From MartinN: Fallschirmjäger and Firefly (65 pts.)

Another challenge is drawing to an untimely close and once again I come up short a few points. While I had a good start I rapidly lost steam and only were able to pick up speed again those last few days. I'm pretty certain that a lot of you know the feeling only too well. But the ride was a lot of fun and once again I enjoyed myself immensely. I wasn't as active on here as I'd have liked, but I enjoyed watching the daily stream of gorgeously painted miniatures.

First off for my last entry this year is a 20mm 3D printed Sherman Firefly by Arvernes Miniatures. Having painted two regular 75mm Shermans for my Canadians previously I felt the urgent need to add a Firefly for that little bit of extra punch. The stowage is mostly from AB Figures as is the tank commander.

This is then followed by a Squad of 20mm Fallschirmjäger, also from AB Figures. They're a mix of regular Heer figures, mainly with Zeltbahn, and Fallschirmjäger with head swaps as I was aiming for a very late war feel. So these should be more suitable for those battles following the German defeat in Normandy. A time when the Fallschirmjäger were a mere shadow of their former strength. I don't like the hype that surrounds some of the supposedly 'elite' German units and having this hodge podge of grizzled veterans and raw recruits is just my thing.

For points we have one 20mm tank clocking in at 15 points, a half figure tank commander for 2 points and 12 Fallschirmjäger of which two are prone figures for another 44 points. All this should give me 71 65 points.

A huge thank you for goes out to my good friends Sarah, Curt and Greg as well as all the other minions. 

***

Nick I am confident I speak for all Challenge participants when I tell you it has been an absolute treat to have you along for the ride once again. Your brushwork sets the bar, as ever, and combined with top-shelf photography, your entries are a real treat for all of us. I think many Challengers will relates to the ebbs and flows of interest and momentum when it comes to painting all of these miniatures - and many of us will come up short in the face of our targets (certainly I will!). 

But what a treat is has been! And you close out with some absolutely stunning brushwork. Nothing makes me bonkers like camouflage patterns of late WW2 German units, and you have made it look stupendous here, and the blend of the zeltbahns and sky-blue uniforms, of the veterans the rookies, it is all just spot-on and makes we want to get back to painting some WW2 myself!

But my favourite here is the Firefly! When it comes to WW2 tanks, I'm always struck by how dreary so many of the western allied designs were. Even the ones with cool names were disappointing to see. But NOT the Firefly! One of the best silhouettes of the war (and only improved once the IDF started cracking out I-Shermans later on) and you've done it absolute justice here. Even the weird colour pattern at the bottom of the barrel - excellent!

As for your points, the magical spreadsheet tells me this is all worth 65 points - so I'm going to listen to the spreadsheet. Great Challenge Nick, it has been a treat to "minion" your work!

GregB

MattW Fallschirmjager part two (160 points)

More Warlord Fallschirmjager completed, not overly excited by the warlord plastic fallschirmjager miniatures. I tried for two different camo, this time I have added rain stripes to the sumpfmuster, I think it looks better. 

28mm @ 5 points 

32 miniatures @ 160 points 

Cheers

Matt

______________________

Lovely work on these German paratroopers, even if you're not really feeling the love for them.  I also have to say brilliant backdrop for the photos. It really makes them pop to life. Well done!

- Curt 

From MattW: Fallschirmjager (55 points)

Next off the desk are some fallshirmjager that I have been working on since before Christmas, I detest camo at 28mm it is hard to capture in scale…. The miniatures are from Warlord and will be used in my skirmish collection, although I am not that impressed with the figures and may sell them on I think. 

Squad one

Sniper

Officer 

Action shot!

11 figs @ 5 points 

Total points 55 points 

Cheers

Matt

I think the models look great Matt - and that is enhanced by your excellent staging of the photos! While 28mm camo is tough I think you've done a fine job on these paratroopers. They look like a mix of metals and plastic?

In any case 55 points for you!

Dallas

From BenitoV: Last Jump on the Landing Zone (20 points)

It's Father's Day in Spain today and family duties (including the traditional lunch with the extended family) kept me busier than initially expected this weekend. Despite that, I've managed to paint  4 Fallschirmjager in early war uniform, and believe or not, I have finished with the a project started during the lockdown in 2020.

 

The LMG team is a 3D printed model (in one piece) from Eskice Miniatures. The individula model with the ammo box is from the plastic Warlord range.

I have to say that Eskice's FJs are not the best designed models from this manufacturer (unlike for example the German motorbikes). The uniform is not exactly historical (the jumping boots for example look more American than German) and some of the gear elements were not used by the Fallschirmjager in 1940-41 

In any case I liked this model in particular because of the animated poses and sense of action. 

 

 

This is my last contribution to the XIII Challenge. A total of 4 28mm models @5 points each = 20 points. 

 

I'm really happy with my participation in the Challenge this year. both from my own contributions but also enjoying the very talented paint works of mots of the challengers.  I hope to see you around again next December.

____________________________________

A wonderful last entry, Benito. As you say, the gun crew may be a bit ahistorical, but the pose and setting are excellent, and your excellent brushwork goes a long way to forgive these small sins. Well done, Happy Father's Day and see you next winter!

- Curt

From BenitoV: A Motorbike and Some Green Devils (35 points)

In this very final lap of the Challenge I continued with the WW2 Germans. On the one hand, I have painted the last motorbike with sidecar for my Chain of Command motorized infantry unit.

