From IanW: 28mm Lord of the Rings Archers, Spearmen and Character Figure (45 Points)

From Ian:

OK this is the last from me

Here we have eight Games Workshop plastic Lord of the Rings figures, though I am not 100% sure exactly which race.

The long spear figures had been glued with arms bent in all sorts of angles and needed a little surgery but given I bought them at a games con for peanuts I can't complain.

The bow troops were easy as single piece castings. I wanted all eight for my roleplaying campaign which is a mix of LotR and Wheel of Time.

These will be Seachen who in my world are a mix of Seachin and Aeril (both spelt wrong)

Last figure to be painted is again for the campaign but this is the figure for one of the players and is a Reaper metal figure. Lorielle Silverrain a female elf. It is a surprise as the player does not know the figure has arrived yet!!

I have spent just under three hours on her tonight and mostly happy with the result. I will go over a few details tomorrow evening and both lots still need varnish (the GW ones have had one spray but need a second to get over the army painter shine

I will add my thanks to Curt for again running an excellent challenge that has been lots of fun to be part of.

Great work Ian! I believe those LOTR fellow are Haradrim but I can't be sure. Anyway, they look good and they'll be great additions to your RPG. The last figure is fabulous! I particularly like the soft tones you've achieved for her face - amazing work.

These nine fantasy miniatures will give Ian 45 points, nailing his Challenge target before the bonus tabulations - well done! 

From IanW: 6mm Napoleonic Prussians & WWII British and German Markers (100 points)

From Ian:

In an attempt to clear most of the in progress stuff off my desk I give you a mixed bag. 

I got a load of painted figures via Dave D at blog con. All were 6mm Adler but I field smaller units that Adler pack them in so I needed to paint up extra command for them. For the French I painted up five figures per battalion for a total of 20 figures. I had already painted the Voltigeurs before the challenge so these also don't count.

I also got a load of Prussians with enough loose left overs to form six battalions and I have stuck to my usual 2 battalions with colours and one without. So for these six battalions I claim just four figures, the standard bearer!

The 7th Line Regiment was a bit of a problem as I neither had the flag nor ink in the printer so I took another regiments and added the green to the flags, a little faffy but you know how it is.

The 26th Reserve Regiment was just generic Baccus flags as I could not find a flag for them. 

The Baccus Landwehr though are all painted by me (except the dead trooper), these have a compliment of 24 line figures and four out front skirmishing. After the long break on doing 6mm infantry it was really good to get at them again and they seemed to come on really quickly. 

These are the first Baccus Landwehr I have painted up and I really found them a breeze to paint. I have another nine in hand so I can look forward to getting these painted up for the Waterloo game.

All told I have finished off 26 Battalions between the Prussians and French during the Challenge which is a good number to have got through and I am nicely ahead of schedule painting these up.

Almost to the end of the Sniper Reminders for a bit (I really want a break) but these are just for the fun of it. Four each of the Black Tree Miniatures Desert Rats and Africa Korps. on the deluxe sized bases. 

The Brits are working their way through a mix of mines and wire, the little mine sighs I cut out of some spare ASL mine factor counters and added to a bit of balsa. 

The Germans won't be fully finished in the Challenge as I want to add some more bits to the bases but I need to source them and all four bases are presents for a pair of good mates.

Nice score Ian and kudos to you for the wonderful job in getting these new levies integrated into your burgeoning 6mm collection.

Alright, wow, that makes 108 6mm figures and eight 28mm figures for a grand total of 100 points (with a little extra for the great work with the 6mm flags). With this entry and the points from the bonus round you will exceed your Challenge goal of 1066 points. Well done Ian!

From IanW: 28mm WWII 8th Army and Afrika Korps Infantry Markers (80 points)

From Ian:

Here we have eight boys from the 8th Army all looking rather grubby with all that dust and heat. These are Black Tree Miniatures and whilst they have good detail they are missing the usual rifle slings that normally make BTM stand out. 

Other than the lack of slings they still are rather nice and were reasonable to paint up.

