From AnneO'L: 30mm 'Women in Uniform' (28 points)

From Anne:

Four weeks ago I challenged myself to make a radical change in my palette, avoiding my usual bright colours in favour of blacks, greys and shades of brown. Further, I have chosen to use minimal basing that does not detract from the figure itself.

For my admission fee piece I chose to paint a figure from Peckinpah's classic film "Cross of Iron". My figure represents the female Russian soldiers in the film. Peckinpah was criticized for including a rape scene in the film and the scene was used by feminists to condemn him as a misogynist. I strongly disagree. What was portrayed was a fact of war and should not be shied away from. In my eyes these were brave women, willing to take up arms to defend their country and able to fight back when set upon by brutal, savage men.

This is a 28mm figure from Reaper Miniatures and was sculpted by Werner Klocke.

Meet Moira, the Irish fighter pilot. As a child Moira was a bit of a tomboy preferring to play rugby with the boys over playing dollies with the girls.  The thought of growing up and having loads of babies and taking care of house filled Moira with a savage anger. She longed to fight and she longed for freedom.

That freedom came when the yanks joined the fighting in WWII.  Hearing that America had equal opportunities for women, Moira boarded a steamer bound for New York.

Upon passing her physical, Moira was told she could serve, but it would be behind a desk, not behind enemy lines. Well let me tell you, Moira flew into a rage so great it scared General Patton near to death.  "Anger like this could win us the war" Patton was heard to say.  

So they did the only thing they could do. They renamed her "Bob" , gave her a plane and she spent the rest of the war as a fighter pilot, happily bombing away her anger at being born a woman. 

This is a 32mm figure from Bombshell Babes and was sculpted by Patrick Keith.

First off, thank you very much Anne for this wonderful Soviet sniper. Both of these are such fabulous miniatures. 

I've really quite enjoyed this recent series where you've been using variations of this wonderful orange-russet-brown colour, punctuated with that vibrant emerald green. Subdued yet still very punchy. Great stuff.

These two women in uniform will give Anne 28 points. Super work Anne and thanks again!

From KevinH: 28mm WWII Soviet Scouts, Feudal Japanese Monks & Royale With Cheese (80 points)

Kevin returns with this wonderful selection of miniatures for us to enjoy.

From Kevin:

For this entry, I have some BOLT ACTION WWII Russian Scouts.  Nothing too fancy with these figures, basic "amoeba" style camouflage suits and one model with a DP light machine gun.  The actual BOLT ACTION rules don't allow Russian Scouts to have a DP LMG, but other rules may, so I painted him as well.

Next up, is the Sohei (Monks) Buntai for the RONIN skirmish game, by North Star.  Again, nothing too fancy - I just followed the "box art."  I wanted to try and get these guys done quickly, as I have all the Buntai figure sets from the RONIN line, and when I try and get "fancy" (ie: creative) with my painting, I tend to get bogged down, and it takes me forever to finish things!

I had a number of things planned for the Fortnight Challenges, but because of the 'funk' I've been in the past few months, they just never materialized.  Case-in-point, this entry was either going to be a "Villain" or "Hero" entry.

I picked up lots of miniatures and games from my friend Tim's estate sale, including a bunch of the little, dark grey Copplestone boxes.  I didn't really even look in them at the time, but they were "Copplestone" so I scooped them up as I love his work!

As I was sifting through things over the last few months, I found the "not Samuel L. Jackson" figure in one of those little boxes!  I have had the "not John Travolta" Foundry figure based and primed for years!  But I never got around to painting it, as I didn't have the companion figure.  Now I had the companion figure, so it was time to get things done.  And depending on your point of view from the movie, these guys could easily be either "Villain" or "Hero."  I don't know if it will be visible in the photo, but I even got Vincent's (Travolta) golden earring!

Now that they're done, I feel like a ROYALE with Cheese!

Lovely work Kevin. I always love seeing your stuff as its just so smooth. That monk in black is my favourtie, he looks quite the hard-ass with that 'Osaka Slugger'! 

This wonderful assortment of miniatures will give Kevin 80 points. Great job and welcome to the Wild Bunch - you still have lots of time to participate in the madness!

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 DallasE: 15mm Egyptian PT-76 (6 points)

From Dallas:

The model is a Battlefront PT-76 from their Vietnam/Arab-Israeli line. 

It's painted in mostly GW colours with some Vallejo. I used a "chipping" weathering method - using a bit of old sponge from a blister pack to dab on GW Mechanicus Standard Grey around wear areas. I might have overdone it a bit but I like the effect.

Nice work Dallas! The camo looks great and I really like the weathering as well. As I know both you are Greg are quite keen on your Six Day War project I'm sure we'll see more United Arab Republic stuff from you in the coming weeks.

This PT-76 will give Dallas 6 points.

From ReneV: 15mm WWII Soviet Tank Riders (45 points)

Rene builds more steam from his Dreadball debut with this collection of T34 tank riders.

From Rene:

My second entry into this years challenge.

The red colour of not sending in anything has passed with my first contribution earlier this week. To keep some momentum going I decided to push on with a small addition of 15mil chaps. These were a present from a fellow clubmember from Murphy's Heroes (Dutch wargames club in Delft). He did not need them and I could find good use for them as Tank Riders / Mounted Tankodessantnicky for my T34's.

There are 10 improvised stands (Litko bases but home cut and trimmed) each with 2 figures. Not a whopping amount nor a lot of points but at this stage of the "competition" every tiny soldier counts.

The tanks were painted some time ago and need some adjustment since the soft tip pen did not work out to subtle (understatements are fun).

Even though I was very very tempted my left shoulder told me to stop being a IIIIAAAAAHH and declare them non competition entries. So Curt, only the 22 Tank Riders are point scorers for this entry!

Sorry to have to take pictures in the formation as shown but unfortunately the only way to fit them all in. I am normally strongly opposed to "line them up and roll them down the table games" but it IS only a picture after all.......

Nice work Rene. I quite like your idea of having the tank riders on their own base which fits on the rear deck of the tanks (thereby freeing up the tanks for 'solo' work if required) - very smart!

This group of dessantnikis will give Rene 45 points.  Well done!

From AlanD: 15mm WWII Soviet Armour (82 points)

From Alan:

Flitting butterfly-like from project to project, I have cleared some 15mm Russian vehicles from the lead mountain this week. These are all destined for Battle Group Kursk (best game ever), with the exception of the T34/85, which suggests that I will soon start painting things for Battlegroup Fall of the Reich.

The models are a real mixed bag. First up, here are a couple of Katyushas from Zvezda. As with all the 15mm Zvezda kits, the models fit together beautifully. As they are intended as gaming pieces some compromises are made with detail, such as only having rockets on the top of the launching rails, but they are nice little kits nevertheless.

At the other end of the model engineering scale, next are is a radio command truck and a couple of Gaz jeeps from QRF. These are very rudimentary metal kits, with the radio van in particular suffering from lots of mould lines and a reluctance from any parts to actually fit properly. The jeep base with the two pointing chaps will act as a forward observer in BGK, the other is a command base for a motorised platoon. The figures are all from Plastic Soldier Company. I like these a lot, but my army is starting to suffer from officers and NCOs all feeling the need to point at things.

Next up, a SU76 and White Scout Car from Command Decision. These are very nice models, and I particularly like all the stowage on the Scout Car. In BGK this will act as a Recce unit, carrying a squad of 6 men. I've modelled them on a separate base, complete with a tree demolished by an artillery shell.

Finally, a resin knocked-out T34/85 from Peter Pig. Despite obvious compromises with detail to mould it in one piece, I really like this model, which will act as an objective marker.

Sadly, the supplier had run out of T34/76s, so this is destined for Fall of the Reich. Being enormously pedantic I probably can't bear to use it in a Kursk game.

Great stuff! I particularly like the ungainly Katyusha trucks, the Gaz jeeps and the grim knocked-out T34. 

Alan, you are a one-man ad campaign for this game! You've done such a great job being a booster that I'm ordering a copy today. Mission accomplished.

This selection of Soviet men and vehicles will provide Alan 82 points to add to his growing tally. Nice!

From IanW: 28mm WWII Soviet Sniper/Casualty Markers (55 points)

From Ian:

In trying to bounce back into it I offer you eleven 28mm figures. All are Black Tree Miniatures except I think the guy kneeling with the fur cap, he I think is a Artizan Partisan.

Typical of Black Tree, these are great sculpts with very nice faces to fork on. Lots of little details to pick out and realistic poses. 

I actually have painted up thirteen figures but the other two will have to wait as they are being based a little different, the clue to one is on my blog LOL.

Having had Deluxe Materials Scenic Snow effects for Christmas I was keen to have a play. It's quite easy to use though can be a bit time consuming and I recommend a mask as some of the effects happen to be a micro-fine dust that is great for frosting.

I have had a lot of fun with these guys and have another twelve German's to add which will be started soon.

Great work Ian. I've always really liked your Second World War figures and these don't disappoint (and you are a veritable one-man industry with these handy Sniper/Casualty Counters!).

These eleven markers will give Ian 55 points. Well done Old Boy.

From Curt: 28mm Post-Apocalyptic 'Metro 2033' Neo-Soviet Militia (25 points)

I thought I'd mix things up a bit and add a few more figures to my 'Metro 2033' themed post-apoc collection. This here is a group of Lead Adventure Neo-Soviet militia, known as 'Igor and the Red Gang'.

I really enjoy the character of the models from Lead Adventure Miniatures. They're almost cartoonish in their features but they still retain a disturbing sense of lethality about them - how fun is that!

Like my other stuff for this project I've gone with an ash-waste style groundwork punctuated by bits of shattered red brick. The bases are a bit over-stylized but its seems to work with the figures.

I decided that the LMG gunner should exhibit a bit of sartorial flair with a jaunty polka dot neck scarf thrown over his shoulder...

...and the older bearded fellow with the long-barreled RPK-74 is sylin' & profilin' with a pair of gold-rimmed Armani sunglasses....

...whereas the more taciturn, cigar-chomping section leader proudly retains his cossack jodhpurs with their distinctive red piping.

Finally, I thought for this submission that I'd add something new to the setting and so finished a resin debris terrain piece I had recently ordered from Armorcast.  

This chunk of resin portrays an abandoned wreck of what looks to be a Ford Ranger (or perhaps more appropriately, a Skoda light duty truck). It's a very nice single-piece casting with loads of interesting details to pick out. It painted-up quite quick. I added some of the broken brick motif that I use with my figure bases to help tie them together. To finish it off I dug out out my MIG weathering powders and went fairly heavy on the poor beast, especially with the dust, thinking that anything abandoned in a post-apoc setting would be under a heavy coating of grime and dust. 

A great set of figures which were loads of fun to work on. This group of old Cold Warriors will give me 25 points to add to my total.

Not sure what's next. I really need to get my 'vehicle' entry sorted, but I feel a short visit back to the heat of Indochina may be in order...

From BenD: 15mm WWII Soviet SU-122 Assault Guns (24 points)

BenD adds some close support to his Soviets with these four SU-122s.

From Ben: 

A quick update today for my expanding Soviet army. I have started bulking out the support options with 4 SU-122's. The models themselves were very nice to put together as unlike a lot of the T-34 based models the mud guards are modeled onto the hull. this saved me a lot of frustration.

Painting wise they were what I was expecting from my now 100 plus range of Soviet tanks, but were still enjoyable.

In the game the SU-122 is great with Volley Fire and Breakthrough gun they give you a great unit to dig out infantry and gun teams with. They are also very cheap from a points perspective.

Next up will be the Stuarts I talked about in my last post, they got pushed back a little as I found some time for a small unit but not a big 10 tank platoon.

Great work Ben! Very clean work and I really like how you've composed your photographs.

These four assault guns will give Ben 24 points. Well done!