TFL Painting Challenge: Pre-GoT Update!

Just got time to squeeze in another update before plunging back into Game of Thrones!

A huge update tonight:  loads of models, loads of points!

In no particular order we have:

• Mr Luther adds an outpost and fills in a lot of his missing pictures. Only two to go in fact!
• Mr Bax adds some Romano-Brits for Dux
• Owen adds another two regiments of Austrians
• WillieB joins Dick in Dux: lots of 28mm DB infantry
• Mr Helliwell pops in a loyalist regiment for the American War of Independence
• Mr Ralls smashes in figures in two different scales and tops off his entry with some buildings to die for
• Mr Slade has some lovely looking Dark Age Warriors
• AJH emerges from the Nordic darkness accompanied by some SYW Austrians and goes over 500 points. Huzzah!
• Steve Burt consolidates and adds some command stand for his Napoleonics...and just hits his half century as well: huzzah!
• Finally Lloyd Bowler includes the mandatory (and very nice looking) WOTR regiment

Today's pics are Jason Ralls' buildings and gardens...and just look at those gardens! I want, I want, I want!

TFL Painting Challenge: A Mid-Week Post

Lots of really beautifully painted entries today. In no particular order, we have:

• Treadhead and his gladiators
• Paul Baldwin with some more WOTR foot and a load of 6mm re-basing
• Mr Helliwell gives his Germans some wheels
• Benito gives us a 28mm Panzer and more Moors
• Carole gives us a recce zug to look out for
• Mr Naylor pops in a couple of entrenchments
• Mark Luther has built lots of jungle terrain (I mean lots) and also painted up six aeroplanes (yes, I had to look up what a "Nate" was)
• Mr Plowman (lovely boy, lovely boy) enters some more lovely sci-fi figures, these painted a la Argyles if I'm not mistaken
• And Mr Douglas achieves his usual LOTR entry, but adds some smaller horse archers as a cherry on the cake

Now, pictures...lots to choose from. Here are three that particularly caught my eye:

Treadhead's Gladiators

Some of Mr Baldwin's re-based 6mm Austrians

Mr Plowman's sci-fi Argyle's

Check out all the entries in their respective galleries...and keep the e-mails coming!

TFL Painting Challenge: Saturday Morning Update

As I think I'm going to be busy for the rest of the weekend (including painting some more Paras and a game of Q13 tonight) I thought I'd better get in an update now .

Today we have:

• Some home-made swamp from Mt Plowman
• Sixteen beautifully painted 15mm WW2 BEF vehicles from Egg
• Some more Perry WOTR figures from Lloyd 'The Hat' Bowler
• Eighty 6mm ACW infantry from AJH
• Lots of Napoleonics from Owen
• And an impressive one hundred sabot bases (plus some other bits and bobs) from Mr Hodge

Today's pictures are two in number. First, and obviously, Egg's vehicles, which I covet enormously:

And secondly, AJH's 6mm ACW entry. Very nice for things so small!

US Paras from Forged in Battle

As some of you may know, I have started putting together a company of US Paras, plus supports, in 15mm.

The MMG Platoon proved a successful test paint, so I decided to bite the bullet and get on with the first of the big paints, the first platoon.

Being a bit sick of painting Battlefront figures, and wanting to spread my cash between manufacturers, I decided to get my first Airborne platoon from Forged in Battle. I like their vehicles, their infantry is metal, and some of the poses I'd seen in various images looked very good.

Well that platoon is now finished, and very pleased I am too. The poses proved excellent, the castings were almost totally flash free, and there wasn't a dud figure in the pack (Battlefront take note!). Here they are:

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As you can see, they have taken the paint very well indeed.

For those interested, my painting method was as follows:

1. Undercoat (spray) in white
2. Two (2) coats of GW Agrax Earthshade brown wash to bring up the detail (so that I could see it) and provide creases. When painting, try to leave as many creases in place as possible i.e. every step is effectively a kind of highlight.
3. Highlight face and hands with GW Dwarf Flesh
4. Top highlight face and hands with GW Kislev Flesh
5. Paint the helmet straps (one set) GW Balor Brown (leather colour)
6. Base coat the uniform Foundry Drab Shade
7. Highlight the uniform in Foundry Drab
8. Top highlight the uniform in Foundry Drab Light
9. Base coat the helmet in Vallejo Extra Dark Green
10. Paint the boots GW Mournfang Brown. Brush from back to front as this leaves just the suggestion of wash colour where the laces would be. Didn't work on all of them, but looks like laces on enough of them to be worthwhile.
11. Highlight the helmet with flecks of  Vallejo US Dark Green.
12. Base coat any rucksacks in Vallejo US Dark Green.
13. Base coast the wooden bits of the guns in GW Rhinox Hide
14. Highlight any rucksacks in GW Loren Green
15. Paint all webbing and the second helmet strap in Vallejo Green Grey
16. Highlight any helmet-strapped medipacks in Foundry Moss Light by painting three vertical lines on them
17. Paint the metal bits of any guns in GW Abaddon Black.
18. Paint a square of GW Abaddon Black on the left upper arm as the basis of the Screaming Eagle patch
19. Highlight the wooden bits of the rifles in GW Skrag Brown
20. Very lightly highlight (barely at all) the metal bits of the guns in GW Leadbelcher
21. Paint a triangle of GW Ceramite White on the black patch to represent the eagle's head
22. Paint a dot on GW Sunburst Yellow at the tip of the triangle to represent the eagle's beak
23. Glue to 5p pieces as bases: I like to mount my figures individually and use squad sized movement trays
24. Glue coarse sand onto the bases. Undercoat in a thick coast of GW Rhinox Hide. Highlight with GW Balor Brown. Paint the edge in GW Castellan Green. Add GW Glade Grass flock.
25. Seal with Army Painter anti-shine.

