From BenitoV: M8 Greyhound (20 points)

I had the opportunity to undust the airbrush this week, coinciding with a visit to my parents' summer house where I have all my airbrushing stuff, making a quick work on this M8 Greyhound that sadly sitting on the desk for a few years now.

The M8 was an ubiquitous light armoured vehicle at the front of the  the US and British tank spearheads in the Second World War units, seeing service since 1943. They were mostly allocated to the scout units of the armoured divisions, but also served in independent formations attached to infantry divisions.

According to Wikipedia more than 8,000 units were built of different variants during and after the war. It saw service well into the 70s in different world armies, including the Spanish Foreign Legion while patrolling the former Sahara colonies.

I painted the vehicle in a dark US Army green base; and for the panelling, I mixed the base colour with  a desert/sand yellow colour. The final step was the weathering using some AK pigments (European light Earth and Truck rust).

The model is an old 28mm resin and metal Warlord reference, that was replaced a few years ago by a new plastic reference. Quality is not too bad but the upper HMG ring over the turret (soft metal) was very feeble and difficult to affix to the turret.

You may notice that I did not add any crew. Unfortunately, I thought I had some spare models US tankers in my lead pile, but not, so I'll have to print or buy and add in the future.

This M8 in 28mm will add 20 points to my Challenge score this year. 

     

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I always enjoy your WWII work Benito, especially your efforts with vehicles. Beautiful work on this M8. Even though there may have been a few aspects that were challenging, you really did a spectacular job on the painting and weathering of this workhorse (faithful hound?). Well done!

- Curt & Huck 

   

From BenitoM: Warg Riders (40 points)

For my second post in this year's Annual Painting Challenge I continued with more Uruk Hai additions for Midgard, the recently published miniature rules to play in the heroic ages.  In this case, the first batch of warg riders, the mounted component for my army.

These are four mounted archers and will fight as regular light cavalry; I also plan to use them for scouting/recon patrols in campaigns. 

Note that number of models in a unit is irrelevant in Midgard. Units are arranged in square rectangle bases that you can fill with as many models as you want.  The rules suggests using a 12 cm frontage (which I know will annoy some imperial-metric fans like Richard Clarke) but you are free to use whatever size you deem, as long as all units have the same base frontage (note: depth of the base is not relevant).

Given than I'm basing my mounted units on old GW round 40cm diameter individual bases,  I can put three models per unit. But as I said, you can base individually in rectangular bases if you like to accommodate more models per unit.  

These warg riders are 3D printed models in 28mm designed by Medbury Miniatures belonging to its mounted orc range.

Next in the painting line are some GW plastic warg riders, in the painting pile since early 2000s (they were bought at the time when the Peter Jackson's films were released and GW started selling the LOTR range). 

This post adds 40 points to my score this year (4 x 28mm mounted models @10 points each).   

   

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Hello Benito

The Warg Riders look terrifying!  Your Midgard army  project is coming along nicely.

Another 40 points for your Scoresheet

- Sarah

From BenitoV: Uruk Hai leader, Rulers and Tokens for Midgard (15 points+?)

This is my initial post for this year's Challenge, presenting an Uruk Hai leader and some tokens and rulers to use with Midgard, the recently published system to play battles in the Heroic Age by the Reisswitz Press/Too Fat Lardies stable. 

For those in the unknown, Midgard covers both historical and fantasy-based medium sized battles (between 60 and 100 minis) focused on the action of heroic leaders. Having stopped playing fantasy battles for almost 2 decades, this was an excellent opportunity to undust my old GW LOTR  minis and add some reinforcements.

My first project is an Uruk Hai army. I already owned enough models to create a 200 points army, short of the 300-350 minimum needed to play a battle. For this reason, I'm looking now for reinforcements, and the first step is this mounted leader (or "hero" in the Midgard parlance), to be followed by a couple of warg-riding units.

The models presented today are 3D printed minis in 28mm from the Medbury's orcs range.   

Additionally I have printed and painted the rulers and tokens needed to play with these rules. The rulers are used to move units and to measure distances to charge or shot missiles. The tokens represent units with close combat advantage (red arrows with swords) and units that have already shot in the turn (green ovals with the quiver and arows).

