From MartinN: 28mm WWI Russians & WWII Germans and British Paras (40 points)

Martin (aka 'Nick') sends in this wonderful set of miniatures for his emerging Great War project and further reinforcements for his enviable WWII collection.

From Nick:

As I finally decided to let my Great War games take place on the eastern front I ordered a pack of White Russian Officers from the Copplestone Russian Civil War range.These were intended as a test what colours to use and if they fit the bill. After all I'm rather pleased with the outcome and probably will stick to the range for further reinforcements.

The white bearded Officer is meant to be the Captain of the force in beeing. He wears the blue trouser of a cavalry general to further distinguish him from his fellow officers and NCO's.

I went for blue shoulderboards instead of the most commonly seen red ones if I should ever plan expand the project into the Russian Civil War and therefore reserve the red shoulderboards for the Reds.

Next are two WW2 Fallschirmjäger. Both models are from Warlord Games and rather crappy to paint as they're varying greatly in casting quality. Lots of mould lines and flash with sometimes quite weak detail.

The guy on the left is carrying a FG-42 Assault Rifle. At the moment I'm experimenting with my base sizes. I decided to go for hexagonal Bases for heroes, officers and NCO's but for the rank and file I'm pending between 20mm and 25mm round bases.

Last but not least two Red Devils also from Warlord Games. Contrary to the Fallshirmjägers I really love these sculpts. They're full of crisp details although there are some minor mould limes. As I'm rather disappointed with all my different basing styles I'll try to stay with the kind shown here for all my modern or more recent periods.

Absolutely brilliant work Nick. I've always been a great admirer of your paint style (your faces never cease to amaze me) and these certainly don't disappoint. I'm really not sure what you don't like about your groundwork as I think its superb - I do like the integration of points-of-interest such as the planking with your Russians. 

These eight lads will give Nick 40 points. Lovely stuff Nick!

From ByronM: 28mm WWI German Infantry (50 points)

From Byron:

Here is a second section of Great War Germans which just happen to contain mainly figures from Great War Miniatures, along with a few more Renegade miniatures.  While I really like the Great War mini’s proportions and load outs there are a few that had facial issues. These will be soon getting field dressings to cover up some of the casting issues.  Maybe I am just spoiled by the normal insanely overpriced GW stuff I paint, but at least I never have to worry about important stuff like eye sockets or mouth lines not being properly there.  I now understand why so many historical gamers don’t bother with eyes and a lot of facial details.  It’s a shame, because other than that, the figures really are extremely nice.

This second section for my German force is a rifle section led by a “big man”.  Also included is an even “bigger” man, both in size and rank, to marshal my Germans on the table.

It was brought to my attention as well, that the helmets do have covers on them… hmm, so hard to tell as there are no fabric lines or textures.  At this point, I am just leaving them the grey helmet colour, even though it is historically inaccurate.  Maybe at some point I will make it right, but at this point, I like the look better this way than one test figure I did with the cover painted up the right way.  So, its a bit wrong, but too bad, they are mine :-)

One more section down, and my next section of Canadians is also nearing completion and should be sent in in a day or two.  Then back to distractions, and trying to get a vehicle done for the next fortnight challenge.

Lovely work Byron! I have a couple units worth of these Renegade castings and I really like them. They're not as fine in detail as the Great War models (which are still my favourites) but I love their chunkiness and they are very easy to paint.

I'll make sure to point out the lack of helmet covers on these guys the next time we play. Its the least a friend can do. ;P

This rifle section of Landsers will give Byron 50 points. Great job!

From AndrewS: 28mm French & Indian War French Infantry (60 points)

From Andrew: 

Well having shot through my target in three weeks I have decided to take it a little easier this week.

The first of this weeks submissions are 12 French Infantry from the AW Miniatures range these are part of a fairly substantial commission I have agreed to complete.

I know there are 13 figures in the picture however the officer was completed before the challenge started but he needed basing with his men.

These are substantial 28mm figures in fact they are more the 32mm heroic scale and a couple of the figures needed some plugging with green stuff, looks like a mould defect as a hole runs right through the body and out the bottom of the figure. 

They represent the La Sarre Regiment, wearing the grey white jackets while on campaign in the French Indian wars, they are in a mix of uniform as befits the adaptations made by the men in this period.

Wonderful work Andrew. Those fellows do look well fed but have a nice heft to them, reminding me of the Napoleonic figures from Elite Miniatures.. 

These dozen French from the Sare will give Andrew 60 points. Great job!

From AlanD: Challenge Desperado 'Alias' (30 points)

Alan sends in his amazingly creative Challenge Desperado.

From Alan:

When Curt announced that the entrance fee for the competition was to be a figure inspired by a Sam Peckinpah film, I knew I had to have a go at modelling Bob Dylan in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Dylan plays the role of the enigmatic Alias in the film. I say 'plays the role', but essentially Dylan just wanders around from scene to scene, uttering the occasional gnomic observation. However, I am such an inveterate Dylan fan that I choose to overlook the fact that he can't act for crap in the film. I blame poor direction.

The scene I chose to reference occurs when Pat Garrett encounters three of The Kid's sidekicks (including Alias) in a truly grotty saloon/store in some fly-bitten armpit of a town. To keep him out of the way while he intimidates his two friends, Garrett tells Alias to go over to a shelf in the store and read off the labels from the 'airtights' (ie cans). So the scene ends up being quite funny, Garrett having a tense conversation, while in the background we hear Dylan intoning 'beans...spinach...ahh Lima?... tomatoes...spinach and beans...' and so on.

To evoke the scene I used a bookcase from 4-Ground, stocked with sacks and cans made from greenstuff and bits of bamboo skewer. The figure of Alias was based on a desperado from Artizan designs. To try to make him resemble Dylan a bit more, I repositioned his head and used greenstuff to fatten his face a bit, give him more curly hair, give him an upturned collar and have him holding a can of beans, rather than the revolver of the original figure. Alias wears glasses in the scene, which I tried to give the suggestion of with a painted frame.

Anyway, I certainly didn't do a good job of his face, but I'm pleased with it nevertheless. Hope you like it, Curt!

Whoa, this is amazing work Alan. I love how esoteric and creative this vignette is, and your execution of it has been flawless. The modifications to the figure are excellent and I really like how he is positioned away from the viewer which, in turn, beacons your interest even more. 

This is all quite funny as I actually despise Bob Dylan and distinctly remember seeing this film in my 20s and thinking, 'well, cheer up Curt, maybe he'll get shot in the movie...' Now here I am, delighted and chomping at the bit to have him in my figure cabinet! 

'Alias' will give Alan 30 points, including a few extra for the overall realization of this great vignette. Thanks so much Alan!

From PaulJ: 28mm WWII Kriegsmarine Crew (30 points)

From Paul:

This Kriegsmarine landing party is clearly geared up and ready for action. 

Lead by their dashing, red bearded Captain they pack a lot of firepower (including an MG43) to get whatever job needs to be done and dash back to their Schnellboot or Unterseeboot for a quick getaway with their prizes. 28mm "Grey Wolves" figures by Artizan.

Wow, I love these guys! I think have pretty much all of these castings languishing in the 'lead reserve' and this entry makes me want to dig 'em all up and slop on some paint. Awesome. 

These  six excellent Deutsch Meer-Hunds (Nick, Burkhard, Stefan? Help me out here...) will give Paul 30 points. 

Hmm, that red-bearded captain looks very familiar...