The Afrika Korps, on the other hand mostly have the slings (one pose out of four did not) and all have the traditional Y webbing. I struggle a little with the goggles and due to lack of time had only a short period to touch and retouch them up, not helped by a roaring cold that made detail work hard as I could not hold my breath LOL.

I have a further four each but the bases are not finished and need another four plus hours work so will do them when I am back from a very busy four days away (yes I am all excited, just one more sleep to go).

Well, you did a great job Ian, even without having to hold your breath for the detail work. I particularly like the 8th Army lads and your pebble groundwork seems to work very nicely with these desert-themed markers. 

These sixteen figures will give Ian 80 points. Well done and I hope you had a great time at your ASL tournament.

From IanW: 28mm Viking Herdman & 6mm Napoleonic Marshals along with Assorted Flunkies (21 points)

From Ian:

Finally something different. 

OK lets start with the Griping Beast 28mm plastic Viking from their Viking Hirdmen boxed set. I wanted to do a test figure and it was an excuse to do something a little different.

Clean up and assembly was mostly straight forward though the belt pouch and knife was a bit fiddly. I can see doing all 44 getting tiresome but the reward would be a great mix of poses and weapons so I will have that in mind when I get at the test.

Went with a straight forward shield design to keep this simple. I also went with a black primmer to make the chainmail more realistic, overall I prefer the darker finish for these.

Dropping back to my usual scale I have finally finished the new Baccus command figures, a bunch of Marshals and other hangers on.

These are certainly an upgrade on the old Baccus command and have some nice detail and a much wider mix of poses. However I still prefer the Adler as they have a lot more detail (that extra mm or two really helps) and though these are sturdier I will take the risk with the Adler breaking.

Quite easy to clean up and paint though some of them have a real issue with mould lines, but overall nice clean casts. I have based them loosely on images I have of commanders and ADC's I just hope I don't get slapped for doing this

My Napoleonic Pedant/Prat referee jersey's in the wash so you're safe... ;P

Ooh, that Viking sample looks very, very good Ian - I think you can go straight into production with these! Would this project be for SAGA or do you have something else in mind?

I agree with you on all counts with the new Baccus command figures: they are all very nice but I'd still put the nod to Adler's range. As you say that extra 1-2mm makes all the difference. All this being said I think you've done a marvelous job on these models. Your excellent basing gives them a Peninsular War feel about them, what with the larger gravel elements.

This lonely Viking and the posse of Napoleonic command officers will give Ian 21 points (with a bit extra for the shield and being in the vanguard).   

From IanW: 28mm WWII German Sniper Markers (55 points)

From Ian:

Last entry for a couple of weeks as work kidnaps me!!!! 

Here we have eleven Blacktree Miniatures WWII German Infantry and again are based on the Sniper Reminder bases. 

Typically nice figures with loads of extra detail. I especially like the camo helmet covers and bareheaded figures.

Sorry the images are not that great but I have not the time or resources to do good ones this time

Still playing with the snow but was a tad disappointed with the results on a couple of these who may get a bit of reworking but I just don't have time at the moment as I am dashing off with work for nearly two weeks and will have little painting time when I come back for a few days  :-(

You all may be a bit relieved as I move onto some other figures for a bit, though I have some more WWII but they will be from the desert though I should also have my first Winter War figures waiting for me when I get back so they may jump the queue.

Great work on these markers Ian - you'v got these down to a cottage industry for yourself! I quite like your snow basing. The only thing I'd suggest, and I think I had the temerity to mention this with Alan's winter Huns as well, is that the underlying grass should be yellow as it would have largely gone into winter dormancy before the snow flew. 

These eleven markers will give Ian 55 points. Well done.

From IanW: 28mm WWII Winter Sniper Vignette (20 points)

Ian sends us a real little gem:

Here is a deluxe Sniper Reminder.

Everything but the figure is scratch built, oh the base is custom built built for me :-)

The walls are made from Linka moulds with the pavement made out of Linka stone walls.

The window frame started life as a Warbases panelled window which I cut out most of the inner frames then added another though I had to cut out the corners to make it fit.

