From GrahamB - Samurai and other Japanese and Medievals (230 points)

This week’s submission featuring my favourite brown Dulux paint is the start of my Sengoku period Samurai project.  I already have skirmish forces for Test of Honour - these new figures will be used for full tabletop battles with the Warlord Games' "Pike and Shotte: Samurai Wars" supplement. The first units are for an Ikko Ikki force including some of the peasants that will make up around half of the planned initial army.

The first unit is a unit of Warlord Games Ona-Bugeisha, female Samurai. In the game that could be used to represent peasants, Samurai or Ashigaru, depending on the army composition. They started with a white undercoat followed by speedpaints/contrast paints. For me the paint is not pigment heavy enough on its own so I dry brushed highlights with normal’ paint.

The next unit is some Ashigaru skirmishers, part of a job lot eBay purchase. I believe those to be from the veteran 25mm Dixon’s Miniatures range that in its day set the standard for Samurai. They are a little dated compared to more recent sculpts but paint up nicely. They are two to a base to represent skirmishers and are led by what I think is a Minifigs Samurai with Teppo.

Today’s third contingent comprises three units each of 3 bases of peasants armed with spears and various improvised weapons and farm tools. They will count as spearmen in Pike and Shotte. They are from assorted makers including Perry, AW Miniatures, 1st Corps and a few 3d prints from Wargames Atlantic. 

The 4th contingent is a base of two “fire starters”; medieval or renaissance peasants or castle defenders who will send their flaming spears and firebrands onto attackers that have just had oil poured over them. One of the figures is from Irregular Miniatures and the other is from Wargames Atlantic's Barons War Peasant set. The Warlord Landsknecht supplement includes siege rules for these guys. I rarely use contrast paints but the lurid green has sort of worked but is a bit bright for a peasant. Maybe he stole the smock!

I calculate the points for this posting as follows;

9 x 28mm Ona Bugeisha @ 5pts = 45;  6 x 25mm/28mm Ashigaru @ 5pts = 30; 29 Ikko Ikki peasants @ 5pts = 145 and finally 2 castle fire starters @5pts = 10 pts for a grand total of 230 points.

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Well this is quite the pile of figures Graham! The brushwork is fine, but what I enjoy most is the huge assortment of manufactures. I really like a project that can bring such a wide variety of sculptors and castings together under a single umbrella. 

I too would like to attempt the "Sengoku" period of Japan for gaming, but I just can't quite seem to get it going...one day perhaps! Until then, I will vicariously enjoy the efforts of hobbyists like you. Well done!

230 points it is.

GregB

From MikeF - Agents - 10 points

Not much progress on the agents for Exploit Zero this week, but I did manage to complete two. Below is the Ronin and the Sawbones agent class. The Ronin is your basic ranged combat specialist, while the sawbones is the medic. Weapons in the game are fairly abstract and only make a distinction between different types of weapons in the expansion. The Ronin is from Urban War miniature line sold by Seb-Games. I think the model is supposed to be naked, but I didn’t want her to get cold so gave her a blue suit! She’s also equipped with numerous bionic parts, including both lower legs and her left arm.

 

The next model is a 3d print. She seems to have very limited medical training and only offers two treatments. She probably gets less pushback when asking for your immunization history!

Some have asked if I’ve heard of Kill Sample Process as an alternative cyberpunk game. I have a copy and I think it is a better player vs player game. The strength of Exploit Zero is its cooperative nature and the more detailed AI mechanism for the enemies.

2 x 28mm miniatures for 10 points.

Thanks for visiting.

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What great characters! I love their whimsical nature, brought out by your great colour choices

- Paul

From SimonG: A Seductive Guardian for the Second Circle (35 points)

 For my second submission what better than a visit to the Second Circle, the Tempest of Lust. Our tour guide for the day is Barbariccia a Black Rose Wars (BRW) figure from the Inferno expansion.