 

As in the previous two weeks, this a resin 3D printed model from Eskice

 

 

This week I have recovered some leftovers from an old project in our club to recreate the airborne attack on Crete in 1940. I painted and officer and a couple of LMGs in the early war jumpsuit gear. 

Unfortunately, I did not notice until today that one of the weapons is a German MG model 42....impossible to have jumped on Crete. The mistake originated in the Warlord's plastic German paratroopers box, which combines both early and later war models. When I assembled the models, I distributed in two boxes the early and the late, but I may have mixed up this specific model. In any case, too late.

Another 35 points bagged today and getting very close now to my 700 points target in the Challenge. I expect to reach the mark during the Saturday and Sunday frenzy.

Those all look fantastic, Benito! I wouldn't worry over much about the MG42 - at tabletop viewing distance it probably won't be noticed.

Tamsin

From Christopher Sliter: Fallschirmjäger Officer (5pts.)

This is my last entry into the challenge and it's the Curtgeld entry figure in the form of a Fallschirmjäger officer issuing commands to the troops which gives a fitting conclusion of him yelling at me to get in my last submissions. I seemed to have missed the part about it having to be turned in and completed by the first month! Well that's what you get for not paying attention and making old assumptions about things being the same as always!(facepalm)

The officer is depicted wearing his Luftwaffe coat and cap and Sumpmuster 44 (Swamp pattern) trousers, boots, belt, canteen and side arm. I wasn't exactly sure what he was carrying so I decided to make it into map booklet. He is yelling so I would imagine him speaking to large group troops giving a mission briefing with perhaps munitions going off in the background. 

The figure is from Artizan which I really enjoy painting and I painted him all with Vallejo colors which I personally think are very good for WWII and such.

Unless Curt want's a very late submission for other purposes I'll award this model to my friend Nick who is a WWII  nutter perhaps only equaled by all things Roman (well we both are, but he far exceeds me!)and I don't think he has this figure for his Fallschirmjäger collection as his is entirely composed of Mr. Hick's sculpts I believe. He can use it as a morale tracker for his FJ CoC force and yes I'm talking about our very own brush wizard MartinN and a minion this year. Check his stuff out you won't be disappointed!!

That's one 28mm figure for 5pts. and concludes my challenge. Thank you Curt for hosting yet another fantastic challenge and to the hard working minions as well! Looking forward to the next one!

Thanks for viewing!

Miniature Company- Artizan Miniatures

From BenitoM: The Hatchery - FieldGrey Birds (50 points)

As I mentioned in previous posts, this year's Pianting Challnege is becoming specially challenging for those of us more inclined to the historical dimension of the hobby. I was facing a real conundrum with my entry for the next Island's chamber: The Hatchery. Something that flies and is coming from a hatch?

 

As you see I finally found an answer... unless señor Snowlord have a different opinion. But what best that a paratrooper as something that flies and emerges from a Junkers ( = a 3-engine hatch)?

 

These are more leftovers from my late war Fallschirmjaeger project of three years ago, reinfoced with a another box to build an entire new early war unit. 

 

I think I explained in a previous post that they will be eventually used in a crazy project of playing an Operation Mercury campaign using Advanced Squad Leader. If that fails, they will still make a good show in some Blitzkrieg 40 games using Chain of Command 

The models are 28mm Warlord's plastics and have a phenomenal sculpting. In a previous post I also mentioned a mistake I made during my research: the models wear the gasmask tin; however in airborne operations this was too burdenson and contemporary photos in Crete show the FJs noy using them. These were acrually added to the kit much later, when the German paratroopers were deployed as traditional infantry units.

 

If this entry is valid to score as The Hatch theme,  I should be earning 50 points, 

6 x 28mm models @ 5 points each = 30 points

Bonus =   20 points

From BenitoM: Achtung! Fallschirmjaeger! (30 points)

After a very productive painting weekend, I had the opportunity to return home earlier than usual and finish basing the models of my new entry in the Challenge.

 

Aligned with my approach to the Challenge this year, these are "leftovers" from a previous year project: German Fallschirmjaeger unit for Chain of Command. That unit was intended to fight the mid-late period (43-45). I decided to paint these minis in the early war attire (green jump smock) as part of a project that my club gaming group is looking to do when the lockdown concludes next summer:

 

 

The project is to play Advanced Squad Leader with minis on a table instead of on a board (!). One of the club members (a gifted and resourceful scenery builder) has already created a large batch of big hexagons replicating the ASL boards terrain features in 3D. 

 

I have been playing extensively ASL in VASSAL over a year now but find this project somewhat crazy. Nonetheless, I have no problem in contributing as the models will fit also nicely with my Chain of Command games.

The models are from the Warlord/Bolt Action 28mm plastic box. The sculpting is very good and the potential to personalize each model is almost infinite. The earlier produced Warlord plastic ranges (like the 2WW British infantry) are terrible, but this box is truly good, as was also the Red Berets that I painted for the Challenge two years ago.

 

A warning note to my fellow challengers: DO you research RIGHT before starting a project. Only after I had assembled and primed most of the minis, I discovered that early FJs did NOT wear the very characteristic German gas mask canister; these were added later when the FJs units were used in a plain infantry role. Also, the hen wire helmet cover to attach foliage was used much later in the war.

 

In any case, the models are done ready to jump into the next wargame table. Hopefully I won't bump into some uniform freak player in my future games. With this entry I add 30 points (6 x 28 mm models @5 points),  no bonus though.

Excellent German paras, Benito. Will these be for Crete or 1940?

Tamsin