From TomG - Ork2 D2 - The Orcs' Pit - 25 points

From a race so foul we find them in pits, to a film character so rude every single word he speaks is censored with a beep or whistle! 

It was at this point I realised I had met my Challenge goal of 500pts, so I now intend on smashing on through the Chambers as they've brought me so much joy already! 

So, as I continue through the Chambers of Challenge, I finally had a reason to paint up this chap, having hung up my Warhammer 40k boots for good with the most recent release. A superb sculpt, from I believe to be Scibor miniatures, this ork certainly seems to have got himself an interesting outfit. 

The painting of this chap was a mix of my favourite hobby past time, painting orc skin, to trying out different weathering effects. I mostly stuck to stippling and washes, but I managed to add in an enamel rust fluid from AK Interactive and a pool of GW Nurgles Rot for the green ooze on the rear of the base. 

In keeping with the lore to 40k, and trying to stick to a vaguely R2D2 colour theme, we've got a lucky blue lid and wrist bands. The bands were a fun treat to paint as dyed leather, initially working up through blue highlights, then switching to Vallejo Cork Brown to add the cracked edges of the leather beneath. 

For the hand pads, they were initially a lot cleaner, but after a happy little mistake they ended up looking suitably corroded and scuffed up. The barrel added an interesting feature with the plug at the front, and although it was tempting to have blood or slime coming out of it, oil ended up making more sense. 

I did try to get as vibrant an orc skin tone as I could, simply just to contrast with the muted and desaturated tones of the metallic surfaces. All in all, my favourite piece so far, and I hope you like it too.

Points -

28mm Infantry = 5pts

Challenge Bonus = 20pts

Total = 25pts.

From EvanH: Monster and Regimented Women, or The Last Post (40 points)

Greetings Fellow Challengers, Figlimners and Aficionados of Fine Brushpersonship! 

Gosh, is it that time already? Did we just lose three months? It's gone far too quickly, I still have two regiments of Seven Years' War Imagi-Nations troops to paint, along with a battery of artillery! And the ECW cuirassiers, and the other monsters, and the Orks, and the undead horde and all those pulp figures... well, you get the idea.

This is my final entry for the 8th Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, so let's get on with it...

First, the monster; the Fire Dragon, another Reaper Bones model, this reptilian pyromaniac is 70mm from front foot to the top of his head, 80mm across the wings, and 90mm long. I have absolutely no idea how to score this, but based on my Curtgeld Frost Giant, I'll stick my neck out and guess 20 points since they're both of a similar size. 

Like the giant, the dragon is based on an 80mm Warbases MDF round, with broken cork and pumice paste to build up the groundwork. Sand and gravel mixed with PVA glue were used to add texture and blend the figure's base in with the supporting structure.

I didn't add as much detail to this base as I would have liked, but the Tajima1 Tufts again rescue it from total blandness.

You can see the reason for the raised basing here; the tail is actually lower than the level of the figure's feet, so to allow room for it to curl around and follow its natural inclination, he needed a little lift.

The last half of my last entry for Challenge VIII is a matched set of Dwarven warriors, four formidable women.

These are more Scibor Miniatures Dwarves, incredibly detailed and loaded with character.

Here's the venerable General Freydis Ranveigsdottir. Battles won, 29; Number of Challenges Issued to Enemy Commanders, 0; Number of Enemy Commanders Obliterated by Long-Distance Cannon Fire, 12 (because battles are too damned important to entrust to the results of stupid duels).

This is her daughter, Gudrun. Gudrun is an enthusiastic student of strategy, but is still quite impetuous and has a way to go before she gets her own command.

Pippi Astridsdottir, a dab hand with a shortsword in a desperate situation!

And lastly, Sigrid Svanhildsdottir, an independent woman whose hammer, 'Maiden's Kiss', is always at the ready to remind over-familiar men not to take liberties. Like demanding a kiss, for example.

And it's goodnight from me...!

My biggest point total yet, and if the weather had been kinder, I dare say I might have been a tad more productive!

Thanks to Curt, Monday Minion Sidney and all the other Minions, this has been an amazing Challenge, and I hope to participate in the next one if they'll have me!

Until the group shot, goodnight, Gods Bless and keep smiling!

Seeya!

Ev

From Minion Tamsin:

Lovely work Evan and congrats on making your target. That's some nice painting there on the dragon and I do like the Dwarven women.

I'm going to score the dragon as a 40mm vehicle, as that's the 20 points you suggested and seems about right.

From EvanH: The Salvage Crew (30 points)

That time of the week again! Here are the latest figs from the workbench, six more Scibor Dwarves. I've given these blue-collar guys an appropriate colour scheme to tie them together as a unit; a salvage crew if you will.

