When one challenge ends, start another.

After successfully completing my challenge total and by a good margin a small break from painting is required.

My last post for the challenge contained a small suggestion as to what is next on my ideas for a game.

 These are my colonial vipers for a possible thought up game of defending the galactica.

 And here is the start of the galactica, this is a revel model of it, still a bit small for the fighters but they look good next to each other.
As with the falcon kit i did last year i have started internal wiring of led lighting for engines, hangars, and a small bit of interior lighting to represent the crew quarters.
As can be seen in the image above i have swapped the solid metal post for the kit with a hollow plastic rod for the power supply, and shortened it a great deal so it does not get in the way of the game.

 Another shot of it almost complete, hangar bay bottom halves need to remain loose until they are painted and decals added.

The most important bit, testing the lighting before commencing priming, last chance of opening it back up.



More to come later...

Final post for the challenge

Having beaten my total last week, and having run into trouble with a few painting projects, i had to rummage through what was lying around for something for a final post before letting the brushes rest for a bit.

The Airborne infantry for Vietnam came to an abrupt halt as i had ran out of bases to put them on, my Hordes Grymkin ended up being left in the box as i need to do hours of work on removing the mould lines, and i ran out of Gripping beast plastic vikings to paint.

So after a good bit of digging here are my final entries this year.

 This sorry looking collection is the Japanese starter fleet from Ground Zero Games GZG, this is how they looked last week after finding them in a box, forgotten and un-loved.

 And here they are now, happy little ships ready for a game of Full Thrust in the near future.

 A simple paint job, base colour yellow, pick out details with white and red, engine wash blue with white highlight, and a dark wash.
I am not sure how to point these up due to the varying sizes but if agreeable i would be happy with 5 points each, as the smallest are the size of a 28mm infantry figure.
9 ships at 5pts = 35pts

 Next up, an objective marker for Flames of War, another item that had been basecoated and ignored.
I think it is a Battlefront product, i just cant remember where i got it, the usual ooh shiny effect and then left at the back of the desk.

 Again, a simple to paint model, with the use of a good dark wash.
For scoring it has 3 x 15mm figures and a tent.
3 x15mm = 6pts

 These are Battlefront M113's. Plastic kits that i bought and built over 2 years ago. They didnt even have an undercoat 2 weeks ago so it was time to get them done.

 Fantastic little kit with so many options i have loads of parts left over for future kit bashing, lovely to build and the pack of riders that comes with them helps them really look good on the table.
4 x 15mm vehicles = 24pts

 And the last entry, 24 x fighters for Full Thrust from Ground zero games GZG. These are the from the New Israeli fleet and are a very nice stand in Colonial Viper for Battlestar Galactica.

They will feature in an upcoming project i am working on, i will probably need another 24 of these and an awful lot of Cylon fighters too.
Points wise not sure, they are slightly larger than a 6mm infantry figure so half each?
24 x 1/2 = 12 pts

So to sum up 77 points and my brushes are going straight into the ultrasonic bath.

Thank you all for looking and congratulations to every one of you, whether you reached your goal or not.

Over the finish line

For the first time ever i have beaten my pre-challenge total(pending judges decision).

So a very happy painter i am indeed.

Here are my entries to push me over total.

The first one is this

 These are 6mm scale strips of trees to represent an orchard, they are from Baggage train and are very nice little castings in resin. These have sat around in a base colour of dark green for a couple of years, so now was the time to finish them. Easy enough, 2 levels of over-brushing on the trees in lighter shades of green, and the same on the base using brown.
6mm viking leader by Baccus for scale purpose only.

 I was not sure how to score these, so if the judges are happy with it, i will take a point for all 5 strips.

Next are 2 panzer 4 tanks from Battlefront, both nice sculpts and very detailed, these are the older models made from resin and metal.

Both have sat neglected as my existing painted panzer 4's are from forged in battle, and are slightly different in scale, however they can now join the ranks.
2 x 15mm vehicles = 12 pts

Okay, being a bit cheeky with this one, i present a single 15mm door gunner,by Battlefront.

 I had painted the loach around a year ago, and had left the door off with the intention of fitting the door gunner model that came with it. i found him in a drawer still naked metal on the sprue.
Here he is in all his glory, strapped into the chopper.
1 x 15mm infantry = 2 pts

Next are a pair of Cobra gunships also by Battlefront, these are the old models made from resin but with the new plastic blades.