Barbariccia (with the Brizzi "Inferno" [1] behind)

Now it has to be said that this interpretation of Barbariccia [2] probably owes more to Final Fantasy then she does to Dante, but as the designers of BRW are Italian we can perhaps allow them some creative licence! It is however a very clever sculpt with exceptionally clever integration of the snakes growing out of her torso.

There were two main challenges in painting this figure (apart from the obvious problem of access to the bits hidden behind snakes!). Firstly getting a believable blend between person and snake [3], and achieving the gradients of shades of gray in the snakes themselves. I believe I managed this one pretty well and am especially pleased with how the skin to snake transition came off -- aided especially by layers of shade, from darker/snakier to redder/fleshier.

Transition from human to snake!

Less happy was the second challenge -- the half face -- I struggle mightily with female faces, especially on these plastics which tend to have a rough surface and one on which it seems impossible to get a smooth single colour, let alone a blend. I think I'll need to work on my airbrushing. At least I managed to meet the Val Garland standard and get a symmetrical lip!

Much easier faces are the ones of the many snakes and I enjoyed slotting in their eyes and giving them nice glossy tongues and teeth!

Overall I enjoyed working on this figure and the challenges it presented, one of these days I might even get around to playing a game of Black Rose Wars as well!

Points wise she's a 54mm figure but with all the snakes and what not stands 80mm tall, so perhaps halfway between standing and mounted so 15 points plus a 20 point bonus for the second circle.

Next time we'll be chasing down some heretics!

[1] Highly recommended, the Graphic Novel adaptation of Inferno by Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi, originally in French but just published in English

[2] Barbariccia ("curly beard") is of course the guardian of Bolgia Five in the Eighth Circle and looks nothing like this character (even allowing for gender swapping!)

[3] For Barabariccia's boss, Lucifer, I opted out of the human to snake transition by painting each snake individually as a specific, highly venomous, species!

From TeemuL: I can see the painting challenges presented by this mini, especially being a larger one, but you have done a great job with her and she is of course well worth the Second Circle. I like the colours you have chosen, purple and gold are very fitting for her. Your reasoning behind the points sounds reasonable, so 35 points to you.

From GeorgeS - GW 28mm " Arwen" - Ticket payment for Sarah (25 points)

Hardly managed to finish this figure today.

So here it is my first female figure for Lady Sarah and the teleport services I have used through my chaotic journey on the outer ring.

Two more will follow next week in order to proceed in the middle ring.

The figure is a classic 28mm white metal model from Games Workshop Lord of the Rings game.

About scoring, 25 points for me for this week.

That's all for now :)

...'till next time...

Keep Up TheBrushes!!!

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Well done George, getting a submission in. And what extravagant talent you have displayed on this figure! The results are stunning - such smooth colour transitions, very impressive work!

GregB 

From SarahHC: Senior Flight Attendant & Female Buccaneer (Sarah's Star Yacht & Caprica) (50 Points)

Hello Everyone!

Well, I had high hopes of completing three figures to present today, but truth be told … I struggled with painting 28mm. I had a panic attack this afternoon, neither of my figures were completely painted, still had basing to do and also the write up! Work definitely gets in the way of quality hobby time.

Good thing I have an ace photographer and brush advisor on retainer!

One of these figures was a 3D print found on MyMiniFactory, while the other one was a metal miniature from Curt's stores (shhh, don't tell him...).

I decided to paint the not-Rachel “Trya Olds, Cyber Detective” as Tamsin, Senior Flight Attendant & Chief Morale Officer. Keen eyes will notice that she holds an orange crayon in her hand, thus preventing MartinC or Ray from snapping the last one on board!

I used a variety of blue shades on her suit, and I’m quite pleased with my free hand light blue panels and black belt. The hair turned a little too red, I wanted more of a strawberry blonde look for MissP.

Lady Buccaneer suffered from wardrobe indecisions: I initially painted her breeches a grey colour, but I decided too boring for a swashbuckling privateer, then changed to a tan colour, then finally the glorious Snakebite Leather which looks super with the deep wine red of her coat and blue scarf and hair ties.

