From Mike W - 28mm Daleks & Renaissance Crossbowmen (140 Points)

This week I have a rather strange mix of Sci-Fi and historical Renaissance Crossbowmen, all in 28mm, the crossbowmen are part of a larger batch that I hope to get completed by next week's post, for the time being here are 7 of the little guys.

The Dalek batch completed this week

I have described the painting proess for the daleks in earlier posts and these follow the same steps. I have gone for a retro silver and blue scheme for these guys, just because I like the colours. these may not be entirely 'historically' accurate but fit in with the vibe of other Dalek models finished by club members.

Close-up of some of the alien fiends....

Just for the record thats about 960 little blue hemispheres painted onto these guys! plus 40 little orange lights... Luckily I don't give up easily.

And another view!

The 20 x Daleks are for an upcoming club game set during the Dalek Civil War, thus the need for large numbers of the robotic menaces!

A slightly different angle

The specials! 'Brewed-up' Daleks at each end.
A Warlord Games miniature second left with truely retro bodywork
and a battle damaged Dalek second right.

As with previous year's when I have done Daleks, I have included a couple of casualties. This is the result of using bulk buys of cheap plastic dalek figures, where some of them inevitably end up arriving broken or with parts missing.

I have painted these up as regular Daleks but then used the whispy packing material used by Perry Miniatures (and others) and teased this out to represent smoke. Some yellow and orange paint plus daps of super glue keep this all in place and make a good representation of a Dalek 'Brewing-up!'!

One with rear damage, a Warlord Games mini

And one with frontal damage, from front cover of a magazine

The next group is of 7 x 28mm Renaissance Crossbowmen, this was a group of figures I obtained from eBay, they aaaare 3D printed figures which were sold en masse, at a discount, as they didn't have any heads. I supplied heads from Games Workshop, Wargames Atlantic and Warlord Games renaissance figures.

First seven of these 3D Crosbowmen

Another view

and the final view of the week

Once 'whole' the figures were undercoated in cream and then I used various speed pains and regular paints to dress them before a wash of watered down Dark Tone from Army Painter. Once dry they were varnished and bases flocke diin my normal manner. I have about a dozen more of these little guys to get completed over the next couple weeks.

---

SQUIRREL POINTS

+1 28mm Renaissance Crossbowmen

BIG STOMPY ROBOTS OF DEATH  POINTS

+20 for the Daleks

POINTS

20 x Daleks @ 5 Points ea.                                                                  100 Points

7 x 28mm Renaissance Crossbowmen @ 5 Points ea.                          35 Points

TOTAL                                                                                                 135 Points

From DaveD. Wow talk about tormenting yourself with dotty Daleks and then renaissance . That a fine output indeed . Good job on the kitbash on the figures . All that dotty work deserves a little reward so 140 it is .

From Mike W - Various 28mm Sci-Fi Figures (130 Points)

 Well I managed to get some time together to do some painting between Xmas ad New Year's Day and this post is my baseline in the sand to get things moving for this year's challenge. Given that I had limited time to do anything, I opted for some simple figures to get going, hopefully I'll be able to tackle some more challenging subjects in the coming weeks!

The start of my Zombicide Invader Xenos Brood.
10 x mysterious aliens, determined to destrroyeverything in their way. 

A closer view of some of the Xenos.
Bases were painted to tie in to the game components,
anything outside the protective buildings is an arid, orange desert!

Here you can see the relative size of the Xeno Drones, Hunters and Tanks

I start by presenting 10 x 28 mm Zombicide Invader Xenos, hopefully many of you will be familiar with this game - basically a remote mining station ion some far flung planet that has been attacked by a mysterious alien race, helbent on destroying all human and other alien life fto be found there....

So the Xenos are the baddies in the game, they com ein many shapes and sizes but here we have just three forms - the Drones/Workers, the Hunters and the Tanks!

Three Xeno Drones or Workers

I approached painting all of these in a similar way, attempting to stay true to the artwork in the original game. All figures are undecoated in a cream basecoat to which is applied a coat of Army Painter Runic Grey speed paint. This dries quickly and I then drybrushed the figures' heads, hands, chest and feet with the cream & somewhite paint to bring out the highlights.

