From JOHN B: ABYSS VIOLENCE: Oi their ours! (75pts)

Some more progress this week sees the culmination of AHPC14 (the idea of spaceships was born and the parts gathered in time to miss the 2023/24 painting window!!!) and AHPC15 actual homebuilds and more miscreants - of the small peoples this time round. It goes something like this...........the Surf Raiders scooted along the beach.

Suddenly they spotted some objects in the sands - LOOT!

Having landed Unbeknownst to them as they scoured the site for said LOOT they were not alone.

The Customs Militia Patrol Unit 404 (geddit!) skimmed the beach hunting for the miscreants better known as Surf Raiders. Finally they catch them.......

Caught red handed.

The Surf Raiders have no idea.........

Then out of the blue (actually - weird sunset) A Deep Mountain Bounty Unit appears - "Oi their ours" declare the DBM Unit.

There is a mutual stand off untill the Customs team agree to take the Bounty guys and the Surf Raiders to the local "Pen" for processing.

The Surf Raiders safely locked up in 404 the enforcement officials and bounty hunters pose for a "success shot".

It appears the Surf Raiders (from AHPC14) had not paid their dues on some dodgey acquisitions whilst having a price on their heads for various thefts. So ends the AHPC15 space adventures. Thats it for SciFi this year Folks! Over to the details. The Space vessel was conceived back during AHPC14! while this years figures have been acquired from magazine covers. One big blue space vehicle - a "Divoc" class unit for patrolling the extensive shorelines of Eraweb - an earthly planet orbiting the giant K2-18b (see the backdrop + see my previous spaceship post).

Needless to say, like the red vessel previously featured, this one started life as a milk bottle until covid spares and some transparent chocolate packaging joined up. Undercarriage are ubiquitous wooden clothes pegs. Lots of Blue Craft quality acrylics in various shades plus window wash of Citadel Nazdreg Contrast Colour.

The Customs Militia are a freebie of hobbits from Miniature Wargames while I think the Dwarves were free with Wargames Illustrated. I opted for bright clothing on the hobbits and used a mix of traditional and contrast painting. I had a bad moment with my current waterbased matt varnish. But then discovered Warhammer stock brush on water based varnish. So they got a coat of that. Still not happy though. I left the dwarves unvarnished and will need to investigate my varnish options again. With the Dwarves painting wise it was a wash of one of my many brown contrasts but diluted over a vallejo yellow ochre, then various odd mixes of which the pinky version I quite like but have no idea how I created it - hilarious. Basing are 1p UK coins with a 20 year batch of GW desert stones dressing. One last shot of the two freebie sets and the homebuilt space patrol vessel!

So although they are all squat they are technically 28mm scale.  Points tally is therefore:

Customs Divoc Class ship = 20pts 

Customs Militia = 4 x 5pts = 20pts 

Deep Mountain Bounty Hunters = 3 x 5pts = 15pts 

Lots of potential violence here - one careless trigger and its a three way blast! ABYSS Violence = 20pts Grand Total = 20+20+15+20pts = 75pts.  

 And still no steamy angles...... sorry Martijn.

I think we can forgive you the lack of steam power, John. These vessels are once again fabulous! I love your creativity in creating great models from "waste". It's been great to see your contributions throughout the Challenge, and I'll give you some scratch-building bonus points to bring you up to 80 points for this post. I hope we will perhaps see even more in the final week!

Martijn

JohnB 1866 Austrian Infantry 112pts

Sticking with KuK forces, but turning the clock back a few years, I offer 40mm homemade toy soldiers in stosstaktic mode. This figure casts well and is fun to paint. 

The officers have discarded their great coats and present themselves bravely as superb targets for the Dreyse needlegun.

16 infantry @ 7 points = 112 points

I do love these home casts, they make me want to pick up my Britain's cannon and fire matchsticks at them.  Lovely poses and brushwork.  Aces all around, except that you forgot to label your posts!

JohnB: 40mm Homemade Tirailleurs Senegalais (165 points)

Last post for today, and I've been saving this up as a reward to myself.

Something shiny this way comes.

My miniature preoccupation for some time has been the ‘bleisoldaten’ of the Belle Époche… makers like Wollner of Vienna, Spenkuch, Haffner and later, Holger Ericsson. I also  love Aly Morrison’s Shiny Toy Soldier range from Spencer Smith Miniatures. The old figures are hard to find and expensive and of course, shipping from the U.K. is prohibitive when one’s ambitions tend towards the megalomaniac hidden in all of us.

So… I make my own. I sculpt and gravity cast my own 40mm toy soldier style armies covering the rifle and saber era up to 1914. (I also dabble in the late 17^th and early 18^th century stuff…)

My first unit submitted to the painting challenge is a battalion of Tirailleurs Sénégalais circa 1914. Also, a regimental command stand of three figures with a wine foil flag and, à cheval, Le Beau Colonel, of the Colonial Infantry. He will command an ad hoc regiment of 3 battalions of Tirailleurs and 1 of Colonial Infantry. (Regimental photo perhaps to follow at a later date…) These are painted in a simple, old school, toy soldier style fitting to the figures and my limited talents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Points wise, there are 21 foot figures and 1 mounted figure. Because of my simple old school basing, I will subtract 1 point per figure. (This simple basing jives with what I have done to this point with this project and the aesthetic of my old school games. The basing done by other folks in the challenge are exceptional… really good…)

So, I calculate:

21 x 40mm foot @ 6 points = 126 points

1 x 40mm mounted @ 14 points + 14 points

Total = 140 points

Thank you all for your consideration of these humble offerings and until next time, when we will encounter chausseurs of a different type sporting what might be considered the “jauntiest” of Belle Époche headgear. À la prochain, mes biffins.

Some marvellous shiny toy soldier stuff from Saskatchewan's own Jack Scruby (google it kiddos).  I have thought about doing home cast figures like these John but various family members have environmental sensitivities and I'd be kicked out if I tried it.  Plus I am so clumsy that I'd like find a way to pour molten lead in my ears.

I don't know how it works with 54s but I find that with 28s, getting them from the UK is the cheapest option!  Most firms deduct the VAT if you ask them and basically cancels out the shipping.  Plus Boris is doing such a great job the the exchange rate works on our favour.

Anyway back to the minis which are bloody marvellous and look splendid.  I'm not having any of the deduct a point for the basing.  There is a point deduction for no basing at all, which clearly doesn't apply.  Plus yours are bang on for the figures.  If it worked for Featherstone, Grant and Young then it works here.  Plus your get extra points for the flag (a wine foil home made how old school is that?) and cause I just love this stuff.  Sold for 165 points!