From Barks: More Underhive denizens (30 points)

My painting time has really stalled out this Challenge, but I forced myself to get some figures done. These are a variety of beings you may find in the Underhive.

The malstrain is a corrupted genestealer. I slightly trimmed back and toned down the excess spikes of the original sculpt, as I thought they were a bit much even for me. I've got more of these to paint but its a slow fiddly process. He's a big boy on a 40mm base. I've gone for a severe cataract eye. The pustules remind me of the original plastic 'stealers.

With an untrimmed figure

Next, I have some winged figures- two caryatids and a cherub. Caryatids are nearly mythical figures to underhivers, and are associated with good luck. The smaller metal figure is a very limited sculpt associated with Colony 87- read more here. He's on a 20mm base, and is definitely a 'he'.

This cherub had a goatee and hair
but I trimmed it back to be more Churchillian.

Somewhere in this medic servoskull is a skull!

I really like this underseer sculpt. It nails the bizarre bodies and mechadendrites of the tech-priests.

Postscript: I was bullied/peer-pressured into painting some patches onto flight suits and trying to get a mirrorshades effect onto Ferro's aviators. Are you happy now?

Six figures of varying sizes... 25 points?

+1 skull for the skull challenge (total 45)

From Millsy:

Any submission that makes use of the term "denizen" is a winner in my books! These are all superb mate but I am particularly impressed and at the same time a bit disturbed by the underseer. I have little idea what mechadendrites are but I suspect I'm better off that way.

Kudos for your efforts on the mirrrorshades and patches. I've awarded a bonus five points because I resist every temptation to revisit something so if you can be bothered it should pay off.

Cracking stuff Barks. 30 more underhive credits for you.

Cheers,

Millsy

From StuartL - A Smattering of Side Duels - Lady Sarah's Limousine - 182 Points

It seems that I have some catching up to do in my various side duels, so hopefully this post will help me catch up after taking an involuntary week off.

First of all, I have some additions for the Turnip28 side duel.

These two models are 'Toadies', the somewhat talentless junior officers in my growing Turnip28 army.  To signify their lofty rank, the duo are sporting the largest headgear they could find. There will be no mistaking them for the rank and file. The two figures are converted from Perrys WotR minis with a few extra growths added. The toady in red has a head from a British Napoleonic Hussar and arms from some Victrix British Infantry. The other model is all from the Perrys WotR kit. To make the growths, I driller a couple of holes in his back and inserted two short bits of wire. I then covered the wire with Vallejo Plastic Putty, adding a small amount to the shoulder of the other toady too.

Every good commander knows that artillery is the king of the battlefield and that is true in Turnip28 too. (I guess). So, I converted what is known as a Stump Gun.

The gun and most of it's carriage comes from a ship's cannon by Firelock games. The wheels and the ammo box were some spares I had in my bits box from some previous project or other. Finally, the crewman is more Victrix parts with some wire and putty growths on his back.

For scoring for the Turnip Side Duel, I have 25 Turnip Points. 

I have previously scored a Squirrel point for Turnip28, so these models don't add anything to that duel.

I am also entered into the Skullz Duel, so time to add some noggins to my tally. 

These terrain pieces are all from Reaper's Bones line. The two columns above stand about 7cm tall and feature small panels at the base packed with skulls and then a ring of skulls up near the top.

There are about 19 skulls on average in each of the inset panels. All of the terrain pieces here were painted in black and then given lighter and lighter drybrushes of grey. I added some brown wash to add some variety. In the case of one of the pillars below, I added some rose bushes to brighten it up a bit.

Of these pieces, the small, square piece in the centre has a skull on each of its 4 sides, while the central pillar has 2 skulls on each of its 3 sides.

So, in total this should add 178 skullz to my tally. Not bad for a days work. Points wise, these are nowhere near being even a small percentage of a challenge terrain cube, so I leave it up to my minion to score them. For scale purposes, the statue holding the shield is the same size as a 28mm figure, plus the plinth.

And that should bring me on to the Squirrel Duel. 

First, a squad of 5 WW2 Japanese infantry from Warlord Games. These will be added to my Bolt Action army for the battles of Imphal and Kohima.

Next we have a brood of 5 Genestealers for Warhammer 40,000. There are rumours that Tyranids will be getting new models in the starter box of the next edition of 40K, so I wanted to get some of my older Nid models done.

Some battle-worn Tau, also for Warhammer 40,000. I quite like the Tau minis, but find their usual bright colours to not really fit the grimdark aesthetic very well. So, I have opted for simple colours and lots of weathering on the armour.

And finally 5 Teutonic crossbowmen for Saga. These models are all from Fireforge Games. They are quite simple figures to build and paint. I still have loads more to do before I have enough for a game though.

So there we have 4 more Squirrels for my scoresheet.

And finally, I need to pay up for another trip in Lady Sarah's Limousine. I intend to head over to the Casting Couch for next week's entry, so I have another model from VOID, this time one of the lovely ladies from the VASA range.

Just noticed that line of paint on her shoulder. I'll have to paint over that.

And that brings me to the end of the post, so it is time to tally up the scores.