Phew! That's twenty-five steps for each of the 32 men (three squads of ten and two Big Men), but worth it as I'm very pleased with the results. Here's my favourite figure:

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Now onto to platoon two, for which I have figures from Battlefront.

TFL Painting Challenge: Monday Night Update

The post-weekend rush is in, and a good excuse for a Monday Night Update.

Today we have entries from:

• Owen, who submits loads of Austrians
• Mr Yuengling with a few Home Guard
  • Incidentally, I was listening to Dad's Army in the car on the way home: Radio 4 Extra has an episode every Monday night at 7pm. Still very, very funny!
• Treadhead with some more of his lovely US WW2 troops in 28mm
• Mr Bax returns with some sci-fi figures. No photos yet, unfortunately.
• Mr Stapells submits a hodge-podge: a 2mm city, some 15mm artillery, and four 15mm vehicles from Gaming Models
• And Lloyd Bowler gives us the first installment of some Perry 28mm WOTR figures...a period that seems very popular at the moment...and probably will be until someone discovers that it was the Perry Twins who buried a  Richard III corpse-a-like under the carpark in order to boost sales

Today's picture is more of Mr Treadhead's Americans...Bazooka Teams:

TFL Painting Challenge: Post Salute Update

No, not another Salute blog post: an update to the painting challenge that I'm adding the evening after I got back from Salute.

But whilst we're on the topic, a great show this year. Top game was obviously the debut of the TFL Chain of Command variant Fighting Season, which takes the platoon level WW2 game and adapts it for ultramodern warfare in Afghanistan. Nice to see a properly asymmetrical platoon-level game instead of just something where the westerners just shoot anything that moves!

The show itself, I thought, was the best for some years...certainly in terms of organisation. I arrived at 10.25 and walked straight in: no queue. There was plenty of space between each, er, installation, and not too many people playing fancy dress, although I did spot a very miserable looking Napoleonic British rifleman, an enormous American GI (wouldn't have fitted in a half-track, perhaps not even a full-track), and a girl wearing fox ears and a foxes tail! Oh, and there was someone in a giant cardboard space marine suit as well, accompanied by a decidedly un-lethal looking gun woman!

I spent far too much: two boxes of the new PSC SdKfz 250 half-tracks; quite a few half-price FOW blisters that I didn't really need but, come on, they were half price; a few full-price FOW blisters that I did need; some more Sarissa laser-cut buildings; and then some odd bits and pieces that just caught my eye.

Excel was packed (I had real difficulty finding somewhere to have a sarnie and a cup of coffee) mainly because in addition to the Marathon people (loving the contrast: wargamers vs marathon runners) there was also a convention celebrating the Sherlock TV series. I enjoyed Sherlock very much, but not perhaps enough to go to a convention about it, but it did increase the babe-count in general. A sexist comment, I know and apologise for, but I'm with Holden Caulfield on that one.

Anyhoo, on to the painting challenge entries...

• Mervyn adds some more LOTR figures
• Steve Burt adds some more Napoleonics
• Carole is awaiting a package, but has just squeezed in a couple of 28s
• Fred Bloggs adds more dwarves and witches and things
• Mr Plowman has some 15mm sci fi painted samples for a forthcoming Kickstarter. Very nice indeed.
• Mr Naylor pops in some 20mm WW2 Germans
• Mr Ralls slams back into action with a massive entry that takes him over his last year's entry already. Top pick was the 98 Mighty Empires terrain tiles: 588 points on their own.
• And Wulf adds a few more 28s to his gallery

Today's picture is from Mr Burt: his British 7th Hussars...

TFL Painting Challenge: A Moderate Update

Just a moderate update today. Quite lucky, as I'm exhausted after a week travelling around England's green and pleasant land on business.

