From MarkG: 28mm Union Infantry Regiment, Gun with Crew & AWI South Carolina Militia (290 points)

From Mark:

So I managed to get 3 final entries done for the end of the challenge. I had hoped to get over the 1000 points mark, but I messed up the dates, thinking the deadline was tomorrow. Thankfully the countdown clock this evening dispelled that illusion, and I had to quickly finish some figures and base them up.

The first unit is of 32 figures from the Perry Miniatures American Civil War (ACW) range. This is for a new project. Anyway they were very nice, a bit smaller than the AWI range, but easy to paint up.

The next submission is one artillery piece and crew from the new Perry Plastics ACW artillery set; lovely figures, natural poses, and easy on the paint brushes, highly recommended if you’re getting into ACW.  These are painted up as Union Rifled Artillery.

The last entry is of South Carolina Militia for the American War of Independence. More Perry goodness again. A bit bulkier than the ACW figures, but very nice to paint, the wrinkled shirts lend themselves well to washing and highlighting.

Obviously these are my last entries into the challenge. It’s been a rollercoaster 3 months on the painting table. Highly enjoyable all round, and has in some small way, cleared some old and new unpainted lead out of the cupboard.”

Wonderful final effort Mark! I quite like that Union regiment along with the artillery crew - very fine work. 

These two regiments along with the gun and crew will give Mark 290 points.  Excellent burst to the finish Mark! Also, my deep thanks again for providing prize support for the Challenge - it is very, very much appreciated.

From MartinN: 28mm Late Romans, Fallshirmjaeger & AWI Militia (50 points)

From Nick:

Here's my last submission for this years challenge. It has been a tough ride and I enjoyed it a lot. I've taken part for the very first time and I have to say I was impressed by the high level of painting, the mutual support and of course by Curt's great organization. I guess this were some pretty hard but fantastic three months for all of us.

So my heartfelt thanks to you Curt for shepherding the 'Wild Bunch' and to your wife for giving you the time to do all this.

My last submission is a pretty mixed bag again. First we have three Late Roman Infantry men from Musketeer Miniatures.

Again from Musketeer Miniatures two lonely Late Roman archers. Originally I planed to finish the remaining four also but you know what Sun Tsu said about plans...

This German Fallschirmjäger I painted for a tutorial on painting splinter pattern. So regular followers of my blog probably have seen him already with only his Schmock painted.

And last but not least we have here four AWI Southern Militia from Perry Miniatures. I guess Chris aka Axebreaker will likely be happy to see them as they're proof of him finally succeeding in luring me into AWI. 

I'm pretty chuffed with how they turned out but to be honest they were a real pain in the ass to both clean and paint. Some years ago I already painted some Crusaders from Perry Miniatures so I already knew what I have to expect in terms of cleaning. But what I didn't remember was how hard they were to paint using my usual approach to painting.

And now to finally round things off nicely I've included a group shot of what I painted over the course of the last three month. 

There are two figures missing as these are by now sitting in one of Curt's cabinets in far away Canada.  In total I painted 47 Miniatures, six casualty markers, two Weapon teams consisting of three figures each plus weapon, two mounted guys and one armoured car. In comparison to our top scorers this might not be much but to me this is quite a lot. So much in fact I'm planing not to do any actual figure painting in the next weeks but go for some much needed terrain making. There's still some goodness from Tactica awaiting my attention. So hope to see you all next year again.

Fabulous work as usual Nick. All of these figures are top drawer but the highlight for me is the amazing camo on the Fallshirmjaeger and the wonderfully smooth work on the breaking Americans. Marvellous stuff (and I love the final group shot).

This fine and varied collection of miniatures will give Nick 50 points.

From RobP: 28mm AWI British Infantry (43 points)

From Rob:

So we are nearing the end of the Painting Challenge... I have managed to squeeze in some extra painting time to complete one more group of figures; unfortunately just too late for last saturday's game with Jacco... However, still in time for the Challenge deadline.. 

Here we have a group of 9 AWI Brits; painted as light infantry for use in Muskets and Tomahawks.. All figures are Foundry except for the officer which is Perry.

It has been great fun painting during the Challenge once my painting dip at the start was over.. A little bit more planning would have been helpful but then again... every chaos creates its own order.

Wonderful stuff has gone by on the blog with some impressive amounts of minis painted: a deep bow to you all!! 

And of course to the Great Master of Schemes, Curt himself, for putting in the effort and all the hard work for keeping the Challenge running. You have certainly earned your first beer when you are over here in May... 

Ah, and I will certainly take you up on that libation Rob - I look very much forward to it.

A great final effort across the finish line Rob! These fellow look very fine (love the wide-brimmed hats) I look forward to reading the AAR of that game you had with Jacco on Mike's blog. 

This group of British infantry will give Rob 43 points. Good job!

