From Lorenzo: Mixed Bag - Noggin, Nottub and Namreg (Points 75)

So I don't forget here is my library map.

Well this is certainly a mixed bag this week.

First up back to my childhood and as it happens a friend who likes Oliver Postage, Smallfilms and Noggin the Nog. My friend will be getting this figure as a gift, it is a subject they still enjoy despite the ravages of dementia.

This was a sudden purchase from the little soldier company. Very prompt service.

I painted the 28mm Noggin conventionally although I did use snakebite leather Citadel Colour Contrast to "line/shadow" the white primer.I also played a bit with citadel washes and contrasts on the red tunic. Frankly the 20 year old Baal red on his shoes was as good as last weeks blood angels on his tunic. Elsehwere I used a traditional mix some paint to get three purple colour for the cloak. And I used Citadel Colour Contrast Nazreg Yellow over some Vallejo gamers colour gold. A contrast over the conventional green leggings does not show as they were too close together. You do have to plan your overcoats of contrast and experiment. That is less attractive for large numbers of figures in production I guess.

Then it was some Peco railway grass and a GW sand mix to finish the base. I would like 5+20= 25 points for this childrens character please. Turning to Sci Fi I offer up "Namreg the Breather". a 28mm character He came from a free sprue of Panzergrenadiers off a recent Miniature Wargames Magazine? or maybe it was WI? Except he did not look this way on the sprue. I took a basic figure then tweaked a luger with some spare sprue and also cut some more for the face unit. Plastic rod from the bits box provided the cyclinders while the hose was a discarded flosser minus its handle. A spanner got painted up as some sort of "whizzy doctor who type sonic screwdriver" tool.

I primed the result in white and shadowed with snakebite leather. Then the trousers are a VJ bright blue covered in a dark blue citadel contrast while the jacket was done in VJ game colour beasty brown again covered in snakebite contrast. The cylinders were finished in Magos purple while I felt an armband was required to show he is a militia type.

I did a couple of highlights - the gun barrel got game colour heavy black green then VJ lime green spot and VJ ivory white spot. while the visor unit got good old (20 years!) Citadel Mechrite Red then VJ Game colour orange fire and again VJ ivory white spot. The breather unit gauze was VJ gamer polished gold with nazdreg yellow contrast on top. I could see these for real but the photos don't show them very well even in close up. I would like 5+20 points for this character and library section. Finally I am taking a chance here to visit the manga/graphic novel section courtesy of DeathZap wargaming pastor

I was really taken with the Hominids on his blog and as it happened also saw some "crappy soldiers" at a toy fair in Doncaster at Xmas and thought why not have a go. Here is another link to the Pastors "how to make Hominids" I copied his method just mixing up the top highlight with GW Mechrite red and some white to make a nice pinky colour over blood angels contrast over GW mechrite red over snakebight leather contrast. Maybe there is no story book yet..... - but the Hominid, in my case Nottub Reidlos looks suitably odd and scary for this library section?

So thats my contribution to manga etc. and just maybe they will appear in my own TACFOS story I reckon my 28mm hominid Nottub Reidlos earns me 5 + 20 points = 25 points. so if all is permitted thats three figures and three sections 25+ 25 + 25 = 75 pts. Not sure if I will manage another submission before we end the challenge which is currently a set of figures that are not quite working for me. Anyway its been a great challenge for me and very satisfying. Thanks especially to Sylvain for all his ideas, themes and assistance to this rooky. 

 

Sylvain: That Noggin is a cute little fellow. You have an interestingly weird submission this week, well served by your paint job. I hope you enjoyed your first participation in the Challenge! 

From DavidB: bushido samurai with friends, Manga, Lady Sarah's Cart (80 points)

 

 regina spektor- my guitar gently weeps(kubo of the two strings)

Using Little Red Riding Hood, I will do as the kids today and skip from learning to read straight to manga!

I do have test of honor and I have slowly been gathering samurai and planning a board for a samurai skirmish game. Above is a resin piece that i found for a 3D model for the skirmish game. Samurai are difficult to find in my area. Unfortunately I discovered Etsy while looking for sci fi/cyberpunk for 5150. I intend to keep it a skirmish game, but with the 3d printing available it could become a monster project if I am not careful. I painted the base to resemble jade at a moment of inspiration. lots of greens and pale blues after I decided not to go marble.

The building and tori is from black site studios and the samurai are from GCT Studios and the Bushido game. I liked the vibe of this faction of miniatures.  a lot of the factions are of the fantastical side, but these fellows hit the Samurai Champloo vibe well. When I purchased them I was informed that the Shiho clan is the disposed ruling clan and are mainly human and take colors from the Viet Cong. I like them very much although they scale a little large with the warlord samurai I have. 

