Whoa. It's a little past 2:30am and I have to say I'm completely tapped. Knackered. Kaputnik. Exhausted to the core, but also very, very happy.
It was a great Challenge. It was made great by having over 40 excellent people who shared, commented, painted, jeered and laughed their way through three months of hobby-filled madness. You folks are brilliant.
I'm not sure of the numbers yet, but I think I posted over 400 entries over the duration of Challenge, and at around 20 minutes per entry... well, lets just say there was a lot of time spent beavering away in front of the computer!
Anyway, as my final salute to my fellow Challengers I present to you the last entry, 'The Final Cut'. It's a wonderful set of castings from the Perry's that I've had for years but have never got around to getting done. Nonetheless, as soon as the 47 Ronin emerged in my fevered mind as a Challenge theme I knew that The First Cut would kick-off the Challenge and that this would be the final entry.
I have to say that it's not quite done as I simply ran out of time in the flurry of the last few hours. It still needs more highlighting, some cleaning up and a few other details (The poor fellow is going out without a final poem written on his page, for shame!), but I believe the core sentiment is there.
Thank you all for making the 3rd Challenge such a great success.
With warm regards,
Curt
Yes indeed. Thanks a lot Curt.
ReplyDeleteThank you Seb! Loved your work, especially you new Spartacus project. I hope they do well for you on the table.
DeleteIts been brilliant watching all the entries flood in. Hats off to all the participants, the standard has been excellent.
ReplyDeleteI didn't take part but yesterday, for my own amusement, I used your points system to see how much I have painted during the challenge... lets just say that my score was low enough that I'm glad I didn't embarrass myself by trying to compete with the 47 Ronin!
Big Lee, you really need to get in on this. I'll drop you a note next time and drag you in. We need more Rejects in the mix!
Deletemany Thanks Curt and that piece is fantastic, I'm so happy I joined in again. I am totally worn out regarding painting though I have figures still on the table. However it's snowing quite a lot so I think I may invest some time on some of those buildings I have ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe comradeship has really made this Challenge so very special
Ian
Cheers Ian! You have always been a great booster for the Challenge and I thank you. Now, get back and paint some more 6mm goodness!
DeleteAs an interested (and biased)onlooker can I offer my thanks and gratitude to you Curt for your own enthusiasm and dedication (and time) spent on running the competition. Your comments and encouraging words have made it a great blog to dip into. Well done everyone (Paul- Dad of James B)
ReplyDeleteThanks Paul! It's great that you followed our merry path to its conclusion.
DeleteThis is a wonderfully evocative final entry and so well executed. Lovely work.
ReplyDeleteRegards the participants, what a great group of people. So much talent and such willingness to share.
I haven't had this much fun in ages. I'm already thinking about next year. Speaking of which, what's the theme? 300 Spartans maybe? ;-)
Thank you Millsy, I was thinking of your excellent vignette when I was working on it (played a bit of the music as well). Thanks again for sharing your stuff with the Challenge.
DeleteGreat work! Thanks for all your efforts!
ReplyDeleteCheers Vlad, much appreciated!
DeleteExcellent way to wrap yet another exciting 'Challenge"
ReplyDeleteGreat fun and I got a very large number of mini's painted - a very very good use of time!
Thanks again
Miles
Miles, thanks so much for your support! I think I may need your number talents to give me some interesting stats from this year's Challenge. I think there are some dizzing numbers buried in there!
DeleteFantastic job yet again Curt! Thank you for making it possible with all your hard work.
ReplyDeleteChristopher
Forgot to mention lovely little diorama and give yourself the points for sure.;-)
DeleteChristopher
Cheers Christopher! I've always been a great admirer of your work so it was an honour to have you along again this year.
DeleteQuite superb, and a fitting finale.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mike!
DeleteI don't know how you do it, but we're all glad that you do. This has been a good one. Congratulations to Chris for that epic number of points.
ReplyDeleteYour dio speaks of tranquility and is lovely.
Thanks very much Anne, much appreciated. Please remember to throw your hat in for the next Challenge as I'd be delighted to have you along.
DeleteThanks for all your hard work, Curt.
ReplyDeleteI ran out of steam towards the end, but I certainly got through a lot more than I would have, left to my own devices!
Congrats to all my fellow Ronin, too. Lots of lovely work done over these past months.
I can sypathize about the lack of steam. I began to falter for a week or so near the end but I managed to rally. Thanks again for participating!
DeleteGreat work Curt, Thor like work throughout my friend...congrats!
ReplyDeleteThanks Francis though I'm not feeling too Thor-like today. Need more Thor-coffee!
DeleteYou could market that.
Delete"Thor Coffee, not just for Thor's Day"
"Thor Coffee, start the day with Lightning"
Lovely job Curt.
