From JamesB: 28mm AWI Minute Men and English Dragoons & F&IW French Infantry (288 points)

...and as promised, here is a return volley from James!

Painting has taken on a new escapism for me at the moment so here I offer you the last 12 Foundry Minute Men with 6 Perry Miniatures English Dragoons (AWI).

I also have the last two units of my Conquest Miniatures French Musketeers ( I have included a picture of the whole brigade).

Wow, beautiful work James. I particularly like those Dragoons and the arrayed French brigade is very impressive (gotta love those monstrous colours!).

This fine collection of units will give James 288 points, securing his position back in first place. Sorry Chris, that was a short-lived reign at the top but I suspect you'll be back.

From ChrisP: 28mm Dark Age Anglo-Saxons (228 points)

From Chris:

Check it out, something that isn't 15mm US!

Anyway, I have been tinkering away at these for the last couple of weeks, and spent a few hours on Friday finishing them off. This is a full 6 point warband of Anglo-Saxons for SAGA.

The Warlord is from Gripping Beast, showing off a couple of dead enemies, one which is being used as a step. The warlord is sporting a very dapper purple cloak, much to the envy of the other Saxons!

The first point is made up of four Hearthguard. One is a plastic Saxon, with two swords, two are metal miniatures which came with the Warlord and the final one is a plastic Warlord Games miniature with a couple of Saxon pieces to make it look a bit more "Saxony". The close up is of the Warlord Games chap, showing off some free hand tattoos on his chest, it looked too bare without them, so I had a go at adding them. I am happy with the result!

The rest of the army is made up of four units of 10 Warriors, all Gripping Beast plastics. Some have arms from Warlord Games Celts, mainly because I had been pilfering weapons from my box of Saxons for armies like other SAGA force! Shield decals are from Little Big Men Studios. I knew they were going to be great, and LBMS really did not disappoint. I got the shield transfers to basically inspire me to get these guys painted, the Saxons have been sitting in a box for at least 2 years!

I am happy with how these have come out, next up? Who knows. I actually have nothing ready to paint....

Great work Chris! Your warlord is excellent and I particularly like how the tattoos turned out on the barechested hearthguard. Very nice.

This impressive SAGA warband will give Chris 228 points, propelling him into first place in the points standings. Bravo!

Now, we just have to wait for James' riposte...

From TimG: 1/72 Avro Anson (15 points)

From Tim:

Pics of a recently painted Airfix 1/72 Avro Anson.  

This was rescued from a near write-off and treated to a quick paint job as part of my Winter Aircraft Project.

More nonsense still to come...

What a wonderfully homely aircraft! Great job on reconstituting it from your attic - I'm looking forward to seeing the remainder of these orphans.

This Anson will give Tim 15 points.

From RobP: 28mm ACW 69th New York (124 points)

From Rob:

Here is my second entry for the competition -  this time the 69th New York (1st regt Irish Brigade).

Again Redoubt figures with mainly Steve Barber heads. These mix very well size-wise and have more character than the Redoubt heads so actually a no brainer if you want to have more variation in your units. 

So another unit of 24 to add to my points total and to close in a little on the fast movers in the contest... 

These are the last Redoubt figures in this brigade, except for the Meager/Kirby command figures. Rest of the brigade will be made of the outstanding Foundry ACW figs.

An excellent unit of New York Oirish there Rob - well done!

These lads from the 69th will give Rob 124 points.

From Millsy: 28mm Spanish Guerrillas (60 points)

From Millsy:

This time I’m submitting some commission work for my mate. These are Front Rank 28mm Napoleonics for use with 'Song of Drums and Shakos' skirmish level rules. The basing is vanilla as these will be finished up by him to match the rest of the force.

The first batch are some guerrilla characters on foot. These sculpts (and my painting) are based on the illustrations from Osprey’s Elite 108 - Spanish Guerrillas in the Peninsular War 1808-14.

The second batch are Don Julian Sanchez lancers 1810-12 from the same book. We had to go with whatever we could find regards the sculpts but have matched the uniform as close as possible. Lovely sculpts but some of the most fiddly mounted 28s I've ever painted. I do love their horses though. Certainly amongst the best going around IMHO.

Something interesting to note regards the photos – the mate who commissioned the work bought me a pair of rechargeable folding LED lights for my birthday, specifically so I can take photos of minis indoors regardless of time of day or weather. It’s quite late in the arvo here and pouring with rain so pretty drab and dark for daytime, yet these photos have come out jolly well for a first go. Hardly any Photoshop retouching needed at all. I think once I get the camera settings worked out they will be a great tool and I thoroughly recommend them. I imagine similar lights are available in most countries.

Lovely work Millsy, I'm sure your friend will be delighted with these. Also, thanks for the tip on the photography lights. I have a battery powered LED set but rechargeables would be a great improvement I think.

These Spanish guerrillas and irregular cavalry will give Millsy 60 points.