What I painted in March 2021

 Burn-out month.  AHPC recovery month.  New Life month...

You can call it what you want, but the fact if I painted relatively little this month, and what I did was mostly pure "PtS" or "Paint to Sell" .

But first, the "most important" thing I needed to paint this month, being The Dread Pageant.  They where my finale entry for this years Challenge, nailing me the reward.

I did complete some other smaller entries as well, the first being italian infantry for 6mm Blitzkrieg Commander.

 

 

Or these Gundams for MechaTop. 

I also completed a bit of a "dump" entry with all sorts of hotchpotch painted in between.

And Seiya himself was my final entry for this year's challenge, bringing the adventure to an end for yet another year.

So another 58 models finished in this typical cool down month, still not bad.

Scouring of the Shire checklist: update 1

 In between the two mass army expansions detailing Gondor and Rohan, sits the Scouring of the Shire.

This expansion book details the famous last chapter of the War of the Ring (and ommited from the movies) as Saruman lays siege to the lands of the Hobbits, aided by a force of rabble.

Add to that that some scenarios include strengthened (or weakened) forces from the previous ones, and you will only need to paint certain models once, making it not a totally insane thing to do...

As with the Battle Companies checklist of the previous years, I will be placing pictures next to every scenario of what is already done, and the key remains the same: P means I have the model but still need to paint it, B means I need to buy it.

Now, the great benefit of this book is the forces are small (no pun intended) as it features mostly small skirmishes between militia and ruffians near famous landmarks in the Shire.

 

And with the AHPC behind us now, I made some good progress on some of the scenarios, even completing a small force left and right.  The next update I aim to have at least about half of the required models needed finished, so wish me luck!

Skirmish in Bree

Good: (B) 8 Bree Villagers, (P) 4 Hobbit Militia

Evil: (P) Bill Ferny, 1 Ruffians with whip, 1 Ruffians with bow

The Ruffians Arrive

Good: (P) Holfoot Bracegirdle, Robin Smallburrow, 8 Hobbit Shiriffs, 4 Hobbit Militia

Evil: (P) Bill Ferny, Lotho Sackville-Baggins, 2 Ruffians, 1 Ruffians with whip, 2 Ruffians with bow

Maggot's Farm

Good: 

 

Evil: (P) 1 Ruffians with bow

The Old Mill

Good: (P) 12 Hobbit Militia

Evil: (B) 1 Ruffians with Whip, (P) Ted Sandyman, 4 Ruffians, 2 Ruffians with whip

The Mayor's Arrest

Good: (P) Will Whitfoot, 12 Hobbit Militia

Evil: (P) Sid Briarthorn, 2 Ruffians, 1 Ruffians with whip, 2 Ruffians with bow

The Death of Lotho

Good: (P) Lotho Sackville-Baggins, 8 Hobbit Militia

Evil: (P) Worm, 2 Ruffians, 2 Ruffians with whip

The Burning of Woody End

Good: (P) Baldo Tulpenny, 12 Hobbit Militia, 3 Hobbit Archers

Evil: (B) 1 Ruffians with whip, (P) Rowan Thistlewood, 8 Ruffians, 2 Ruffians with whip, 4 Ruffians with bow

Uprooting of Bagshot Row

Good: (P) Gaffer Gamgee, 12 Hobbit Militia

Evil: (P) Bill Ferny, 2 Ruffians, 1 Ruffians with whip, 2 Ruffians with bow

Arrest of Folco Boffin

Good: (P) Folco Boffin, 8 Hobbit Militia

Evil: (B) 4 Hobbit Shiriffs (P) Holfoot Bracegirdle, Robin Smallburrow, 8 Hobbit Shiriffs

The Old Storehouse

Good: (P) Baldo Tulpenny, 8 Hobbit Militia

Evil: (P) Rowan Thistlewood, 2 Ruffians, 1 Ruffians with whip, 2 Ruffians with bow

The Bounders Strike Back

Good:

 

Evil: (P) 2 Ruffians, 1 Ruffians with whip, 2 Ruffians with bow

Brokenborings

Good: (P) 8 Hobbit Militia

Evil: (P) Bill Ferny, 2 Ruffians, 1 Ruffians with whip, 2 Ruffians with bow

The Lockholes

Good: (P) Paladin Took, Baldo Tulpenny, 12 Hobbit Militia

Evil: (P) Rowan Thistlewood, 2 Ruffians, 1 Ruffians with whip, 2 Ruffians with bow