ReplyDeleteI finally got around to posting your Ronin last night (pics later) and i apologise to everyone for my terrible showing. I can only claim that opening a new business at the same time as the challenge pretty much wiped me out.
But well done to everyone involved and kudos to those who've reduced their lead mountains to little molehills.
Thanks Phil! I'm sorry you couldn't make it out for this year's insanity but I know what starting a business can be like. Best of luck and we'll catch you next time.
DeleteWhat an entry to finish the challenge.
ReplyDeleteExcellent vignette Curt, brilliant.
I must say it's been great taking part and I must congratulate you on a fantastic 3 months.
A mahooooosive well done and thankyou Curt.
I though Fran and Ray would pip me.
I am very pleased with a top 5 slot.
A big well done to Chris for pipping James at the end.
There is always next year..
Respect to all who took part.
Kev
Thanks Kev! Loved your work, especially the 54s. Very, very cool. I hope you and your wife have a great time together with the hobby. Who knows, maybe she'll be in next year's Challenge!
DeleteCongrats to everyone who joined the Challenge and a big fat well done to Chris P for taking the title!! Curt, I don't know how you managed it, but very well done Sir! You can now live your life and be free...........
ReplyDeleteThanks Ray! It was great to have our former Champion on site to keep the kids in line. ;) I'll be in touch regarding your 3rd place prezzie.
DeleteWow, beautiful scene for the final cut. Watching form the sidelines has been very inspiring I may even finish a figure because of it.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Sean, I'm delighted you enjoyed following the madness!
DeleteHi Curt, great display piece to finish on. Looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThanks again for all of your sterling efforts in bringing this all together.
Cheers, Ross
You're more than welcome Ross! I've always enjoyed your Ancient/Biblical work so the pleasure was all mine.
DeleteCurt, I must echo the sentiments above and express my huge thanks to you for all your hard work running this over the past 3 months. Yesterday in particular must have been absolute chaos for you with all the last minute submissions (not to mention Ray's sandbags).
ReplyDeleteAs for your final entry, what do you mean it's not finished and you need to do more? It looks fabulous as it is and you should award yourself the points for it that it deserves! :)
Seeing the suggestions that next year's theme should be the 300, well, if you do go with that you'll probably need help with posting everything and it might be sensible to set up a new blog just for that.
Thank you Tamsin. Even though you first thought you'd not be able to get much done you actually finished like a lion (lioness?)! Beautiful work and thank you for your support.
DeleteTremendous Curt - absolutely brilliant painting and terrific Challenge. It was a great honour taking part. Thank you so much for all the hard work!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Sidney! I'm sorry you didn't quite make the deadline with your last post. It's such gorgeous stuff so I'll have it up soon for me to show off before you make off with it! Thanks again for participating.
DeleteBravo Curt. A stout effort and a great service to the hobby. We are all in your debt. It was an honour to see so much good work by so many talented people.
ReplyDeleteYour final piece is a fitting end to the samurai theme, and could be strait out of a Kurosawa film. It's a lovely contrast, the beauty of the scenery, the red drenching the delicate clothing, the sorrow of his comrades. Quite lovely
Thanks again.
Thanks Mike! I know many Challengers appreciated your sense of humour and support. Looking forward to meeting you in a few weeks.
DeleteWell done Dude - great piece of work!
ReplyDeleteGreay work on the challenge - congrats to everyone on the hard work and amazing entries.
Thanks Bro! Your Colonial Sudan stuff rocked! Can't wait to play with them again. We must try for someting in May or June...
DeleteThank you for a great 90 days it has been a joy to take part and I hope we can all return next year.
ReplyDeletePeace James
Thank you James. You were a great competitor but also very supportive co-conspirator. I know it was very much appreciated by all.
DeleteThank you very much for this Challenge, Curt. How many great artists I have know here!
ReplyDeleteAnd your last entry is really nice; a perfect The End.
Best regards all of you and congratulations to the winner!!!
Cheers Juan! It was great to see your wonderful painting in with the other Challengers. A great hobbyist!
DeleteGreat vignette! It was a great contest, I hope it will be back next year. Congrats to all my fellow Ronins for their oustanding work in the last 3 months.
ReplyDeleteThanks Iannick! I loved your Canaanites and hope I can see them in the flesh next time I'm in Montreal.
DeleteThanks for a great competition Curt, we all thoroughly appreciate the many (many) hours you spend behind the scenes bringing our entries into the fold.
ReplyDeleteYour final piece is peaceful, just what I need right now I think!
Thanks to all my other Ronin, your work has inspired me and pushed me to get more and more done-Thanks James for not letting me slack off, not even at the very end!
