From ScottM: Historical Drama - Ashigaru & Rocket Bikes (160 pts)

My last post for this year's challenge is a two-parter. First up is my last studio location.

Historical Drama - With thoughts of Akira Kurosawa rolling around in my head, for this location I went with a couple more bases for my ongoing Samurai armies project. These are two bases of Ashigaru with yari. These are 28mm metal figs from Kingsford Miniatures.

I had run out of the larger decals for my sashimono and had to use the smaller ones, so they look a little odd unfortunately.

Scoring: 16 - 28mm foot figs + location bonus = 100 points

And for my last set of figures I painted up a trio of rocket bikes. These 28mm resin figs are from Bombshell Miniatures.

Scoring: 3 - 28mm vehicles = 60 points

Scoring Total: 160 points

That ends this year's challenge for me. See you all next year!

Friday minion: Hey again Scott, great to see you back with one last post. Those Ashigaru look lovely indeed, the basing is really effective. and the Bombshell miniatures bikes are great pulpy silliness, great choice of colours. My favourite is the red one because it clearly goes fastest.

I believe this puts you over your 500 points target, congratulations! Great to have you with us this challenge, may your brushes ever move swiftly. 

From ScottM: Studios x2 (75 pts)

As we continue with our tour of Studios GmbH, we arrive at a couple more stops.

Western - For this studio I went with a sci-fi Western theme. These figs are all 28mm metal from Crooked Dice's Colony 87 line. 

From left to right we've got a kid looking for a way off planet, a shady character looking to offload a container of some stolen material, a local gang leader, a mysterious figure in from the deep desert and a starport tech looking to repair an old beat-up N1 Starfighter. 

Scoring: 5 - 28mm foot figs + location bonus = 45 points

High Adventure - For this studio, I dipped again into Crooked Dice's Colony 87 line. This intrepid duo are a pair of explorers looking for a lost ruin or civilization.

Scoring: 2 - 28mm foot figs + location bonus = 30 points

Scoring Total: 75 points

Minion MilesR: I subbing in a bit this friday and have a wonderful post from ScottM.  I wasn't familiar with Colony 87 figures but now am very interested - especially because of Scotts superb pain ting.

From ScottM: Studio Under Construction Japanese Peasants (140 pts)

I started on this project I think back in 2012. I originally wanted to do up a couple samurai armies in 28mm. My steam quickly ran out and I've been slowly grinding out bases for the last 10-11 years. Still don't have enough to field two decent sized forces. I think it's going to be a lifetime project. So this location is perfect for this. 

Under Construction - These three bases actually painted up really quickly. No intricate armour, just peasant clothing. These Japanese peasants are 28mm metal figs from The Assault Group (TAG).

Scoring: 24 - 28mm foot figs + location bonus = 140 points 

Friday Minion: Hey Scott, loving these Japanese peasants, you've really nailed the mix of colours to convey that they're a rabble, without risking it looking like a gathering of clowns. I love the earthy tones, subtle orange and blue-grey in particular.  

From ScottM: Studio Black & White - Robot (25 pts)

A quick and easy submission for this location. I was going to have a bunch more figs but I ran out of unit bases. Off to the hardware store! 

Black & White - I went with a 28mm resin Salvager Bot from Crooked Dice's Colony 87 line.

A very simple fig and I think I did a half-decent job on it. I'm not much of a grey-scale painter.

Scoring: 28mm foot fig + location bonus = 25 pts.

Friday Minion - Welcome back to the Challenge Scott!

More black and white goodness, it's been a popular location this year. Nice choice on the model for this location, it sure suits this dorky robot with his expressionless face. Tidy brushwork here Scott.

From ScottM: Sci-Fi Flyers - Studios x2 (80 pts)

And we're back for another year of painting goodness! I believe this is my 7th Challenge. I've completed my goals every year so hopefully I can continue with that success. I'm submitting two locations to start and both will be using science fiction figs.

1980's or Retro - I went with a V16 Windrunner Rocket Bike from Bombshell Miniatures. This 28mm resin fig is from they're Counterblast line of figs. I picked this as a retro fig as the front grill gives me a very retro '50s kind of feel.

Scoring: 28mm vehicle + location bonus = 40 pts.

Sci-Fi - For this location I went with another fig from Bombshell Miniatures. This 28mm resin fig is a Mekkus Strafer from their Counterblast Mekkus faction. The original fig came with the same kind of base as the fig above. I thought it weird having this flying vehicle basically hovering just above the ground, so I made up a much more appropriate base using some a 60mm round wood base, a brass rod and some assorted bits I've had in a drawer for who-knows-how-long.

Scoring: 28mm vehicle + location bonus = 40 pts.

Scoring Total: 80 pts.

Onto the next location!

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Oh man, I love that retro rocket bike! The chrome wraparound grill and the baby-blue colour that you picked is just perfect for it - it's just screams 50's sci-fi. The Mekkus is a very aggressive looking beast. Being scaled to 28mm, it must be quite large. It's interesting that at certain angles it looks quite TIE-like. I think your addition of a taller stand was inspired. Well done! 

- Curt

From ScottM: Krypton and some Cavalry (150 pts)

My last post for this years Challenge lands me at Krypton. Using the 'weakness' theme I went with some Greek hoplite casualties. These 28mm metal figs are from Wargames Foundry.

I had to paint the pictures on the shields as I hate trying to put decals on domed shields.

