?).  These troops will give Sidney a base of 70 points  (half points for prone figures) but I'm adding another 15 for his custom groundwork, conversion and excellent vignettes.