Here's the foreman, Thorgrim Thorgeirsson. I don't know if the lion skin counts as 'personal protective equipment'.

His right-hand dwarf, Durk Drengisson.

Refreshments Officer, Bothvar the Brewer. Despite his foul temper, he is a valued member of the team.

Snorri, Workplace Health and Safety Officer. It's his job to ensure that the worksite is clean, tidy, and free of such hazards as trolls, ogres, ettins or orcs. So far, he's managed to locate and neutralise 100% of all workplace hazards, at least those which have heads.

Laughing Hrolf and Thekk, the Engineers; as befits their profession, they are Dwarves of few words.

"I AM smiling."

"Tsk... it's gonna cost..."

Six 28mm figures equal a princely 30 points for this week. Got another bonus round next week, they come around so quickly!

What's next? Stay tuned...

Ev

-----------------------------------------------------

Ev, what a brilliant selection of dwarven light-heartedness and good humour.  If only every workplace had a "Workplace Health and Safety Officer" of the caliber of Snorri - all those petty regulations would be adhered to without the constant griping of the modern office.

Laughing Hrolf and Thekk are, I fancy, well on their way to being a warm up act for a dwarven stand-up comedian.  I have no doubt they would... eventually.... have at least some in the audience smiling by the time of the main act.  They're a tough act, some of these dwarven venues...

What can I say, but....wonderful and brilliant painting, and a write up which brings these guys to life on the screen.  I love the blue you've chosen, and the way that knits the Crew together (team clothing, no doubt purchased at a significant discount).  The metalllic touches are also really great, another unifying thread in a great submisison.

A terrific entry, and a worthy 30 points to your total! 

From EvanH: The Admiral, The Ettin, and The Ruined Tower (60 points)

Greetings Challengers, we're back in hot and humid Old Sydney Town, aka Satan's Armpit.

This week, ladies and gentlemen, I've managed to pull together a small selection of figures and terrain for your enjoyment. I trust that they will meet with your approval.

First up, I've revisited an old friend of sorts from back in AHPC VI; Chaos Dwarf Admiral Thadrak Krakenbane, last seen enjoying a well-earned rest at the Happy Acres Twilight Home for Retired Warriors.

Well, here he is in his heyday, the commanding officer of a fleet of demonic ironclads which is the terror of the deep. He's a 28mm Scibor Miniatures Moscal Lord, a very characterful sculpt.

I decided to give him some suitably sea-green armour to reflect his nautical heritage, working up from a dark gunmetal to silver with successive layering to a final drybrush, before applying a coat of green glaze, Citadel's Waywatcher Green. I'm quite pleased with the final effect, as the highlights are still visible through the glaze, giving the figure an eerie, eldritch look.

Is it just me or does he bear a slight resemblance to Sir Laurence Olivier?

The face has a look of grim determination, appropriate for this character.

The blade is battered but serviceable, perfectly suited to its purpose.

He stands atop a forbidding stone head, perhaps on a rocky promontory, viewing the last of his foes sinking beneath the waves...

Next up, a monster who shows that two heads aren't necessarily better than one, a Reaper Bones Ettin. This is an old D&D fave, the two-headed cannibalistic ogre of fairytales. He's ostensibly a 28mm figure, though he comes in at around 54mm tall. In line with similarly-sized '28mm' figs, I've put him down for a tentative 10 points.

His base is a Warbases 60mm round, built up with cork scraps, pumice paste, and slate chips. Some skulls have been strewn about to give the impression of a maneater's lair, and Tajima1 tufts finish off the basing.

Lastly but not leastly, a piece of terrain, Citadel's 'Dreadstone Blight', a ruined wizard's tower. I've had this kit stashed away in the garage (aka Hot Narnia) for about six years, and the new terrain submission rules seemed like the ideal opportunity to put it together and paint it up. 

The bulk of the model is finished in a conventional drybrushed grey, but there are some smaller courses of stone which look as though the wall has been patched up with different materials, so I painted them up in the same red sandstone scheme I used for the Pictish chapel and standing stones earlier in the Challenge.

Now this is a Games Workshop product, so the decorative motifs tend to follow a certain anatomical theme...

Skulls! Quelle surprise!

I tried building one of Professor Barks' patented Skull-O-Meters™ to determine the skullosity of the piece, but it inexplicably burst into flames when I ran it over the model. 

The lowest level of the building has a roundel in the floor depicting the eight symbols of the Colleges of Magic, each with its appropriate colour. The centre of the roundel is filled with a corroded bronze mechanism of an unknown nature. The bricked-up doorway suggests that someone has tried (not altogether successfully) to seal off a symbol of the chaotic powers...

