Lower angle shot showing the SOCO at the front. |
Next steps, get the Saxon standard bearer finished, and finish the buildings I didn't get done in time for his time.
Here's looking forward to next year.
TimP
3 months ago, before I started the challenge, if asked I would have said I love making terrain and scenics, but I hate painting miniatures. There was a reason for that, I hadn't really done any meaningful volume of figures since lockdown. I wasn't happy with what I was producing and for fear of producing rubbish, I was avoiding painting.
As most experienced figure painters know - painting is all about practice - the more you do, the better you get. While I have not been the most productive, joining the Challenge has encouraged me to paint and over the weeks I've turned out some decent figures. So thank you to everyone who is involved, Curt for organising, DaveD our friendly Sunday minion, and everyone for their kind words and encouragement, I hope I've also given my fair share of encouragement.
I've regained my mojo and now look at the pile of primed figures awaiting completion with the confidence I can turn out something nice, rather than dreading what will occur.
Those Dead Man's Hand figures will be next on the painting line.
Was hoping to get this in as a last Sunday post, but I spent all day Saturday gaming - and let's not forget (mostly) that's why we paint. To game. So now this will go in the last week - at least i got them done, I didn't think I would.
So the command figures should just take me to under my target. I hoped to have a few bits of scenery finish in the flnal week but it's not looking likely
Sadly no squirrels, despite my planning. Maybe next year - as I most definitely will be signing up again.
I had to do a bit of work on some of these, for example the monk holding up the cross, that would have been pointing sideways as sculpted, so i replaced the shaft with a bit of wire. I also chopped and changed the other monk/priest to hold one of Victrix's lovely loot boxes, perhaps holding a holy relic.
I just flat ran out of time so no standard bearer. These have been 99% done for a few days, but i finished them off with some nice gold touches (Using the brilliant Vallejo Liquid Metal Rich Gold 70.793 and finished off the basing with the usual flowers etc.
Group Shot… |
Swordsmen Ældormen… |
and backs |
Four Axeman Ældormen… |
| and backs. |
Warlord, Trumpter and Priests… |
and backs |
Head God Botherer |
Warlord, replete with gold trimmings. |
Behold, the right toe of St. Cuthbert… |
11 x 28mm Saxons @ 5 points = 55 points
Thanks again… everyone.Another very late submission this week and apologies Dave, I promise to get in on time next week, which due to a trip to Bovingdon Tank Museum means it will probably be my final submission... but we'll see.
This week is the balance of the "line" Late Saxons / Anglo Danes. I detailed the painting technique with last weeks post, So rather than bore everyone with repeating that I'm going to start with a reference that probably will be lost on any one but Brits of a certain age.
As mentioned last time, I committed the cardinal sin of changing focus during the Challenge, losing me precious time. I had prepared 55 figures, breaking down into 21 casualties, 4 cavalry and 30 foot figures.
I've been self-schooled these past few days on the true meaning of the seven Ps*.
When I signed on I was very excited about Dead Man's Hand and had prepped about 55 figures including 21 of the Great Escape Games casualty figures which I planned to work on for the Challenge. But like every good wargaming squirrel I quickly got distracted by getting into assembling some double decker buses for WWI transports - I have those part assembled and undercoated.
Then I discovered Pillage: Ransack the Middle Ages and I flipped over to assembling some Hail Caesar Saxon Thegns which I'd bought for Saga. On clipping them all from the sprue I realised I wasn't that keen on the figures. The sculpting was quite soft and the weapons are all separate from the arms.
So I decided to swap again, and invested in some Victrix sculpts.
Black spray undercoat. Chainmail is dry(-ish) brush GW Leadbelcher. The padded gambesons in GW Balor Brown. I then chose a handful of muted colours for the main body of the unarmoured peasants.
Vallejo Game Color (sic) 70.903 Intermediate Blue, Vallejo 70.886 Green Grey (or the much better sounding Gris Verdoso) and all Citadel Eshin Grey, Steel Legion Drab, Tallarn Sand, Gorthor Brown, Loren Forest, Karak Stone and Skrag Brown.
After that I painted all the heads/faces/hands in my usual Flesh Tone.
Followed that with taking each figure in turn and finishing off the legs, arms, belts, bags, shoes etc. using the same muted colours plus a few brighter points with Doombull Brown which over black give a nice deep burgundy colour. Hair colours included Skrag Brown, Steel Legion Drab, Tallarn Sand and Eshin Grey. On those armoured figures with a well-defined hem on the mail I painted the hem either Doombull Brown or Intermediate Blue.
Spear shafts were either Karak Stone or Gorthor Brown, to give some variety.
I then washed with a mix of Army Painter Soft tone, Strong Tone, Windsor & Newton Peat Brown Ink, and other washes as appropriate.
Bases had my usual PVA and budgie grit applied and when dry painted with GW Rhinox Hide and drybrushed with Borthor Brown. Then tufts and flowers from Gamers Grass - Dark Green Shrubs and Dry Green 2mm. I've discovered I need to improve my application skills on those....
And of course I'd forgotten - they all need shields.... So spray undercoated the shields Black (still on sprue). Then a friends suggests White undercoat is preferable. Shield transfers were all from Victrix Little Big Men transfers... Not a type of transfer I had used before - being used to model kit style waterslide decals.
So these are the four "tester" figures which I had been working on ahead of the bulk to see how stuff would come out. (To avoid batching them all and finding the washes left stuff too dark or whatever).
So, have been quietly beavering away at the mass - which will be revealed next week.
Not sure if I'll get the command figures completed in time. I'm hoping I can as they look really promising.
These should be completed by next Sunday....
Dave - Sorry for the late submission - been at Hammerhead show all day.....
* Piss-Poor Planning Precedes Piss Poor Performance 😆
From DaveD . AAah the in challenge distraction . Then learning on the job experience is what you get , when you don’t get what you want as they say - 😁. Well these teasers are however worth waiting for . Let’s see the rest next week then . I hope you had a good day at Hammerhead I couldn’t make it this year .
Just to get on the leaderboard and stay in the game.
Figure from Pandyman Miniatures in the UK for their game Threat Level: Emergency Response - modern Police/EMS game.