From BurkhardS: 28mm WWII British Universal Carriers with Crew (110 points)

From Burkhard:

After painting a lot of infantry for my poor bloody infantry, I felt they needed some transports to make sure they would not be so foot sore. So here are some Universal carriers for them. All the models are from Tamiyas 1:48th scale range. The tracks, tanks and flamethrower for the Wasp Carrier are from Gasoline. Now I really like these models. Very nicely detailed, robust (our dog stole one while drying and chewed on it without any damage that could not be repaired within 5 minutes) and completely accurate. And there was a time when you could get these off eBay dead cheap. 

I had some fun weathering them. So far I have mostly worked with just some basic airbrush work on my WWII tanks, but I wanted to go a different route on my Brits. So these were primed with Vallejos Bronze Green primer applied with an airbrush. Up next I slapped decals (these came with the kits), sealed with Solvaset. Again the markings are for the South Lancs to match the Infantry. Afterwards I went for a wash of Dirtbrown by Modelmates. 

This was only to be a test since I had never used them, but I was impressed with the results. Now you do not only apply this wash, but it is meant to be partly removed again in a second step. Hard to explain, but in the end you get a nice color variation in the large areas and shadows in the recesses and near the corners. The next step was a first for me as well, as I did highlight everything with Faded Allied Green pigments from MIG. Never did that before, but it was great. The end result after the wash had been darker than what I wanted, but the pigments took it right where I had hoped for. Marvelous! Up next a coat of varnish, painting of details and another weathering with artists pigments to dirty them up. Crew added and another coat of varnish and they were done.

Now the mini are from Victory Force. James has always believed in his range to be compatible with scale models on the market. So when a couple of customers asked for crews for Tamiya's Universal Carriers he sculpted them. (I can claim some credit, since I donated one of my assembled Carriers so he had the measurements.) And he did a great job, providing minis that really fit the models. 

They even fit the cramped passenger compartment. Just not on all my Carriers, since I had been stupid enough to stuff two of them to the rim with ammo crates. so one one of them, the passenger actually has to ride said ammo boxes and is sitting higher. ;-)

Wow, you've done a beautiful job on these carriers Burkhard. I've always been a big fan of using larger 1:50 and 1:48 scale vehicles with  28mm figures. The vehicles just seem to have that much more presence and impact on the tabletop than the 'standard' 1:56 scale offerings. You've also done a brilliant job on the carrier's crew, the little details like their shoulder flashes are a great finishing touch. 

These five Universal Carriers and their crews will give Burkhard 110 points. A wonderful group of models, bravo!

From ReneV: 28mm WWII American Infantry Platoon & Sherman Tank (172 points)

From Rene:

I have outdone myself with yet another entry. This time the Infantry Platoon component of my US forces for Chain of Command.

The figures are a mix but mainly Wargames Factory plastics with the addition of a Renegade model. Sherman support option is from Warlord.

All in all a mediocre paintjob and I must admit that the pictures are taken a bit too close for comfort. They do look better in real life when viewed from playing distance.

The way I have painted these are not what you would call advertisement quality, but decent gaming quality which at the moment is enough for me so I can get troops on the table and play a game.

All in all they are a medic, a 3-man engineer team and Adjudant (more a game marker than a figure on the table hence the GW base) together with a Sherman M4 (75mm gun) and a large part of an infantry platoon.

I think you're being too hard on yourself Rene as these look very good. The infantry's uniforms look spot on and I particularly like the weathering on the Sherman. 

This platoon with it's armoured support will give Rene 172 points. Great job!

From ClintB: Warmachine Crxy BoneJack 'Defiler' (12 points)

From Clint:

"Warmachine BoneJack Defiler"

The Crxy Warjacks and bone jacks are not as robust as many of the other factions. Being Part Pirate, part robot, part undead and part magic I wanted it to look like it had been neglected and abused and finally crawling chicken like from the swamp. The defiler Bone jack is actually a light assault robot and while it is not too good in melee it is armed with a 'sludge gun' which sounds pretty unpleasant if you ask me.

It has taken me a couple of years to finally get around to painting, but now that I have I must admit I did like the challenge. All my club members have moved on from playing Warmachine now, but I still have a few more bits and bobs to do before I can field enough of a force to put up any kind of fight. I guess the morale of this story is I need to paint faster! Oh well too late! But at least I am happy with it.

That's a very cool mini Clint! I really like the rust effect on the BoneJack's armour but I must say I'm quite taken by that toxic pool it's striding through - how did you achieve that? Very nice work.

This fellow will give Clint 12 points.

