AHPC VI: Week 5 Update

With 5 weeks "in the books"for this years Painting Challenge, I remain well ahead of plan and last years pace.  To what do I owe this performance surge?  Clean living and happy thoughts?  Painting Enhancing Pharmaceuticals? Careful planning and cunning strategy?  Sadly none of the above.  It was 30 inches of snow that kept me housebound for 3 days and "forced" me to paint up 357 points worth last weekend.  Although there was a good bit of Malbec consumed during the Blizzard which may constitute a painting enhancing pharmaceutical.

Anyway today I've finished 1,785 points worth of stuff compared to a plan level by week 5 of 1,140 and last years mark of 1,607.  I know, I know it's kind of pathetic I keep these stats.  My points totals include my submission for the Epic Fail round which has yet to be included in the "official" score.

What's up next?  I'm working on the Defensive terrain bonus round which has become a bit bigger than I expected and will likely be my only submission for week 6.  Weeks 7 & 8 will also not see a lot of activity as I've got some international business trips to the UK and the Turks and Caicos for my firms annual meeting (rough duty).

Through 5 weeks the following has been painted, all in 28mm scale

246 Infantry

1 Calvary

13 Guns

13 AFV's

2 Elephants

2 Gunboats

Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge: Submissions 11-15 - Blizzard induced productivity

 A bit of a points bomb over this weekend due to being housebound from 30 inches of snow - 5 submissions and 4 different time periods.

 First up 9 civilians from the 28mm Perry AWI line.  I'll be using these as dock workers during the upcoming Historicon game this summer.

 Some German support weapons in 28mm.  All the figures are from Warlord's Bolt Action line and there's an 81mm mortar, a MG42 (gotta have one of those!) and a Fallschirmjager 105mm recoilless artillery piece.

 A bit more WW2 in the form of three AFV's from three manufacturers.  A Warlord BA-10 armored car, a 3D printing panzer IV from RPG and a Hungarian assault gun from Mad Bob Miniatures.

 Switching periods - a 32 figure Portuguese regular infantry unit in 28mm from Frank Rank Miniatures.  I really like Front Rank and am begging to think the quality of their metals is a bit better than the Perry's.  They centennially are much easier to clean up.  The completion of this unit finishes up what I need to put on the game at Historicon.

 The last submission is just for fun - another armored War Elephant from Sgt Major Miniatures.  That brings my collection of allies to 4 and I should add building out a successors army to the to do list.

Next up for the challenge is the defensive terrain bonus round - so I got out my handy Proxxon Hot wire cutter and got to work.  What will this entry be?

You'll just have to wait and see......

Jonas - "He's Mr Snow Miser...."

 Well Jonas (I'm still not used to naming these things) has come and gone and after two days of snow we've got 29.25 inches - not a bad haul.  I'm still deeply disappointed in the weathers services who were forecasting a "Mammoth" storm but I've have yet to see any actual mammoths.  I feel cheated and would have been satisfied with a simple Glyptodon or a woolly rhino so I think I'm being very flexible.

 Snowfall measured at 20 inches as on 11:30am Saturday.  I have, of course, employed the highly accurate patio table snow measuring device, complete with the eyeball-o-matic estimator.

 In an emergency situation, it's important to keep calm on focus on basic needs warmth, water and food.  You can see I sprang into action to ensure we had access to the BBQ.  Rest assured dear readers that my access to charred meat stuffs has been secured.

 Just after digging my way to the BBQ I heard a strange howl and thought we had a Yeti in the yard.  Upon closer inspection of the photographic evidence I'm sad to report it was just my wife cleaning off her car.  We've been told the plows will not get to us until Monday night at the earliest (we live in the country) but my lovely and fierce wife was determine to be ready because "a patient may need her".  I was about to reply with something smart-ass about natural selection and nature's way of thinning the herd when I thought better to it.  She's a fierce advocate for her patients and while I hope you never need her services (jaw replacements and such) there are few better hands to be in.

I sent her inside and finished up the cars.

 A shot out the front door Sunday morning - just under 30 inches....

 The measurement confirmed by employing my trusty patio table - will the wonders of modern science ever cease.

A shot down the driveway - well there's a drive way there somewhere.

I don't mean to make light of the storm as some people are struggling or dealing with horrible travel issues but for us it's been a very pleasant time.  The power's stayed on, the foods been excellent (the wife made a bolognese sauce last night out of pork sausage and beef that was very good - I may have snuck a third helping when see wasn't looking) and the wine stocks are holding up.  I'm predicting a snow day for Monday!  This whole winter blizzard thing almost makes me want to be a Canadian - almost.

As for Challenge painting, I've tried to use my time productively and have been watching "Luther" on netflix while painting (it's Ok, but why do TV writers always go for the "frame-up" as a key series plot point).  What's been accomplished? oh a little of this and a little of that....