Attack on Tuckborough

Good: (P) Paladin Took, Baldo Tulpenny, 12 Hobbit Militia

Evil: (P) Sid Briarthorn, 3 Ruffians, 2 Ruffians with whip, 3 Ruffians with bow

Old Cotton's Farm

Good: (P) Tolman Cotton, Gaffer Gamgee, Merry, Frodo, Samwise, 6 Hobbit Militia

Evil: (P) Rowan Thistlefoot, 2 Ruffians, 1 Ruffians with whip, 2 Ruffians with bow

The Battle of Bywater

Good: (P) Holfoot Bracegirdle, Robin Smallburrow, Tolman Cotton, Frodo, Samwise, Merry, Pippin, 8 Battlin' Brandybucks, 3 Tookish Hunters, 8 Hobbit Shiriffs

Evil: (B) 1 Ruffians with whip, 2 Ruffians with bow, (P) Sharkey, Worm, Sid Briarthorn, Bill Ferny, 8 Ruffians, 2 Ruffians with whip, 4 Ruffians with bow

Battle of Greenfields

Good: (P) Bandobaras Took, 8 Hobbit Militia, 4 Hobbit Shiriffs, 3 Rangers of the North

Evil: (B) Golfimbul, 2 Warg Riders with shield, (P) 2 Warg Riders with shield, 4 Warg Riders with throwing spear, 4 Warg riders with bow

The Wolves of Winter

Good: (P) 8 Hobbit Militia, 4 Hobbit Shiriffs

Evil: (B) Wild Warg Chieftain, 2 Wild Wargs (P) 4 Wild Wargs

The Road to Rivendell

Good: (P) Aragorn, 3 Rangers of the North

Evil: (P) 4 Warg Riders with shield, 1 Warg Riders with throwing spear, 2 Warg riders with bow

And once completed, I am aiming to play through the scenario's solo game style in the coming year, so we will see where this leads us!

There we have it as such, the checklists for all 19 scenario's in the book with what I need to paint, and what I`ll be buying hopefully over the year.

Check back at the end of march to see how I`m progressing on these scenario forces!

2.11.0.0

AHPC11 Overview video

 And so it came to pass, the 11th edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, and the 4th one I participated in.

How fast those three months have gone by...

For me personally, it was yet another succesfull edition, though like last year I regret not being able to frequently comment on the magnificent work of the other challengers, as free time was more then ever a utopia this edition.

But even then, I managed to get my two goals: break the 1.000 points barrier, and finish the whole Chambers of Challenge route to the Altar of the Snow Lord.  This resulted in me totalling 1112 points this year, far off from my personal best but never the less a hefty total.

To reach this, I finished 25 entries, and that placed me nicely in the first half of the table again, ending at a 27th spot.

Here the progress I made for the chambers map and the followed route:

And a small clip showcasing all my entries of this edition:

It was great fun once again, and next year I`ll be back with a personal challenge, namely to try and enter (any maps if they are present permitting) solely with anime styled models, which i can pull from various ranges and boardgames hopefully to reach my goals then as well.

Just a small personal impression, maybe a points score for 28mm+ "Monsters" might be in order, they are often bigger then their sci-fi equivalent vehicles....

The Haul Report 272: No Game No Life

 Excellent loot this week!

In order to prevent running the risk of books no longer being in store, I went forward and completed my No Game No Life series from various sources.

The first to arrive through Bol was volume 10, the finale of the series.

And then Archonia delivered the remaining volumes, 8 and 9, the next day.

All I have to do now is get round to reading them all x-D

On the Painting Desk 188

 Work continues this week on the third Yuno panel, slowly and steadily as there is no time pressure.

I managed to get most of the basic colours in, so now it is a matter of adding appropriate highlights to it.

Once this panel then gets finished, I'll be adding them to a larger foamboard, and start working on two small pieces to "fill it out" before the actual big panel will get painted.

I just hope Noshi will be pleased with the final result for the living room... now to think about an artist name as every artist needs to sign his work ;-)

AHPC11: Seiya

 One can not look into gaming Saint Seiya, without having of course the figure of the titular character, Seiya, painted up.

Throughout the whole franchise, the Pegasus saint has been the chosen champion of the godess Athena, and in the main timeline this of course is Seiya himself.

A hot blooded boy at first, he grows into a responsible (yet still hot to anger if Saori is threatened) hero, often going above his weight to save her and his friends.

The model is from Nonsense Miniatures, printed in resin, and now that I have two models finished already, I guess I can take a look at their ruleset Constellation Warriors and give the game a go in solo play.  I might not have a grid mat to play on, but that will be solved by using dungeon tiles.

