TFL Painting Challenge: The Last Day - Fourth and Final Update!

Well that's the end of the 2014 TooFatLardies Painting Challenge!

Fifty-five people entered, and have produced fifty-five galleries full of inspirational miniatures.

I'm not going to list who scored the most points, or who painted more of this type of figure than anyone else: that wasn't the point.

The point was to encourage us all to paint a bit more and, hopefully, improve our painting and photography skills along the way...and it seems to have worked. Lots of you have posted on the TFL Yahoo group about how much this has indeed got you painting more, and the sheer number of last-minute entries proves the point. Thanks, by the way, for all your kind words re me running the challenge: much appreciated.

On a personal note, I managed 898 points...missing out on my target of 1,000. That does, however, give me two numbers to aim for in 2015: beating my score for 2014 and reaching the elusive 'Grand'.

The 2015 TFL Painting Challenge starts now. I'll post the empty scorecard as soon as I have time, and you get a gallery once you've entered something! I have a zug of Gebirgsjaeger heavy mortars on the way, so I'll hopefully lead the way!

Finally, there were a few last minute entries that snuck in just before deadline:

• Mr Ralls with some Austrians and WW2 British
• Mr Hodge with a large Normandy church and some Paras
• and Mr Douglas, with eight minutes to spare, with eight 15mm  horse archers

Here are Mervyn's last minute horse archers:

TFL Painting Challenge: The Last Day - Update 03

More achievements being submitted in a desperate attempt to beat the midnight GMT deadline!

What's good about this lot is that they represent people who have really pushed hard to get their entries in on time...and we even have yet another newcomer.

So, the list...

• Mr Bloggs attempts to catch Thomas with a mixture of fantasy figures
• But Thomas is having none of it with an equally mixed bag of figures seemingly taken from the very bottom of the lead mountain, but giving him a respectable score for the year of just over 300 points
• Mr Plowman sends in his second entry of the day: I think the paint is still wet on these ones
• Stumpy with more re-basing: this time over 250 Soviets (would drive me potty doing all that re-basing)
• Leif with some big figs
• Mr Bax just manages to get himself over the 1,000 point mark with some more of those lovely arctic figures and some CoC jump-off points
• And, literally last but by no means least, Jim Murray pots some beautiful 1/144 aeroplanes and (a man after my own heart) some big 15mm tank units

And to show we have no bad feelings towards Mr Murray for spurning the painting competition until the very last minute, here are his BE-2s:

TFL Painting Challenge: The Last Day - Update 02

Second batch of today's last-minute entries.

In addition to another huge batch from JdTN, we even have a new entrant: Andy Duffell and his Fantasy/CoC figures.

Don't read that last bit aloud! 

So, in this update we have:

• Alexandros and three 28mm vehicles
• Joakim and some Dust-ers
• the aforementioned John de Terre Neuve with another bucketload: taking him up to an impressive 1,300 points or so
• and the tardy Mr Duffell, with 800 points or so's worth of fantasy and Chain of Command figures.

For everyone else, there's still time to get your entries in!

This update's picture is from Alexandros, an internal shot of an SU-76M:

Oh...okay then...and here's shot from one of new-kid-on-the-block Mr Duffell's entries, a rather lovely StuG:

TFL Painting Challenge: The Last Day - Update 01

Some huge entries coming in as people suddenly realise that the deadline is upon them!

In the first of today's updates, we have:

• John de Terre Neuve with an extraordinary catch-up entry, some of which dates back to March, that sends him straight over the 500 point mark with a very nice collection of 20mm and 28mm figures and vehicles
• Proving that anything is possible at the last minute, Kohn submits his first entry for 2014: some 20mm tanks
• Ralph Plowman adds to his total with some mounted sergeants
• And the Mad Padre empties his sleeves with a big 15mm painting entry and a colossal 6mm re-basing project that takes him straight and well over the 1,000 point mark

Ideally I'd like to picture all the entries here, but I'm afraid you'll have to look at the individual galleries as there are just too many pics for a post. Here, however, is one of JdTN's entries, and one (just one!) of the Mad Padre's re-basing shots:

TFL Painting Challenge: The Penultimate Day

Pleased to see that the entries keep coming in for this year's painting challenge.

Just to clarify, the deadline is 12 midnight GMT on the 31st (tomorrow!) with any entries after that counting as in 2015.

