Friday, December 20, 2013

From MichaelA: Elephant-Drawn Indian Mutiny Artillery, Injured Grey and 'Hildy' (90 points)


MichaelA begins his ascent up the Challenge ladder with this amazing entry ranging across the Indian sub-continent, the American Wild West and all the way to Area 51.

From Michael:
Having had the good fortune and foresight to have the school holidays coincide with the start date of the challenge, I have been blessed with a couple of days of dedicated painting time (once, of course, a substantial amount of family and festive related duties were completed first!)  so without further ado, I can present my first entries.
A combined post of Mutineer Miniatures, 28mm Indian Mutiny range finally sees the completion of a the Elephant towing carriage, complete with Mahoot and an 18/24lb siege gun.  This was quite a chunk of metal and in some ways not as well sculpted as the resin version I had previously done, with the two halves of the body needing a fair bit of filling but once prepared it proved to be an enjoyable project that then inspired me to paint up the Naval Brigade crew, again from the same range, with another 18/24lb siege gun. 



Now it may seem a ridiculous leap from the Indian Mutiny to a Zombie Alien, but it was all to do with the paint!  Yes, British gun carriage grey seemed such an obvious choice for this poor infected freebie from the good people at 'Tengu Miniatures'.  Part of their 28mm zombie range, it is a little smaller than the others, but still holds the same exquisite attention to detail that I have come to expect from the company.
And then there was Hildy, my entry fee to this year's challenge.  What could be simpler than painting up a 28mm cowboy and sending it to Curt, saying inspired by Sam Peckinpah?  But then I started having a closer look at the man's oeuvre and came across the lesser known masterpiece that is 'The Ballad of Cable Hogue'.  Now as luck would have it, I still had a couple of those rather scantily clad cowgirls from the 'Black Scorpion' range and thought - perfect, Stella Stevens immortalized in resin!

I imagine that, like a good many of us, my carefree hobby days are about to become a tad problematic; progress may be hampered over the next week,  so I wish you all a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Brilliant work Michael! The elephant-drawn artillery team is wonderful, the poor 'Grey' is suitably spooky-yet-pathetic, but 'Hildy' is the piece de resistance for me. She has such sass, such poise and such impressive...erm, guns! (Sorry, it was just crying to be said) And those embroidered 'Daisy Duke' shorts are something to behold as well!

This wonderful selection of models will give Michael 90 points (with 65 counting towards your 'Victorian Duel' with Phil and Greg). Great stuff Michael and thanks again for 'Hildy'!

22 comments:

  1. Oh my. What an entry. Beautiful work as ever Michael

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  2. My word, two of us have nellies in our entries on the same day (even if mine didn't count for the Challenge).

    Excellent work on all of these Sir Michael :)

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  3. Really like that navel artillery! Those are some serious pistols she's carrying!

    Christopher

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  4. Great work Michael love Musketeer Minis stuff the cast are so clean and crisp. Looking forward to following your Victorian Duel.

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  5. Oh, I like eclectic!

    Glad to see that you're up to your usual form, both in painting and choice of subject matter.

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  7. Typos are the bane of my existence. So let's try again!!

    I've been looking forward to your first entry Michael and I must say you continue to astound us. Also I applaud you for the alien and the babe!!

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  8. Love the great detailing and diversity of this entry Michael
    Stout Naval chaps are obviously the highlight though!

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  9. Wow what a great range of figures and painting, got to love them all

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  10. I feel humbled every time I look at your skilled brushwork. Everything is exquisite.

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  11. Excellent work, some details are...amazing!

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  12. Ah fantastic! Loving Hildy, what a fine mini to just have lying around. And the elephant drawn artillery is awesome - pretty sure I've got that elephant squirreled away somewhere. An early lead in the Victoriana challenge..,

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  13. I really like the nellie I have just finished reading the second Sharpe book with plenty of these pulling guns

    Ian

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  14. Trust you to have such an eclectic entry, Michael! And every one a winner!

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  15. Your colonial stuff makes me go "oooohhhh!!!" every time mate. Absolutely gorgeous as always. Hildy is something else as well and packed with character.

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  16. Thank you all for such kind words, really encouraging!

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  17. Really some amazing stuff! I love the elephant as he's not only grey in grey but quite some different skintones.

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  18. Lovely selection. And I bet that elephant could have pulled more than a 24pdr! Imagine that on the Napoleonic or ACW battlefields. I guess some troops would sure have seen the elephant!

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  19. Excellent work, but Hildy is pure genius. I just could not get my head around a Western theme for the entry figure.

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  20. Wow, the elephant is beautifully done!

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  21. Great painting!!!! love the nellie!

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  22. Amazing work on all of them. The elephant drawn arty is very unique as well as the lovely lady.

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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. :)