The power lines is fuse wire with the pole two old paint brushes, bits of balsa and brass pins.

The figure needed elevating so I added a few piles of bricks and pinned a door (more balsa and another pin head) on top of them. 

I have also added some broken bricks from Model Display Products. You get about 250 bricks for just £2.50 and being made of clay break up just right.

More of the snow I have been playing with recently. I am very pleased with the result and hope the person who has waited well over a year for me to get to it will be as well.

Wow! What an amazingly evocative scene. Great job Ian. From the shattered telephone pole through to the frost on the walls this is simply amazing work and so wonderfully realized. I'm sure your client will be delighted with this new addition to his collection.

This sniper vignette will give Ian 20 points. Again, great work!

From IanW: 28mm WWII Soviet Sniper/Casualty Markers (55 points)

From Ian:

In trying to bounce back into it I offer you eleven 28mm figures. All are Black Tree Miniatures except I think the guy kneeling with the fur cap, he I think is a Artizan Partisan.

Typical of Black Tree, these are great sculpts with very nice faces to fork on. Lots of little details to pick out and realistic poses. 

I actually have painted up thirteen figures but the other two will have to wait as they are being based a little different, the clue to one is on my blog LOL.

Having had Deluxe Materials Scenic Snow effects for Christmas I was keen to have a play. It's quite easy to use though can be a bit time consuming and I recommend a mask as some of the effects happen to be a micro-fine dust that is great for frosting.

I have had a lot of fun with these guys and have another twelve German's to add which will be started soon.

Great work Ian. I've always really liked your Second World War figures and these don't disappoint (and you are a veritable one-man industry with these handy Sniper/Casualty Counters!).

These eleven markers will give Ian 55 points. Well done Old Boy.

From IanW: Challenge Desperado and 28mm Cowboys (70 points)

Hot of the varnishing board!

After the 6mm Marathon I wanted something a little different so went with my entry Fee and another ten friends.

All are 28mm (well 30 odd mm) Black Scorpion figures from their Tombstone collection of resin figures. 

These should have been a total joy to paint but I had a bit of a disaster with my primer settling on almost like sand. Of course this would not come off. More test firing of the Army Painter primer left me in no doubt that the can was done for and in the bin it's done. Out with a trusty Vallejo can and eventually I got something like a good surface put on some figures it was not great.

I did not so much pick Curt's figure as it picked me, I liked the cool attitude as he holds his hat whilst drawing a bead on his target. I loved the way the shirt went and the jeans so put him to one side mentally and as will be seen he really does not fit the rest. Hope you enjoy him.

Whilst buying one figure for Curt I thought it rude not to buy a few more and that's how I ended up with another ten. The kids showed interest so I soon got the idea of painting these fellow for the kids, something they were really into. So this coming weekend should see them getting used for the first time and if all goes well I will be adding to the collection, for the kids you understand.

The bad guys (my nine year old daughters choice) I decided needing uniformity so these all got buff coloured coats, as a bunch they do look mean.

None of the poses look bad with a few looking really good, though the guy with the loot is my favourite.

I tried to dust up the coats at the bottom but it does not show a lot, three of the guys got jeans the others make do with trousers.

By comparison the good guys are a more mixed bunch though two had similar coloured long coats the two guys with badge's could not be more different. 

The guy with the blue bandanna with a little snow in his moustache looks real mean, a seasoned gunslinger for sure.

Again most of the figures from the set are nice and strong but I am no fan of the guy standing on the rock, I wonder if he takes that rock everywhere in case he needs to fire that rifle?

In the end it was quite a lot of fun to paint them even if the start was a pain, will I buy more Black Scorpion? I think it's a safe bet, just got to make sure the kids have fun playing the game.

Great work Ian and thanks so much for the excellent gunslinger. That hand-cannon he's hefting is quite impressive! I particularly like the veteran gunslinger with the blue bandana and also the dust effect you achieved with the sheriff wearing the long coat. I'm sure your kids must love all these guys.

This group of villains and heroes will give Ian 70 points. Well done and thanks again!