Four Xeno Hunters, much speedier than the Drones and Tanks.

These areas were then given a watered down black wash to pick out contrast details before painting the tenticles with a purple speed paint, to make these stand out even more. Further details such as boils are picked out in yellow, where exposed brains are on show I have used green for these areas and finally after a matt varnish, red ink is used tto cover hands, claws and teeth to give a suitably horric finish.

Three Xeno Tanks, massive, powerful beasts with tenticles and claws....

Next we have 10 x 28mm Dr Who Weeping Angels, these figures were embarrassingly easy to paint and complete, I almost feel bad claiming the points but on the up side there are no more of these to be painted now!

The group of 10 x Weeping Angels, basically animated statues!

The weeping Angels are one of Dr Who's many adersaries who basically maifest themselves as statues until looked upon by their victims, at which point the Weeping Angel animates its-self and takles control of it's victim's mind.

Close-up of some of the group

These figures were all undercoated medium grey before taking a watered down black ink wash. When dry the figures were drybrushed with a lighter grey and then varnished and based - as simple as that! 

And the other end of the line

My final contribution today is a group of 6 x 28mm Daleks, now some older challenge readers ay remember back in 2019, I painted a number of Daleks for the challenge at that time. I was sure that the guys at my local club would see the light and join in for a few Dr Who games. Sadly, I was wrong and the games never materialised so a couple years ago I sold all my Dr Who toys.

The group of 6 x Daleks. Eagle-eyed readers will see that the front two figures are from Warlod Games (now discontinued), others are from Dr Who Moster Army packs, originally supplied on magazine covers in the UK.

Imagine my surprise, 6 years after I blazed the trail, the club decided the next new period would be Dr Who! Hence I am re-acquiring and painting a whole new set of Dr Who figures....

The six Daleks in line

So these Daleks are undercoated in gunmetal, before black bumbers are then added and black ink used to add definition to the gratings around the Dalek heads. All the silver work is then drybrushed bright silver, before adding details for the orange head lights, sky blue domes and lenses in theis viewing devices.

A final view!

The figures were then varnished and based.

So that's it for my first post for this year's challenge, what else have I on the go? Well more Daleks, some renaissance crossbowmen, Korean War & Arab/Isreali tanks and lots and lots of Orcs!

Big Stompy Robots of Death & Squirrel Points

I'm claiming a Squirrel point each for the Xenos, Daleks & Weeping Angels, so 3 in total!

I'm hoping that Daleks will count as Big Stompy Robots of Death, they are robotic and they deal a lot of death, so I'll leave that decision to David Bromley and his minions.

6 Big Stompy Robots of Death pointys for the 6 Daleks.

Challenge Points

10 x 28mm Zombicide Invader Xenos @ 5 points ea.                        50 Points

10 x 28mm Weeping Angels @ 5 points ea.                                        50 Points

6 x 28mm Daleks @ 5 points ea.                                                         30 Points

TOTAL                                                                                                130 Points

______________________________________

First, welcome back to the Challenge, Mike!

Your opening entry is quite impressive and industrious! I especially like your xenos - the pink tentacly bits contrast nicely with the grey. The Daleks are iconic as well and look like an ominous EV charging station when all ranked up. I look forward to seeing the next foray on your painting list!

- Curt

From JonathanO - Journey to Skaro to escape "The Cut" - 100 points

 

Sarah's Star Yacht:

I was enjoying life in my luxury suite aboard Sarah's Star Yacht, listening to music and slowly painting some of my miniatures.  

"I wonder what is delaying the delivery of my in-suite dinner?" I thought.

Just then the door slid open and a young lady entered.  She was not wearing the normal crew uniform, but a bright red outfit.  She had a serious look on her face.

"It is time!" she said.

"Time for what?  Where is my evening meal?"

"No time for that, you have to go to Skaro and submit your first report.

"But - Skaro?  The planet of the Da....."

