From EvanH - The Challenge X Round-Up

Greetings Challengers and Challenge Fans!

Well, one Challenge is over, and another one looks like it might be just around the corner...

Lurking well below all the Stakhanovites topping the table, I played things a little more sedately. Pity I didn't manage to meet my 400 points, but what the hey, if I was doing it like it was a job, it wouldn't be fun anymore! I can only stand amazed at the quality and quantity of work produced by my fellow Challengers; all of you have shown superb dedication under what can only be described as highly unusual and stressful circumstances.

So here is my output for Challenge X; as usual, it's small enough to fit on a tea tray.

That's most of it anyway - there was one more figure who missed out on the group shot because he's now at his new home; it's Millsy's Birthday Giant!

This was one of the three giants I painted for this year's Challenge, and while it doesn't qualify me as a member of the League of Painting Giants, it should at least qualify me as a member of the League of... Giant Painters? Is there such a thing? Maybe there is now...!

On a side note, it was a huge thrill to see my Frost Giant mini from two years ago getting another outing as the personification of the Snowlord; the big blue guy is still one of my faves!

My own high points for this Challenge? The Fertility Goddess and her worshippers were definitely up there;

And the Orc Boss for Sander's Sand Dunes; he was a lot of fun!

The vignette for Awdry's Atoll, The Riddle of the Sphinx, was another one I'm especially happy with.

A bit of conversion, some serious thought given to composition, and it all paid off quite nicely.

Things I would have liked to have completed include a bunch of Thracian peltasts, more of the Foundry Bronze Age figures, and another detachment of Sun Dome pikemen for Gloranthan gaming. These were all completed to undercoat stage, but missed the final bell.

So we'll leave it there, for now at least. It's been a great few months, and a real antidote to the twists and turns of the wider world. The Quarantine Challenge promises to help us through what is frankly shaping up to be a pretty awful few months.  Thanks to Curt for organising this wonderful opportunity for us to support one another and stay sane!

So everyone, be safe, and I'll see you all again in the not-too-distant future.

Stay tuned...!

Ev
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From EvanH - The Last Post (and a Promise Kept) - (25 points)

Well, Challengers and Challenge Fans this is it; the last post from me for Challenge X.

It's been great fun watching my fellow Challengers make their way up hill and down dale across the varied landscapes of Challenge Island. My own progress has been much more sedate!

Still, although I didn't reach my modest target, I did finish one outstanding item; back in January, I painted a Fertility Goddess, and it was one of my better-received entries for the Challenge. The Goddess paid my fare for a trip in Lady Sarah's Balloon, and Sarah commented that she looked forward to seeing some worshippers. I undertook to deliver!

Well, Sarah, enclosed as per your request; five Wargames Foundry European Bronze Age folk to offer prayer and gifts to the Goddess.

They can, of course, double as local folk in any Bronze Age fantasy world (hint: rhymes with 'Floor Bantha').

Here's a dancing acolyte;

The Clan Matriarch;

An acolyte with offerings;

A member of the congregation;

And a man who has decided that now is the right time to invent a religious hierarchy;

""I've got the biggest hat! Listen to me, everybody!"

And to give them some context, a couple of group shots;

Sarah, I hope they meet your expectations - they were a lot of fun to paint! So that's five figures for five points apiece, 25 points all up.

So until next December, that's all from me bar the obligatory closing post with all my work in one pic. I don't think we'll have too much trouble fitting it all in the frame, somehow...

Thanks to Curt and all the Minions for organising another Challenge. It's been great to catch up with everybody again!

All the best,

Ev

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Ahh, this is just fabulous Ev! Great choice of figures and wonderful brushwork. I loved your fertility goddess statue and these acolytes and priest are just the thing that Sarah (another goddess, at least in this household) wanted to see. Tsunami and famine averted, whew!  

It was wonderful having you with us again, Ev. Mark November 20th in your calendar, I want to see you with us for our next adventure. :)

-Curt

From EvanH - They Might Be Giants (50 points)

Greetings, Challengers and Challenge Fans!

Well, the best-laid plans and all that... doesn't look like I'll make my target this year, what with real life having the poor taste to intrude upon valuable painting time. 

Here's a couple of placeholder figures, a Stone Giant and Hill Giant, a couple of old faves who've been with us since the halcyon days of the 1st Edition AD&D Monster Manual. 

Let's look at Ol' Stoney first. 