From StefanK: 28mm AWI British Infantry, Viking Bondi & Challenge Desperado (110)

From Stefan:

The 44th Regiment of Foot. The regiment was raised in 1741 and firstly bore the name of its founder Colonel James Long and was originally the 55th regiment of foot. After first employments during the Jacobite Risings of 1745 and the Flanders campaign in 1748 the regiment was renumbered as 44th Regiment of Foot, actually as part of a large reorganization of the British army. A few years later the regiment was brought into action during the French Indian War where it fought in important battles like the Battle of Carillon, the Braddock Expedition and the famous siege of Fort William Henry. Above all it served in the Battle at La Belle-Familie which the "Bloggers for Charity" want to restage this year at several events to create attention and rise funds for the charity projects "Help for Heroes" and "Men Matters".

For this excellent venture I agreed to paint a unit of redcoats which will represent this heroic regiment. It consists of twelve figures manufactured by AW Miniatures who is establishing a quickly growing 28mm range covering the FIW. Overall the miniatures are very nice. The casting quality is good at most parts although some thin details like the loading stick are damaged on several miniatures. The sculpting is crisp and clear and make it rather easy to distinguish the different parts and layers of the miniatures. Unfortunately a lot of the finer details (especially the lacing) are left out and must be painted on.

The faces are quite good but don't have the excellence and expression the top-notch manufacturers (Perry, Wargames Foundry, Front Rank et al.) usually provide.

As usual I used Vallejo Model Colours and Armypainter Quickshade to paint the figures. My main source for the uniforms was C. E. Franklin's "British Army Uniforms from 1751 to 1783". There I read that officers used to wear waistcoats in their regiment's facing colours. Therefore I decided to give them that individual blot of paint. This time I didn't base the figures because James and Andrew preferred to do that themselves.

Next is a unit of eight Viking Bondi for my SAGA warband. All eight figures are metal ones from Gripping Beast's SAGA range. Some of them look slightly old fashioned and stiff but altogether they are really good. 

As most SAGA miniatures I know so far these Bondi have open hands to glue the weapons in. Most of mine got spears this way. But I used steel wire spears rather then the leaden ones provided by Gripping Beast. Absolutely outstanding are their faces which make it easy to bring out some expression.

As usual I painted the figures with Vallejo Model Colours and shaded them with Armypainter Quickshade (Dark Tone). The fine artworks on the shield are decals from Stephen Hales' Little Big Men Studios. For the bases I used my habitual combination of sand, static grass and tufts.

And so it ends... As my last entry I proudly present: The Cowboy.

The miniature is from Wargames Foundry and actually his name is "Lonesome Dexter" from the "This town ain't big enough". But this time he shall represent one of the countless cowboys immortalized in Sam Peckinpah's movies. Curt asked for such an act of appreciation and I hope my humble work bestows honour to his concern.

This fellow was the first Wild West figure I ever painted. And it was great fun. It is well detailed and sculpting as well as casting are of top-notch quality as usual for Wargames Foundry. Once again I employed Vallejo's Model Colour range to paint it but skipped Quickshade this time because I didn't have the time to let it dry long enough. To give the miniature a little special 'something' I didn't only decorate the top of the base but the bottom as well.

Well then, Curt, this one's for you. Many thanks for organizing this year's painting challenge. It was great fun to participate and I enjoyed the company of all those excellent painters and modellers a lot. Additionally those three months let me learn a lot about my very own way of painting and pushed my skills forward. It was an honour to see my humble work presented alongside the pieces of art our fellow competitors submitted. For next winter I'll definitely reserve a time slot for the next painting challenge hoping to snatch a slot again. I hope you like this little sign of appreciation. 

Stefan, this is beautiful work, all of it.  I'm sure whoever receives your AWI figures from the 'Bloggers for Charity' event will be absolutely delighted with their 'score'.

Your bondi certainly look the business - I'm particularly taken with the colour detail on their jerkins and trousers. Beautiful.

Finally, I give my humble thank you for the wonderful cowboy figure you've painted as my Challenge 'levy' (or 'Curtgeld' as some have now called it). I really like his grey hair and his jersey chaps are an excellent choice (great pattern). Also, the Challenge banner on the bottom is pure class. Thanks again!

This wonderful assortment of miniatures will give Stefan 110 points, with a bit extra for the chaps! This will be enough for Stefan to exceed his Challenge target of 600 points. Congratulations on pushing through to the finish! 

It's been a pleasure Stefan, I'm delighted you could join us in this little bit of winter madness.

From KevH: 15mm AWI Command Stand & Artillery Limbers (22 points)

From Kev:

Well!!!! 

We are nearly there, I am rapidly trying to get some of the Saracen Cavalry finished in time. 

I aim to end the Challenge with a few Camels, haha. 

First up is a few bits I have been pottering away at over the last week. My first AWI, American Brigade Command. 15mm Lancashire Games Miniatures. A mounted and Foot officer.

Then followed by a couple of Limbers. These are the condensed limbers I will be using for our Black Powder games. Just two horses and a generic Rider. This was a couple of testers to see how they would look for the game. I am happy with them and the very quick simple paintjob.

