From DaveD: 28mm Great Escape Characters & The Inquisition (30 points)

I'm a big Steve McQueen fan so I cracked a grin when Dave sent these along...

From Dave:

Time for another few oddities from the lead pile.

First up - The Cooler King, The Scrounger , and The Surveyor from Ebob's Great Escape Range, something a little unusual - go on, you can hear can the music.

Next - No One Expects ... the Spanish Inquisition - by Victoria Lamb in Australia - home of a eclectic mix of figures...

No not sure if you want to class these as historical!! but I gotta try .... just for the sheer cheek of it!! 

Next up big point Napoleonics...

Awesome stuff Dave. That Cooler King is da Bomb. Love him. The Inquisitors are hilarious - I have to get a set for my Four Musketeers games...

These six will give Dave 30 points.

From MikeW: 15mm WWII American Infantry (80 points)

Mike delves for the first time into the world of 15mm and manages to fight his way through the project.

From Mike:

40 15mm Battlefront WW2 US Infantry in a mix of M1941 and M1943 uniforms (there's even one guy in M1941 with Herringbone Twill fatigue trousers), based for I Ain't Been Shot Mum. The 'Big Men' are on 1p and 2p coins, the rest on Flames of War bases. These are the last platoon of a company I've been working on for a while, as my first attempt at anything 15mm. I'm definitely starting to reach the conclusion that painting 15mm's to the standard some folks seem to be able to pull off is a younger man's game, though a 2x magnifier/daylight lamp and some decent brushes seem to help (and you do get a pleasant surprise when you look at them *without* the magnifier afterwards!)

Usual technical details - black Army Painter undercoat, Vallejo/Army Painter arcylics, a little help from a 0.2mm paintliner pen, and the bases are Tamiya diorama paint + Javis static grass and edged with Vallejo Flat Earth (and a white panel with platoon/section number inked on it at the back).

It's good that you preservered Mike, as they are very nice. I know it makes no material difference, but I like that these are going to be used for 'I Ain't Been Shot Mum' instead of the usual 'Flames of War'. 

These Yanks will give Mike 80 points to add to his tally. Well done!

From GregB: 15mm Israeli Centurion Sho't Tanks (15 points)

Greg adds some more models to his Golan Heights collection with these two Israeli Centurions.

From Greg:

My next submission - two 15mm scale MBTs, IDF Centurion Sho'ts.  The models are Centurion tanks from Peter Pig's 15mm modern range.  These are the "generic" Centurions, not the Sho'ts from Peter Pig's Lebanon range (those models have ERA and other enhancements that were not present in 1973).  These models are not exact matches for the Sho'ts used in 1973, but they are close enough after you remove the smoke launchers from the turret, add some stowage and some .30 cal MGs for the commander's cupola.  The tank commander is also from Peter Pig's IDF range. 

To add a bit of finish I cut out a bit of card and painted (or more accurately, try to paint) the hebrew symbols that served as the Israeli tactical numbering system on their MBTs.  The IDF tankers would throw cards or cloth sections marked with the relevant tactical numbers as they pulled the tanks from the reserve depots - and would even switch them from tank to tank during battle if the situation called for it (if, for example, a more senior commander left a damaged tank to take over another one that was still active).  

These are tanks "Alef 1" and "Alef 2", which I think translates to "Alpha 1" and "Alpha 2".  The chevrons on the skirts represent the Company (second, in this case) and the rings on the barrel are for the battalion number (again, the second battalion).  The Israeli MBTs also had symbols for their units often painted on the rear of the tank near the exhaust.  I painted a squiggle intended to approximate the "Barak Brigade" which fought with incredible bravery on the Golan Heights. 

You did a beautiful job on these, Greg. I really like the weathering you've achieved on their hulls and the commander perched in his cupola looks great.

These will add a base of 12 points but I'm going to bring it up to 15 for the extra work on the markings, aerials, 30cals, etc. 

From IanW: 6mm Napoleonic French Chasseurs (45 points)

From Ian:

Keeping with the twin theme of Baccus French Naps and the need for some more cavalry for tomorrows game I present five regiments of Chasseurs. 

I was a little concerned that being all green with green saddle cloths (except the trumpeters) that they would look to much like blobs of green from a distance. I lightened the saddle cloths though that has been lost with the ink wash but the white horses and red pom poms have saved them from this. These took about the same amount of tim as the previous four regiments as they were less fiddly. 

The dead horse and infantry were painted before the challenge so it's just the 45 upright figures that count. I still have five regiments of Hussars to paint up but that will be after moving onto another scale and period

Great work Ian! These lads will give you 45 points and position you in the lead (for now...).

From MarkB: Ronin #25 and Korean Swordsman (25 points)

Mark took a unique approach to the Challenge Ronin which I think is quite creative.

From Mark:

So I have the Samurai for you, he is a 28mm Perry Samurai casualty!  With the casualty is a victorious Choson (Korean) Heavy Infantry figure.  So why did I do this?  Well my wife is from Korea and she has a pretty strict no Japanese policy and so I figured I would keep her happy and paint a victorious Korean over an injured or dead Japanese Samurai.  The Koreans and Japanese do not have a very good history of being nice to each other.  

The Korean Heavy Infantry figure is also a Perry miniature and is the first of there miniatures that I have ever painted. They are very good and have a lot of detail with little to no flash.

Excellent stuff Mark, you've done a wonderful job on these two - Thanks very much! 

Poor Ronin #25 and the victorious Korean will give Mark 25 points. 

From JuanM: 28mm WWII German Hetzer & Otto Skorzeny (25 points)

From Juan:

I have finished my second batch of models for "The Challenge", more WWII stuff:

The first one is a Hetzer in 28mm from "Warlord Games". We are going to use it in the Eastern Front game we are preparing for the next "Hispania Wargames"; this model will be part of the Kampfgruppe 1001 Nacht.

The second one is Otto Skorzeny, also from "Warlord Games", the special figure they give with the German Army Book for "Bolt Action". I have painted it as a Wehrmacht Officer for the Mediterranean Theatre, thinking in advance of the Africa Korps models the Perry are preparing for the next year...

Lovely work Juan. I've always liked the low silhouette of the Hetzer and you've done a very nice job with the muted camouflage. 

The Hetzer and Otto will give Juan a base of 20 points, but I'm going to add another 5 points for the two crewmen that are in the tank destroyer's hatches. 

From TimG: Car For the Tsar of Tratvia, 1:32 1910 Cadillacs (60 points)

 From Tim:

The (as yet unpainted) Tsar of Tratvia, Vladimir IV now has this pair of 'big splendid motor cars' to ferry around he and his (also currently unpainted) staff.

These 1910 Cadillacs were built from Revell 1/32 scale plastic kits. They were originally made by the Gowland (no relation...) company in the 1950s! This great age shows up a bit in the fit of some parts - cue the usual sanding, filling, more sanding, etc... But in the end they look pretty good.

They look great! I love the drivers with their grey uniforms and handlebar moustaches. 

These two horseless carriages will give Tim 60 points to add to his total which will slide him into first place on the roster. Well done!