From KevH: 28mm English Civil War Cavalry, AWI Infantry & 54mm Knights (342 points)

From Kev: 

Well, here I have a mixed bag for you. First up are the 28mm Empress ECW Heavy cavalry (12 mounted figures). Mmmmmm, what can I say about these. I'll start at the beginning. Beautiful  exquisite, finely crafted miniatures. Very realistic, accurately proportioned, they look fantastic,

BUT!!

Assembly is a git, although these were part assembled when I recieved them. They fell apart during painting on a number of occasions. The swords are very thin, although this is accurate, they break really easy, really easy.

The horses are ok but if you remove the run throughs on the hoofs, the entire horse bends with the weight of the rider, I left some on after removing some and having this problem. Much of the detail is so fine, be careful not to obliterate if when priming.

The figures are very unforgiving when painting. Some areas are hard to reach when assembled, yet you must assemble to paint. All in all, I did not like painting these, they took twice the time and effort to paint. Overall, I think they turned out ok, I just hope my customer likes them.

I fancied painting something different for a change so I decided to do some more work on my Muskets and Tomahawks stuff. AWI and FiW came out again. First up are 14 x 28mm Foundry American Infantry with command.

I did these with green facings so I could tell them apart from my regulars, they will act as light infantry for the moment.

Followed by 10 x 28mm custom Militia/Civilians for M&T games. These are converted from various manufacturers, but are mostly Foundry & Front Rank.

Closely followed by 3 x 28mm Brits. The light infantry is a conversion from a bugler into an NCO. He was started before the challenge, so dont include him please Curt. These Two 28mm Brits bring my British infantry up to full strength. (24 figs, 2 x 12)

And Finally. 2 x 6 figure units of 54mm Knights. Once again these are Accurate Miniatures plastics. Basic paint job as before. I am about a quarter way through my Siege game troops. Charlie is slowly progressing with the missile units. 

Gorgeous stuff Kev. Even though you describe the ECW cavalry as particularly troublesome I think you've done a beautiful job on them. The horses are splendid and I really like how you've done their buff coats. I think your client will be very pleased indeed. 

This fine assortment of figures will give Kev a very respectable 342 points, allowing him to close-in ever closer to his Challenge target...

From KevH: 28mm Wars of the Roses & 54mm Medieval Infantry (275 points)

From Kev:

First up some 28mm Perry's. Richard Duke of Gloucester's Billmen. 

 Usual White Boar Livery, 12 figures including command.

Followed by William Lord Hastings Billmen.

Bulls head Livery with Blue and Murrey back. All flags are my own design. 

I decided against the livery decals as they are so fine and a real pig to fit. So painting them it is.

Followed up by some pretty basic 54mm Medievals. A unit of 6 foot Knights and 8 Men at Arms. 

 These are for my "Siege" game. Figures are from "Accurate".

My Mrs is now finished painting some of the missile troops. They are on her blog, (follow the link on mine). She would really love and comments and advice. She not made a bad job of her first figures and she really enjoys painting. That's it, got her hooked, lol.

28mm Empress ECW lobsters on my table and some more 54mm meds. We getting near the end now. Hitting my new target will be close but if I can get all the 54mm stuff done, I may just manage it.

Very lovely work as usual Kev. I particularly admire your job on the livery and banners - well done!

I'm quite looking forward to seeing your Empress ECW cavalry as I'm thinking on picking some up myself.

This submission will give Kev 275 points.

From KevH: 28mm Napoleonic Westphalian Infantry, 54mm Medievals & 15mm WWII German Prime Mover (397 points)

From Kev:

It has been a while since my last post and I have been painting.

I also have my Mrs painting at last, been showing her the ropes and she is helping me with my Siege project. She is currently painting the missile units, she is a bit slow, but getting there.

First up are some 28mm Westphalians (commission work). A battalion of 24 figures with command and a mounted General de Brigade. All 28mm Front Rank miniatures. I have two more of these and one light btn as part of the commission.

Next up is my first 54mm Medievals for "Siege" This is a castle game I have been working on for the last year. The rules are now complete and ready for play testing. I now know how many figures and type will be in each unit.

The castle was started a few months back and is a toy castle from Simba. This painted up quite nicely and with the added thickness of some styrene is starting to look the part. I have built it in modular sections with some breaches made for entry for the attackers. I have siege engines, ladders, boiling oil and all sorts of nasties for this and it should prove to be quite a bit of fun to play. It will accomodate 1 defender (holding the castle) and as many attackers as wants to play, great for a demo game.

All in the lovely 54mm scale. All These medievals are plastic 54mm Accurate miniatures. They are painted in a pretty basic block style. The reason being, my Mrs is painting some of them and these are the first thing she has ever painted. They are based in singles and will be handled a lot, so easier to touch up.

They are a really soft plastic, unlike the ECW I have been painting that is a quite hard plastic. A few are conversions as the poses are quite limited...

The seige rules will be available on my blog for anybody interested in a stupidly simple set of siege rules.

And finally, a 15mm Battlefront Miniatures German Famo Tractor. (Hopefully to stop me bogging, lol.) DAK paint job to go with my recent panzers. 

I picked this up at Hammerhead in Newark a couple of weeks back.

Horrid cast, and a real pig to fit together. The resin on the underside was still soft and stank vile. I painted over it and and the matt varnish seems to have sealed it ok. The BF Mins really need to sort out there quality control. At £8, its not cheap. Quick paint job though and its fits in with my tanks perfectly.

Super stuff Kev! It's nice that your wife is joining you in the hobby - its a great way to spend time together (I know of others who use it for precisely the opposite reason!).

I'll definitely be looking at your siege rules as I have an old Citadel castle (yes, the Old Skool high-density foam one) sitting in storage, waiting to be brought out again.

This eclectic batch of goodies will give Kev a staggering 397 points! This will allow him to close the gap and bring him within striking range of the top two Challengers. Well done!