I will use The Lady Buccaneer as my ticket to summon Lady Sarah’s Space Yacht to travel from Solaris to Caprica, the doomed planet. Tamsin, Senior Flight Attendant and now Health & Safety Officer will surely be the DOOM of many crayon-snapping (eating?) passengers if they don't behave.

As to points, these two ladies will give me a base of 10, with another 40 bonus for the Yacht and Caprica.

Next week, I’m back to a 54mm figure and perhaps something else. Maybe enough to claim a chocolate cake, unless Natasha thwarts me!

- Sarah

Oh, wow! Captured in miniature form by another Challenger yet again! I think this is the best one yet! My immediate thought was that it was a not-Rachel figure. As for the hair colour, I do go a darker shade of red (sadly with a smattering of white these days...) in the winter, so you inadvertently got it about right.

As for the buccaneer, what a fine looking scoundrel!

Tamsin

From GeorgeS - The Laboratory - Teleportation request

      Another offer to Sarah the Witch in order to pass from the Laboratory, since I had not any good idea for it...Dear Sarah please accept my offer and pass me to the next Chamber...

      The figure is a 1:48(?) 35cm Dungeons & Dragons figure. Not any other info about it , so if any one knows further info , it would be great to share here.( Character Name, Game etc..)

 

....clock is ticking...(tik,tak..tik tak..) .Three figures to present and one is already painted...

..I think I can do it..hahah

'Till next time (...tomorrow..)

Keep Up The Brushes!!!

 

From DrQ: Kharadron Overladies (50 points)

As I continue to work on my great beast for its eponymous lair, I painted up some custom all-female Kharadron Arkanauts—Kharadron Overladies if you will.

The heads for these Kharadron Overladies are from an Etsy store called FlagshipGamesUS. They looked a little small when I first got them, but they wind up looking fine when actually on the bodies. Also, I used swords rather than axes for the whole squad. I have another box of Arkanauts lying around, and if I build them up as a male force I'll give them all the axes (conversely, I might build the other box as a Kharadron Blood Bowl team).
 

In order to differentiate the leader more easily, I used the topknot from a spare Stormcast Eternal head I had lying around. 

Other than the head swaps, I've left the models as-is. The armour suites that the Kharadron wear are quite padded so any differentiation of silhouette would be hidden by the the padding. Additionally, I didn't really think that the usual "all women in heels" aesthetic that is found in so many wargmaes was something that the no-nonsense Kharadron would really have any time. A lack of beards would be enough. I found the post "Female representation in wargaming" by Between the Bolter and Me really helpful in making these design decisions.

As far as points, these are ten 28mmm foot soldiers for 50 points total. 

Now back to the giant hulk of the Ironclad! 

From DrQ: Princess Malya for Sarah the Sorceress (25 points)

Looking at the map, I realize I need another bit of teleportation to get from the Hall of Heroes to the Laboratory. To that end, I've painted up another female model from my backlog: Princess Malya, a Relic Kight/Super Dungeon Explore crossover from Ninja Division.

I've had this model in my bin for a long time, largely because don't particularly like the sculpt. The plastic is quite cheap and bendy (the axe refuses to stay straight despite many hot water dips). Their are awkward mold likes across key pieces of detail. It's a bit too cheese-cakey—I gave her a proper top, but not much I could do about the hot pants. And, of course, why does she have FOUR EARS?!?!

I tried painting for the Quarantine Challenge last year, but eventually stripped the paint and started over. I try to make my Super Dungeon Explore models match the card art, and getting light skin and pink armour to play well together has been very hard.

This time around I made my own magenta contrast paint using Citadel's contrast medium mixed with magenta acrylic ink. I also use some white contrast and the hexwraith flame for the crystal glow on the base. All in all, the paint scheme works good enough for a model that I've never been too in love with.

As far as points, there's five for the model and another 20 for the challenge.

Now off to the laboratory where I've got some terrain that take the are both literally and metaphorically.