From TeemuL: Dwarf Crossbowmen (20 points)

Just a quick post to get going on this last week: 4 Hasslefree dwarfs on square bases to add to my Oldhammer dwarf army.

I don't have uniforms on my dwarfs, so every one is having different colors. These Hasslefree minis work very well on that aspect. My favorite from this lot is the green-and-yellow striped guy.

That's another squirrel for me (counting the earlier high elf), something on my desk as well, so be prepared. :)

Twenty points, please and this is the eighth squirrel.

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Great looking dwarfs, Teemu! I really like their striped surcoats, and the red fletching on their crossbow bolts is ace. 

20 points for you sir, which allows you to hit your points target! Very noice, very noice indeed.

- Curt

From KyleC - Project from a workshop with Massive Voodoo (85 pts)

So the past weekend I had the chance to join another class with the legendary Roman Lappat of Massive Voodoo fame.

This was my 8th class with the maestro over the years and my second time along for a Basing class.  Focus here was post apocalypse base where nature has reclaimed the city. However since I was a repeater I could go a bit outside the lines and try something different.

For me while listening to his lecture and seeing his photos of his presentation there was one image of a parking garage that was light coming from above. I had already in my mind to do something that involved a box format and this really resonated with me and it grew from there.

Roman was great to support it and provided a better box to make this vision come true. He even provided me with the train which shifted my idea to be something like an abandoned subway station.

I loved the process and aside from finishing the models this weekend, and most of that was just touching up the figures. The majority of the scene was done within 3 days when in Germany.

You can see how it was build up here with layers of corkboard to give it some volume and structure. With the models getting placed to give it proper reading lines, and the subway car ( made of metal!!!! so difficult to cut! ) being placed to give it some weight and depth.

Sketching went fast and furious with the idea that they have just reached it from some overground passages that shed light due to the age of the subway areas. Also gave me some forced perspectives and light sources throughout the project which really helped out.

Final piece as it stands right now. I might go back to touch it up some, but this is where it sits for now with photos from my phone. At some point I will push it further I suspect.

And a final photo showing what happens when I put the light directly over the holes up top. It reinforces the colors and light spots I placed on the piece. Which is great to see some reinforcement of the techniques and planning that went into the diorama. 

Oh and I did try to make one of the guys look bad ass and pretty much like how I picture myself :D Even did a little bit of freehand work to get the rough shape of my Mr Lee's Minis logo on the shirt... didn't fully pull it off but its almost there. 

So although I haven't done a lot of batch painting near the end of this contest I have regained some of my painting mojo. Huge thanks to the Monday crew, Sidney for helping us out, and Curt for running it all. And of course the rest of the participants here with all the great pieces being shown and painted here!!! 

And a final rock out photo of me and Tobias from the class helping Roman hang photos from other classes throughout the years!

As always, no idea for points. I have 4 28mm figures there from Hasslefree so thats 20 pts, but not sure if the base might count as terrain then? As its pretty big :D But will let Sidney sweat the details again ;)

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Now this is what I call "Living the Dream" !!  What a brilliant post, even before we start considering the wonderful diorama, Kyle!  'Massive Voodoo' and Roman have been such an incredible and inspirational influence for so many modelers and painters over the years.  They've been one of the stepping stones taking the hobby from being a craft to being an art, and to see you enjoying their hospitality and knowledge is just fantastic, Kyle!

I think all of us would love to experience a master-class like that at least once in our lives. So, well done, Sir, for leading the way, and providing such a stonking report of your visit (and fine photos of a goodly selection of hats).

Now, on to that diorama.... Yep, it's pretty special, isn't it!  You've graced this Challenge with some wonderful work this year, Kyle, but this is really of a different class.  I've loved the painted busts you've produced, but this is so much more complicated and subtle.

The use of perspective, and lighting sources, the arrangement of figures, the careful use of colour and the reinforcement of your central theme all shine through.  The box format has given you the opportunity to use your skills in a very innovative and creative way, and the result is both remarkable and memorable.

I really love it, and it's another of the many, many submissions all our fellow Challengers have produced this year which make me want to get back to my paints (...immediately....right now!...) and start painting.  And I can think of no higher praise than that for your amazing work.

OK, as for points... I'm going to say 40 terrain points for the diorama, 20 points for the figures and another 25 points for creating something unique and inspirational (both in your post and in the diorama).  Really a splendid piece of work, Kyle!  Well done, Sir!

From TeemuL: 28mm Demonic Megapack (35 points) Not Safe for Work!