And... more skulls! Fancy that!

The model is based on a Warbases terrain base, with a mix of sand and assorted gravel to dress it up a bit, finished off with the ever-popular Tajima1 tufts.

The whole piece is 10 inches by 7.5 inches by 7 inches, so I reckon that translates to two cubesworth (a cubesworth being the internationally-recognised basic unit for terrain volume measurement), or 40 points. Add the 10 points for the Ettin, and a further 5 points for the Admiral, and this submission comes to a princely 55 points (assuming that our moderator, the estimable Mr Roundwood, approves!). 

What's next? Not certain, but it's the last week of my holidays, so I'd better use what hobby time I have wisely and make it count! 

Stay tuned... 

Ev

____________________________________________

What a fantastic collection of miniatures and terrain, Ev!!  I have to say, I have long been looking forward to meeting Admiral Thadrak Krakenbane again since his appearance in his robotic yellow duck in Challenge VI's "Nautical" themed round.  I am delighted that he has retained his nautical, sea-faring theme.  It is also good to see his best thespian - even Shakespearean - facial expression, daring his troops to laugh at him this time...   Well..... maybe that will work, but my hopes are not high.

The bi-headed monster is wonderfully suitable for Challenge "Ate", and I love the groundwork you've produced.  Certainly its up there with the best being seen in this wonderful Challenge so far.

And well done for producing the most skull-filled, kaleidoscopic entry of the Challenge so far in Dreadstone Blight!  As much as I love the look at the hypnotic College of Magic Roundel, I can't help but thinking of the children's game "Simon Says" ...

Perhaps the Changer of the Ways has introduced a new fun way for transporting contestants with the wrong answers to a different plane of existence.  "OK.....feet on the buzzers..... oooops.... whoosh.....  Is there another contestant please?"

Wonderful work in all three submissions, Ev.  Certainly 55 points, but I'm going to add 3 for the excellent basing overall, and another 2 for the sheer pleasure in seeing Admiral Krakenbane again.  Give him my best regards when you next visit The Happy Acres Twilight Home for Retired Warriors....

From EvanH: 28mm Orc Chieftain (10 Points)

Greetings, Fellow Challengers!

Ev here, coming to you from the summery climes of Sydney (no, not the one in Nova Scotia, the humid and sticky one).

Here, at long last, is entry number one for my third Challenge. We got lucky with the weather (i.e., it's actually under 25C) so I finally sat down at the workbench this morning and started on my latest figure, a Scibor 28mm Orc Chieftain, a companion piece of sorts to last Challenge's Big Fella.

Time flies when you're having fun, and I put a fair bit of time in to finish my latest green thug.

Having done last year's Orc in cooler blue-green tones, I decided to shift the colour palette to the olive and khaki end of the spectrum, working the skin up from a base of Mig Olive Drab through Vallejo Russian Uniform and blending in khakis to lighten the mix. Yellow and green glazes finished the skin tones.

The armour was layered up from a base of Vallejo Game Colour Tinny Tin through VMC Bronze and VGC Bright Bronze. Green washes were added to simulate corrosion of the armour and give it a lived-in look.

The stone sword was basecoated with VGC Sombre Grey and drybrushed with successively lighter layers of grey to give it a flinty look. The fallen statue on the base was a lot of fun to drybrush and apply washes to - so much character!

I really like the dynamic pose on this figure, and I like to think that the mix of skin, fur and metal repaid the time taken.  Like his cousin from last challenge, he's ostensibly a 28mm figure, but he actually tops out at the 54mm mark.

If I remember rightly, the last one of these came in at 10 points on account him being so big and all, so we'll assume that applies to this one as well. Fits in with the 'Monstrous' leitmotif for this Challenge, anyhow!

What's next in line? Well, I don't want to miss out on any Bonus Rounds this year, so I'd best get to work, but there are so many other figs demanding my attention. Which will it be?

Stay tuned...

Ev

___________________________

Wow, that is a very impressive Greenskin, Ev! 

I think the extra work you put in on both his skin tone, armour and sword really paid off (love that flint blue sword) - what an incredibly nasty brute. I also like the huge blue-grey stone head that he's vaulting from. As you say, a very dynamic model. Well done!

10 points for you Evan - Welcome back to the Challenge!

From EvanH - The Big Fella - 28mm Orc Chieftain (10 points)

I'm back from the Apple Isle and ready for more painty goodness!