Today's entries are:

• Obviously Matt Slade, with a giant entry
• Mr Helliwell roars back with a mix of scales and periods
• Leif is back! Okay, so it's just one 28mm tank, but he's definitely back
• Carole pops in some more half-tracks, but is running out of things to paint. Salute, dearie, Salute: my shopping list already extends a great deal further than my wallet!
• Not only is Leif back, but Wulf returns as well.  Four figures from him.
• Mr Luther submits some 20mm Japanese tanks, and pimps up a load of 6mm armour as well

Today's picture? Well it has to be Leif's tank, doesn't it?

TFL Painting Challenge: Enormous Update

An enormous update today: lots of people submitting lots of entries. Has taken me almost two hours to update the site!

In no particular order we have:

• Matt Slade with a huge number of 15mm sci-fi miniatures from Khurasan. Of particular note is the sci-fi Foreign Legion: twenty-one figures from the same unit, but each from a different alien race. Kinda hard to get into a painting rhythm there: I know, mine are still languishing in the lead mountain!
• Mr Plowman makes a welcome return: very busy, but not busy enough not to fit in painting four random fantasy figures
• Mr Baldwin submits his usual large melange of figures and scales
• Carole has built and painted a couple of lovely camps
• A first entry this year from Pingu, who promptly pops in some perfectly painted Paras
• Sapper achieves some Seleucids
• Egg just about completes his British forces for Sealion
• Mr Burt submits some Hussars, and another cat photo...
• Stumpy sends in some great 28mm modern Russians, and some 15mm WW2 Germans as well
• Mr Naylor builds some rather nice looking minefields
• and finally Mervyn paints some more LOTR figures

Phew!

I'm thinking that a large number of entries deserves a large number of pictures, so again in no particular order we have: 

Egg's Brits for Sealion

Carole's Camps

Ralph Plowman's entry: four random fantasy figures

And finally, Mr Burt's other cat!

I would have included Matt Slade's sci-fi Foreign legion, but as they are split between about six pics, you'll have to go to his gallery and see them there.

TFL Painting Challenge: A Second Easter Weekend Update

Good to see that all of you are doing something useful with your holiday time: painting figures and sending in your entries to the painting challenge!

Lots of lovely entries again so, in no particular order, we have:

• Stumpy emerges from his lair for his first entry of the year: and a big entry it is too!
• Carole provides some support for her British infantry
• Fred Bloggs pops in some more 28mm figures
• AJH finishes off his forces for an Elephant game
• Mr Luther paints more 20mm Japs, and fills in some of the blanks in his gallery. Recommended for a look.
• Mr Burt provides the picture of his Skraelings. Sorry, Steve, but people tell me they preferred the picture of your cat!
• Benito sends in some lovely Moors
• And the ever-present Mr Slade kindly provides a pin cushion...I mean almost three hundred 6mm pikemen!

There are three pictures today. First up, Benito's Moors: gorgeous and make me want to go all El Cid myself.

And then let's have a picture from Mr Luther: what a lovely tabletop that is!

TFL Painting Challenge: Good Friday, Good Update

Sorry that there's been nothing from me for a couple of days: real life getting in the way of anything else. Worked in the office until 10.30pm last night: so add in commuting time and you're talking a 17-hour day!

Anyhoo, onto today's submissions:

• First up, we have Treadhead with some lovely 28mm vehicles and a fort
• Mr Naylor submits some teeny tiny trees and markers
• Steve Burt has finished some 28mm Skraelings, but rather than send me pictures of them, has sent me a picture of his cat. There are two jokes I want to make here, neither of which I'm going to!
• Mr Bowler, who has apparently and somewhat disappointingly never worn one, has finished more of his terrific ACW 1/600 buildings and fortifications, including a great big fort
• Ashley pops in a spaceship
• Andrew Helliwell is back with some more 15mm Soviets
• Joakim submits a colossal entry of big Dust troops and 28mm horror stuff
• and Mr Slade has some casualties

There are two pictures today. First up are Mr Treadhead's US vehicles in 28mm:

And secondly, and terribly predictably, here's Steve's cat:

TFL Painting Challenge: An Update

Getting to the stage where I have to do an update early on in the weekend in order to make time for an update after the weekend!

In no particular order, we have:

• Mr Bax makes a welcome return with his version of Frozen II
• Benito pops in a quick ATG
• AJH, desperate to get ahead of Topi, achieves some fences and a house
• Matt Slade submits some 28s, and lovely they are too
• Mr Naylor with some more little tanks
• I Am Bruce enters the Lardy five..might be a duplicate in there?
• Carole, with loads of half-tracks, some pimped
• And newbie Mr Milne enters Australians of both sizes (does that sound right to you?) and some British armour

Today's picture? Well let's carry on the tradition of showcasing a newbie's first entry. Here are Mr Milne's 15mm Australians:

TFL Painting Challenge: Sunday Morning Update

Fantastic day of rugby yesterday with the climax of the Six Nations. Once again England were so close but yet so far from becoming champions, but well done to the Irish anyway.