"Yes, that or face "The Cut"", she interrupted.  Commander Campbell's orders"

Worried, I replied "I thought I could just slowly paint all my old school miniatures as I listen to my old records and submit everything in a last minute rush?"  I looked at the old vinyl record I was about to play - specially selected for listening during Challenge XII cruise. It seemed like it might have to wait. "What does "The Cut", involve?" I asked nervously.

She smiled.  "I'd be happy to show you".  She drew a large sword from behind her back and expertly swooshed it around the room.

"Careful! I don't want to have to pay for damages"

"That will be the least of your worries"

"Okay, I'll go to Skaro and submit a report" I said, thinking that at least I had a slightly better chance of survival if I did.  "This is not quite the luxury cruise I thought I was on"

"It is a Challenge, you should have read the fine print in your contract.  I'll escort you via shuttle to Skaro."  She took a disappointed look at her sword and returned it to the case behind her back.  "Another member of my team will bring you back once you have submitted your report. Let's go!"

Skaro:

"Davros has survived through the millennia and appears to have regained control of at least some Daleks.  I count 5 Daleks who are currently listening to his directions.  You need to alert The Doctor before Davros and the Daleks create more havoc across the universe"  I hit SEND on my tablet to transmit my report.  I then sent a signal for the shuttle to take me back to Sarah's Star Yacht.

As I moved from my hiding place to head to the rendezvous point, I realised that I had been spotted.

"Stop him!  The Doctor must not find out that I have returned!" yelled Davros.

"Exterminate!  Exterminate!"  responded the Daleks in unison.

Sarah's Star Yacht:

 That was a close one, but I had avoided "The Cut" and Extermination. 

I was escorted back to my suite by another member of "the team". "Next we are heading to Vulcan on the far side of the Outer Ring, so you will have plenty of time to be ready to submit your next report.  We'll be making a logistics stop there" 

"Sounds logical" I said with a smile. 

No response.

"Wait... next report?"

"Yes, it is due on Tuesday".  It was the first "team member" who had joined us.  "Tamsin is counting on you to make a contribution to the Team Tuesday points total, and don't forget your Challenge target is 1000.  You need to pick up the pace!"

"There seem to be a lot of rules, are you two here to make sure Challengers abide by them?" I asked.

"Yes, we ensure compliance with Challenge Cult Rules" said the second "team member".

"Challenge Community Guidelines", her team mate corrected her.

"I had better get back to the brushes then" I replied.  "Any chance of dinner?".

They looked at each other, then turned to leave "See you on Tuesday" said the second team member as the door slid open.

"All this travelling through time and space and submitting reports is going to be harder than the cruise I was expecting" I thought. "Why are they being so hard on me?  It is not like I ate any of the orange crayons or tried to claim bonus points for painting a female Dalek."  I turned on the digital music system and looked for something new to listen to while I painted my miniatures.

"Oh! The latest episode of the Canadian Wargamer Podcast, Episode #23,352 is available - that will be perfect!"

*******

Phew!  I am still in the Challenge - just! Still waiting for dinner though!

For points:

5 Daleks and Davros 28mm from Warlord  = 30

2 Daughters of SHIVA 28mm from Crooked Dice = 10

Locations:  Skaro and two trips on Sarah's Star Yacht = 60

Total:  100 points.

Next stop Vulcan

See you on Tuesday!

From DaveD

Ooh and under the wire alright and dodging the sharp blade of the Cutter , Tamsin will be pleased. 

You are off and running at 100 points 

From Mike W - 28mm Dr Who Miscellany (172 Points, Sqirrel, Skaro)

Out of the pile of plastic and lead have emerged a small collection of Dr Who related figures, namely his enemies - Davros and some Daleks, Cybermen and a few Ood.

The Whole Group

First to the iconic Daleks, these are mostly ridiculously cheap plastic figures known as 'Mini Monster Army' that I sourced off of eBay and I already have number of these painted up in a range of bright colours. These guys are going to be Davros' personal body guard. (For those not in the know Davros was the inventor of the Daleks and he's a pretty sinister guy, hence the black and silver colour scheme for him and his followers. 

