3rd Annual Painting Challenge Prizes & Awards!

Okay, now that we've all put down our still-smoking paint brushes I want to talk a bit about the Challenge prizes and awards.

First off I need to make a correction regarding the top scoring finishers. Ahem. It seems that in my sleep deprived state, after doing 25 previous entries, I inadvertently awarded extra points to Ray for his final submission. I know, 'why did I lurn all this edumication stuff if I still can't do any basik cipherin'?!' To his credit, Mr Rousell pointed out the error for which I give him great credit as a sportsman. Anyway, this changes things a bit as the readjusted points tally will secure KevH back in 3rd place. My apologies to both Ray and Kev for the mix up.

Ok, back to the Prizes & Awards:

1st place - ChrisP: A $25 give certificate with J&M Miniatures and 3 figures chosen and painted by me.

2nd Place - JamesB: A $20 gift certificate with J&M Miniatures and 2 figures chosen and painted by me. 

3rd Place - KevH: A $15 gift certificate with J&M Miniatures and 1 figure chosen and painted by me.

I'm also painting another figure for Ray to acknowledge his good sportsmanship, I'm calling it 'The Little Ray of Sunshine Award'.  ;-)

Some of you may remember from my post announcing the Challenge I stated that, in addition to the prizes for the top three finishers for the points standing, we also have four additional award categories:

Challengers' Choice: This award will be determined by those who took part in The Challenge. So, to all Challengers, please browse through the entries from December 20th to March 20th and send me an email with your selection. 

Judge's Choice: This will be my favorite submission of all entries submitted during the Challenge (myself excluded of course!).  

People's Choice: This is for our visitor/commentors to vote for their favorite Challenge submission. So, to all of you who enjoyed following the Challenge, if there was an entry that you particularly enjoyed please leave me a note in the Comments area of this post. I have temporarily reset my blog settings to moderate all comments so your choice will be private and only known to me - I will not publish 'People's Choice' selections.  

Sarah's Choice: This award is sponsored by Sarah who will award a prize for her favorite non-military figure or vignette. I am organizing all the entries for her to review so she will be quite busy over the next few weeks. (Note: Due to the large number of submission this year I ask that all those who submitted a figure for this category please send me a reminder of your work to make sure she sees it.)

I will announce the winners of all the categories at 3pm, Sunday April 7th (Saskatchewan Time).

Again, for all those who've enjoyed following the Challenge please vote for your favourite entry. If you are new to this blog please take some time and peruse the Challenge submissions (again, from Dec 20th to March 20th), enjoy the excellent work exhibited by the Challengers and join in the fun by sending in a vote.

Speaking of cooking the books, here is some fun statistical stats and projections from Miles (our in-house numbers Uber-Geek):

The total points tally for this year's challenge is 42,079! 

That's the equivalent of 8,373 28mm infantry figures 

From an economic value to the industry, I think it's safe to estimate that assuming a cost equivalent of $6.38 US per figure (see below) your little contest has contributed almost $54,000 US to the wargaming economy. 

Figure $2.50 

Paint 0.30 

Basing 0.25 

Painting Time 3.33 (assumes 20 minutes per fig at $10.00 hour) 

Total $6.38 

Now let's factor in that all of us buy at least 3 minis for everyone we paint and now you're talking about over $200,000 US you've created for the Wargaming economy - we as a group are a 28mm scale economic stimulus!

Thanks Miles (you're such a geek...)

'The Final Cut': The 3rd Annual Painting Challenge Concludes

Whoa. It's a little past 2:30am and I have to say I'm completely tapped. Knackered. Kaputnik. Exhausted to the core, but also very, very happy. 

It was a great Challenge. It was made great by having over 40 excellent people who shared, commented, painted, jeered and laughed their way through three months of hobby-filled madness. You folks are brilliant.

I'm not sure of the numbers yet, but I think I posted over 400 entries over the duration of Challenge, and at around 20 minutes per entry... well, lets just say there was a lot of time  spent beavering away in front of the computer! 