As a single 35mm figure, this adds another modest 5 points to the tally, and a great figure to round off my Challenge for this edition...

2.11.0.0

The Dread Pageant

 Not an edition can go by me without finishing at least something for the Prince of Excess, Slaanesh, and this year it is the entry for my finale of the challenge.

After reaching the Altar of the Snowlord, I have been set with the task of completing a warband for Warhammer Underworlds, the newest edition warband The Dread Pageant.

Dedicated to the Chaos god of pleasure, the band comes with 4 members, and from what I read so far are actually quite a difficult band to master, so challenge excepted on that front once Covid permits us to attend smaller tournaments again.  And then I'll be taking these guys out for a tournament for sure one day.

As black latex is sooooooo last year in the fetish world, I went for white instead.  This also makes the whole band look more bright and less depressed as black would have been.  The clothing and weapons are done with vibrant pastels as well for more contrast.

For the metals, I took the good old Citadel Amethyst Purple and Enchanted Green metalic paints, giving a magical touch to the items as if some strong spell is cast over them.

So that is it, my final challenge room of the year completed, with a (ahum) hefty week to spare.  With 4 models, this means 20 points for the warband, and an additional 20 for the room, ticking the total with an extra 40 points.

2.11.0.0

Sword Art Offline Extra Edition

 Based on the (swimsuit) extra edition episode, this offline ONA was included on the BluRay and Dvd.

Like with the original SAO: Offline series, it is a chibi styled one episode special, 13 minutes in lenght.

Presented by Kirito, Leafa and Asuna, with Yui as a special guest, it is a sort of comical commenting on the Extra Edition episode, following the same pattern of playback and comments.

Nothing to fancy to be honest, though it did extract some sniggers from yours truly, but that is about it.  I guess I`m not turning out to be a SAO specials fan compared to the extra episodes of some other series, as they usually put on a fun take on events.

Oh well, onwards to the next anime and archive this on my MAL.

Lupin season 1 part 1

 Lupin, dans l'ombre de Arsene is a Netflix series based on the legendary french character or Arsene Lupin, gentleman thief.

Now, like Vikings though, the series is split in half.  The first part of the season aired a month ago, while the second part will be for the second half of 2021...

... and it will be a long wait as this french series starring Omar Sy truly is something great.  Assane Diop saw his father being framed and commit suicide by the Pellegrini family for supposedly stealing a jewelry piece, the necklace of the Queen.  

 

 

For years he plotted his revenge, inspired by a book of Arsene Lupin he had received from his father.  Adopting the methods of his idol, he becomes a fantastic thief and con-artist, all the time working to further his chance of revenge, and now, 25 years later, the moment has come.

Disguising himself he manages to first steal the necklace at an auction, before using his skills to investigate the case, but when he kidnaps a police officer he accidentaly slips up and now the investigator also comes under investigation, having to outsmart not only the corrupt police as well as his target.

The series ends with his family life becoming a target, after he already had the blood on his hands of a friend, putting him under pressure... and us waiting for the second part of the season in tension!

Truly a magnificent series, the way his method is explained near the end of every episode makes you frown, as often you didn`t see it coming or missed some detail.  

Recommended for sure!  Oh, and read the books, I did as a teenager and loved them...

Sword Art Offline

 A 9 episode special series that was on the BluRay and DVD of Sword Art Online, this takes a funny look at the events of the first season.

Presented in a chibi style, these shorties are presented as a talkshow in which our heroes look back at what happened during the series.

Making use of a guest appearance every week, certain scenes are commented on (in a not serious way, usually resulting in verbal bickering between the characters), as well as some trivia for the actual videogames where the anime is based on.

While at times funny, they aren`t hilarious in my taste, and often got repetitive, but their short duration (about 11 minutes per episode) made them good to watch during public transportation.

If you are a fan, they might have an appeal, but for me they ended up being nothing more then timefilling.

The Haul Report 271

 This week, my order made together with Nemesis arrived.

Paints, tufts to tune up my gasaphon gundam bases, that sort of essentials for the hobby.

It was ordered from the Netherlands, so we saved a lot on shipping and no taxes of course.

And that's it once again... it remains calm at the personal front...

On the Painting Desk 187

 Bit of an odd week in this time, as I've been doing stuff, but not really miniature related, but then again, miniature related...

Yeah, sounds weird, I know, but with the AHPC now over and the goals met (really like right on time), it was time for something completely different.

 

First off, I started working on the third part for the Mirai Nikki piece I`m doing.