Snow Status: 7:30am 14 inches

 As of 7:30am Eastern, Mr. Jonas has deposited 14 inches of snow and we've had a thunderstorm early in the morning.  Overall pretty cool.  Get it "cool" during a blizzard?  I slay me.  I'm here all weekend, try the veal.

How do I know it's 14 inches?  I employ a very precise scientifical-like instrument know as the patio table.  There's approximately 14 inches on top the table, so using my amazing powers of deductive reasoning, I have calculated we've gotten 14 inches of snow.  Don't try this at home kids, I'm a trained professional.

Despite dire warnings from the media, we seem to be holding on.  No Woolly Mammoths or Neanderthals have been spotted yet on the property.  I thought I heard the howl of a Dire Wolf but that was off in the distance.

Supplies are holding up well, but a nice bottle of Malbec was sacrificed to bolster our spirits during these dark times.  As a precaution, cookies have been baked to use for bartering in the event the economy breaks down and we need to trade for supplies.  Painting is progressing well with a 32 figure unit of Portuguese regulars on the painting bench now.  My biggest concern is hiding from the wife while I paint as she may be getting cabin fever and start to have delusions of me shoveling snow.  Very dangerous times....

More to come, assuming Mr Snow Miser lets me....

And so it begins.....

Winter storm "Jonas" (I still can't believe they get names now) has started at 3:03 pm.  Say what you will about Jonas, he is prompt and that's a admirable quality in my books.

The forecasts are now estimate 24 to 30 inches and hinting that civilization as we know it may cease to exist.

I have successfully bolstered our wine stocks and plan on making chili for dinner.  More importantly the wood cutting I needed for the Challenge has been completed to allow construction to commence.

All-in-all, things are looking up and painting in earnest will commence shortly.

I find the local panic a school closing today BEFORE THE STORM STARTED all rather silly and a bit sad.  One of the analysts who works for me is a super smart mathematician and nice kid who called me to make sure I had filled my bath tub with water in case we run out due to the snow.  I pointed out to the young lad that if the snows really that bad there will be more than enough lying around to melt for water.  I got a resounding "ohhhh" in response.  One of the rare times that learning from old fashioned experience trumps learning from the web.

Lots of Snow = Lots of Painting?

The weather mavens are predicting a blizzard of "historical proportions" here in the Chesapeake Bay region with the imminent arrival this afternoon of Winter Storm "Jonas" (queue ominous music) at exactly 3:00pm Eastern standard time today.  I'm not sure when the weather bureau decided to name winter storms like hurricanes but they are so entitled and it surely has nothing to do with ratings for the weather channel.

Anyway, this "storm of the century" is expected to dump >24 inches (that's 61 centimeters for you metric types and 22 stacked 28mm figs for us miniature painting types).  You may sense a bit of irreverence in my tone as we tend to get overly excited about weather related events in the capital region - perhaps it's due to our overgrown sense of importance.  Blizzards can be troublesome for other people, but when it happens to us is a DISASTER!  I've coined a term for our condition "disaster-bating".

Anyway, this one actually looks like it might happen and 24 +/- inches of snow isn't really anything to take lightly plus the forecasted gale force winds (40-50mph) means zero visibility and lots of drifting snow.  Even better is the expectation of thunderstorms with the front which creates a very rare occurrence of "thunder-snow".  All-in-all it should be a interesting show.

Preparations are underway here in the Lair, with the generators being checked, and stockpiles of food laid in.  I also went out and cut some wood so our wood pile is well stocked in case the genny goes down.  More importantly, a case of red wine will be added to the collection to ensure our spirits are properly buoyed as we persevere thought the dark days ahead.  It is a well known scientific-like fact that red wine is really the only known cure for Blizzards.  Hot chocolate only treats the immediate symptoms, but red wine cures the soul.

Every challenging situation does create it's own opportunities and Winter Storm Jonas is no exception.  We'll likely be house bound for 2-3 days which means ample time for painting for the Challenge.  I do need to get into the workshop to cut some lumber for a few planned entries.  That's right, I need some lumber cut on the band saw to complete a few 28mm scale models.  What could it be?  You'll have to wait for the thaw to find out but it's big, really big.

AHPC VI: Epic Fail Bonus Round

 A rather silly entry in the Analogue Hobbies painting Challenge "Epic Fail" bonus round depicting a lone Dacian mercenary standing up to a Seleucid Armored War Elephant.  The submission was titled "Hold my Flagon of Mead" and describes how the modern phrase "Hold my Beer" came to have such negative connotations...

 The figures are 28mm scaled with eh Dacian from the Warlord Dacian commanders pack and the Elephant from Sergeant Major Miniatures.  This is the third Elephant I've put together an they are a lot of fun.