And lastly I have a bunch of Carthaginian cavalry. These 28mm metal figs were from Renegade Miniatures. It's been a number of years since I bought these figs and since Renegade isn't around any more, I'll have to guess what they actually were. This first base I'm pretty sure are Gallic cavalry.

The next base some sort of light cavalry.

The next base I believe are Spanish cavalry.

And here's where my voyage ended:

So that should be:

• 8 - 28mm foot figs (casualties) = 40 points
• 9 - 28mm cavalry figs = 90 points
• 1 location (Krypton) = 20 points

Total = 150 points

So that wraps up my paint challenge for this year. Thank you to Curt and his crew for running another excellent Paint Challenge. On to next year!

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We'll help out Millsy as he gets his beauty sleep down in Australia. 

Lovely work on these Greeks and Carthaginians, Scott. I think you did a great job on the hoplon shields and those ancient cavalrymen look suitably ferocious. 

Thank you for joining us for this years season, Scott. I hope to see you in with the scrum next time out.

- Curt

From ScottM: Perelandra & Terra (55 points)

For this post, I've managed to stop off at two locations in this Quadrant. First up is my last location in the Middle Ring: Perelandra. I went with the Ocean theme and have a Giant Octopus. This plastic figure is from Wizkids Deep Cuts line.

Simple and easy fig to paint. It does look a bit better in person. I've never been able to master the art of taking decent pictures.

And for my first location on the Inner Ring, I stopped at Terra. I went with the Earthbound theme and have a pair of Xorns. These plastic figs are also from Wizkids and from their Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures line.

And here am I so far. Hopefully I can scramble out one more post.

So that should be:

• 3 - 28mm foot figs = 15 points
• 2 locations (Perelandra & Terra) = 40 points

Total = 55 points

From Millsy:

I really like you colour choice for the Giant Octopus Scott. That iridescent blue is so saturated and vibrant. A great choice but I can understand why it was hard to photograph too. It's also the colour Aussie kids get drummed into them means BAD when you find it on the beach :-P

And what's not to love about a Xorn? All they want is hugs.

From ScottM: Noel's Comet - Samurai Characters (40 pts)

Been a bit of a slow month for me, but I'll hopefully get a few more figs done before the end. As I venture further into the system, I end up at Noel's Comet. I didn't really have a wide selection of figs in my unpainted pile that actually fit into this category, so my choice might be a bit off. For this stop I went with a pack of Samurai Heroes. These are 28mm metal figs from Kingsford Miniatures.

For the actual location I've got a Not-Lone Wolf and Cub. I've embarrassingly never actually read the stories, but if it's about some lone samurai roving around with a kid in a cart, it should involve some sort of friendship.

There's two other characters in the pack: Not-Yojimbo and Not-Zatoichi.

And now for the story. My friend and I have known each other since high school (we're 50/51 now). A few decades ago there was a bar in town (it's still there - the old Boston Pizza lounge), that we would frequent. Well, there was a stretch where we would go every night. We'd end up spending all evening there till almost closing time. We went there so often, that we knew all the staff, they knew us and when they'd see us drive up, by the time we got in the door and sat down, our drinks (Big Rock Grasshopper for me, Rickard's Red for him) would be sitting there waiting. We'd usually just spend the evening watching the TV and having a few pints. We wouldn't say much to each other, just sit, enjoy our drinks and each others' company. The end of the evening would roll around and we'd get ready to head home (usually it was me driving), so I'd head off to take care of an excess liquid problem and ask him to grab the tab. And it would never fail that I'd come back and sure enough he's ordered another round to go with the bill. Argh! Good times, although my bank account wasn't having a good time.

We're still great friends, he lives a couple blocks away and we hang out regularly (for some reason his wife is able to tolerate me). Might even end up there tonight for some beverages.

So that should be:

• 4 - 28mm figs = 20 points
• 1 location (Noel's Comet) = 20 points

Total = 40 points

And now the mad scramble as the end nears!

From Millsy:

That's a great story Scott. I have a mate who I've known for a similar amount of time (I'm 52) so I totally get the amount of history there, especially the ability to just sit in companionable silence.

I really like your colour choices for these dudes, that blue-grey is really eye catching and goes really well with the hair and leggings. Nice work all round.

From ScottM: LV-426 Monsters, Critters & Indians (140 pts)

My second stop in the Middle Ring is at LV-426, the Alien world. For this location I went with a medley of monsters that would easily fit in to any alien world setting. First up is a pair of 28mm plastic Gricks from Wizkids' Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures D&D range.

Next up is a pair of Flumphs from the same range as the Gricks. These two definitely have an 'alien' feel to them.

And finally is a lone Magmite. This 28mm metal fig is from Northstar Military Figures Frostgrave range.

And finally a size comparison shot with a 28mm Stargrave Medic.

Also to add to this post, I completed a box of Warlord Games Woodland Indians from their French and Indian War range.

So that should be:

• 24 - 28mm foot figs = 120 points
• 1 location (LV-426) = 20 points

Total = 140 points

From Millsy:

What a cracking collection of nasty space bugs Scott! I love all of them but the Magmite in particular is very cool indeed. I can almost feel the heat coming off him in waves. Every time I see a collection like this it makes me want to add to my own.

Nice take on the FIW figures too mate. I'm always impressed by people who can paint convincing skin tones outside the Caucasian space and tones with red in them are amongst the hardest I think. Awesome brushwork indeed.

PS. Now THAT'S how you label a post! Well done that man, carry on.

Cheers,

Millsy