The old General with one of his retainers

Greens, greys, and blues. I painted the bases thinking of the mossy round stones near a shrine I visited. That shrine has a massive bronze bell with a huge rope. The rope has been changed three times since Jesus Christ walked the earth....I just have to decide on aspects of the table I will make, well kept, mossy....

two bowmen and an another samurai to round out the force. I haven't decided if  I will kick the tires on Bushido or not, but I will look for other minis from GCT.

 more grey, green and blues.  these were all painted with acrylics and speed paints used for washes to keep them dark and nondescript. 

A 3D female samurai who definitely changed the tenor of my game. she also is from acrylic paint except for the purples which were contrast over off white and had layers of acrylic pushing the shade and highlights

she was a one piece cast, unfortunately her lantern snapped of in transit...I painted the remaining handle as a blade of grass.

I may order another and try the design on her gown, there is a very nice design there, but I felt time pressure to complete her

I want an Oni with the eyeball necklace and a big hammer or club. Instead I decided to get Quiggly the Oni here. he didn't say he doesn't know how to fight hand to hand, he just doesn't prefer it He has a massive firelock and pistols. I painted slivers of jade in his hat and scattered on his clothes. he is also entirely acrylic. I made him a little flashy but still kept the blue and grey on him.

his skin is a punchy robust red, so I imagine he likes a little bit of style...he does have guns!

An Undead samurai also from GCT Studios. I might get a warband from his faction even if I do not get into Bushido.  I painted the modeled smoke in hues of purple . I think his spirit essence, but once again I have not delved deep into Bushido.

a small gathering of samurai figures and just look at that massive oni...I think that is a cannon and not a musket! 

8 oriental troops for 5 points each 40 points total

40 plus 20 for Lady Sarah's Cart and 20 for Manga. Next stop for the Cart to Sci Fi please!

80 points

legion duel- in progress

big stompy robots of death- still lucky 13

skulls get another pip for a new total of 217

Here we go, more cool Japanese models for the Manga stack. I like samurai (especially the old metal Dixon models with Stewie Griffin/football heads, anybody else remember those? So characterful) but I've never painted a one. I always find the lamellar armour confusing and complicated to paint but you've done a very nice job with these. The terrain is great too.

80 points!

Dallas

From TomL: Manga (55 points)

 

Bringing us to the manga stacks is the other Angel of Justice from Crooked Dice, Thunder. In my pulp adventure they are one of the most feared vaguely undercover detective teams on the street.  Keeping the new Mod Dance bar scene safe once dance floor at a time.  

For my entry in the manga section I am going old school with a WWII era Captain America & his plucky sidekick Bucky.  This is the WWII version of this dynamic violent duo are armed to the teeth and not accepting nonsense from anyone.

I picked up these figures through a post on LAF long ago. I don’t believe they are in print anymore. These were painted with Foundry, Vallejo metal color and Two Thin Coat acrylics.

Points - 55.
3 28 MM figures @5 = 15.
Library Manga section -  20.
Sarah’s cart - 20 points. 

My therapy exercises seems to be keeping my previous nerve issues at bay so I'm hoping to reach many of the remaining rooms before we run out of time. I think my points goal should increase to 1000. 

From Millsy: Disco clearly isn't dead and it's gonna shoot you if you disagree! Wow that's bright Tom and super cool too. Captain America & his plucky sidekick are also very well executed. Nice work all round.

From StuartL - Bio-Booster Armor Guyver - Manga & Library Cart (85 Points)

Hello again,

    For my last post today I have a bunch of 3d printed minis for you. My first model and the price of admission to the Manga section of the library is a 3d Print from a maker called Papsikels over on MyMiniFactory. Papsikels makes a range of SF and Anime inspired minis and has a large catalogue to choose from.

    Back when I was a teenager, anime and manga were just starting to become popular in the UK. I had seen anime before (most notably G-Force, or Gatchaman as the original Japanese show was titled), but after Akira proved to be a big hit, there were suddenly a lot of anime shows being broadcast and not all of them were cartoons for young kids. One of my favourites was the Guyver series, a story about a nerdy kid who winds up in possession (or possessed by in some cases) an armoured suit of alien origin that turns him into an unstoppable killing machine. He then winds up fighting a bunch of alien monstrosities and the like and then the series abruptly ends after only 12 episodes. It turns out though, that while the animated show only lasted for half a season, the manga ran for about 25 years. The series isn't finished yet, but has been on hiatus since 2016.

    Sadly the print didn't come out perfectly and the backs of the shoulders are a mess, so you only get a front shot. I've asked my friend to reprint it, but as I have made a lot of other requests, it is unlikely I'll get the mini before this challenge ends.

    To bulk out this post a bit, I have some more cyberpunk minis. Again, these are 3d prints and they are from Papsikels and Unit9 over on MMF. For these figures and the two girls I showed in my other two posts today, I wanted to try out something new. 

