Recap of My Challenge Part 2

In Part 1 of my self indulgent challenge recap I went over the figures i submitted for Curt's Bonus Rounds. This then is a quick glimpse of all the other stuff I painted up during the 3 months of the challenge.

As I flitted like a large bald butterfly from project to project during the challenge I made some good overall headway on a few main areas, so I'll group them by period. First up, the population of Hurricane, my wild west town for playing Dead Man's Hand experienced a big increase of everything from law abiding types to ladies of easy virtue and gun slinging no-goods.



Phew! That was quite a few, really.

My German and Soviet forces for Battlegroup: Kursk continued to receive some reinforcements:



And continuing the Battlegroup theme (best company level WWII rules ever), I started on a new project, making a British Platoon for Battlegroup: Overlord and Fall of the Reich.



For something completely different, I also painted a bunch of 28mm Huns. I'll be adding to this army to make it suitable for Impetus, Hail Caesar and whatever else. During the challenge I gradually improved the appearance of the snow bases, thanks to Canadian input, so they look a bit mismatched.



And finally, a figure of Arthur that I painted up for the 'heroes' round, but decided to enter Ney instead.



So there we have it! The painting challenge is over, now on with the painting.

Esoteric History Humour. Because We Can.

Recap of My Challenge Part 1

While the dust is still settling after Curt's wonderful painting challenge, I thought I'd just give a recap of all my entries, especially since most of them haven't appeared on my blog yet. Apologies for the self indulgence. But I suppose that's what blogs are for. All together I submitted 23 separate entries, so here we go.

One aspect of the challenge I enjoyed were the fortnightly bonus rounds, and I managed to get an entry in for each one. They were:

Round 7: Last Stand. Rooster Coghburn from 'True Grit', engaged in both a physical and metaphysical last stand.



Round 6: Favourite Character. Uhtred of Bebbanburg from Bernard Cornwell's Saxon stories.



Round 5: Casualties. French Infantry during the retreat from Moscow. Some of the most beautiful sculpts ever from Alan Perry.



Round 4: Hero. Marshall Ney, from Gorgon Miniatures.



Round 3: Vehicle. A cart for Hurricane. Beaten by a big spider.



Round 2: Villain. Hengest and Horsa from Musketeer Miniatures. Badger heads are sooooo in.



Round 1: Non Combatants. Some good folks from Hurricane.



As price of admission to the challenge Curt also requested a figure inspired by a character from a Sam Peckinpah film, so I made a little vignette of Bob Dylan as Alias in 'Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid', little knowing how much Curt despises The Bobster.



Next up - all the other stuff!

Brushes Down!

Well, Curt's painting challenge has come to an end, and what a ride it has been. I've really enjoyed the pressure of trying to get entries finished. I think I had hopes that the challenge might help me reduce my lead mountain, but predictably I've bought more new figures over the past 3 months than I've painted, so the mountain grows.

Overall I seem to have come 13th, unless there are any final score adjustments, with a score of 1349. I'm pretty pleased with this, and it gives me the goal of trying to finish in the top 10 next year!

But really the score isn't the point. The great thing has been to be part of a truly international, fun endeavour in which people from all around the world get to show off their amazing painting skills and imagination in a very friendly an encouraging environment. I've particularly enjoyed the side challenge I've had running with Paul and James. The banter with Paul has been great, and I look forward to meeting James one day!

I've painted a lot over the past three months, and certainly think my skills in some areas have improved a bit. The big casualty, apart from sanity, has been my attention to the blog, so hopefully I'll be posting much more regularly from now on.

For now, I'd like to congratulate everyone who took part in the challenge for your virtual company, and most of all I'd like to thank Curt for the truly Herculean effort he has put in to running the challenge. You Sir are a legend!

Project Kursk 28: Soviet Bits and Bobs

Well, it is the start of another busy school year. Most of my hobby tie since the start of the year has been devoted to getting figures painted for Curt's painting challenge, so blogging has suffered somewhat.

Just to bring us up to date, here are a few Soviet bits and bobs I painted up for Battle Group Kursk.

We have:

A brace of Katyushas from Zvezda...



...a command truck and Gaz jeeps from QRF. This are not exactly a joy to put together, but nobody else makes them as far as I know.



In contrast, here's a very nice little model of a SU-76 from Skytrex. I already had two of these, so now I have enough for a battery in BGK.



Next, a Skytrex Lend-Lease White Scout Car, and the unit of infantry it carries.



And finally, this is a resin knocked-out T34/85 from Peter Pig. Despite the inevitable compromises with detail this is a nice little model, which will act as an objective marker for Battle Group: Fall of the Reich.



So what's next for BGK? Really, apart from doing up more infantry, I now have a lot of gear for German and Soviet battlegroups. I think my focus will soon start drifting towards doing some Brits for Fall of the Reich, especially as I just picked up a bunch of Skytrex figures that Mick at Micks Metal Models was getting rid of. But I have a decision to make: Should my British battlegroup use Shermans, Cromwells or Churchills? Opinions welcome!