AHPC XII 8th Entry - Somewhere Near Arnhem

My 8th entry was posted yesterday evening, so you finally get to see the finished building diorama and British Airborne.

The post can be found here: linky-link

I'm a little surprised to find that I'm currently in 12th place on the points table. 

Lockdown Podcast #22 and Some Shinies

Well, it looks as though we are back in the swing of things and the Madaxeman Lockdown Podcast #22 has been released:

Find out the answers to Andy's "Impressive Privates" quiz (and see if you got them right).

Discover where to buy really, really good small, sharp scissors for cutting out shield transfers.

Listen to seven nutters rambling on about figure painting and gaming for 90 minutes.

Wonder why on earth you are listening to seven nutters rambling on about figure painting and gaming for 90 minutes

Shinies

It's been quite a while since I did a "shinies" post, so I thought it was about time. Especially as I have just taken delivery of an order from Warlord Games.

I decided to buy some Polish airborne to add to my collection. I could just have used all helmeted figures from my existing force, but thought it would be nice to have a few in their distinctive berets. I also allowed me to push my order value high enough to get the freebie figure of the para shoulder-carrying a wounded comrade.

I might also be ordering the British Airborne Command Post set from Artizan at some point.

AHPC X Day 24 - Fifth Submission

My fight submission to the Challenge was posted this morning: link

This completes my British Airborne forces for now. I might at some point add some Polish paras, (part of) a Reconnaissance Troop (jeeps with single Vickers K guns) and maybe some Tetrarch and/or Locust tanks for 6th airborne Division.

I'm taking a day's break from painting - I've been out shopping (some hobby, some non-hobby). Tomorrow I'll be working on some Pulp era "dames" - they should be a fairly quick job for my 6th submission.

AHPC X Day 21 - Friday Update 10 January

I've had a reasonably busy day of minioning over on the Challenge blog, which means that I haven't made quite as much painting progress today as I had hoped for. Even so, I should have my British Airborne supports finished and submitted this weekend.

There isn't that much really left to do - a few highlights on the areas basecoated before the wash step, then the wood, metal parts, base and touch-ups (mostly on flesh). I'll also need to add some blood stains on (and around) the casualty figures.

AHPC X Day 19 - Wednesday Workbench 08 January

I've been making good progress on the British Airborne. The 17-pounder needs some wash over the metal details and the first few steps of painting the figures have been done. I should get a bit more done tonight.

If all goes well, I should have  this lot finished for submission at the weekend. Once they are done, my next set of figures will be some Pulp "dames" as my fee for my first trip in Sarah's Balloon on the Challenge Island map.

'Tis the Night Before Challenge

Curt Campbell did gush,
So wipe down that workbench
And clean out that brush
You can begin painting
In a few hours time
Not figures you've started
Unless they're just primed


By the time this drivel is posted there will be 10 hours left before the kick-off of AHPC X. All my prep is done and only one batch of figures (the Judge Dredd minis) hasn't been primed yet.

My workbench has been wiped down and I've got it ready for painting my first submissions:

Taking a bit of a risk, I am going to try out my new wet palette tomorrow I've also got a new set of brushes out (my last pair of series 7 brushes have taken a heavy hammering over the past few months).


Here's a photo of the figures I definitely intend to paint:

What? You want close ups of the boards? Oh, go on then!

Strontium Dog minis

15mm robots and 10mm lizardmen

28mm characters and 15mm SYW Russians

28mm WW2 British Airborne

28mm Pulp

28mm Barbarians

Barbarian skirmishes, command, shamen and beasts

Barbarian swordsmen and axemen

Barbarian cavalry riders

Barbarian cavalry mounts

Besides the Judge Dredd figures, there is a lot more that's prepped and primed in the wings if I finish these early. I might also be making up some terrain.


Before I go, I would just like to wish all my fellow participants in this year's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge the best of luck in achieving their targets, winning their side duels but above all I hope that they will have good fun over the next three months.

Finished - 28mm WW2 British Airborne Jeeps, Bikes and Carts

After much delay, I have finally finished these. And that's the last of the Airborne for now, although (as I'm sure you know) I do have a few more figures that haven't been prepped and primed yet.


Hand Carts

Motorbikes

Two Wellbikes and one 350cc Matchless bike

Woah! One of them has switched bikes!

I've left him separate so that he can be used with either bike

Signals Jeep

I will be adding radio antennae at some point

Recce Jeep with Trailer

Everything apart from the "proper" motorbike is from Warlord, the motorbike is from Foundry.


There have been some purchases...

I took advantage of  Warlord's Black Friday sale to buy the last three packs from the Strontium Dog range; I also bought their Airborne 75mm pack howitzer, 17 pounder and Polsten gun.

On Wednesday I did a little bit of shopping in town - the two Judge Dredd packs that I didn't buy initially, some acrylic paint pens, white ink and a couple of paints, a couple of portable daylight lamps, a couple of Series 7 brushes, superglue and activator, some tree armatures, some matchsticks and some triangular plastic strip.

Apart from finishing the jeeps etc today I have been doing some prep:

The horses for my barbarian warband have been glued onto bases, as have the figures for a special unit.

I've also prepped the resin Judge Dredd figures. Dredd's Daystick broke at the mid point, so I removed it at the handle and fitted a length of paperclip; I also had to pin another Judge at the ankle - I'll need to do a little bit of greenstuff work on them. I'm still debating how to do the basing - I'm considering mounting them on acrylic bases, but I'm wary about cutting them off their integral bases.

Tomorrow I'll be prepping the metal JD figures and maybe some of the recent Airborne acquisitions. I'll also be assembling the barbarian riders.

Finished: 28mm WW2 British Paras Batch 4

Just a small batch this time, with some odds and ends that I bought in the past few weeks. It's not the final batch though - some figures I'd ordered in June from Black Tree Designs finally arrived on Saturday. I've also got the jeeps, trailer, motorbikes and handcarts to finish painting. And some Artizan vehicle passengers.

Foundry Paras in Berets

What's that on the kneeling chap's back?

A 2" mortar I added from a Warlord sprue!

Warlord PIAT and 2" Mortar Teams

I'm rethinking my earlier decision to sell off the Warlord paras I painted when testing out paint schemes. Although that will mean that I have more PIATs than most of the airborne battalions at Arnhem!


Crusader 6 Pounder

The gun seems to be the same one that Artizan sell, but the crew are different. If I keep the Warlord figures, this will take me up to three 6 pounders - I doubt that I'd ever get that many on the table, even in a game of "Big CoC". I now have visions of me ordering the Warlord 17 pounder and 75mm pack howitzer to add to the force, just in case...

I've also painted the crew figures for the Warlord jeeps and the motorbike riders:

You'll get a better shot once the jeeps, etc are painted (probably on Thursday).