In terms of points the post is worth 15 points for sure (10 points for the mounted model and 5 points for the model on foot) and I will leave to the discretion of the minion-on-duty to account some additional points for the rulers and markers 

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Welcome back to the Challenge Benito!

Great and terrifying addition to your Urak Hai army, that warg is especially fearsome!

In addition to your 15points, I will assign another 2pts for the 3D printed tokens/markers for a total of 17 points

Cant wait to see the rest of your Midgard project

- Sarah

From BenitoV: Looking Past and Looking Forward

Time flies and I don't know you, but the older one gets, the faster it passes; I can hardly believe three months (and winter!) are already gone. 

Since COVID in 2020 I've noticed my painting mojo steadily decreasing, and in the past two Challenges it has been the only time in the year when I have productively used my hair brushes and airbrush. That also explains my reduced output, to the extent that I couldn't even hit my modest 400 points target (missed by 10 points), one of the lowest set in the last decade.

But let's cut the drama and get into business. This year I started the Challenge with no clear project in mind, and unexpectedly it evolved into a series of 28 mm vehicles of the Second World War around a common topic: light armor and recon.

The remaining models also share a common feature, things mounted, but not for the same historical period. 

At this time I want to thank all who passed by my posts and left messages, it was encouraging and really helped seeing so many people enjoy my work.  Also, thanks to the minions this year for putting up so much time and effort. And many-many thanks to Curt and Sarah for organizing again such a wonderful gathering.

No photo of me and my creatures, as I have them stored in the locker rented at my local wargames club in Madrid. But I leave this with my lovely wife from a trip to Rome organized by a group of archaeologists just days before the Challenge started last December.

  Looking forward to seeing you here again in nine months from now!

From BenitoV: Panzer I Ausf A with 20mm Breda Gun (20 points)

In my final entry for this year's challenge, I present one of those armour "rarities" from the Spanish Civil War - the Panzer I A tank with a modified turret designed to mount an Italian Bread 20mm gun. This tank was primarily used by Franco's forces.

The history of this model is closely linked to the T 26 tank. During the Battle of Seseña in October 1936, the rebels were taken aback by the firepower of the Russian T 26, which outmatched the lightly armed Panzer I and CV 35 tanks supplied by Germany and Italy at the beginning of the war.

The response to a new threat was to mount the Bread 20mm gun on a Panzer I hull, which had the capacity to penetrate a frontal 40mm armour plate. Four tanks were quickly converted in 1936. However, after the Nationalist army captured and put into service a significant number of T 26s, the project was abandoned. 

Hence, the Breda Panzer was rarely seen on the real battlefields of Spain in the late 30s. Nevertheless, it will make a nice addition to my gaming table.

This is an Eskice 3D printed model in 28 mm. Although it has a simple design with not a lot of detail, it is enough to add something different to my table. Most Panzer Is used I Spain were painted in the typical panzer grey color of the Wehrmacht. However, I have found evidence that at least one of the Breda models was painted with the cammo scheme used in my model, a sort of yellow-ochre tone (the sources are unclear) over the original grey.  

This entry adds 20 points to this year's Challenge scoring.

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Very interesting research behind this model, Benito. I find it fascinating reading about in-theatre weapon system design as you sense the almost frantic readjustment of plans as events unfold at the front lines. I also really like the one-off camo scheme that you've reflectet here. I think I may have to hunt down this STL file for my own SCW collection. Finally, thank you for joining us this year, Benito. It is always a pleasure to have you in the Challenge.

- Curt 

From BenitoV: German Sdkfz 250 (25 points)

It's Sunday, which means blogging day. This week I had the opportunity to finish one long-forgotten small piece of German armoury of my lead pile, that coincidentally fits well with the unintended recon theme developed this year in the Challenge: a German Sdkfz 250/1 

Around 6,600 units were produced during the war. Personally I never understood the rationale of this model. As an APC could only transport basically half squad and it was less practical than the bigger sister, the 251 model. As a recon vehicle it did not have the versatility and speed of other full wheeled vehicles, specially by road. 