Today's achievements are from:

• Egg, with some lovely 15mm buildings. 
• Dave Humm with lots of 20mm WW2 infantry and some fun 28mm Gingerbread men
• Jim Catchpole returns with some more Maurice figures
• Leif also returns with some DAK 20mm figures

And today's picture? I think two, again: Leif's SdKfz 222 and Mr Humm's Gingerbread men

View fullsize

TFL Painting Challenge: The Deadline Approaches

Well it's the 28th of December and the deadline for this year's painting challenge approaches.

Quite a few entries from people squeezing in just one more unit in order to hit a certain points total: Mr Luther, for example, flies through the 3,000 point mark with four 6mm aircraft doubtless pulled from the depths of the lead mountain.

Quite a few entries from people saying "this will be the last one for this year" or "I thought I might hit x points, but now won't". What defeatist talk is this? It is only the 28th: there are still three days to go.

So, come on chaps: one more push...and no saving stuff for next year!

Today's achievements are from:

• Mark Luther hits 3,000 points with four 6mm aircraft
• Dick Bax gets ever closer to the 1,000 mark with some 28mm sci-fi figures and drones
• Jon Yeungling pops in what he claims are the last figures for 2014...
• Mr Danziger and twenty-four US infantry
• And Mr Hodge with loads of re-basing and a couple of AA guns

Just to confirm, the challenge will definitely be running next year.

Today's picture is of Mr Bax's excellent "cold weather troopers":

TFL Painting Challenge: Xmas Eve Update

The TFL Painting Challenge doesn't break for Xmas...and just to prove it, here's a quick Christmas Eve update.

Today's achievements are from:

• The Mad Padre, with some very nice 28mm Commandos that take him to within 70 points of the 1,000 point mark
• Jim Catchpole with some sci-fi terrain that takes him over the 1,000 point mark
• And Jon Yuengling with sixty-four arab infantry. Jon claims to be running out of steam, but is still quite a few locomotives ahead of me!

Pictures wise, I'm going slightly back in time with some hots of Mark Luther's treeline, claimed just the other day. Forget Santa coming down the chimney tomorrow, I want Mark and his terrain collection instead...I'll even leave him a glass of sherry and a mince pie!

View fullsize

View fullsize

TFL Painting Challenge: Catchpole Breaks His Duck!

Not a reference to a dropped resin war-mallard, but the good news that Mr Catchpole has finally got round to submitting some entries for the 2014 painting challenge. Quite a lot of entries actually!

So, today's achievements are:

• Mr Catchpole with a marvelous 990 points worth of painting and rebasing. Just think: if only you could paint another 10 points worth and submit them before the end of the year...
• Carole with miles of bocage and a pond
• Mr Bax with some very nicely painted 28 and 20mm figures
• Mr Luther with even more miles of scruffy treeline. No photo so I had to estimate the points at the equivalent of two 28mm houses. Mark is now only 22 points away from 3,000 points with just eleven days to go.
• Mr Slade with four delightful Minions
• Mr Yuengling with a couple of 15mm buildings

Today's picture? Well, I think we'll do two (it is Xmas after all). Here are Mr Slade's Minions and a nice tow from Mr Bax:

TFL Painting Challenge: colossal Monday Night Update!

Now I understand why the challenge has been a bit quiet of late: you lot were storing them up for me so that I could process them all in one go!

A colossal update tonight, we have:

• Vidal with over 100 Austrians in 15mm. How about some pics, Vidal?
• Mr Yuengling with some 15mm WW1 vehicles from Shapeways (the future of wargaming?)
• The Mad Padre with an eclectic mix of 28mm figures and scenery
• Mr Luther with a collection of odds and sods from the South Pacific (no, not the musical, Sid)
• Steve Burt enters the challenge with a bang, a big bang. Hundreds of 28mm figures that give him an immediate 1,408 points. 
• Mr Hodge with some more Paras and a very nice ruined building
• Mervyn with some more 15mm Ancients that he assures me "that is definitely almost certainly it for the year". Come on, Mervyn, you can manage just one more wafer-thin figure...
• Thomas surprises us all with 40 points worth of Martians
• and, last but by no means least, Leif (can you see what I did there?) with some lovely 20mm figures

Difficult to choose one picture to go with tonight's achievements...but I think it has to be Leif's roadside shrine/CoC jump-off point in 20mm. Lovely.

