From PeterA: Ruined Apartment Block and Burnt out Car

First of all a big thank you to Curt for organising the Quarantine Challenge - a splendid opportunity to keep spirits up at this pretty surreal time.

My first submission is a scratch-built apartment block in 20mm for modern wargaming. I have been interested in the first Chechen conflict for a while now and the news that Carl Titterington is planning on releasing a Chechen War supplement for his Contact Front rules got me fired up to add some terrain. It is made out of foamcard and artists mounting board and is meant to survive the rigours of gaming rather than being an architectural masterpiece! So I haven't bothered with doors (might go back and add these later) although I have put in a few shattered panes of glass here and there (made from plastic blister packaging)

Depicting rubble is always a compromise between realism and playability - I have gone firmly for the latter so that I can place figures without precariously balancing them. With my sausage fingers, I need all the help I can get!

To make it a bit  more user friendly in games, the rear wall slides off, making access to the inner floors more straightforward. Again, function over form so no staircases, internal rooms etc. I started painting the internal walls but the card started to warp so I have left the rest. The idea of the removable wall has been pinched from Alan Sherward's utterly brilliant Stalingrad table (featured in Wargames Illustrated a couple of issues ago - you can see it here on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yJsgbZ4wUo).

Finally, a bit of scatter terrain for figures to take cover behind. This is a toy die cast VW which has been weathered using GW rust effect paint. The windows have been damaged and I drilled a few bullet holes as well, but it was basically a very quick and simple job for once.

I hope to add more bits and pieces for this conflict over the course of the Quarantine Challenge, as well as finishing off a few of the things started during the Painting Challenge.

All the best - stay safe and stay healthy.



KenR 28mm Crusades Crossbow

After the tank fest of the main Challenge I was always going to go off at a tangent once it was over. There are still the German 28mm vehicles to do and my 15mm Kursk project to attack but for now it was off the heavy metal and onto the Medieval plastic.

Those familiar with the output from Yarkshire Gamer will be aware of the Crusades Project it's had a couple of false starts but I keep chipping away at the edges of it now and again. I've got plenty of stuff prepped which if I remember correctly I did for Challenge VIII a couple of years ago.

So here we have a unit of 24 Crossbow, the figures coming from the Fireforge Foot Sergeants box, the flag from Flags of War and the shield decals from Battle Flag. We have played a few games with the Deus Vult rules and we are slowly getting used to them, with the inevitable Yarkshire Gamer house rules.

Although it's not a points based challenge I thought I would keep my own personal score so 24 figures at 5 pts each is 120 plus 1 for the flag, 121 towards my personal challenge.

Coming up in the next few weeks will be more Crusades, a large Italian Wars village (ok it's a town), some 7TV figures and if your lucky more Tanks and Italian Wars stuff. Stay safe out there.

From MattT: Workers of the World Unite - VBCW

Over the last painting challenge my brother has been showing his collection of royalist forces for VBCW, and i thought it was time you saw what he is going to be facing.

This first group is a bit of a cheat as i didnt paint them in the time the blog has been live, but they are all post Covid-19 so im counting them and showing them off.

Sailors on the HMS Aurora docked at Hull have mutinied and renamed the ship Unity. They have managed to unearth an old armoured car for moral support and are ready to fight for their freedoms.

Since the challenge began properly i have managed to add a pair of pulp sailors to the crew. Figures from Artizan Designs Thrilling Tales.

The Workers of the East Riding have raised the banner, and men are flocking to the cause as we speak. Figures from Sloppy Jalopy miners set. Banner is a cut and paste job from images off the internet.

All the best, Stay Safe. Matt

From Barks: 40K Chaos Cultists

Like many of you, I'm feeling the post-Challenge slump. I'm going to use the Quarantine Challenge to push myself to get at least one completed model done each week. I've got an embarrassing lot of half completed bits around- including these cultists. I did the skin during the Challenge, but didn't finish them until now. I have reduced the volume of pink, since they're mostly cannon fodder and not worthy of more pink. There's still a lot of detail...

Skull-o-meter™: 0

This means I have finally painted all the figures from the atrociously named Assassinorum: Execution Force!

TomF - ACW Confederate Infantry - A Flocking Situation

I have enjoyed following the Analogue Hobby Challenge for 5 or 6 years now, always in awe of the productivity and artistic talent of the participants. Three years ago I made an anemic attempt at participating in the annual challenge myself.

When Curt posted the opportunity to participate in this challenge, I decided to sign up in order, in part, to thank all the participants of the annual challenge and hopefully contribute to providing a means of distraction from the depressing news of the pandemic.

For my first post, I have eight American Civil War confederate infantry (Perry Miniatures - plastic).  I painted these in mid-March for a game of Sharpe Practice that, unfortunately, was cancelled once my University colleagues and I were told we had convert all of our face-to-face courses to an online format.

While these figures were painted pre-challenge, they sat on my painting table without flock/vegetation since I had to cancel the game they were to participate in.  As far as the painting of these figures go, I used a gray primer then applied a black wash followed by several rounds of dry brushing with lighter shades of gray.  Quick and easy ... the Perry plastics really lend themselves to this technique.