The rear tracks system implied not only more production complexity but also more cost.  Summarizing, to me a waste of production resources and another headache for the guys in charge of logistics.

Despite the critics above, the 250 makes a nice addition on the table, playing as a support asset (basically a mobile HMG) for your German troops. I painted the model for late war with the 3-color cammo scheme.

With respect to the manufacturer, I have no idea. It is a block of thick resin, with very rough detail, that I acquired in a bring and buy table in my club around 2010-12 together with some 28 mm other models, many of which are still waiting to be painted. The gunner is a Warlord plastic kit that I found in my box of spare parts. 

I'm not entirely satisfied with the quality of the model and I'll very likely print another model with 3D printer next summer to replace this.

Finally,  if my maths are correct, the post today is worth 25 points: 20 for the vehicle and 5 for the gunner

 Great work here Benito. Lovely paint job on this kit here. If it is a solid lump of resin it might be one of the first gen castings from Warlords when they had so many pieces in resin. Not sure they do it as such anymore, but who knows. 3d Printing some in the future will be interesting, more so to see how different the detailing are. Good luck there. 

25pts for you here
Kyle

From BenitoV: White Scout Car (35 points)

After being conspicuously AWOL for three weeks, I am now able to rejoin the Challenge for its last lap until Spring. Today, I´m introducing the third (after the German Lynx and the British Humber Mk IV) and last recon vehicle planned for this Challenge - a US M3 Scout Car (known in the British and Commonwealth armies as the "White Scout Car").

Approximately 20,000 units were produced and used by the Allied Armies in Western Europe and the Pacific; additionally, roughly 3,500 were lent to the USSR during the war.

With a crew of seven, the vehicle was armed with two 0.3 cal MMGs and one 0.5 cal HMG boasting an impressive firepower.

This is 28mm scale 3D printed model  from Trenchworx. It's a well-designed vehicle with great attention to detail. However, despite three attempts at printing it, the 0.5 cal gun barrel has bent upwards and I haven't been able to fix it (...may be too much Viagra in the resin mix?) 

 Scoring now: I value this entry at  27 points, with 20 for the vehicle, 5 for the model serving the gun and another 2 for the driver and copilot. 

This looks really good Benito! The coloring on the car itself, alongside all the weathering is spot on! I always tended to make mine too green, and would get scolded by the older members in the club.. but this would be right up their alley! 

Giving you actually 35 pts, as the figures are figures in the end. Even if only half sized. 

So 35 pts for you here!
Kyle

 

From BenitoV: Late Roman Cavalry Reinforcements (80 points)

Another block of my Saga Late Roman warband: a second light cavalry unit but this time with javelins instead of bows. 

The Saga list for this particular army is pretty flexible in how to organize the warband, and light units are very handy when you face mobile armies like Huns for example. The same applies to infantry, offering you different potential combinations, either of lightly armed men with throwing weapons (slings, bows or javelins) or the more heavily armoured legions useful for  face to face melees.

These are 28mm plastic models from the Gripping Beast range. As commented in a previous post, nicely designed, and being multipart you can have an almost infinite variation. A box with 12 mounted models was €29 in my local shop at Madrid, which I found an extremely attractive price/quality relation. Shields are decorated with transfers from Little Big Men range.

The post today is worth 80 points if I have my maths right (8 x 28mm models @10 points each = 80 points). I'm afraid next will be a busy week and would unlikely be around on Sunday, but nonetheless I'll be visiting the blog and watching the other contenders contributions.  Have all a great Sunday and week 

Great job once more here Benito! The work you put into these models is wonderful, especially those shields! 

Agreed on how SAGA works. It has been a while since I played it last, but being more versatile with your army can have great benefits! May this work to your favor in the future games!

80 pts to you!

Kyle

From BenitoV: Strolling through the Fantasy Room (30 points)

New Sunday, new post in the Painting Challenge. I continued my visit to the Section 1 of the Library... and being a long-time fan of all-things Tolkien, it'd been a sin not spending time in the Fantasy section.