Sadly the outcome of the clash was predictable with the poor Dacian (named Gert) being stomped into the ground under his shield like a human nail.

That's why nothing every good follows after the phrase "hold my beer" is uttered.  Truer words have never been spoken (or, in this case, typed).

AHPC VI: Submission 10: 28mm WW2 German Pioneers

 My latest submission to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is a smallish German Pioneer unit in 28mm scale.

The figures are from the Warlord Plastic Pioneer set and I highly recommend them.  Warlord's sculpting and casting skills continue to improve with each successive plastics release and these figures were a joy to paint and put together.  The box also comes with a high number of metal detail bits to kit out the pioneers with "pioneer stuff" and captured Soviet submachine guns.  There's also a metal goliath R/C demo tank and what's not to love about that?

 The box set comes with 30 infantry figures.  Surprising, this is the first time I've ever painted any 28mm germans in standard field grey - all the stuff I've done in the past is either late war camo or DAK/Mediterranean theatre.
 

 A few side shots

 I've have been ribbed by other Challenge participants for both my poor photography skills and general laziness of not setting up at least one terrain board for photos. - the teasing is completely justified and I'll try to fix that this weekend.

 Some armor support in the form of a Marder III.  This kit is also a warlord model and is exceptionally well done.  The only drawback is the two crew figures casts are horrible but the flaws are mostly hidden so not the worst of problems to have.

AHPC VI: Submissions 7, 8 & 9

 A fairly eclectic collection of submissions last weekend.

First up are the remaining 4 28mm scaled tanks from the Trenchworx "Tanks in Manchuria" kickstarter - 1 Soviet OT-26 flame tank and 3 Japanese tanks.

 I used Vallejo "Russian Uniform" green as the base coat for all four tanks.  I like the shade as it's gives a nicely "faded" base color.

 The Japanese Type 95 Ha-GO light tank.  The camo pattern is "loosely" based on the Burma campaign and was painted using "blobs" of flat brown and sand yellow streaks.

 One of 2 Type 97 Ch-Ha Medium tanks

 The second Chi-Ha.  I broke the arial while trying to fit it to the hull so this arial has a bit of battle damage!

 Lastly, the Soviet OT-26 fame tank.

I am a big fan of the Trenchworx kits and recommend them highly.

 Next up some more 28mm WW2 Russians - some Siberian Veterans!

 There's a 10 man Siberian Veteran squd, a medium machine gun team and a leader an aid.

 I like how the leader fig is employing state of the art Soviet comms technology.

 The Soviet horde to date - a bit more to add.

 Lastly, I finally got around to building and painting up the plastic Victrix British Artillery box.  I still need to do the caissons but will get to those another day.

 Victrix Napoleonic plastics are true scale rather than heroic scaled so they can be a bit delicate - notice how thin the ram rods are.

Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge Week 3 Update

Three weeks are now in the "books" and surprisingly I'm ahead of plan and last year's pace.  I've manage to paint up a 1,158 points so far (the bar on the chart) which is a good bit ahead of the plan (541 points) and last year (777) points

I've got a lot of business travel in January so a lot of this fast start will likely be filtered away as "real world" priorities intrude upon painting time.

AHPC VI Enteries 5 & 6

 Christmas vacation week was very productive painting wise as I completed 79 28mm infantry figures, 1 mounted leader and three tanks.  Not too shabby.

First up are 8 28mm British Landing Party figures from Brigade Games.  This brings the total number of naval crew figures to 32 and I'll need probably another 20 or so for the Historicon game.

 Unlike the previous crew figures, I removed the metal bases from each casting before applying to the base.  While it looks much better than not doing so, it's a fairly tedious project and some greenstuff was required to repair some surgical mishaps.  Still they do look a lot better.

 Next up are 29 Native Americans and one Mounted Leader.  These figures are 28mm and from the Perry AWI range and they are simply superb figures.

 For skin tone, I used a 50/50 mix go Vallejo medium flesh and rust and think the color came out really well.

 It's hard to see from the photos but I spent a good bit of time on the details and face painting.

 Because of the poor lighting, I've finally gotten around to buying a basic photo booth and light set from Amazon so hopefully you'll see a pick up in picture quality.

 Switching from Naps / War of 1812 to WW2, next up is the start of a Soviet army for Bolt Action and/or Chain of Command.  So far I've completed 40 infantry figures a 3 tanks.

 The infantry are from the Warlord Plastic Soviet box set and to be honest aren't that good.  It was one of Warlords first ww2 plastic sets and the casting wasn't all that good.  Warlord's quality has improved dramatically in some of their more current sets.

The tanks are from Trenchworx (part of their Tanks in Manchuria Kickstarter) and are simple superb models and a joy to paint.