Anyway, as my final salute to my fellow Challengers I present to you the last entry, 'The Final Cut'. It's a wonderful set of castings from the Perry's that I've had for years but have never got around to getting done. Nonetheless, as soon as the 47 Ronin emerged in my fevered mind as a Challenge theme I knew that The First Cut would kick-off the Challenge and that this would be the final entry.

I have to say that it's not quite done as I simply ran out of time in the flurry of the last few hours. It still needs more highlighting, some cleaning up and a few other details (The poor fellow is going out without a final poem written on his page, for shame!), but I believe the core sentiment is there. 

So, no points for me on this one, instead I dedicate 'The Final Cut' to all my Ronin! 

Thank you all for making the 3rd Challenge such a great success.

With warm regards,

Curt

From ChrisP: 28mm ACW, Taliban & Ronin #6 (368 points)

From Chris:

Just like the title says, more American Civil War, more blue bellies.

This time we have the 56th Pennsylvanian to complete the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Corps, along with a skirmisher stand.

Then we have the beginning of the Iron Bridge, the 1st Brigade of the 1st Corps resplendent in their Hardee Hats. These are Perry Plastics, which have been given new heads from Steve Barber Miniatures. The command figures also come from Steve Barber. I do like the changing of the heads, it makes them nice and different from the other (hordes) of Union infantry. These two units will represent the 6th Wisconsin and the 2nd Wisconsin.

The 1st Maine Cavalry gets represented too, just union blue troopers on horses, nothing extraordinary! The 1st Maine Cavalry were the provost guard for the 1st Corps at Gettysburg.

Lastly we have three of the major Union commanders from Gettysburg. On the left, Hancock who commanded 2nd Corps and who was with 1st Corps briefly on day one. In the centre, Meade himself, riding a white charger, saving the day (and all that). If I cared to, I could have found out what colour his horse actually was, but I liked the idea of him riding to save the day! On the right, we have Abner Doubleday who was in command of the 3rd Division, 1st Corps. He was also briefly in charge of the entire Corps, when Reynolds was killed.

Then to a lonely Taliban with an RPK light machinegun. I needed another one of these guys for Skirmish Sangin (LMGs are great), so I picked one up when I did the order from Eureka for the NVA previously seen here.

Here is my 10th Helicopter, this one to support my Modern US and British armies in Skirmish Sangin. To be fair, you don't strictly need to have the helicopter, but you know what? It looks way cooler to have the model!

This is an AH-64A Apache helicopter, which has been upgraded with the Longbow Radar equipment. The kit is 1/48 from Academy, and was a bit of a pig to make actually. There were needlessly complicated pieces (4 parts to make something which could easily be one) and there was also no pilots given with the model. But, it looks damn cool, a couple of decals to make the it looks less drab, it is ready to go, with it's 30mm cannon, hellfire missiles and rocket pods!

Lastly is the Green Samurai, another Eureka figure. He was originally red, but I just couldn't get excited about the colour scheme. So, here he is in a nice earthy green. Should be enough to pay my way, right Curt?

This will probably be my last entry, there is one thing I am working on currently, but i am not sure it will get done before 7pm tonight (kiwi time). So, thank you Curt for running an excellent competition once again, thank you for making me get off my lazy ass and get painting, I have completed projects which have been looming for years, started some new ones and thoroughly enjoyed sparring with James with the top spot!

I am most happy with...Refinding the enjoyment of plastic kits, that HMMWV was great fun to build and looks damn good too.

I am most annoyed about...Putting big fat thumb prints all over my MH-6 helicopters. Although it made me do better with the Huey, so it had a purpose!

Next time I will...Paint my Thirty Years War! I had so many plans to get them done! But I got distracted by EVERYTHING ELSE.

Great work again Chris. You've got a great start on your Iron Brigade which I'm sure you'll have done within the week. :) Ronin #6 is fabulous. I really like the green and light yellow combination (and a great sculpt to boot!).

This great selection of figures will give Chris 368 points securing his place at the lead. 

Thanks again Chris for treating us to your blistering pace and tremendous enthusiasm for the hobby. Bravo to you!

From RayR: 15mm English Pikemen, Demi-Lancers, FIW Canoes and Rafts & Danish Cavalry (648 points)

...and Ray drops his last sandbag:

In this entry we have 2 units of 16 figures of Henry VIII's English pikemen for the Battle of Pinkie.