Painting Challenge: Three New Entries

I'm pleased to announce that we have three new people entering the 2014 painting challenge, all of whom have sent me huge catch-up entries covering the whole year!

First up is Carole, with a massive entry of 15mm World War 2 figures. There's a whole company of German infantry supported by a company of Panzer IVHs and a zug of Tiger I. On top of that, there's a company of British infantry supported by a whole squadron of Cromwells (with a few Fireflies). Finally, there is a selection of houses to dress the table. All very nice, especially the Panzer IV tanks...and a total of 513 points.

Carole's 15mm Panzer IV H

Next up is an extraordinary entry from Ben Fiene consisting of stunningly painted figures in 28mm and 20mm. The 28s are all dark ages types: Romano-Britons, Saxons, Vikings etc. The 20mm figures are all for Chain of Command: French (lovely!); British Paras and German support units. There are also some 15mm Napoleonics claimed, but no photos yet. It's a fantastic entry that garners Ben an incredible 1,474 points.

20mm scale, 25mm French anti-tank gun from Ben Fiene

Last, but by no means least, Ashley Pollard enters her 6mm Ogre-based sci-fi armies. Well over 100 beautifully painted 6mm vehicles, Love 'em. Ashley's entry gets her 354 points.

Some of Ashley's wonderful 6mm Ogre figures

Painting Challenge: Monday Night Update

My words of encouragement seem to have had some effect: enough new achievements sent to me to justify a cheeky Monday night update only a couple of days after the Saturday night one.

Today's achievements are from:

• Egg with lots of terrain, including a beautiful La Haie Sainte
• Jon Yuengling with ten more of his micro-scale ships
• Treadhead storms over the 1,000 point mark with some Finns, some mines and some Martians (must get around to painting mine!)
• And Mr Hodge re-bases some more infantry

Today's picture is, as you might have guessed, Egg's Normandy farmhouse: aka Tiger Terrain's La Haie Sainte in 15mm.

TFL Painting Challenge: 4,000 Points Reached!

It's another quiet week on the challenge, with only a few people able to sustain the effort until the end of the year...but the perseverance of the few has paid off as I'm pleased to announce that Matt Slade has thundered over the 4,000 point mark with a host of War of the Roses painting and re-basing. 

Even though (as he would be the first to mention) Mr Slade has an advantage, being a professional figure painter, this is still a spectacular achievement, as he has only submitted figures painted for himself, not his commissions. Puts my attempts to get to 1,000 points in perspective!

The other submissions this week were from Mr Douglas (a very nice 28mm house) and Mr Hodge, who has submitted a tray of 110 stands of 6mm re-basing that I have awarded 150 points for as I wasn't going to count every single figure with a magnifying glass! Aerial recon or what!

Here are some of the WOR figures Matt submitted this week:

TFL Painting Challenge: Update

A Sunday night update this week. Still quite quiet, but we have achievements from:

• Doug Melville and his Scots Irish
• Jon Yuengling and some Soviet bombers and German WW1 tanks
• Stumpy with vast amounts of re-basing and a few 'from scratch' tanks

This year's challenge will finish midnight on 31st December, with next year's due to start immediately afterwards.

Today's picture is from Mr Yuengling: two WW1 German tanks in 15mm. 

TFL Painting Challenge: Monster Monday Night Update

Well it seems as if you have been getting the brushes out again for that last push before the end of the year. Today we have achievements from:

• Doug Melville: eight 20mm WW2 vehicles
• Chris Stoesen and 23 Cold War Soviets
• Mark Luther converts some Australians to make casualty figures, and then re-bases them all
• Mr Yuengling paints a couple of 15mm buildings that look suspiciously like egg cartons. The things some people will do for points!
• Alexandros submits a ,lovely Italian Scout Squad for CoC. Lovely boy, lovely boy!
• Mervyn Douglas sends in some AT Guns, some javelinmen, and some Gallic slingers with, for some reason, red feet. Must be trampling over the bodies of their enemies!
• Mr Bax submits six asylum patient zombies. Step away from the paint pot and put the modeling knife down!
• And finally Mr Slade submits enough 28mm Crusade figures to equal my entire year's total in one submission. You're not making any friends here, Matt, you know that, don't you? Takes his total up to tantalisingly close to 4,000 points!

That is one monster update and, to celebrate, we'll have more than one picture. Not Jon's egg carton houses (actually they are probably really expensive models!) but, obviously, Alexandros' Italians and Matt Slade's command figures. Lovely: just lovely.