    I am not, by any standards, a great painter. I usually go for base, wash and highlight and that is it. I do watch YouTube videos about painting, but that is more for background noise than any desire to improve. Recently though, I saw a video by a painter called Ninjon about using odd coloured base-coats instead of the more traditional method. The idea is that you do a zenithal undercoat (I used black paint with a light grey drybrush), followed by contrast paints. For each of these minis I used 3 different colours of contrast and applied them roughly over large areas of the mini, though not following any particular design or style. After that, I went over the minis and highlighted them with the colours I wanted that part of the mini to be. This leaves you with a lot of colourful and strange looking shadow areas. I don't think I followed the YouTube tutorial exactly right, but I'm happy enough with the outcome to do it again.

    
    I like the colourful effect that it gives the minis and I think that it works quite well for this particular genre. I probably wouldn't use it for fantasy or historical minis. The effects can be seen on the mini below, particularly the legs and the boxes she is resting on.

    I'm going to hop over to the Sci-Fi area next and for that I need to hitch a ride on the library cart, so here is one last cyberpunk girl to pay for my ride. 

For my scores.

9 x 28mm minis = 45 points

Manga section = 20 points

Sarah's Library Cart = 20 points

TOTAL = 85 Points

    Hopefully I will see you all next week.

From Millsy: I'm a bit like you Stuart in that I don't watch painting videos so much to improve as to just keep me interested and motivated. Even so, I was also a bit intrigued by that Ninjon video and the same approach is also being used by Jay from Eons of Battle. I agree that the approach works well for a genre where the colours are vibrant and highly saturated. Nice work and another well earned 85 points.

From PeterB - Horror, Spam and a monkey! - DIY, Literature and Manga (215 Points)

 

February already? This analogue challenge really does help these cold winter months fly by. Before I know it, Salute will be here and I shall be refilling the lead pile!

This week I am taking a bit of a ramble about the stacks. I do have some concrete plans to get some rank and file troops painted for some points bombs, but this week I seem to have been drawn towards painting up characters.

Last week I finished at "Famous Person" so to begin with a quick jump on Sarah's Cart over to the Rotunda. (Maritime is still to tick off but I'm still thinking on that, nobody wants to see me painting boats.) To pay the toll for the journey I present to you from Bad Squiddo Games, Poppy the Head Vampire.

Yes, Poppy is the pug. I don't know the name of her owner (servant?) but I'm sure Poppy treats her well.

Over on the Rotunda I move to DIY. For this category I present the rock stacks I have been making for Gaslands. 

They are made from packing foam cut and stacked, then liberally painted with texture paint. I also realised I haven't measured them, but these photos looked so nice I had to share them, so then I fished them out again for measuring. There are seven of them, six are 3 inches tall the other 4 inches. I've no idea on points, although I think they would probably fill the six inch cube for 20 points?

Next up we move to Literature and that classic from Bram Stoker, Dracula. Although I don't think this Vampire is going to be around for a while with two vampire hunters ready to introduce him to a stake.

All three are from Bad Squiddo games also.

Another trip on Sarah's Cart up to the first floor, paid for by another Bad Squiddo miniature, Zombie Annie. Here she is accompanied by a cowboy zombie I have kitbashed from various parts of my bits box. (I am working on a set of rules to add the undead to a Wild West skirmish game) Annie here is also accompanied by one of her pet guinea pigs, seems the peeg has also succumbed to the need for the consumption of flesh.

For my next stop today at the stacks of Manga comics, I give you a samurai monkey. A pretty dangerous looking monkey from Archon Studios, they produce a great set of animal companions, some sci-fi, some fantasy all in one box set.

Finally this week I have continued the 2nd edition 40K inspired Blood Angels project. For my visit to the sci-fi stack we start with a classic Dreadnought. This beast is completely metal and has some heft to it. (It makes for an interesting job of painting the vehicle with a steady hand.) It is an old one from my collection that I have stripped with some Biostrip and had another go at painting. Back in the 90's no-one introduced me to micro-sol and micro-set. I guess GW didn't mention them as they didn't sell them. I always therefore struggled with transfers back then, now that I can properly do them I have enjoyed making this model look proper accurate to how it was meant to look back in the 90's.

I have also painted these four Space Marines. Two classic Veteran Sergeants

A Company Standard bearer and a Techmarine. this time with suitable transfers added. I finally have managed to work out how to add a flat transfer to a curved shoulder pad.

The Points

7 x 28mm characters = 7 x 5 =  35 points

4 x stack visits = 4 x 20 = 80 points

2 x trips on Sarah's Cart = 2 x 20 = 40 points

1 x 28mm vehicle = 20 points

4 x Space Marines at 28mm = 4 x 20 = 80 points 4 x 5 = 20 points

Rock stacks (1 cube 6x6) = 20 points

Total = 255 points 215 points

 

Sylvain: What a lovely set of diverse miniatures! Bet it vampires, zombies or space marines, your brush work really highlight the essence of what the model represents. Your monkey was probably sculpted as the Monkey King, a popular character in Japanese and Chinese legends. Very impressive work!

P.S. =I adjusted your point calculation, as you can see above.