Also included are two units of English Demi-Lancers. They're all Essex figures and the flags are all made by me. They were painted up at the same time as the Scots pike but I wanted to keep them separate.

Then we have my one and only post of French Indian Wars figures. A few canoes and rafts. Infact there are 32 canoes and 6 rafts, but 2 rafts and 2 canoes cannot be entered. 

I painted them before the challenge but had to base them up, so I included them in the pics. The figures are mainly from Irregular minis with a few from Matchlock, which are now unavailable. 

As you can see in the pics I based the figures in the canoes on bases (actually coffee stirrers), so you can take the figures out when they've landed on the beach. 

For my last entry, I've just managed to finish my first of 3 units of Danish horse for the battle of the Boyne. This regt is Donop's Horse, all figures are my usual fix of Essex minis and the flags were made by me! 

Thanks again Curt for hosting the challenge, me and Fran are knackered and need a rest from the brush.

Very impressive Ray! Those canoes are fabulous little models (I particularly like the crews). 

This huge lot of 15mm goodness will provide Ray with an astounding 648 points. His new total will pip him into 3rd place in the points standings. Well done Mr Rousell and thank you for keeping us all on the wire these past few weeks!

From KevinH: 28mm Viking Berserkers & Ronin #22 (42 points)

From Kevin:

My last couple of entries:

First, a 'three-view' pic of my Samurai/Ronin figure, by Steel Fist Miniatures. (See above)

This was a pretty interesting figure.  There's a Samurai Armour page on Facebook called "Samurai Store" and I found this pic:

...and since it had a similar "hood ornament" to the figure Curt had expressed an interest in, I thought I'd use it as a 'jumping off point' for painting my figure.

I only wish there had been a bit more of the "trousers/pantaloons" showing - I managed to get a good colour and pattern on the pants, and would like to have had it more visible!

Lastly, the four Foundry "Wolf-skin Berserkers" for my slowly growing Viking force for SAGA.

These guys were pretty straight-forward.  Although, being of part-Czech extraction, I decided to do one of the shields in the colours of the Czech armour 'roundels' from WWII!  Still need to add flock to these guys, but as it's just after Midnight here, it's time for my to make my final submission!

Thanks for inviting me to participate in the Challenge again this year, Curt. I hope you enjoy your Samurai!

Fabulous work Kevin! I love Ronin # 22. He looks like a '57 Buick with a sword and a bad attitude - that is a whole lot of awesome! Your Viking berserkers look suitably nasty, but in a good way and I like the Czech shield motif btw.

These bad lads will give Kevin 42 points. Great job and Thank You!

From ScottB: 15mm WWII Hummel & 28mm Bilbo and Gandalf (38 points)

From Scott:

I managed to complete a fourth Hummel for my 15mm German Flames of War Heavy

Armoured Artillery Battery.

Painted in my usual style and my remaining paintbrushes were more of less up to the job for this work...

But I was really hanging out for some new brushes which finally arrived 2 days ago...

Which let me finish off Bilbo and Gandalf from my The Hobbit boxed set.

You never know how important a fine detail brush is to you till it dies! Thankfully Army Painter came to the rescue...

So that's my last submission for the Challenge.

I didn't manage a Ronin figure in the time frame of the challenge. I was belated in my figure choice for, not having any suitable figures in my existing collection, and not really knowing which I could find that I liked. I really felt a bit out on a limb with this part of the challenge...

Eventually Curt made the decision for me and I ordered a figure from Eureka in Australia, but it sadly has still not arrived... However a deal is a deal and a promise a promise. It may not score me any points in the challenge but I will still complete the figure upon its arrival and get it to Curt ASAP.

Thanks to all my fellow Ronin for making this a wonderful enterprise, it's been great watching all your work roll in, and quite an eclectic bunch of submissions it's been! 

I didn't hit my target but knew before hand I would fall short as I had several things on the go that were not going to score me any points, but no matter, it not the winning, but the taking part that matters! Not to take away anything from whoever wins! Some of you guys are real painting machines compared to my poultry efforts!