I have got 22 of these lil buggers to make. They are 15mm Minifigs.

Test successful, I say! Another new project for us to enjoy, wonderful. These look marvellous Kev and I can't wait to see this army develop over the coming months. 

The command stand and limbers will give Kev 22 points.  I'll keep an eye out for those camels...

From JaccoK: 28mm AWI 'Light Horse Harry Lee's Legion' (90 points)

Jacco answers Rob's challenge and so submits these excellent dismounted AWI cavalrymen.

From Jacco:

28mm Perry Miniatures Lee’s Legion for the American War of Independence. There are 18 of them.

I have chosen to paint them as dismount dragoons. Lucky for me the Perry’s just released the mounted version of these guys.

Wonderful work Jacco! I really like the contrast between their buff riding breeches and the green of their coats - very smart. I hope we will see some of the mounted versions from you before the Challenge ends. 

These dismounted troopers of Light Horse Harry Lee will give Jacco 90 points. Great work and well done on getting Rob back into your sights. 

From RobP: 28mm AWI American Minutemen (45 points)

Rob cracks the whip to prompt his fellow Dutchmen to greater efforts with this excellent entry of AWI Minutemen.

From Rob:

After a two-week skiing trip I was surprised to see that my two fellow Dutch contenders (MichaelF and JaccoK) did not take the opportunity to catch up with me on the points list.  I have given them another week but now there is no more mercy regarding getting first place in our side competition...

To further work towards my points goal here is my next entry: 9 AWI Minutemen.

The figures are Foundry (Perry sculpts) and I think almost everybody bought this pack since you see them in a lot of pictures and articles. I had these lying around for a long time but since we are into 'Muskets and Tomahawks' with our gaming group I decided to paint them up to field a small American force as an addition to my British to be able to play both sides if needed.. 

The figures were fun to paint and will certainly get more company in the form of some militia units in the near future.

Excellent work Rob! These are great models (as you noted, one sees them everywhere it seems) and you've done a very nice job on them.  I like that you've kept them in a varied mix of colours to underline their irregular status.

These nine Minutemen will give Rob 45 points, bringing him within 55 points of winning the Dutch side challenge. Well done Rob! Now, Michael and Jacco, where are your entries?

From SebG: 28mm AWI British 44th Foot Light Infantry (23 points)

From Seb:

What you have here are six 28mm British light infantry from AW miniatures.

You'll have to excuse the poor quality pictures, but my parents' PC refuses to acknowledge the existence of my camera's SD card, and of course I forgot to take the USB cable... When Andrew (Loki) and James launched their Bloggers for Charity project, I was immediately interested. They intend to game a battle during the Seven Years War in Canada. I have offered my services and Andrew sent me these figures to paint as a light detachment of the 44th Abercrombie. I was delighted since I knew i could then practice on my red and flesh techniques for 28mm.

Sadly, the minis are not great. There was no flash but you can find some errors in the sculpting, such as the cartridge box but no belt to carry it !?!  And some cuffs and hands are miscast. Ah well. Still they were easy to paint.

I haven't based them because as soon as James receives them, he'll do it. So that's it. 6 more miniatures done from me.

Seb, the photo effects are actually kinda neat. These shots give the impression that the camera was last used to film Sophia Loren or Catherine Deneuve - a dab of vaseline on the lens does miracles.  Seriously, very nice work here Seb - I quite like your flesh tones and that deep yellow facing colour is excellent as well.

These half dozen hearty fellows will give Seb 23 points. Well done and bravo for contributing to a good cause.

From ChristopherS: 28mm AWI American Infantry 'The Maryland 400' (80 points)

From Christopher:

Busy days, but managed to Add more to my 28mm AWI collection with the 1st Maryland Infantry Regiment (16 figures).

It's a regiment I've long wanted to do as they were a very active regiment that fought in both the Northern and Southern campaign's that earned them the nick name "The Maryland 400" for holding off 2000 British at Long Island by charging a half a dozen times to allow their parent brigade to escape an entrapment before withdrawing themselves. Plus others will remember them for their stubborn stand at Guilford Courthouse. In terms of the American army I would for sure consider them as an elite formation.

I painted them in the regulation Continual army uniform of blue coats with red turnbacks with a few extra change in clothing and equipment to take the edge off uniformity as I believe Americans units were rarely if ever perfectly turned out, but still kept enough uniformity to distinguish them from militia.

The figures are from Perry and Foundry (early Perry) with a GMB flag which I particularly really like. If you like AWI then stay tuned to this channel as I have more AWI planned.

Simply stunning work Christopher. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the AWI but seeing a unit finished like this makes me truly waver. I really like the subtle mix of uniformed troops alongside those with civilian clothing. As you say it really gives this unit a great sense of character, of the men being composed of citizen soldiers. 

This wonderful regiment of renegades, er, I mean 'patriots' will give Christopher 80 points. Again, marvellous work.