 These are nice models although the new plastic model looks an awful lot easier to build and probably less prone to damage, a simple enough painting experience but the sheer amount of decals to be arranged is a chore, but worth the effort.
2 x 15mm vehicles = 12pts

Now these two have been used in many games and had been never taken past a basic green base coat.
Both were extras that came with the initial vietnam forces from Battlefront through wargames illustrated back in the day.

 I cant decide if they fall under scenery or vehicles, so as it seems fair and would be less in points i have decided on vehicle.
2 x 15mm vehicle = 12 points

And finally, the simplest of the lot, 4 Hetzer tank destroyers from Forged in battle. As usual very nice sculpt and casting, easy to paint.

 I have just noticed that i think i have glued the MG in the wrong place and have forgotten to paint the handles on the shovels, may have to change that.
4 x 15mm vehicles = 24 pts

So to sum up,
1 point for some trees
12 pts for 2 panzer 4
2 pts for a door gunner
12 pts for 2 cobras
12 pts for 2 hueys
24 pts for 4 hetzer's

which i think is 63 points.

Thank you all for looking and i hope you have managed to get to your personal challenge totals.

This weeks painting challenge entry

A few projects have been started but nothing finished to show off until these guys.

This week i present some 15mm goody's.

First up 2 anti aircraft guns from Forged in battle.

These are early/mid-war 88mm guns, which i painted the gun tractors for 2 years ago.

 Very nice sculpts with excellent detail and very little if any flash, i do however recommend using a good quality undercoat on the resin parts.

They have been left languishing in the lead pile as i already have a brace of 88's painted in this scale.

Next up are the neglected Airmobile infantry from Battlefront for the vietnam version of Flames of war.

 Now these poor chaps have been based and part painted before, then removed and cleaned up.Then they were abandoned for a few years. This is mainly due to the fact i have never been very happy with them, the sculpting is poor, the undercuts are too big leaving very fragile models, and the flash that was on them was bordering on ridiculous.

However, with the fact i had finished there opponent (the PAVN) last year, i felt obliged to do at least a basic paint job on them. This is not the complete force, i have some more that require attention before the brush goes near them.
I intend to finish them off next week and get a picture of them with the helicopters i painted a few years back.

A small but needed push towards my total

Star Wars Rampant

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, a really bad dude was looking for some rebels.

After painting up my little stormtroopers and rebels i needed something for them to do.

I have seen many rules that are sci fi orientated and others but a certain amount of disbelief was also required.

I am getting too old and lazy to learn more rules so i decided to try and use Dragon Rampant.

I really enjoy the simplicity of them and with a bit of imagination they can be turned to almost anything, with of course maybe a few house rules.

So here it is, the first of hopefully many adventures in the Star Wars universe.


The evil empire

Lord Vader = elite foot(sith) with invisibility and hatred of jedi 10 points
stormtrooper squad = light missiles 4 points x 2
stormtrooper support gun crews = light missiles with sharpshooter 6 points
24 points

The rebel alliance
Captain Solo's squad = lesser warbeast with flame attack 6 points
rebel commandos = light foot with mixed weapons 5 points x 2
rebel heavy weapons squad = heavy missiles 4 points x 2
24 points

The coin toss made the imperium the defender
Mission rolled The pot boiler.

 The starting positions, Empire in the middle of the table, Rebels appearing from the table edges.

 Instead of the 'pot boiler' scenario this was re-imagined as the empire have rounded up the locals for interrogation, and will at the end of the turn have disposed of them one by one.

Captain solo leads the advance towards the evil empire, with both commando squads following on, his comm link goes down and the support weapons fail to get the order.
Vader is immediately aware of the situation and advances on Solo's squad, the support squad open fire on the commandos.

 Captain Solo gets distracted by his broken comm link and fails to give any orders....

Lord Vader attacks and pushes back Solo killing 3 rebels in the process.

Captain Solo judges the better part of valor is in retreat, and hastily departs the scene, causing a commando and a support unit to run with him.

The remaining commandos desperately take a stand, causing a few casualties before being captured.