Many thanks to Curt for hosting a wonderful competition, and for the all the work he has put in, handling and documenting all our submissions, and also special thanks to 'Mrs Curt' for letting him do this!

Thank again, and best wishes to all.

Fabulous work as usual, Scott. That Hummel looks like a 28mm model the detail is so fine. Wonderful. Speaking of wonderful, your Gandalf and Bilbo are first rate as well. Mithril brushes apparently...

Don't sweat the Ronin. I know he'll make it North to join his comrades and your points are assured. Thank you Scott for joining in again for this year's round of fun. It's always great to be inspired by your efforts.

This submission will give Scott 38 points. Well done!

From IannickM: 28mm Casualty Stand of Biblical Proportions (20 points)

From Iannick:

Here is my last submission, a small diorama I call 'Feast of vultures", with dead Canaanite and Egyptian soldiers surrounded by vultures.

The vultures are from Foundry and were sent as freebies with my Shasu Bedouins. Not wanting free stuff to go to waste I figured I had to find a way to include these animals in my biblical project. Mostly it's for the looks but maybe I could use them as a marker of some kind.

Unfortunately this is my last submission; I was literally one evening away from finishing a 24 Canaanite spearmen unit, so very close, damn basing! I take solace in the fact that the contest made me paint that unit in 7 days which is a record for me.

A big thanks to you, it was my first time participating in the contest and it was a lot of fun. Kudos for not losing your sanity along the way... ;-) 

If vultures eating corpses can be beautiful then this is the bee's knees. Excellent work Iannick! I really have to see if I can get a couple of these as they're wonderful sculpts and this is a great purpose for them.

This grisly vignette will give Iannick 20 points. Thanks for participating and I look forward to seeing your Canaanite army grow over on your blog in the coming months.

From FranL: 28mm Plains Indians, Tunnelling Machine, Steam Tank, Wagons, Cowgirls and a Bleedin' Rocket (320 points)

From Francis:

This is my last entry and while the challenge has been a blast, it has drained me, well mainly listening to Ray has drained me, he gets a little obsessive!

We have a real mixed bag here and some of it was no internet for two days at home last week and this is especially evident with the V2 rocket, anyway here we go........

We have 19 28mm Foundry Plains Indians for the wild west shenanigans.

We have a 28mm tunnelling machine from Ironclad Miniatures erupting from beneath the earth possibly full of chinese invaders.

Two 28mm MDF wagons from 4Ground plus 2 resin wagon loads specially designed to fit the wagons, these were really well designed kits but very fiddly, you can see were there should be 5 wagon hoops but there are only fecking 4, damn these shovel sized hands!

Two 28mm Ironclad Miniatures Steam Tanks with gatling guns, currently painting some Hinterland Miniatures to go with these.

9 28mm horses from Dixon Miniatures, 6 are Apache and 3 are cowboy, these are primarily scenery.

A mounted and dismounted princess from Hinterland Miniatures with a queen Victoria from Eureka Minis.

Some apache females and scouts from Dixon Miniatures, 7 figures plus 1 horse (I promise there is a figure behind the horse). 

4 28mm female gunfighters from Eureka Minis called The Earp Sisters with Dr.Holly Daye.

This is either a 1/48th or 1/35th scale WW2 V2 rocket which will be used for 28mm Pulp gaming, there is a 28mm Ironclad Miniatures scientist pushing the button beside it and to give an idea of scale!

There is a rumour circulating that next year you're doing the challenge dedicated to the 300 at Thermopylae, just a rumour though Curt! An excellent challenge this year, congratulations my friend.

Ha! 300 Spartans? Now that is an idea... Can you imagine? God's Holy Trousers, I'd be a gibbering mess in the first 3 days.

Funny you should mention 300, I see my blog has just tipped over 300K hits today. Whoa. I would have never guessed when I started this ...

Okay, a tunnelling machine and a steam tank?! (sigh) Whatever. I'm too tired to say a word...

Lovely work Fran. Your submissions never fail to make me smile. That rocket is completely mental btw (your reflection in the window is excellent).

This final submission by my favourite Irishman will garner him a well deserved 320 points. Hey, this almost doubles what your original target was. Great work Francis! 

It has been a pleasure, mon ami. Until next year...