Stone Giants are curiously gaunt in appearance, and as hard as the peaks they call home. He's a Reaper Bones figure and stands 70mm from head to toe. I rather like this one; he's got a wealth of personal equipment ranging from assorted pouches and satchels to a hammer and some pitons for serious mountaineering.

Here's a pic for scale;

Hey Kids! It's our old friend from Challenge IX, Grumpy Viking Santa!

I've given him a greenstone club because I wanted to avoid making the whole thing too grey in tone, what with the basing and the metal and all.

The anatomy of the figure was fun to pick out and highlight, with the musculature really calling out for some extra definition. Basecoat for the skintones was a mix of Vallejo Game Colour Sombre Grey and Beasty Brown, highlighted up with additional Cold Grey. A wash of Army Painter Strong Tone was added to finish it off.

The base is a Warbases 60mm MDF Round, strewn with marble chips. Gaps were filled with Vallejo White Pumice Paste, and the whole thing was undercoated black before being lightened up with successive greys.

I do like this figure. I know I've said it before, but Reaper Bones are a great way to get big impressive monsters on the gaming table for a very reasonable price (and no, I'm not on the payroll!).

Next up is his chunkier mate, a Reaper Bones Hill Giant; about the same height, but clearly does more lifting. And eating. And boozing.

Definitely has an unwashed look about him.

All his metalwork has been given a rusty look, since I figure that Hill Giants don't really look after their kit that well.

This fellow was based with Milliput built up around his moulded base, given the old GWSWGG treatment and a few tufts.

Doesn't that just scream 'halitosis'?

Points-wise, I'll ask the minion of the day to consider 15 points each, since really, there's no 'might be' about it - They're Definitely Giants!

Only a few more days to get some more points on the board; will I make it?

Stay tuned...

Ev
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By Paul: 
Classic figs Ev, you've done em proud.  I particularly like the base work you've done on them.
Given their size, I'm going to score them as 40mm Vehicles for a total of 50 points.
Now get back to painting - you've got a few days left!

From EvanH - Cool for Cats (14 points)

Greetings Challengers and Challenge Fans, I've found time to paint up a couple of quick beasties to keep my hand in. Honestly, real life has such a terrible habit of intruding upon painting...!

These are Smilodons from the Acheson Creations Primaeval Designs range, one in resin (L) and the other in metal (R), and very nice they are too.

But Ev, I hear you cry, what the blue blazes are you doing with prehistoric stuff? I thought you were doing Bronzey Agey figs at the moment, not extinct animals! Well, they're not extinct in Glorantha, and they are a menace to pastoralists in the highlands of Sartar. Good for Lost World Pulp Adventures as well, now I think of it...

I based them on Warbases 60mm MDF rounds, and textured the ground with your friend and mine, Vallejo White Pumice Paste, the quickest and most effective groundwork for my money.

The base tone on the cats was Vallejo Game Colour Beasty Brown, worked up through Leather Brown, and with an added drop of GW Bleached Bone to lighten the final muscle highlights. This mix was lightened further to bring out the belly fur and ruff around the face and neck of each of these beasties. I painted and drybrushed the earth tones on the base, and finished the painting with a wash of Army Painter Strong Tone, and a blast of Dullcote.

I finished off the groundwork with some Tajima Tufts Desert Diorama Elements. My last ones as well!

No theme bonus for this submission, so I've calculated the points value at around seven apiece, since they're not as massive as my mythical monsters, but they're considerably bigger than a 28mm human. Seven points each seems a nice compromise.

Better get cracking on that Reidy's Reef submission... that boat ain't gonna sink itself!

Stay tuned!

Ev
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MilesR: Two very nice cats, indeed.  I like the Acheson Creations line and have several of their figures waiting painting.  The basing is very nicely done and seems to match the cats look very well.  I've heard through many sources that the participants of this year's challenge find the locale "Reidy's Reef" to simply be the best spot of the whole damn island.  Hey that's just what I'm hearing....

From EvanH - A Brief Interlude for Scatter Terrain (10 points)

Greetings, Challengers and Challenge Fans!

Just a quick post with something I rustled up after finishing my submission for Awdry's Atoll.

Nothing special, just a rather dilapidated farm cart for use as scatter terrain in pre-industrial skirmish gaming.

It's a Nolzur's Marvellous Miniatures primed model, and it's been glued to a Warbases 80mm round MDF base.