24x 28mm minis @5 points = 120 Points

1x 28mm artillery piece @10 points = 10 Points

6 decorative columns = ???? (Help me, oh great and all knowing Minion)

1x Limo ride @20 points = 20 Points

TOTAL = 150 Points + ????

My side duels:

Squirrels - 15

Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Dwarves, Fire Giants, WW2 Polish, Daemons, Viridians, Vasa, Junkers, Turnips, Necrons, Tau, Genestealers, WW2 Japanese, Teutonics

Skullz - 186

Turnips - 85 Points

See you all next week.

That is an extremely eclectic output and the genestealers are fantastic. Still don't understand the turnip thingy but more great scratch building. the columns will score as 28mm figures

From TeemuL: The Fourth Androgynstealer and others (50 points)

I explained earlier, why there were only three genestealers on Gethen, and here you can see fourth one, painted by six-year old son. I helped with priming, reaching tricky places and minor fixing. He clearly saw my genestealers and took some inspiration firstly to paint one secondly copy some of the colours. However, he had some painter's block and couldn't decide all the colours, so I gave him an old Codex Tyranids (2nd Ed) to browse and he quickly choose the purple colour. There is some white primer visible here and there, but it doesn't seem to bother, but I will gently hint about this in the future - as well as finishing the base edges. :)

There are also couple of terrain pieces made and painted by him, but these were started before the Challenge started. They are small rocks and twigs on a base and painted with different colours. He made two similar earlier, which were fireplaces, these are meant to be placed next to the fireplace, so people can comfortably sit on them. The blue is of course water, so it can used if the camp site is next to river or lake.

Next something more boring, three bases of Sludge Line Infantry. These almost made it to the last week, they were missing the black in eyes and black on base edge, but I didn't have it in me to finish them in time. It was quite a rough and busy weekend, this weekend is busy as well, so that's three in a row. After that it should be easier and I can allocate more time for painting.

Perry miniatures, mostly American Civil War Zoauves, but torso and heads from Foot Knights, flag (heraldic wheat on brown) is made of yogurt jar lid - at least in Finland it is very nice and soft aluminic foil, which has a nice texture, when used as a flag. The universe of Sludge is very muddy, so the bases are swampy with some pieces of wood here and there. These guys most likely won't hear the "CHARGE!!!" when going through this terrain. :)

I'd like to claim painting points from the Genestealer, since it is very much a joint operation with my son - I could use the time to paint just by myself, but the possibility to share the wonderful hobby to a younger generation... My dearest minion, I believe you understand?

So that would then be 10 miniatures, all in 28mm, for total of 50 points. No skulls, no squirrels, no planets.

From Millsy:

I'm pretty sure Codex Tyranids (2nd Ed) is the very definition of an Oldhammer gateway drug Teemu! Well done getting your son started on an addiction that'll bring him endless hours of pleasure and destroy his bank account but at least leave his health intact LOL. Kudos to your young fella on a great paint job and to yourself for supporting him but letting him make his own choices and do the work.

Your Sludge project gets better with every post. The kitbashes you are coming out with are spectacular and full of character. Plastic kits have been an absolute boon to the hobby in so many ways and letting people express their creativity by mashing seemingly unrelated stuff together is a highlight for me.

Love everything about this post mate. Brilliant stuff!

Cheers,
Millsy

From StuartL - Continuing round the ring - Cybertron, Arrakis and LV426 - 85 Points

This is my final entry for today and is just a quick blitz of several planets. Having finished up the outer orbit, I am now heading inwards, down through the Great Abyssal. This brings me out at Cybertron in the middle ring, the theme for which is robots. Having already painted up a load of robots earlier in the challenge, I decided to do paint some models that are technically not true robots but that hopefully still count, two mechs from Battletech. These figures are from the Battletech beginner box and are cast as one piece plastic figures. 

These models are a Griffin and a Wolverine mech and are painted in the colours of the 10th Lyran Guards. I did a few models in the same colour scheme in last year's challenge, so these will be added to that force. The models are roughly the same height as a GW space marine. I think Battletech mechs are usually scored as a 28mm infantry figure rather than an 8mm scale vehicle. I'll let the minions adjust the points if need be.

Continuing in my clockwise orbit I head over the Arrakis where one of the themes is Worms. In my big pile of Reaper Bones minis, I found two suitable minis quite easily. They are very well textured, so I was able to do them in a simple base, wash, drybrush style and get the bulk of them done quickly.

Each model is roughly 28mm in scale and I will probably use them as wasteland critters in This Is Not A Test. One of them is sporting a skull on its base, so that is one more for my tally.

And finally, we head over the LV426, where the theme is Aliens. Personally, I find H R Gigers' Xenomorph creations truly horrifying, so I'll have to settle for the next best thing, a Genestealer from Games Workshop. An alien lifeform that exists in the void of space, lays it's eggs in unwilling hosts and acts as a living weapon that can destroy civilizations, I don't think GW were particularly subtle about their inspiration for this monster.

The figure is one of the original plastic models from the Space Hulk board game released decades ago. The model was painted up with several washes and a bit of contrast paint. There aren't two rows of eyes on it's head, the upper one is actually a spot of sepia wash that I was using to break up the overall pale look of the mini.