Over the past weekend, I put static grass and other vegetation on the bases.

Below is a picture of the 28mm ACW figures that I have painted over the last couple of years.  As you can see, I have a bad habit of not finishing the basing of painted figures.

Given how well the 8 figures featured in this post turned out, I may be inspired to finish basing the rest of them over the next month or so.

But up next, I have a batch of AWI figures that I'm hoping to finish painting by the end of the week to share with you.

Thanks for viewing.

TimG in the garage....

 I acquired this mdf kit a couple of years ago and built it over the weekend. I think it’s designed to accompany 28mm toys, so 1/56 scale or thereabouts.  It arrived in my possession without instructions so I blundered my way through assembly. In spite of this it turned out OK and I gave it a basic paint job using emulsion and cheap acrylic paints.
It looks like a lot of old village garages used to - and not just here in the UK. It’s pictured here with a couple of 1/43 scale diecast cars. A side project of mine is an attempt to amass a collection of models of all the cars I’ve owned. At the petrol pumps is a Volvo 850 in more or less the same colour as my 1992 2.0 20V GLT (owned 1998-2000) while lurking inside is a Saab 9-5 standing in for my 2004 Aero (owned 2009-2013).

From TeemuL: Finishing fantasy stuff (15 points)

So, a Challenge after a Challenge. I'm usually quite exhausted after the annual Challenge or at least when the summer really starts. My good start of the year slows down until I again pick up some speed later in the year. Hopefully with this another Challenge, I can keep up running a bit later.

I work in software development industry and we work in an agileish way. Prioritizing is important, making lists and starting from the highest priority. The same applies nicely to the miniature hobby, so I made some lists for myself.

U - Unfinished miniatures. Until couple of years ago, I was quite strict on myself, if I started a miniature or a group of miniatures, I'll finish them before I start painting the next one. That included the primed miniatures. Over the last couple of years, the pile has grown. Items from the U list are these, finishing unfinished miniatures. Suitable for this Challenge, since we are not calculating points (well, yeah).
N - Necessary miniatures. These are the miniatures, that I really need for my next games. This is not that important at the moment, for obvious reasons.
R - Reinforcement miniatures. Army has been started, but not all the purchased miniatures are painted. This is related to N list, but it is a bit different. For example my WH40K Imperial Guard army belongs here, I have never played a game with them and I have not planned one yet. Same applies the Mentor Legion and all the Oldhammer miniatures.
F - Fresh miniatures. Trying to keep the miniature count down, I hope to paint the newly purchased miniatures. Why buy them, if not to paint? The cupboard is full of unpainted miniatures, so just for painting purposes there really is no need to buy anything new.
W - Wacky idea miniatures. Just some crazy idea, that I need to do. Like Sarah's Hot Air Balloon Pumping Station. This usually needs some modelling as well.
S - Space saving miniatures. One way to punish myself is to keep the bought miniatures in their original boxes or packages until I paint them. Kind of a management thing to control buying, if there is no room, why buy it? Sometimes these boxes are quite big compared to what they have inside, especially once assembled. So open a big box, assemble and paint the miniature and you have a whole in your storage. Of course the newly painted miniature needs to be stored somewhere, but it is a different story and a different storage. Actually I don't throw away old boxes, I might use them for storing some other miniatures. Or just keep them, since they are really nice and old. Or at least I cut the front picture away and keep it, so I can remember what I have purchased.

So, with these 6 lists I try to keep myself focused on the important aspects of the miniature painting. In all of the (weekly) posts, I try to list which lists I'm using, some miniatures might fit more than one list. I try to visit the Challenge Island locations as well, but using all kind of travelling possibilities, so not necessarily following the roads. This might cause distractions on the Six Lists, or it might help, I don't know.

Here we go, some unfinished miniatures from the past. The big dragon thing was started last summer and was even used in one campaign while not fully painted, shame on me. I actually bought it as assembled, which made it a bit difficult to paint. Not the dragon, but the rider, Dreadlord called Rinos Wildbringer, used in my Age of Sigmar Anvilgard army, using the rules from the Cities of Sigmar. I'm also using this in our current campaign (5 players, but only 1 play in total before the cancellation of everything). So this one is from U and N lists.

 

Magic horns on the helmet, I hope to find a magic item to match it...

These two Endless Spells were started during the Challenge, but I wasn't able to finish them. I had problems with the "magic effect", since I wanted lava base. All the colors, blue, green and purple, which are usually used as magic, didn't seem right. Then I thought about the magical fire and it was perfect. The cogs look better than the swords (I need to learn their names and rules).

I'm also counting the points for myself, just for fun and statistics, even though I have no training, experience nor knowledge of minioning and no access, superpowers, cats or kittens for any spreadsheets...

U: 3 (total 3)
N: 1 (total 1)
Points:
2x5 points for the spells (they were started during a Challenge so I count them as whole)
5 bonus points for the Dreadlord on the Black Dragon (painted mostly outside of Challenges, so just giving 5 bonus points for the big thing).
15 points total