From TimB: 28mm Great War Scots Vickers Crews (30 points)

Here is a bonnie set of two Great War Scots machine gun crews with their wee Vickers entered by my friend Tim in Saskatoon. 

These are 28mm Renegade castings from their WWI range of miniatures. I quite like the crew in the kilts, but then again I'm a bit biased.

I've always admired Tim's paint style as its very smooth, clean and concise. He's also really bloody fast with his work, so watch out folks he's going to be rocketing up the scoreboard over the next few weeks.


Tim gets 20 points for the four crewmen plus I'm giving him 5 points for each of the two Vickers for a grand tally of 30 points! 


What's up next, Tim?

From JuanM: French and Indian Wars First Nations Warrior (10 points)

Here is a beautiful entry from Juan in Spain. A First Nations warrior from the French & Indian War, in snowshoes and winter gear, dragging a tree and a sack of gifts. (Or is that the French and Indian Wars? There is a difference to a few of us Anorak-wearing North Americans.) 

This figure was a special 2008 Christmas release from the excellent 28mm Conquest Miniatures range for the F&IW. Juan tells me this will be one of his ongoing projects for this upcoming year.

I really like the composition and execution of this entry so I'm exercising my Judge's rights and privileges and awarding him an extra 5 points (so 10 total). 

I like to think of myself as an enlightened despot...

This is a great opening gambit Juan!  I look forward to seeing what emerges from your painting desk over the next few months.

From Curt: 28mm Anglo-Dane Warlord, Hrolf Heldrid (20 points)

I thought that since I'm the host I should set a good example and get something done early.  I burned a bit of midnight oil yesterday to get my first entry in for The Challenge. (My wife awoke in the middle of the night with me still beavering away at the hobby desk to which she just shook her head, made a barely audible harrumphing sound, and tottered back to bed.) 

This stand will serve as the warlord to my Anglo-Dane warband for SAGA. I'm calling him Hrolf Heldrid. I dunno why. Just liking the letter 'H' it seems.

In SAGA the warlords are particularly badass so I thought I'd accompany him with a few additional figures to better portray this. The main lad with the long axe is a recent Gripping Beast casting.  The one filleting his foe in a rather brutal fashion is an Old Glory figure. The wounded fellow holding his leg is also an Old Glory casting to which I did a  simple conversion. (Cut away his original spear, drilled out his hand and swapped in a steel rod with a spare Draco from my parts bin.)

Like a complete git I thought that since I'm already bleary-eyed, working under the gun with a high-profile character stand, that this would be the PERFECT occasion to try my hand with my first LBMS shield transfers. As you can imagine this could have gone very, very poorly, but lucky for me they worked like a charm. Highly recommended.

Anyway, there you have it. Hrolf Heldrid, ready to cut cards with any Norman or Viking that cares to come his way (or go down swinging).

These boys will give me 20 points to put on the board. Now I have to get to work on some Normans...

First Out of the Gate - From MilesR - 28mm Vikings and a Lonely Norman (25 points)

Beating everyone to the punch, Miles came through within zero + sixteen hours (!) to submit the first entry to The Challenge. Here we have a mounted Norman (Gripping Beast, I believe) and two Vikings (of indeterminate heritage - the cads). 

Miles tells me that the Vikings are 'Christmas themed' thus the white hair, beards and red trim ;). As I said to him, nothing says the spirit of Christmas like a Jolly Olaf Nikolas splitting your head with a long axe, burning down your house and stealing your sh*t...

He used Citadel washes on these lads which did a nice job of adding depth. The shield transfers are from Litttle Big Men Studios (LBMS). 

This last fellow is my own 'Danegeld' for The Challenge. A Viking of my very own. I'll be calling him... Myls 'The Eager'.

Great stuff, Miles. You've claimed pole position on the scoreboard with 25 points!


Now, are the rest of you going to take that laying down? I know I'm not...

We Have Launch! The 2nd Annual Analogue Hobbies Winter Painting Challenge Has Begun

Well, we're off! Its now just after midnight on the 20th and I'm officially starting work on my first entry for 'The Challenge' and I know that all around the globe there are painters doing the same. Now, how wonderfully dorky is that!? I think its great.

This winter we have 24 painters representing 11 countries so the blog should have something new to show you every few days, if not more. 

I'm not sure what's on the roster for many of the guys but I'll be working on an Anlgo-Danish warlord command stand for SAGA. Depending on available time (and how much sleep I wish to deprive myself) I hope to get that done in the next day or so.

Ok guys, lets get the lead out!