By my count, there are 5x 28mm models for a total of 25 points, plus 3 locations for an extra 60, giving me an extra 85 points for my score and bringing my challenge entries today to a close.

Skullz Total: 57

Final post and you've hit three planets, you have been busy.  I like the two tone mechs in the first photo.  I'll be sending one of those worms round to Barks to make sure that he's got the Skullometer working properly, it should fit in with the rest of the fauna in Oz.

From TeemuL: Androgynstealers on Gethen [Sarah's Star Yacht] (70 points)

"The Genestealers have no true genders, and require a creature of any species, of any gender, to reproduce. The Genestealer will find a suitable host and hypnotise them into passivity using an effect induced with its eyes."

warhammer40k.fandom.com/

The maelstrom sent me from Coruscant to the inner ring, to the planet Gethen. I had no idea what to paint here, but then I started thinking what miniatures I do have and started to think if Genestealers have genders and according to the Warhammer40k Fandom, they do not, so they are androgyns. Great!

Happily travelling in space, trying to avoid the LV-426 we found ourselves in Gethen, where we found nasty looking androgyn aliens. We quickly start to think a way out.

Nothing special on these Genestealers, painted in the same style as my previous 8 on Klendathu. You might wonder why 3, when 4 would have been better number. The reason is simple, my yound padawan claimed one for himself, it might appear later in the Challenge.

Anyway, enough of Gethen. Luckily there is a local bug exterminator, who kindly catches us a ride on Sarah's Star Yacht on our way to Xanth. What never ending unique talent we find there, probably a squirrel...

She is Janey, Paranormal Exterminator from Crooked Dice. Nice and simple miniature, who got a quick paint job, so I can get out of Gethen. I painted her suit in thinned down blue contrast to get the shadows and then painted white on top. Looks quite good, if I may say so. Pink hair gives futuristic appearance and sunglasses and green gloves give professional authority.

No squirrels this time, these are additions to existing squirrels.

• 4 models in 28mm scale, 20 points
• Planet Gethen, 30 points (via Maelstrom)
• Sarah's Star Yacht, 20 points

Total 60 points

I seem to be more comfortable on the Galactic West...

From Millsy:

Ha! I learned something today, not having known that genestealers were genderless until now. These will be a great addition to your previous entry Teemu. Things like genestealers are always better in droves to represent the hive.

The bugs are great but your exterminator is awesome mate. The eye-watering green gloves contrasted with the pink hair and purple hose is quite something. I love it when people push the colour palette to the max like this!

From TeemuL: Bug part of the Bug War [Klendathu] (60 points)

Sarah's Star Yacht dropped us into the planet Klendathu, but it was a huge mistake. This was no longer logical as Vulcan or fun as Babylon5. This was hostile. If we were making an attack, our invasion would have gone bad. These bugs were all over the place and we had a bad feeling about pretty much everything.

Quite crowded corridor...

Once I was almost finished with the colorful group on Babylon5, I told my gaming friends, that here are the last minis from me this year (everyone was counting the played games and painted miniatures). Then I realized, that there were still couple of days left of the year, I had some days off (with my six year old) and relaxed work schedule, so I grabbed my Contrast paints and these Genestealers from GW (which were nicely primed by their previous owner), their Warhammer 40,000 universe. They will join the Great Beast from the last Challenge (Big Tyranid) and some spore mines, which I painted during the summer.

Primaris point of view :)

I wanted them to be simple to paint, look "real", scary, hostile, dangerous and a bit camouflaged. You wouldn't want to be in a jungle with these (which reminds me to paint my Lost Patrol and play it). All Contrast here, two shades of green, black, yellow and purple.

Yes, there are eight of them

If there are no point bombs lurking around, I might end up in the Top-2 - at least momentarily and if this draft would be published now, before the final details and photos. More importantly I'm on good speed to reach my target in time. This is a third planet so far, and Star Yacht, some quite simple minis and more than average of free time. Anyway, painting these Genestealers is not an easy piece, they have six limbs and are huge. Even with simple paint job with Contrasts takes a lot of time to cover all everything and everywhere, old Mithril miniatures are done in a fraction of time compared to these. At least it feels like that.

All over the place

I guess these are counted as 28mm miniatures for 5 points each, so this will be 40 points and 20 points for the Klendathu planet. Klendathu is not the place where we want to be. "I need a hero" can be heard from our space-time-radio Classic Runes FM station and we continue our Quest to Glorantha - to find a hero.

They were assembled with variety of heads

My personal Squirrel count: 4
- 20mm Napoleonic
- 28mm Sludge
- 28mm Pulp
- 28mm Warhammer 40000 Xenos (I'm not sure about the final ruling regarding different factions is WH40K and similar, but Squirrels or not, I'll paint several of them).

_____________________________

Great looking Stealers, Teemu, and a perfect entry for Klendathu! I really like the colours you went with for these nasty critters. The yellow looks perfect with those two tones of green. It may have taken a bit longer for coverage but the Contrast paint sure worked a jiffy with these guys. Well done!


- Curt