I managed to finish this jolly bunch on the 31st December, but didn't have a possibility to take decent pictures before 1st of January, so I'll start my "regular" submission with these miniatures from Hasslefree. Something for the Saturday minion to start his burden...

After painting the Tzeentch Sorcerer Lord I realized, that I had painted 253 miniatures during the year 2017. Seven more and I would average 5 miniatures a week. Luckily I had these already primed with Army Painter Barbarian Flesh, so they were relatively quick to paint.

I bought them last summer, when they had a heat wave discount. Quite a hot deal it was. Since these are not for any particular army of mine, I was able to be experimental with the basing. I used some Coloured Basing Sands (also from Hasslefree). Black undercoat was not the best choice, I should have used some orange or brown. Otherwise I really like how they came out.

There are three succubi and three incubi, plus the head priestess herself, Sister Sarah, presented by Semira Marise. I painted the succubi with red hair and incubi with blue, in order to make it easier to remember, which they are. Otherwise I tried to keep minimal palette and only get some color on the head priestess only. As there are several female miniatures here, I believe this is also a valid entry for Sarah's Choice Award, even though there are some disturbing male presence as well.

7 x 28mm miniatures for 35 points.

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Firstly Teemu, let me apologise for my over sensitive warning at the start of your post, but having afforded me the same, I thought I would pass it on to our gentle readers - even if it is Saturday morning, and very early!  I digress, but back to your saucy succubi, very nice indeed Sir!  I do like a Hasslefree Sculpt and these look like a lot of fun to work on.  I always baulk at doing large expanses of skin, but your approach has worked perfectly, well done Sir.  Another 35 points to your tally.

From PaulS - Random selection of models (67 Points)

It's been a while since the last entry... a combination of birthdays, new hobby (sword fighting!) and painting burnout meant that I kept missing the deadline... so my apologies for that. At least you get lots of different things this week. One of my birthday presents were some lights for my photography setup, so hopefully things will start to look a bit clearer as I get to grips with actually having a decent light source for once.

First up are 10 28mm wolves. These are for my wife, who wanted some simple wolves for an art project of her own. I can't for the life of me remember the manufacturer, but they are not good models imo. There are very visible lines that run right across the faces and trying to remove them would pretty much destroy whatever is left of their faces. They are unbased as Claire hasn't decided how to mount them in her project yet... so points to deduct there.

Next up is this beauty, Kara in Gnosis armour from Studio McVey. This model will be used as a "counts-as" Bonehead in my "counts-as" Ogryn squad. The rest of the ogryns will be represented by the McVey THI suits which will be coming in the next week or two. Both of these models came as part of the ill fated Sedition Wars kickstarter and turned out to be some of the few models that I actually like from the campaign. There are severe scale issues in these models, not helped by them being early experiments in plastic resin... which I hate working with. Still... at least this one and the THI suits came out nicely. The pilot head in this suit was taken from one of the THI kits as the Gnosis head was a little small. The figure is about the size of a GW Terminator character, so taller and bulkier than a standard 28mm. Nice and chunky.

Lastly in this random image dump we have Spike from Buffy, or at least someone pretending to be him. This is from Hasstlefree and pretty much painted himself (shush you at the back.. Spike wears all black so of course he's easy to paint!). What isn't quite so clear in this photo is the jacket has a satin varnish on so it is slightly shiny, whereas the rest of him is all matt varnish so it doesn't. It is up to Curt if he would like Spike as his Curtgeld, or if he wants to take the risk and wait for the final bonus round entry instead ;)

He was supposed to be the Comedy round entry, but something funnier (at least to me) came along and usurped him.

So that is 10 unbased wolves, 1 standard 28mm figure (possibly Curtgeld) and 1 Terminator sized figure.


From Curt:

Great to see you back Paul, you've been missed! 

With this being your first of three submissions today you're definitely treating us to a nice selection of minis. 

Those wolves remind me of the old Ral Partha/Grenadier models from the late 80s. Characterful castings, but I remember them having some of the same mold line issues that you describe. You've done a good job on them (and it makes me curious to your wife's art project!)

I love the powersuit model, especially the 'multi-tool power blade' and the paint chipping. Very cool. I look forward to seeing the THI suits in the coming weeks. 

Speaking of cool, that Spike figure turned out very nicely. I can see the satin effect on the jacket quite clearly and I like the subtle grey highlighting. I'm going to be selfish and wait to see what your Antihero submission is before I make by decision. Nonetheless I'm going to give you the bonus points now as I know I have a wonderful figure in the bank. :)

Great work!