From TamsinP: NAC Fleet (90 points)

From Tamsin:

Well, it turns out that the Mongols weren't my final entry, but this one really, really, really is.

I was looking at what I had that I could be able to finish before the deadline and realised that some more spaceships might just be my best bet. So here they are, 12 lovely ships from GZG to upgrade my NAC "intro fleet" to "mega fleet" size. The "intro fleet" was painted up before the challenge and was my win from Seb's prize draw last summer.

This flotilla consists of a super dreadnought, a battle dreadnought, a battleship, a heavy cruiser, 2 escort cruisers, 3 corvettes and 3 scout ships. The 4 larger ships and the corvettes have an extra bit of detailing - some yellow and black striped hazard panels on the undersides and aft. I've included a pic of the underside of the BDN to show these.

As this is my final final entry, it's time for some parting words.

To my fellow Challengers of the Wild Bunch: Thank you all for the great competition, the words of praise to each other, the banter and the sheer lunacy of some entries. The standards from everyone have been fantastic this year and I sit here in awe of the quality and quantity of your outputs over the past 3 months.

To the various prize donors and sponsors: Thank you for your generosity. I'm sure that everyone would have competed anyway, but your prizes add a little something to the proceedings.

To Curt: A massive thanks for keeping up with the Heraclean labour that running this Challenge surely involves, especially with the addition of the fortnightly bonus rounds. On top of that, you have treated us to some absolutely stunnign entries throughout. How on Earth did you find the time? By the way, my mate King Augeas mentioned that his stables could do with a good cleaning....

To Sarah: My sincere sympathies for the last few months. Just make sure Curt treats you to his full attention, roses, chocs and lots of TLC to make up for his absence looking after us.

First, thank you Tamsin for your thoughtful words. Its always a pleasure to have you join us in this little bit of silliness. Your enthusiasm, verve and talent serves as a benchmark for the rest of us.

In regards to your entry... I really so like these ships Tamsin. They have such a wonderful old school look about them. In fact, I think I may actually like them a smidge better than the last fleet you did. That may be because they are using lighters tones or perhaps the lighting, hmm, whatever it is they look fantastic.

This fleet will give Tamsin 90 points. A lovely bit of work that! 

From TamsinP: 'Lady Christina' Recovery and Repair Ship (15 points)

From Tamsin:

"Good morning, you're through to the AA*. How may I help you?"

"Hi, we've broken down outside the jump point from Antares IV to Excelsior II. We need a recovery ship"

"Can I take the name and model of your ship please? And your name."

"Yes, this is Captain Keith Remen of the NAC heavy cruiser London."

"And can you confirm that you or a member of your crew are a member of the AA?"

"Yes, the New Anglian Confederation Space Navy has corporate membership."

"Hmmmm. It appears that your government failed to renew the membership when it was due for renewal last month. Do you have a crew member with individual membership?"

"They didn't renew?!?!?! The useless, penny pinching, pencil pushing, tight fisted *&%$£&s!"

"You can always charge it to a credit card...."

*Astromobile Association

This is a Lady Christina class recovery and repair ship from GZG. Just as a bit of fun I decided to paint it up in the livery colours of a well known roadside rescue organisation from the UK. The company logos are hand-painted, but I might go over them with black as they look a bit crap. Maybe at some point I'll make some decals up. I'm tempted to buy another of these ships to paint up in the colours of their main UK rival.

I've included a couple of pics showing it in action, attempting recovery of the NAC heavy cruiser.

That is a very cool looking ship Tamsin. I like the clampy bits and that you've painted it in the UK motor league colours (ours here in Canada are in white and blue). I wonder what the towing charge is per parsec?

This inter-galactic tow truck will give Tamsin 15 points.

Form TamsinP: Waste Reprocessing Ship 'J Peasmold' (15 points)

From Tamsin:

Just to prove that I am alive and still painting, here's a single spaceship which I painted up as a break between batches of pirates.

This is the J Peasmold waste reprocessing ship from Ground Zero Games. As you can see, some convoy traditions still hold in space, even though aromas can't travel through vacuum - the convoy leader, L.A. "Tex" Mallard, has asked "Septic Sam" to back off another 10 AU as the smell was getting intense.

I decided to go with base colours followed by a dirty grey wash for this ship. I think that has given it a nicely grungy look.

Oh well, back to painting pirates....

Eww... You gotta love science fiction. In science fiction you don't have to explain why you'd have a ship transporting crap across the cosmos when you could simply vent the stuff out into it. Then again, perhaps it's legal tender on some planet starved for fertilizer and methane. 

'Sooo, how much does this sh*t go for?"  Literally.

The J Peasmold will give Tamsin 15 malodorous points which will also give her enough points to claim victory in her duel with Ian and Burkhard to see who could get to 1066 points first. Bravo Tamsin!