Well, that was quick and deadly, in reflection it may look as if the empire had the advantage from the beginning with the uber tough Vader, but it was actually very poor dice from the rebels that blew away there chance of victory.

I will stick with the stat lines i have for the moment, and see how it goes, and adjust things if needed.

Thanks for looking and stay tuned for more adventures soon.....

AHPC multiscale bunker

Not a lot of painting this week, but i did finish off this 28mm scale sci fi bunker that has been lying around for at least 2 years.

When i started painting it, i had some big ideas, but then i realised if i leave off details i could use this for several scales.

It is fairly basic and i cant remember what i bought it for or from whom.

The interior has had a basic grey painted inside, nothing fancy here.

And here it is next to some (not part of the challenge, except the biker in another post) miniatures. It will be a small bunker in 28mm, a moderate bunker in 15mm, or my personal favourite a semi-enclosed outpost in 6mm.

This was a very basic paint job and as the model would probably only fill half of the 6 inch cube i am happy to accept 10 points at judges discretion.

Hopefully something more exciting in the next post.

Thank you for looking.

15mm ork gobsmasha

The painting challenge has really spurred me on to get the forgotten miniatures and projects pushed forward.

This is my entry for the bonus round BFG(big freakin gun).

It is my scratch built Ork Gobsmasha gun tank, which certainly has a big freakin gun. This has been an idea i have had for a while. I first built one out of card with coffee jar lid wheels when plans for it were published in White Dwarf probably late 80's, when they did cool stuff like that.

This model was built using plasticard cut to size to be roughly 15mm scale, as i have no intention of making it 28mm, my 40k will be 15mm. The wheels were made by scratch building one wheel using spare round bases and plasticard, then making a rubber mould and casting them in resin. The crew ladder was a spare part from an abandoned railway carriage model kit, the exhaust is a barrel in halves with plasticard tubing out the top. Top hatches are left over from various kits.

A simple paint job, some Orky decals and light weathering and its done.
The build was done pre-challenge, and it has sat in an undercoated state for around a year.

To show its size, i painted 1 Skinnerz biker from Vanguard miniatures on a 40mm by 20mm base. If time allows i may paint more to get my points up.

Thank you for looking.

Flotsam and Jetsam

This weekend has seen one big miniature completion already, but i did squeeze in some poor figures that have been floating around the desk for ever.

Here we have 2 ladders and 2 battering rams i have had since warhammer 3rd edition.

The viking is for scale purpose.

They were fixed to the bases this way so they could be placed inside a unit so as to appear as if they were being carried. The ladders also conveniently will appear as if leaning against a wall.

They came with a covered battering ram in the box set, this may appear later in the challenge.

Next up we have a dark age warrior from west wind, 3 villagers from midlam, and another plastic gripping beast viking(i will finish all of them one day, i promise).

The west wind model is very nice but they are always on the big side for 28mm.

The villagers from midlam are nice enough. I did notice that both the gents have what appears to be a beard on one half of there face only, i thought it was meant to be a pony tail on the figure with the hat but pitchfork man has it too. As they are from a fantasy range it may be from story or something, if you know please enlighten me.

Thank you for looking.

If you go down to the woods today

It has been a busy time in the attic this weekend, so a few items have been painted.

This first entry for the week was going to be kept back for the 'monstrous bonus round' but i finished it earlier than planned, so here it is.

This model is the Witchwood from the Grymkin range by Privateer pres for the game Hordes.

It is used in the game to lure enemy models to their doom.

I have wanted to paint this model ever since i bought it but the push to do so was not coming.

Thankfully the challenge has brought it back, and i am back in love with painting.

For judges decision of points the tree is 65mm tall, and the alluring witch is a standard 28mm miniature.

Thank you for looking.

Rebel commandos

As the painting challenge has started again i went back over the miniatures that i did not get finished before the deadline.

So here we have some rebel commandos and of course a few characters to lead them.

The troopers are from Khurasan miniatures and used to be painted as a generic sci-fi force.

 Here are the leaders, they are slightly larger models than the others but this helps make them stand out on the table.

 I dont think they are available anymore.

And a reminder of who they will face, Lord Vader and his minions, supported by 2 walkers which are die cast models repainted.

Hopefully a small battle report may appear soon.

Thanks for stopping by.