Challenge Day 58 - What The Little Red Card Brought

This morning I made it to the sorting office to collect the parcel:

Some people have suggested that the Salutesville Police Department's approach to taking on the city's criminal gangs is a bit heavy handed. Others have suggested that they might want more than a heavy machine gun to take on Postie's mob. These reinforcements could be proof of the former or ease the mind of those in the latter camp.

Just so you know, Salutesville's finest are taking delivery of a Lanchester 6 x 4 armoured car and a Vickers Mark II medium tank.


Update on the NSL Panzer Grenadiers

Just after midday I gave the bases a coat of PVA with brown ink to seal the sand/grit. I then set them aside for a few hours to allow the PVA to dry. I've just finished the second step of dry-brushing, leaving one more dry-brushing step and the flocking. They will go in tonight.

No pics of them today as they are very nearly finished.



Starting my Wars of the Roses Project

While the PVA/ink coat was drying on the NSL, I set about assembling my first batch of WotR figures. I've stuck them three to a 60x40 base for painting. Later on tonight they will get primed and I'll start painting them tomorrow.

Challenge Day 57 - NSL Almost Finished

Yup, that's right. They are almost finished. The bases have had texture mix added, which will be drying out overnight.

Tomorrow will see any loose sand and grit gently brushed off, then a sealing coat of PVA (with some ink mixed in) followed by dry-brushing and flocking. That's going to be a busy afternoon and evening, but well worth it for the points bomb.

Since finishing the basing I've been working on prepping the Wars of the Roses stuff. Over the past two lunchtimes I have been busy removing all the bits from the sprues of 4 packs from the Perrys - 2 of the WotR infantry, 1 of European mercenaries and 1 of foot knights.

Now I'm in the process of cleaning up the bits I'll need tomorrow for assembling a bunch of retinue longbowmen and billmen. I should be able to do the assembly tomorrow afternoon while the PVA sealing coat on the NSL bases dries. After that, they'll get primed at some point in the evening.

There was a part of me that had hoped to get a bunch assembled and primed today, ready for a very quick painting session tomorrow, but I think that was very, very optimistic

Challenge Day 56 - The Little Red Card...

...of frustrating excitement and exciting frustration.

Yes, one of those "we tried to deliver but it was too big and nobody was in" cards. I know what it is - some items for the Mob Wars project. I'll have to wait until Saturday to collect it though.

Since getting home from my game of Gruntz I have applied gloss varnish to visors and other bits that need to be glossy on the NSL panzer grenadiers. That leaves me in a good position to get all the basing texture added tomorrow, then to finish the basing on Saturday for a big points boost.

I've also started work on my next entry, which will be a unit or two (maybe three) for my Wars of the Roses army. Lunchtime today was spent detaching bits from the sprues. I'll be doing some more sprue-cutting tomorrow, then at the weekend I'll get the first unit(s) prepped and primed.

Did I mention I've got Monday and Tuesday off work? If I crack the whip I may even get those units finished by Wednesday.

Challenge Day 55 - Smurfs

Quick WIP update on the NSL panzer grenadiers:

All the detailing is done! That just leaves varnishing and basing for a truly massive (well, compared to my other entries this year) points bomb on Saturday. I should get the matt varnishing done tonight; I'll put gloss varnish on the visors tomorrow when I get home from the club.

6mm ACW Union Infantry

My twelfth entry this year comprised 8 bases of 6mm ACW Union infantry, each base with 24 figures in line and 4 skirmishers out ahead. These netted me 112 points. All figures and the flags are from Baccus 6mm.

These were painted in two batches, so there are slight differences as I was re-learning how to paint in 6mm. Also, the last time I painted 6mm ACW I was using Revell AquaColor paints but have since switched to Vallejo.


First Batch:

Second Batch:

For those who want to know the paints used:

Jacket and kepis - Intense Blue
Trousers - Deep Sky Blue
Hats, belts, cartridge pouches etc - Black
Flesh - Flat Flesh
Wood - Flat Earth
Hair - German Camo Medium Brown
Bread bag - Stone Grey
Canteen cover - Pale Blue
Bread bag strap and drum skin - Off White
Drum - Intense Blue, Vermillion
Musket barrel - Natural Steel
Belt buckles, cap badges, flagstaff finials - Gold

Challenge Day 54 - NSL Power Armour Troops

Almost unbelievably, I have managed to get the remaining 72 panzer grenadiers to the stage where they have had their strong tone wash. That means I have got tomorrow lunchtime and evening - plus Thursday and Friday lunchtimes if needed - to get the detailing done. That leaves Friday evening for adding the basing bits and Saturday afternoon to do the dry-brushing and flocking. Things are looking good for a major points bomb this weekend, which is much needed after all of Alan's entries today (I'm currently sitting 101 points behind him on the table).

So, here's a quick pic of the lot of them: 

NSL Strom Gepanzerte Sturmtruppen

The first of my two submissions on Saturday were this bunch of NSL power armour troops. There are 42 of them in total, with the bulk multi-based for Gruntz.

Commander and sub-commanders:

Missile specialists:

"Grunt" squads with plasma guns:

"Grunt" squads with SAWs (Squad Automatic Weapons):

Simon and I have agreed on multi-basing for Gruntz as it makes it easier to do larger games. Yes, we are both megalomaniacs. Each multi-base represents a squad of 6 power armour troops, 2 of whom will have SAWs or plasma guns.