It was basecoated with GW Rhinox Hide, and drybrushed with GW Gorthor Brown and Kommando Khaki. Ropes were picked out in GW Bleached Bone before inking with Agrax Earthshade.

The groundwork was laid down with Vallejo White Pumice Paste, and painted in successively lighter earth shades.

Static grass was added and broken up with Tajima1 wild grass and flower tufts.

It's going to be useful as set dressing or cover for any warriors or soldiers who find themselves in the vicinity when the manure hits the winnowing fan (pre-industrial metaphor there).

As a 28mm vehicle, it's worth a princely 20 points on paper; but this is rather different to a truck or tank! So I'll recommend scoring as an artillery piece equivalent for 10 points.

What's next? Well, I have to get across to the mainland from Awdry's Atoll, so the next landfall will have to be Reidy's Reef, unless a balloon trip can be arranged.

Stay tuned...

Ev
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By Paul: 
nice one Ev - it will be useful from Hastings to Hobbiton. 
10 points it is!

From EvanH: The Riddle of the Sphinx - Awdry's Atoll (45 points)

Greetings, Challengers and Challenge Fans! I've taken a balloon trip to the azure waters and pristine beaches of Awdry's Atoll, where the locals venerate shiny discs which are used in a multitude of ways.

Hoping to blend in, I have secured one of these discs, and here is the result.

But wait a minute, who's this young fellow in the travel-stained tunic? And why is he looking so apprehensive?

It's Oedipus, Prince of Corinth, on the road to Thebes. He's had an eventful journey. He accidentally killed a nobleman in a road rage incident, and fought off the man's retainers, barely escaping with his life. It's understandable that he's feeling a bit rattled. But this is something else...

On the road outside Thebes, with the tombs of the citizens on one side and a sheer cliff on the other, a monster has taken up residence; the Sphinx. Beautiful and terrible, she demands that all who approach the city answer her riddle. The bones of those who have failed rest among the grass and cobbles of the neglected road.

Oedipus composes himself. A prince of Corinth should not show fear, even if the smell of blood and musk around the monster threatens to overwhelm him.

She lazily stretches her wings, surreptitiously extending her claws. This will be easy, she thinks, he looks so tasty. She asks her riddle.

"What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?"

Oedipus considers his answer. The Sphinx is crafty. Her riddles will be anything but literal.

He speaks.

"The answer is... man. He crawls on all fours as an infant, walks upright on two legs in his prime, and uses a stick to support himself in old age."

The Sphinx stares at Oedipus. The moments stretch into an eternity as the prince stares back, his heart pounding. But he knows he's answered correctly, or the Sphinx would have leaped upon him by now...

The Sphinx screams in rage. She leaps over Oedipus' head and over the cliff behind him, folding her wings and plummeting to her death on the rocks below. The curse of Thebes is lifted!

Oedipus enters the city and is acclaimed as a hero. The widowed Queen Jocasta notices the young man as well, and the Fates begin weaving new threads to snare mortals and drag them to their doom...

That's enough of the story for now. Let's look at the component parts of this vignette. Firstly, the base; a disc of foamcore was glued to the CD to give it a bit of depth, and the edges roughly chamfered back. The cobbled road was made by gluing a strip of textured paper to the base.

As you can see, the paper is perfect for the job. I picked it up at an art supplies shop in Sydney.

The groundwork was laid down with Vallejo White Pumice Paste and a mixture of sand and fine gravel. Pebbles and skulls were strewn about to emphasise the desolation of the Sphinx's lair, while Tajima Tufts provided the finishing touch. The grass tufts were drybrushed with light brown to give them a sere, dried-out look.

Oedipus is a Crusader Miniatures Apulian Spearman, given a head tilt and a bend to the leg so that he can prop up a foot and look the beastie in the eye.

The Sphinx is a Reaper Bones monster, painted in leonine colours to bring home her bestial nature. Make no mistake, this is a dangerous man-eater!

So points-wise, that's 5 points for Oedipus, 10 for the Sphinx (based on my previous lion hybrids such as Challenge IX's Griffin and Manticore), and 30 points for completing Awdry's Atoll, for a respectable 45 points.

Not sure about where to go from here, so we'll just have to see what grabs my attention next. Earth Goddess worshippers? More monsters? Floppy hats? Who can say?

Stay tuned...

