Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Final Results: The Spring-Thaw Painting Challenge!


It was at the beginning of February when I issued a challenge to see who could paint the most Napoleonic figures over the following three months.  Over those ninety or so days I've had the pleasure to make several new friends, paint ALOT of toy soldiers and experience an infectious enthusiasm for our 'little' hobby - in short its been a hell of a lot of fun. Amongst the six who participated we painted the equivalent of 449 28mm figures in three months!

As I stated in the original rules my participation was purely as the 'pace car' for the other painters and so I would not take a stake in any of the prizes.  The prizes are unimaginatively simple, being gift vouchers valued at 30, 20 and 10 pounds sterling for First, Second and Third place respectively. I know, its not much but it'll take the edge off a future purchase.

So with all that being said and without further ado lets review the podium.


Coming in Third with 67 points is Paul from Scotland! Paul was a late-entrant to the Challenge but made both great inroads and a great impression to those who saw his work. Unlike the rest of us, Paul's focus is exclusively in 15mm and the quality of his output is just amazing. There was numerous instances where I thought I was looking at beautifully painted 28mm figures and it made me think twice (but only twice :) ) about whether I should have gone in for a smaller scale. 


Second place, at 111 points, was taken by my good friend Greg from Winnipeg who was using the Challenge to get his Austrian brigade completed - and a very beautiful collection it is! The majority of his points came from painting two regiments of 28mm cavalry which is no mean feat in of itself, especially when a good portion of them were the very colourful and intricate uniforms of the 10th Hussars. Great job Greg!


Last but certainly not least, in First place is JohnM, who with 134 points demonstrated to us all that it is possible to have both a high output combined with an excellent level of quality. Even with the very funny (well, to me) 'uniform malfunction' of the Green Cuirassiers he recovered with aplomb and steamed on to victory. Bravo John and congratulations!


I also want to take this opportunity to thank Sylvain and Tim who put in excellent showings with their Russians and Brits. Thanks a bunch guys! You can check out all of the entries at this gallery.


For the five in the DFL category I will only say, "Guys, not one bloody figure to even get out of the gate? Really? Really?"  Nuff said.

Finally, thanks to all you out there in the interweb who took the time to leave encouraging comments. I think I can speak for all of us to say that its so great to get positive feedback from others in the hobby - it really helps to keep up the enthusiasm during those late night painting sessions. So a big thanks to you all!

Postscript: Some have contacted me to ask if I'll run another Challenge. Absolutely! But I think we'll let everyone enjoy the summer season (well, for those above the equator) and then we'll see about a Challenge for the autumn! 

10 comments:

  1. Well done guys,
    Really enjoyed the fun and it helped me keep my brush in action. Brilliant to see everyones brushwork and to have my own stuff up beside it.

    (stupid me!) I actually thought the deadline was 5th May. I am just adding my static grass to an AB Russian Jager battalion I just finished (Not that it would have mattered).

    Look forward to joining in again and thanks for all your kind words about my painting guys!
    Best regards
    Paul

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  2. Thanks for joining in, Paul and, late as it is, I'm looking forward to seeing that Jager battalion. ;)

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  3. Thanks Curt for running the challenge, it certainly was an impetus to paint figures.

    I feel a little bad ending up with the most points because I know my painting style with washes and the AP does cut some corners.

    Anyway it was fun and it was nice to meet some new gamers, and with Curt's help I have been introduced to a new ruleset Black Powder, which I believe I quite like.

    Great paint jobs everyone,

    John

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  4. The Challenge was a pleasure to run, but it was made even better by making some new friends. Thanks for participating John - your win was well-deserved.

    Curt

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  5. Thanks for sharing, really enjoyed reading the updates. It has greatly inspired me to maintain my output (slow as it is, and will always be) well as start my own little blog.

    Cheers!

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  6. Glad you found it inspiring, Phyllion - that's what its all about. Keep an eye out for our next Challenge so you can join in the fun.

    Best

    Curt

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  7. You don't need to feel bad John, wash, dip or black undercoat you still got a shed load of nice figures finished and based up!

    I'll have to trawl the web to see if there is someone who has done a time comparison test for painting 15mm and 28mm figures ;0)

    I timed my latest 32 man battalion (AB Russian Jagers) and they took me 32 or 33 hours from black coat to completion and I felt as though I was really pushing at them. I'll need to do something to speed up my painting!
    See you in the next competition!!
    Regards
    Paul

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  8. Paul, a figure an hour is a very good turn of speed. I think on average it takes me around 3-4 hours to get a 28mm Napoleonic figure done from priming to finished ground-work.

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  9. 3-4 hours Curt wow I think I will stick to 15mm figs then ;0)
    To be honest as soon as the Perry 28mm late Russian Infantry come out if I am still flush I will buy a few boxes and I am homping they will also bring out the guard plus cuirassiers and artillery in plastic. Just for experimentation you understand. :-)
    Regards
    Paul

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  10. Sounded like a fun thing! I'd like to run that at my blog, but most of them are very lazy painters!:-(

    Christopher

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Thanks for your comment! As long as you're not a spam droid I'll have it up on the blog soon. :)