A bit of background: Following the release of the Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films trilogy in the early 2000, I fell into the trap of the Games Workshop's shiny film-related miniatures and skirmish rules. I build and paint Uruk Hai, Orcs and Gondor units, as well as a plethora of the main characters (the whole Fellowship, Sauron, Isildur, Galadriel, etc). Played this game a lot a lot but after 2-3 years took a back seat when I shift my sights in other historical projects.

Then, one of my club friends contacted me during the summer holidays inquiring if I'd be interested in returning to play fantasy games in a LOTR environment when the new playing season started in autumn. Having news that Too Fat Lardies was working on a set of medieval rules (Midgard) with application to a fantasy universe, this was a straight yes.

I needed to fill some gaps in my armies, specially mounted units. So I did some Google research aiming initially to buy old GW models second hand... until I discovered an almost infinite range of 3D models available, many of very high quality. 

This is a mounted Orc Shaman in 28mm from Ebora Miniatures. It serves as the paint test for a unit of orcs mounted on Wolfs (or Wargs?) already printed and queuing now in my paint table (together with some half-done Late Roman cavalry). 

The post today will add 30 points to my Challenge scoring:

1 x 28mm Mounted Model @10 points = 10 points

Bonus Fantasy Books Section = 20 points

Total = 30 points

Brilliant entry today Benito! And yes, the world is but your oyster when it comes to 3D printing these days.. with nearly anything and everything being available in one shape, form or whathave you. Great paint there, and whole unit of them will be terrifying. 

30 pts for you!
Kyle

     

 

From BenitoV: 2WW Allied Vehicles Long Time Overdue (60 points)

I'm progressing in this year's Challenge almost at snail pace, as real life (and procrastination on my side) had been interfering lately. This week has been good to me and together with an abnormal warm weather spell (a week of sunny 18-20C degrees in Madrid, +10C over the average January and smashing the January temperature records of the last 200 years) allowed me to work with the airbrush outdoors.

I'm presenting today two 28mm Allied vehicles. The first is part of the batch of recon vehicles planned for this year's Challenge and initiated with the German Lynx shown in an earlier post. This time, it is a British 4-wheeled Humber Mk IV, one of the most produced vehicles during the war (over 6,000 units of the different versions).

The Mark IV saw action between 1941 (first time into service in North Africa) and up to 1961, participating in an obscure little colonial conflict between Portugal and India for the control of Goa, being part of the former country's recon squadrons garrison.

The model has been painted for the Western European theater in 1944-45, in dark green colour and with the British distinctive "Mickey Mouse" cammo scheme.

  

This is a Warlord model of the old thick resin range with some metal parts (gun, wheels, turret hatches among other). There's a nice new Mark IV plastic box and I'm tempted to sell this in eBay and replace with the newer version.

The second contribution today is a US M3 transport halftrack vehicle, one of the most versatile armoured personnel carriers of the Second World War. 

Sincerely, I don't understand the fascination most people in this hobby have with its cousin at the other side of the hill, the German Hanomag, when the M3 was a more solid and reliable vehicle, seeing action well into the 80s in some Asian and latina American armies (incidentally it was the APC of the Spanish army since mid-late 1950s until replaced by the M113 in the 80s)   

This is a plastic kit that I bought second hand (assembled and primed) to one of my club members; for this reason I'm not sure whether it is a Warlord or a Rubicon model 

As said above I bought it before the pandemics in one of the club's bring and buy days, an it's been sitting idle in my box of pending models until literally this week, when  I pushed myself to finish it once and forever (sigh of relief). For this reason I think the model fits well with the criteria of the Library's "Overdues and Return" room.

  

Hence, if my maths are correct, this post will add 60 points to my Challenge scoring this year:

2 x 28mm vehicles @20 points each = 40 points

Room Bonus = 20 points

Total 60 points 

Great job here Benito. Wonderful work on painting up both vehicles, and I have to agree with you that the M3 is the far superior transport over its Axis counterpart.. more so when painted up so well like this here. 

Could only comment on if its warlord or Rubicon based on if the top fun mount is metal. If metal, then Warlord, if plastic than Rubicon. As I don't remember Rubicon having metal upgrade bits like Warlord did. At least from what I remember from assembling both back a few years ago. 

Wonderful post, and a good 60 pts added for you

Kyle