From SamuliS: 28mm Winter War Finnish Ski Troops (25 points)

From Samuli:

Back to Winter War project again with 5 Finnish ski troops representing a Kaukopartio or Long Range Patrol squad. I originally wanted to paint these for the hero themed fortnight challenge, but only got the minis two days before the deadline thanks to Royal Mail/Fail taking their time with my package :)

The long range patrol teams that Finland employed are quite a personal subject for me as my grandfather served as a sergeant in one of the teams and later on I ended up serving my own military service as a platoon leader in reconnaissance too. The Kaukopartio troops have quite a legendary reputation in Finland as they are some of the highest decorated units to serve in the Finnish army and they carried out some awe inspiring missions during the war. Details of their operations are still a bit sketchy as most of the material was destroyed after a peace had been negotiated with Soviet Union.

Their missions ranged from small intelligence gathering patrols behind to lines to strikes at Soviet supply depots and rear echelon troops with nearly battalion sized forces, with the longest missions lasting over three months hundreds of kilometers behind enemy lines. Such was the effect of their missions that one of the most famous commanders, Lauri Törni, even had a 3 million mark (roughly 600,000 dollars at the time) bounty put on his head by the Soviets. The same Törni actually fought under three nations serving in the Finnish army, the Nordic battalion of the Waffen-SS and finally being killed in Vietnam while serving in the US Army as a Major in Green Berets.

The minis are from Warlord this time. The quality difference between the Baker Co stuff and Warlord is just massive. These guys have far more realistic proportions and better facial features than anything from Baker Company. There are still some issues like the massive amounts of flash. And I only had one rifle in the whole blister that was completely intact with the rest of them missing the front sight and the end of the barrel.

You've done just a wonderful job on these miniatures Samuli. I particularly like how you've dirtied up the knees, elbows and edging of their trousers and parkas. I have to agree with you in that these castings seem significantly nicer to the Baker Company sculpts we've seen to date. 

Also, this Lauri Torni fellow seems to be a very impressive, if not controversial, character. An ex-Waffen SS member in the Green Berets? That is an interesting (if not shocking) tidbit indeed. I definitely need to do some reading on this fellow.

These five Kaukopartio will give Samuli 25 points.

From MartinN: 28mm Late Roman Cavalry & Archers (30 points)

From Martin (Nick):

One of my goals for the challenge was to paint up the Late Roman figures I have in my lead pile. As the end of the challenge grows closer I'm slowly running out of time for this. So here are two heavy cavalry and two archers from Musketeer Miniatures.

I really like the figures Bill is making. They're full of character and require little in the way of cleaning.  Sometimes the detail on the tunics and trousers is a bit flat but they still are a treat to paint.

I decided to go for another colour scheme as for my other Romans as they look a bit too elite to me nowadays in their greyish blue tunics. Most of the older figures are also missing the patterns I painted on these guys here. 

As I occupied myself with the late Roman army for over a year now I came to the conclusion they need these patterns to look right. So maybe I have to go back to my older figures somewhen.

Till then I still have six archers and three infantry men left in the queue which I'm hoping to finish in time.

Wow, absolutely stunning work Nick! I really like the red patterns you've chosen for the archers' tunics and the duller toned metallics seem to resonate well with these figures (especially the scale mail and helm on the mounted leader). But it is in the facial detail where your brush control just amazes me - astonishing stuff and a feast for the eyes, bravo!

These Late Romans will give Nick 30 points. Again, lovely work.

And while I have everyones' attention I'd like to make a few announcements:

1) First, some sad news. Kent has suffered a serious back injury and so has regretfully decided  to put down his brushes and bow out of the Challenge. He told me he was very disappointed as he had planned a glorious dash to the finish, but things just didn't turn out. He extends his heartfelt thanks and well wishes to all his fellow Challengers and hopes to join company with us all next time out. I know I speak for all of us in wishing him a speedy and comfortable recovery. Get well Kent, your participation will be missed!

2) On to more prosaic news: The bonus points for the 'Casualty' bonus round have been tabulated and the participants' scores updated on the roster. Also as a reminder, Sunday 6pm (CST) will be the cutoff for voting on the Casualty round so if you've not had the opportunity to see the gallery please take some time to visit, enjoy the wonderful work and cast your votes for your favourites.

3) Finally, remember this Saturday midnight is the deadline for the 'Favourite Character' theme round so now's the time to stoke the fires of industry and get your submissions wrapped up and into me. I'm looking forward to seeing what folks come up for this one! I'll endeavour to have the gallery up by late Sunday afternoon...

Thanks and have a great weekend everybody!