I got wind of the Lead Painters League painting competition a few weeks ago and thought I'd give it a whirl as incentive to keep some of my projects moving along. I'm not expecting too much success from my efforts as there are some pretty talented folk involved. (I would describe my painting 'style' as being similar to kabuki theatre makeup: certainly serviceable at a distance but not too flattering up close.) Nonetheless, I thought it would be fun to participate in something in which I'm more or less just along for the ride.
From what I understand there's about thirty hobbyists participating in the League. The way that the competition works is that for each week, for the next ten weeks, the participants are paired off to compete against one another in a series of matches. Every painter provides an entry of at least 5 figures for each match. Points are given to both the winner and loser of each match (30 and 10 points respectively) which I think is a great approach as you alway have some sense of progress in the standings. In addition, there are bonus points given for a variety of things such as number of votes received, submitting newly painted figures, and for conforming to the theme chosen for that particular match. For example, the bonus theme for this first match was to paint a 'Headquarters Unit'.
Accordingly, I've submitted a 28mm napoleonic command stand which portrays the colour party of the first battalion, 18e d'regiment de ligne - a unit which became known as 'Les Braves'. It's seen here in the midst of taking canister fire at the battle of Aspern-Essling, 1809. These are primarily Perry castings with the addition of a few Foundry casualty figures put in for variation. I also did a light conversion on the falling officer, replacing his sword with the colour standard and tilting him a bit more. I'll ultimately be building upon this stand with another 24 figures to flesh-out the unit.
So I urge you all to please check out the competition as there are many talented painters displaying their mad, mad skills. I'm not sure if you have to be a member of the Lead Adventure Forum to vote, but if you have the time I suggest you join up and participate in the fun. My entry can be found here. If any of my work strikes your fancy please pass along your vote to help salve my pride and ensure that I'm not too badly shamed over the course of the League. ;)
