From BenG: 20mm WWII Soviets & 28mm Ronin #2 (92 points)

Ben sends in this great group of 20mm Patriotic War Soviets and his 'Challenge Tithe' of Ronin #2.

From Ben:

Here's a few pictures of what I've been able to squeeze in between family visits and over-indulgence in Xmas fare: 11 Soviet infantrymen, 1 command base and 1 anti-tank gun and crew, plus the obligatory 28mm Samurai figure.

The Soviets are by the Plastic Soldier Company and are part of a painting commission I'm doing for a friend. He gave them to me about this time last year and although this is the end of the infantry, I've still got a few support weapons (mortars, light and heavy machine guns) plus an AA crew with 4 Maxims and a forward observer team to go. I'm hoping to use this challenge to pull the finger out and get them finished!

The samurai is from Eureka Miniatures and provided a bit of a challenge, as it's only the 2nd 28mm figure I've ever painted, and is the 1st samurai figure I've ever painted! I tried not to get too hung up on patterns and colouring, so after the briefest exploration of images on the net, I used my imagination to come up with the colour scheme. The figure had very faint stars, like those on the gloves and earpieces, moulded into the sleeves and legs of the kimono, which I originally painted gold. This made him look like he'd put his armour on over his pajamas, so I eventually painted over them! 

Beautiful work here, Ben. Those Soviets are the business (really like the AT Gun) but the pièce de résistance is the Samurai! :) Well done.

This group will give Ben 92 points to add to his total. Great job Ben and thank you.