Ev

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Wow, what an excellent little diorama here Even, really top notch.  While I have never been a huge "bones" fan as I find a lot of them pretty cartoony and some of the sculpts are pretty weak detail wise, there are ones like this that make me wish I would have backed some of the kickstarters.

Excellent choice of colours and composition here, please keep stuff like this coming!

-ByronM

From EvanH: A Giant Figure For One Man (50 Points)

Greetings Challengers and Challenge Fans, my third fourth entry (third completed, fourth submitted) for Challenge X comes lumbering over the battlefields of the Old World in the form of this Citadel Giant.

This is my belated Curtgeld submission for Challenge X (don't worry, I cleared it with His Big Blueness earlier in the week), and is intended as a gift for my good mate Millsy.

Millsy has been run ragged fighting the fires which have been encircling Sydney since September last year, and has consequently missed out on his normal form of holiday relaxation, i.e., painting like a maniac.

Well, I couldn't have him miss out completely, and as it was his birthday a few weeks back, I dug out this old Giant from the Garage of Shame to add to his Orcs & Goblins army, or even use as a Mercenary Giant for his Dogs of War. Portability is the key!

I've left the base free of flock or tufts, so that Millsy can customise it to match the rest of the army. I'm quite pleased with how he's turned out, and I hope Millsy likes him too!

So 25 points as a Curtgeld submission, and as he's 110mm tall, I suppose that qualifies as the equivalent of two 54mm figures, which is 20 points, near enough. So if the Minions allow, he's worth 45 points!

More on the way, but for the moment, I've got a balloon to catch!

Stay tuned...!

Ev

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Evan - this is really cool to see! It brings back so many memories of Warhammer Fantasy Battle - at least, it does for me, and hopefully for the other classic Warhammer Fantasy fans who are participating in The Challenge. In my case, the memories are not "oh, I painted that figure too", but instead are more "oh, wow, that is the kind of figure I hope I can paint one day when I figure this stuff out."  It is so neat to see a finished one!

And really, who wouldn't want to carry a big barrel of grog around, right?

I'm sure Millsy will love it. Great work. I'm adding five bonus points for the "holy smokes, one of those wish-I-could-paint-that-thing-one-day-things" having actually been painted and for the fact that it is quite large.

GregB

From EvanH: Fertility Goddess (and a trip in Lady Sarah's Balloon!) (40 Points)

Well, this is probably a turn-up for the books; two submissions in as many days! I'm currently becalmed at Millsy's Millpond, but have need of transport via the miracle of hot-air balloon technology. So, in accordance with Lady Sarah's wishes, I submit a female figure by way of a fare for travel.

This charming little vignette comes to us courtesy of Reaper Miniatures. It's sold as a 'Fertility Idol', and is a pretty accurate copy of the famous Paleolithic statuette, the Venus of Willendorf. The original limestone Venus is about 100mm tall, but as this is a 28mm figure, her height of 60mm from head to toe translates to over three metres on the tabletop. She's a significant figure!

I painted her starting with a basecoat of the old Citadel Foundation range's Orkhide Shade, a very dense, almost blue-green. I worked this up through successively lighter shades to give the impression of greenstone, a suitable material for an earth goddess' statue.

The plinth for the statue was glued to a Warbases 80mm MDF round base and painted up as red sandstone. The surrounding area was textured with sand, and painted in earth tones. The bowls of offerings were painted in various colours, with simple patterns added for contrast.

Not sure if she's going to see much tabletop action, since My Good Lady Wife is such a fan that she wants to put it on display in the lounge room with the other decorative figurines!

This closer view shows the Tajima1 Tufts which finish off the base (excellent product, highly recommended), as well as the assorted fruit and veggies left for the Goddess. I really like the level of detail on this sculpt. The model was a lot of fun to put together and paint; she could do with a few worshippers though, so I'll see what's lurking in the Garage of Shame.

Now, to the matter of points; she's a big lass, taller than 54mm, but way less detailed than most sculpts of this size, so 10 points seems fair. 30 points for hailing Lady Sarah's Balloon (and I believe a little drinkie is in order...).

Next stop, Awdry's Atoll!

Stay Tuned...

Ev
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Nicely done Evan - the colourful groundwork and offering bowls are such nice accents to this unique piece. I haven't had any caffeine yet, so I'm in no position to argue about points - 40 points sounds right to me, and I've no doubt the Lady Sarah will soon be along to help you escape from Millsy's Millpond. 

GregB