 

 

But I also in years opened up a box of Gunpla, with the Freedom I brought back from London 2 years ago.  I've build it out of the box, but slowly and surely I will be painting him and "locking him" into a fixed position to play MechaTop with it.  But to that end, I really first need to solve my printer issues to make him a base.

 

 

I did do some work on the things littering the paint desk still, but to be honest it's to neglectable to really talk about progress...

 

But it all will get finished in the end... and then end on eBay or the likes.

 

AHPC11: The Oldest of Rivalries

 If there is one long lasting rivalry in anime, it is without a doubt the one between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable.

Ever since the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime aired back in 1979, the two have been protagonists, and it is actually a very complex villain.

Char is one of the most charismatic and loved bad guys around, and with a record service of 44 years and counting at the moment, one that remains incredibly popular even with new generations, as could be seen by the OVA series Char's Origin the past year.

For this entry, I went up and painted two 1/400 scale gasaphon, whic I plan to use in MechaTop, a kickstarter I`m eagerly awaiting delivery for (should be march btw).  I like this scale the best to game, as the models are the size of a 28mm figure (I scored them as such below), and work really well with 1/300 scale infantry, vehicles and buildings without towering TO much over them.  Even though your average Gundam stands at about 18 metres... as could be seen in the news as Japan is working on a functional RX-78-2 recently.

To that end, of course I need the famous RX-78-2 (it's also the Gundam appearing in the excellent Ready Player One movie btw), and one of Char's mobile suits in which he duelled with Amuro, the aquatic MSM-07S Z'Gok in his typical red colour scheme as he is "The Red Comet" for a reason.

Demaz!

AHPC11: Dungeons and Denizens

 Every year, near the end of the challenge, I end up with one of these posts: literally a dump post of all the things began, yet not finished for this year.

And it is no different in this edition, so labelling it Dungeons and Denizens, it is quite a hotchpotch of things painted in between entries, with the solemn goal of  "who knows if I need it in DnD one day" kind of stuff.

As well as some terrain, being mostly 2x2 dungeon tiles but also a rather big statue, there is some variety of beasts in here.

Repainted clix models, some metal guy on bails of hay of which I got no clue where I ever obtained him from, all that sort of loose stuff.

Which also makes it a bit of a puzzle for the points calculation.  I guess 10 points is sufficient for all the tiles and the statue, it goes for about 6 cubic inch, but the paint jobs aren`t that hard for those.  The beasties are all 28mm ones, so that is 6 of them for 30 points, making 40 points total?

Into the Night

 A Netflix original, AND a Belgian production, this 6 episode long series (already confirmed btw for a second season) was sublime.

Sometimes a bit of chauvinism is allowed... even though overhere, that doesn`t happen often...

The series takes place in the current day, as a nightflight for Moskou is being prepared.  Suddenly, an italian NATO officer hijacks the plane, forcing it to take off with the few passengers already on board.  he reveals something is going on with the sun, and people drop dead the moment the sun comes up.

This makes the passengers some of the last survivors of mankind, as the plane has to keep flying eastwards to keep ahead of daybreak.  But everyone on board has their own story, and own dark secrets, which are gradually being revealed as they flee around the world, from a kind man actually being a gangster, to a woman going to great lengths for her sick child.

As they start to encounter all sorts of logistic and personal problems, they also keep looking for a way to survive, because they can`t stay in the air forever after all...

A really captivating series, as we binged through it, and I even forgive them when in episode 5, one of the characters flees to her home in Brussels to try and die... because they show Antwerp cathedral and the Central Station then.  I know those places, I live and work there for decennia ;-)

With the open ending, I can`t wait what the second season will bring.  But for now, if you haven`t, make sure to watch this little gem on Netflix!

The second Yuno Gasai painting

 Recently I finished the second part of the three Yuno's I`m painting for Noshi, this time a bit more "lewd" compared to the first panel.

Another image I got from Noshi, so I can`t quote the original fanart creator, this shows Yuno with a slightly falling open top.

Like with the previous work, I started by making a line drawing of the image using a very fine pencil.

This was then coloured in, armed with all the new pink paints I got a while ago to put some more contrast in the hair.

It is also the first time I tried out "spunging" for the blush on the cheeks and certain areas of the hair.

After all the parts where painted, I went for a black edge to give a hefty contrast, and the completed work in the end will feature a lot of black and red (which reminds me I need to get red paint soonish).

The final step was once again lining it all out with a 0.25 marker, and the whole work came together nicely.

Now one more full Yuno to go, and then I can start trying to bring it all together into one single piece!