Thanks Chris! Congratulations again on your first place! I'll be in touch soon regarding your prize.
DeleteThank you Curt. Thank you painters from around the world.
ReplyDeleteCheers Sylvain! I'm looking forward to playing with your new French Marine ships in the coming months.
DeleteCurt,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for organizing this. A great incentive, and despite my paltry 80 point contribution, I really enjoyed participating. Learnt a few lessons along the way too - don't leave too much to the last minute (I have a table full of 9/10 painted figures. Prime and prepare beforehand so that the time can be more effectively spent painting. And I must say there are some truly gifted painters and fascinating subjects that have been shared and that I would love to do some time down the line.
Thanks Digger! It was great to have you along for the ride. I'll be visiting to see how your Great Wars stuff is progressing.
DeleteCan I just hijack the post for a second.
ReplyDeleteToday I was finally offered the job, seems like this challenge has helped get me back to a point I feel I can take on a roll again and certainly has helped my confidence. Thank you all and especially Curt, hopefully next year will see me supplying less points but be somewhat more employed than right now ;-)
Cheers
Ian
Excellent news Ian, congratulations! (I still want you to paint some 6mm stuff for me though...)
DeleteI thought you might, still should be no problem but I need to get through the next couple of months as I think it will be all work and sleep as it's bound to kick me in the crackers.
DeleteBut I am still game.
I am surprised your upright at the moment I thought you would be flat out pooped
Ian
I am pooped - just standing up pooped.
DeleteThanks one again Curt, you deserve a few days off after the massive finale of last minute posts.
ReplyDeleteIt was great, I'm sorry I didn't get round to posting more comments on peoples entries but it often came down to literally just skimming over them before I had to crack on with some painting myself.
There's been some fantastic painting, massive collections of troops and great dioramas. It's been a real pleasure to take part and I'll certainly be back next year with more pulp goodness.
Ta for now
G
Thanks Gharak, it was great having you join us this year. As I was saying to Phil I think the two of you have convinced me to do my Pulp stuff in colour instead of greyscale. Awesome work (still love those creepy specimen tanks).
DeleteMuch as I love your greyscale project in both WWIi and Strange Aeons, Pulp does suit colour. Madness, oddities and colour.
DeleteAn excellent final piece Curt. Well done.
ReplyDeleteAnd once again, well done on handling the challenge, you have my standing ovation!
And thanks again for broadening the scope of the challenge to include the Hobbit stuff, most appreciated!
You're very welcome and I am delighted you could participate again this year.
DeleteWhat a fitting last entry and a testament to the staggering work you have committed to the challenge. It has been an absolute treat to be part of this craziness - thank you so very much.
ReplyDeleteNo, thank you Michael. It is with hobbyists such as yourself that make these things a success. It was such a treat to have your work debuted with the Challenge. 'Til next time!
DeleteCheers Andrew, it was a pleasure.
ReplyDeleteWell done, Curt! I shudder to think what the FLURRY of last-minute submissions must have been like last night! Thanks again for the invitation!
ReplyDeleteYour "Final Cut" piece looks really good too! As Tamsin says, it looks pretty "done" to me. Not sure what more could be added...?
And congratulations to all the other Challenge participants! What an amazing body of work we all have created! Cheers to everyone!
If you're headed out this way in the near-ish future, let me know. I'd rather not trust my Samurai figure to the Post Office if possible...
Now take a few days out of "petty cash" and have yourself an EXTRA LONG weekend! Maybe take the "Missus" out to Banff or something! (Hi Sarah!)
I admit it was pretty crazy! I think I worked on around 25 posts over those last few hours - mental.
DeleteThanks for the kudos on all account, much appreciated.
Re: the Samurai: sure either Greg can bring it out next or I'll be there for work in June.
In the end, what impresses me the most is that you managed to paint some 482 pts of the highest quality, while managing all the entries at the same time... So I'd like to know for real, how many of you is there?
ReplyDeleteGreat job sir, and many thanks again.
Nico.
Thanks Nico! I had many excellent 'pace cars', such as your good self, to keep me going.
DeleteCurt,
ReplyDeleteTo echo the sentiments of our corner of the blogosphere: many, many thanks for taking the time, effort and patience to run this competition for so many of us. I ain't even imagine how you found the time and Sarah must have the patience of a saint. My points showing might have been poor, but I had a lot of fun tidying up the workbench and looking at everyone's quite staggering work (in both quality and quantity). It would be a pleasure and delight to enter next year, if you can face it again after 9 months.
What a fitting final entry too. A spectacular diorama.
Thank you again.
Best,
PhilH
Phil, thanks so much for your kind words. Your output may not match the gate-crashers at the head of the points roster but it's always a great treat to see your work.
DeleteUntil next time.