TFL Painting Challenge: Another Quickie

This week's entries to the painting challenge are again surprisingly light. Where has everyone gone? Or are you all, like me, just incredibly busy in the run up to Xmas?

Fortunately, I had the Warfare show to inspire me (translation: to fit all my new stuff onto my table, I had to paint some old stuff) and you will see the fruits of my labours once I can get some free time in daylight. I am desperate to reach the 1,000 point mark this year, but am still 265 points shy and am running out of time: only about five weeks left, so over 50 points a week needed!

Anyhow, today's acheivements are from:

• Chris Stoesen, who creeps stealthily over the 500 points mark
• Mark Luther with some more aeroplanes
• Mr Douglas with loads of shellholes and hedges
• Jon Yuengling makes a reappearance with the start of his big end-of-year push: 36 points today

With such a short list of achievements, not many pictures to choose from. Today's featured post is from Mr Yuengling:

On the subject of piccies, I am powering through the re-loading of the IABSM army galleries, so check them out if you have a moment.

TFL Painting Challenge: 3,000 Points Reached

Today's big news is that with two handfuls of knights, three handfulls of Vikings and a jolly big box of re-basing, Matt Slade becomes the first person on this year's painting challenge to pass the 3,000 points mark. Most impressive!

Other entries today come from Dick Bax and Mr Luther.

Yes: only three people have added anything to their total this week...and at a time when I thought things would be hotting up for the final push. So come on: get those brushes and paints out and finish the year with a bang!

I'm sure Mr Clarke will lead the way by submitting all the stuff he's painted this year, and where he treads, surely all others must follow!

Today's picture is, surprisingly enough, not from Mr Slade, but from Mr Luther: some rather spiffing Heinkel He 111s from one of his previous entries.

Oh, alright then, we can have something from Mr Slade too! Here are his latest Vikings:

TFL Painting Challenge: Incredibly quick update

Just a very quick update today. Entries from Chris Gilbride; Mark Luther; Jon Yuengling and Treadhead.

Today's picture is again from Mr Gilbride: a couple of 28mm carriers and a 28mm Panzer III painted up for the desert:

For those interested in a more general update, I have now finished re-loading all the scenario booklet-based IABSM AARs, and have just started on the (long) list of one-off games. Once they are done, then it's on to the galleries and then the other sections of the site (19th Century, Ancients and Fantasy gaming). Still a long way to go!

TFL Painting Challenge: Not At Crisis!

With many Lardies off at Crisis this weekend, we who are left behind can only console ourselves by looking at the latest entries in the TFL Painting Challenge.

Today we have entries from:

• Alexandros, with more Italians for his desert CoC campaign that take him past the 1,000 points mark. Huzzah!
• Chris Gilbride with some Henandoah and British Paras.
  • Chris needs to be congratulated here, as apparently the Paras were started three years ago, the Henandoah some seven years ago. Just shows the power of the painting challenge!
• Mr Luther shows us the future by flying in with some more 1/285 'planes via Shapeways 3D printing
• Mr Stoessen submits a tank and some cowboys
• and Mr Ralls submits two 15mm early WW2 units: 74 figures in all

Today's picture is from Mr Gilbride: his Henandoah tribesmen carefully brewed over the last seven years... 

TFL Painting Challenge: Ron Rolls In

A Saturday night update in honour of Ron Carnegie who submits his first entries for the painting challenge: a massive year-to-date catch-up that takes him straight past the 1,000 point mark.

Speaking of Marks, Mark Luther has submitted some more 6mm 'planes and vehicles: enough to take him past the 2,500 points score: so well done to Mark.

We also have entries from:

• Leif and some orcs
• Melvyn and an outside loo
• Mr Bax makes a welcome return with some steampunk Ottomans
• And Mr Ralls' resurrection continues with a big entry of 15s and 28s

Today's picture has to be Melvyn's 28mm  'dunny' :

An Update Update

For those keeping track of how the new site is progressing, I've re-loaded AARs down to the end of the Operation Compass scenario pack part of the IABSM AAR page. All the AARs for Q13 and CDS are already done.

I've also added a link to Kev (Fat Wally)'s Painting Service at the top of his gallery in the TFL Painting Challenge section. Here's the link again. And here's a quick pic of some of his work: