From JohnS: A Bit of This and That (38 points)

I spent a lot of my hobby time over the last few weeks preparing and running our club's first local game convention. Despite a busy schedule, I managed to sneak in a bit of painting. No giant point bombs today, but at least I polished off a few more figures.

I added machine guns and a new matte black finish to this 20mm scale car for Gaslands. I intended to paint it in some sort of garish silver or purple, but it simply called out to be painted black in homage to the 1989 Batmobile. It's hit the table a few times and has proven especially deadly!

Luke Skywalker has been fighting in my Monday night Star Wars Legion battles for months in a simple brown primer coat. I rushed a quick paint job on him, good enough for tabletop play and maybe a few points for the challenge.

Finally I finished up my collection of Astropolis krogloggs. The intricate sculpts and detail warrant additional painting time which I've enjoyed, but certainly slowed my progress in the challenge.

That's it for this week! Four 28mm figures and a 20mm vehicle.

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Next up on the runway we have a passle of folks in a sand palate.  The Batmobile is exquisite and Luke is more than just a quick points steal (a very fashionable and understated light saber there), but, once again, it's your krogloggs who're the showstoppers.

The extra detail may have slowed you, but it is worth it. They're spectacular.

The judges award 15 points to Batman, 5 to Luke, and eighteen to the Kroglogg, for a grand total of 38!

From JohnS: A Plethora of Krogloggs (56 points)

I adore these goggle eyed kroglogg aliens and managed to boot several more off my lead pile and into active duty.

These chaps are labeled as "hunters" in the Astropolis line of miniatures and act as pest control aboard the enormous star cruiser that serves as their home, but in my collection they'll pressed into service as front line troops of a rebellious alien rabble. Kroglogg eyes are widely set on hammerhead shaped noggins. I assume the forward facing optical sensors on these ceremonial helmet give these particular alien soldiers binocular vision so they can act as sharpshooters for their depth perception lacking kin.

In so many science fiction series the aliens are part of a monoculture devoid of individual character. All klingons are warlike. All hutts are obese gangsters. I appreciate that many of the figures in the Astropolis line have individualistic characters woven into them through their sculpts.

This beverage sipper looks like a cranky old fart, while the mother and child are expectedly awaiting the arrival of a loved one.

Our dutiful papa is enroute, lugging his work parcels with him while this dimwitted attendant barely notices his passing. Love 'em!

I'm used to polishing off dozens of identical historical figures at a time, but these individual figures are requiring more attention to get right than I'm used to. My Painting Challenge point goal is looking increasingly overly optimistic, but I'm hoping that with just a few more individual sci fi figure to do I'll be able to drop some point bombs with mass units of uniformed figures soon.

In total these 10 figures should bump me up another 50 points.

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Until now, I was unaware that ten krogloggs constituted a plethora. I have since remedied the deficiencies in my education.

You're right, the krogloggs are very individual, and quite expressive. You've done absolutely wondrous jobs on the eyes and the facial expressions of those not masked, and that deserves recognition.

So, 10 25mm kroglogs earn you 50 points, with another two for the young girl, and call it another four for the eyes. Grand total of 56 for a plethora of kroglogg!

From JohnS: Astropolis Bots and Aliens (40 points)

Despite a concerted effort by Real Life™ to disrupt my painting progress, I managed to squeeze in a little painting time and finish up a handful of sci-fi figures this week.

All of these are from the Astropolis Kickstarter, full of character, chunky detail and a delight to paint.

I particularly liked this archivist and his two minions laden with dusty tomes. Not exactly a typical subject for a sci-fi wargame, but they'd make a great objective to capture or escort to a waiting escape transport.

I have a host of these hammerheaded kroglogg aliens. Before committing to a color scheme for the others in my lead pile, I wanted to test out a few palettes on this pair. Although most of the aliens are covered in thick hair, a few have a less defined surface pattern, more like the skin of an elephant. I'm not sure if the sculptor just chose to portray their fur in a different style or what, but I decided these "wrinkly" aliens must be wearing skin tight space suits. I gave the gray suit a few emblems, and while I think she's hideous, I'll bet her form fitting coverall drives the kroglogg boys wild.

That's all for this week. I know a few of these figures a bit diminutive, but I'm hoping these eight 28mm figures give me another 40 points.

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Kickstarters must be met with strong, centralized credit. One must seize the moment, and purchase. Forgive the ravings of a lowly guest minion, Supreme Lord of Brushes. Moreover, I realize that it is hardly the Challenge's way to not answer lead and plastic with credits.

I see you paint a small number of figures for certain periods. I once balanced these figures amongst many periods. Lately, my efforts have become a bit more lopsided. Balance is no longer necessary. Some of these periods require an appreciation for fingers or tentacles or palps painting a few figures from a great many stellar soup bowls, testing the temperature to see if they are ripe for the painting.

As they were, for forty points.