Unpainted (Mostly - a couple supplied with very poor finish) as of Monday!

Included with these Daleks is a rare Heavy Weapons Dalek. This and the Davros figure are Warlord Games miniatures - if I remember correctly.

By all accounts the Heavy Weapons Dalek is a venerable,
battered and somewhat disillusioned member of the Dalek Forces 

Whereas Davros, is your typical overbearing megalomaniac,
subject to underestimating his enemies 

As these Dalek models are so cheap (30-40 pence each in UK, if you look hard) they often turn-up with broken pieces, I have simply taken to modelling these as destroyed / knocked-out Daleks by taking a pair of clippers to cut off the top of the model and when painted stuffing the hole with some smoke. (Not sure what this 'smokey' material is exactly but rather conveniently Perry Miniatures use it to pack their metal figures, I long ago realised it makes good smoke / steam, when teased out).

On reflection a darker background may have been better to show off the smoke effect!

These models were undercoated grey, given two watered down black washes before using neat back paint to colour in the lower bumper and collar. Oily Steel was used for the grill work and weapon / sensor stems before a touch of orange on the head sidelights and a light blue 'eye' added to the head stem.

These Davrovian Daleks, will join others I have previously painted,
to form a force within a force for the Daleks

And then the gutsy bit, the silver domes on the body of each Dalek - did you know each model has 48 such domes? The Davros model has 56 domes (presumably because he's in charge!), that's a total of 670 domes...

Luckily I have a secret weapon - a silver Sharpie pen - this allows an oil based silver paint to be placed via a relatively fine nib, onto each raised dome. It made a horrible job tolerable!

Repeat that all with the Heavy Weapons Dalek, which was painted white and then a Gold Sharpie pen was used to add the gold/brass detail on the figure. Another 56 domes, this time in gold.

Next we have a group of Cybermen, again from Warlord Games, this time in plastic. These are pretty much straight out of the box, these guys are straight forward to paint, silver washed with watered down dark tone, then the light blue chest light added and a matt varnish.

Cybermen on their frame

The Cybermen crew, heartless robotic foes of humanity

Close-up of a Cyberman

Finally the Ood, again pretty sinister chaps, all dressed in black with tentacles for a mouth and a small white ball that is a universal translator, enabling then to communicate with anyone they come into contact with.

Ood figures glued to bases and undercoated grey.

Again the Ood are available from eBay as part of a Mini Monster Army set that appears there from time to time and are again as cheap as chips! These guys were undercoated grey and then given three very watered down black washes, to build up a black cloth feel. Skin tones were Balor Brown dry brushed with Ivory and then washed in regular flesh tone. The Tentacles were first painted Imperial Purple and the washed in purple ink.

Not sure what the collective noun for Ood is, lets say here's a flock of Ood!

The translator device was painted white before a matt varnish as scenic basing added.

A detailed view

With all this Dr Who stuff, I sound like I know what I'm talking about! Not so. Its all just what I've found on the web! I haven't really watched any of the episodes since David Tennant left and even then I was an infrequent watcher...

...I just like the idea of putting on a Dr Who themed game at some point in the future - another surrealist Survivor type game no doubt!

I've put all the figures on round bases and have used a home made premix sand / grass scatter - not much shows on the Dalek models though.

Finally as I'd like to argue that the Dr Who theme can be considered a 'Strange Doctor', so I'm claiming the Skaro Bonus

POINTS

13.5 x 28mm Dalek Figures         = 67 Points (I scored the three destroyed Daleks at half normal rate!)

7 x 28mm Ood Figures                 = 35 Points

10 x 28mm Cybermen                  = 50 Points

Scaro Bonus                                  = 20 Points

TOTAL                                          = 172 POINTS

Great score on locating all of these Dr Who figures Mike.  You've done a great job at painting them too, especially given the starting point.  You counted the domes on your Daleks?  The knocked out Daleks are great, I am very familiar with the Perry packing material.  My wife is always happy to see an order from perry as their boxes make great cases for earrings and the like.