I love Tasmania. The scenery is breathtaking, the weather is cool, the beer is great, the seafood is brilliant, the cheeses are amazing, and the stonefruit are the best I've ever had. I can state categorically that sheep's milk whey makes an excellent vodka, as well as forming the basis of a delightful vanilla liqueur, and quinces are an excellent and flavourful addition to cider. 

All that stuff about oysters being an aphrodisiac is rubbish though; I ate a dozen and only eight of them worked.

But I'm back in the hot and humid confines of Sydney now, and I went to the painting desk first thing upon my return to finish off another fig from Scibor's Monstrous Miniatures, an ostensibly 28mm Orc Chief, who, at 55mm in height, certainly lives up to the 'Monstrous' tag. As soon as I saw this model on the website, I had to get it. Scibor Teleszynski's work is excellent, and this is one of his best sculpts so far. Six hours later, here's the result.

You can't rush this!

I went for a cooler colour scheme than the canonical GW Goblin Green. It makes him look a bit more grim and forbidding, or at least I hope so!

The skin was basecoated with the discontinued Citadel Foundation colour Orkhide Shade (because it was good, of course, it had to be discontinued - thanks GW!), a dense dark green at the blue end of the spectrum, worked up through Vallejo Scurvy Green and with successive additions of Citadel Hawk Turquoise and Space Wolves Grey to the mix. 

I decided to work with a wet palette to help with the blending of colours, and when the weather is hot, it's the only way to go if you don't want your paint drying out before you've finished. Given the heatwaves we've had to deal with recently, this will probably become a fixture on the work bench for the duration of the Challenge!

The leather loincloth was worked up from Citadel Scorched Brown, through Vallejo Game Colour Beasty Brown and Citadel XV-88 (that's light golden brown for those of you playing at home) and on to a final drybrush with Citadel Bleached Bone. A wash of Citadel Agrax Earthshade over the surface tied the layers together.

Hair and whiskers were basecoated black, highlighted with Vallejo Model Colour Black Grey and a light overbrush of a dark blue. Citadel Space Wolves Grey provided the final highlight for strands of hair and beard.

This is one of those sculpts that cries out for a patient approach, and repays it many times over. I am glad I took my time with this one; while this pace will never get me an army anytime soon, it's allowed me to finish one really imposing figure to a standard that I'm happy with.

I don't know what this will be scored as, 28mm or 54mm, but it's just one figure so it's not going to set the world on fire!

Maybe he needs some friends? I'll have to see what I can dig out from the hidden valleys on the northern slopes of Lead Mountain...

Stay tuned!

Ev

By Paul & Alan: Not sure your Tasmanian tourism advertising has many of our international viewers sold, but I've definitely enjoyed a few trips there over the years too.

You've done great justice to a fantastic sculpt.  I love your choice of colours and your blending technique is top notch!  Given his size, I've scored him as a Cavalry fig - 10 points!

From AlanD - Dwarves and some (ahem) Terrain (125 Points)

Some of the lovely Dwarves from Scibor Miniatures have already cropped up in the Challenge so far this year, and this week I have mostly been working on a couple of units of them for Dragon Rampant. I rarely find myself painting fantasy miniatures, but our gaming group has been loving playing Dragon Rampant and having fun making the modestly sized warbands called for by the rules. And what warband is more modestly sized than one of dwarves?

The first unit of 12 is Scibor's 'Golden Guard'. The deeply-etched detail on these miniatures make them particularly suitable for a combination of washes and drybrushing, and I am pretty pleased with the results.

My favourite figures though are from the little set of Polish dwarves made by Scibor. I just love these - they ooze character, and I loved painting their faces.

Finally, my dwarf army includes a stone golem. I love this model, made by Puppet Wars, and I included a dwarf cleric from Reaper Bones on the base as his controller. He stands an impressive 10cm tall, not including the base. But is he a figure or a piece of terrain? I leave it to you to decide. He certainly will give the order 'seize the high ground!' a new and chilling meaning.

So in total, that is 19 dwarves (including the one on the golem's base), for 95 points. I will leave it to Curt to decide what the golem is worth.

_____________________________________

Geez Louise, Scibor has really been getting the love this Challenge.  I think this is great as their castings are terrific but often overlooked. 

I really like these Dwarves, Alan. As you say, their faces are fantastic - I especially like the red-bronze you used for their metalwork. It's quite bold but works very well for them.

Wow. That Golem. It's just fantastic! What an amazing figure. How many parts was that kit, Dux? I love the blue runes/carvings running across his 'skin' and the lichen and moss growing in his crooks and crannies.  The additional Dwarf to reinforce his huge scale is a great touch.

On top of the Dwarves, I'm going to score the Golem as a 54mm vehicle, so 30 points for him. Great work Mr. D!