I spent this week wandering around the shelves at the Challenge Library, as well as rummaging through my boxes of figures, kits, etc. to find suitable projects to fit the requirements of the various sections. I was able to complete six in time for Monday's Musée des Fossile, including a few with items that go back close to half a century. I hope you enjoy my meanderings.
For the Fantasy section I painted a group of twenty-two 25mm Games Workshop Easterlings consisting of a captain, a banner, four spear and shield, eight sword and shield, and eight archers. These were in the queue for last year's challenge, but the clock ran out before I could get to them. The miniatures were second-hand that need some cleanup and repair to get them ready to paint. They got an overnight soak in rubbing alcohol (2-propanol), followed by a scrub with a stiff toothbrush to remove the previous paint job. Two of the archers had the upper half of their bows missing, and these were repaired with pieces of florist wire. They were painted using Vallejo acrylics, plus a wash of Citadel Seraphim Sepia on all the armour, shields, boots, and gloves. Finally I went in with some 'Old Gold' to highlight the raised areas of the armour and shields.
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A Shadow in the East
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Complete group of 22 Easterling Warriors
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Command and Spears
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Archers (Can you spot the repaired bows?)
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| Swordsmen |
Our next stop is Children's Books with a Rabbit Stormtrooper from Archive Miniatures. It was sculpted in the late 1970s by Neville Stocken after he produced a line of unlicensed Star Wars miniatures shortly after the first movie came out. (More on this in a later submission. 😉) He modified many of his original sculpts and released them as 'Star Rovers'. The majority of the figures stand somewhere between 33mm and 35mm tall, not counting the bases.
Here comes the Easter Stormtrooper
Hopping down the lane.
All the other Stormtroopers
Think he is insane.
Hiding thermal detonators,
For little children to find,
Is a dangerous thing to do.
He must be out of his mind.
Moving on to the second room at the Challenge Library, we come to the Maritime section. It made me wish I had bought some Thornycroft LCAs for my Bolt Action Canadians. While hunting through the 'bits and bobs' box for something appropriate, I came across a white plastic sailboat from the Reliable Toy Company. The mast and sail were long gone, but the rest of the boat had potential as a naval longboat. Some scratchbuilding was in order to fashion seats, oars, and a tiller out of popsicle sticks, round toothpicks, and the rounded ends of coffee stir sticks. For the paint scheme I copied a longboat that ferried me and my fellow grenadiers from the frigate Rose to the docks in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The longboat measures 15cm in length, which makes it approximately 1/56 scale. It would be suitable for some of the Royal Navy landing parties seen in other challengers' submissions.
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Halifax celebrated its 250 anniversary in 1999
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20-gun frigate Rose in the background
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After assembly, but before painting
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Beached on the shore
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With oars deployed
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Our second stop in this room is Local History. In this case, not a history of Winnipeg, but some figures for a game produced by two hometown designers, Jeremy (of Black Magic Craft) and his friend, JP (not the one in the challenge). The game is called 'Idols of Torment' in which Heaven and Hell have collapsed into each other, and different factions try to harvest the Lost that wander through this region.
Our local group of gamers, the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts, got involved in playtesting the rules and providing Jeremy and JP with feedback and suggestions on the mechanics of the game. The figures I painted for this submission are a set of eight 40mm 3D resin prints of the Lost that were 'test of concept' of the final design. They are now available on sprues. My inspiration for the paint scheme I used was the look of the 'Army of the Dead' from the 'Lord of the Rings' movies. Starting with black primer, I gave the figures a drybrush of white using a soft brush, followed with a wash of Citadel Biel-Tan Green. I think it makes them look very ethereal.
We'll now wander along the back shelves for a Statue of a Famous Person. While searaching for something nautical, I came across a 54mm figure of an officer with raised binoculars. If I recall correctly, this was a miniature that came with a 1/32 scale plastic kit of the M50 Ontos that my father had built in the late 1960s. The figure was still in its original brown plastic, but it needed some repair to fix the large void in the middle of the back. I originally thought about making him George S. Patton, but with my last submission being a unit of French armour, I am calling him General Leclerc de Hauteclocque, who commanded the French 2nd Armoured Division in Northwest Europe in 1944-45.
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| Philippe François Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque (22 November 1902 – 28 November 1947) |
The last stop on our stroll today is the Romance section, for a love story between a princess and a pirate.
" Why you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder!”
“Who's scruffy-looking?
- - - - - - - - - -
"I love you."
"I know."
The figures I painted are two old-school 25mm Star Wars miniatures of Han Solo and Leia Organa from West End Games. They were painted with Vallejo acrylics, with a wash of Citadel Reikland Fleshshade on the skin areas. In the background is a plastic model kit released by MPC for 'The Return of the Jedi' which is approximately 1/78 scale. A bit small for the figures, but it works well on the game table.
My Library progress thus far, with more stops in the queue already:
The points being claimed are as follows:
25 x 28mm foot figures @ 5 points each = 125 points
1 x 28mm vehicle @ 20 points each = 20 points
8 x 40mm foot figures @ 7 points each = 56 points
1 x 54mm foot figure @ 10 points
6 x Library sections @ 20 points = 120 points
Just a quick note to all those who have left comments on my last two submissions, to which I have not replied. Early in the new year I fractured a bone in the little finger of my right hand. I have to wear a splint on it 24/7 until the bone knits back together. It has been a rather painful experience, especially in the first week of wearing the splint. It hasn't impacted my ability to paint as I am left-handed, but it certainly messed up my ability to type on a QWERTY keyboard. Typing my submissions is the best I can do for now.
Sylvain: Frederick, I feel exhausted running around the Library with you. So today you invented (unless I am proven wrong) the "Bonus Theme Point Bomb". I don't remember ever seen 120 points of bonus themes in one post.
You really bring us in many universes. I really enjoyed the bunny-trooper.
Should I hide in the basement next week dodging another point bomb?
Well done!!