How can we maintain that level of excitement through to Sunday night? Why, an update to the painting challenge of course!

Today's achievements (and they are legion!) are:

• Mr Luther with some more 6mm planes (more photos please Mark!)
• Nils with a whole load of 10mm figures and a 15mm rabbit
• Mr Naylor with some more 6mm AFVs
• My favourite entry of the week: WillieB's Napoleonic fleet in 1/500th scale. This takes huim over 500 points and over his last year score...so double cheers all round
• Egg plays Captain Mainwaring with the Bang On Trend Home Guard platoon
•  Sapper with a mixed bag of 15mm & 28mm figures
• Mr Douglas with...yes, you guessed it, more LOTR figures...and a couple of 15mm Crusaders
• Carole builds a bridge and some bunkers, and populates them with Marders...and gets over the 1,000 point mark: huzzah!
• Mr Yuengling with more teeny-tiny tanks
• and finally Jason Ralls with some 28mm VBCW and WW2 figures

Today's picture, as you might have guessed, is of WillieB's ships. Very nice:

TFL Painting Challenge: So Many Entries, A Special Monday Nighter Is Needed!

Having updated the challenge on Saturday, I thought I'd be okay for a couple of days, especially as I am in the middle of writing up the AAR from Saturday night's game...but, no, unfortunately not: so many entries flooded in yesterday and today that I have had to sacrifice my AAR writing for a special Monday Night update.

So, in no particular order, we have achievements from:

• Treadhead in 28mm, a couple of Shermans and a farm
• Mr Douglas with yet more LOTR figures
• Benito hasn't painted much recently (been playing rather than painting, lucky man) but here are a fistful of grenadiers 
• Egg is re-born, sending in his first entry of the new year, a lovely company of Skytrex and Forged in Battle early war British infantry
• Jason Ralls has a platoon of his own to send in: Soviets in 28mm. These take him over the 1,500 points mark: huzzah!
• Topyob submits some 15mm infantry of his own...but no pictures again!
• Mr Luther pops in seventy Aussie militia: also no photo, but one is sure to follow. This entry takes Mark over 500 points.
• Jon Yuengling enters sixty-three 1/600 tanks...and could someone make him three Crusader AA tanks, please, in the same scale
• Matt Slade achieves his usual high painting standard with 36 VSF infantry in 28mm
• and, last but not least, Mr Baldwin submits ten tiny houses from Bacchus

Inspired by the above, I'm off to do some painting of my own now, but before I do, here's today's picture: Egg's British infantry in 15mm

TFL Painting Challenge: Post-Rugby Round-Up

Now that the rugby is over for the day (magnificent game Wales vs Ireland...more mixed feelings about the England vs Scotland game), it must be time for a painting challenge update.

A high volume of entries today:

• Mr 'I Am Bruce' submits some 28mm Romans and Polish-types (I have answered your query re farmyard animals via e-mail)
• Richard Naylor achieves some more 6mm modern Soviet tanks
• New entrant Lloyd Bowler (must not make a hat joke, must not make a hat joke) smashes his way onto the scoreboard with a whole range of 1/600 ACW riverine craft supported by some 20mm Soviets
• Topi is back with some 15mm BEF figures (you're still just ahead!)
• Mr Plowman submits some lovely 15mm sci-fi figures
• Carole had apparently finished painting figures for the moment (at least until the postman arrives) and so turns her hands towards building terrain, lots of terrain
• Matt Slade goes very small and then very large, with entries from 6mm to 35mm
• and finally Mr Yuengling pops in some more 28mm cowboy types

Three photos today: a close up of Mr Plowman's sci-fi figures; one of Mr Bowler's 1/600 ships, and Carole's walled garden...

Great Paint Job!

USS Ossippi in 1/600th scale

Carole's Walled Garden

TFL Painting Challenge: Tuesday Night

Hi all.

Enough achievements posted to merit a quick Tuesday night update.

In no particular order, we have:

• Joakim with some completes he forgot to mention last time
• Mr Helliwell with some more Hessian types
• Fred Bloggs lists what he painted in February
•  Andrew McCarthy enters more (pictures, Andrew, pictures!)
• Jon adds some men to his cacti
• And Topyob bangs in some AWI and FOW figures

Plus I've had several requests to badger Rich for pics of his painting...but I think I'd rather leave him to get on with rule-writing. After all, he's got to hurry if he's going to get everything finished by Easter!

As for today's photo...well, it's a few days late but it's my tribute to an actor who both was and was not his most famous character. RIP Leonard Nimoy, 1931-2015:

Live long and prosper!

TFL Painting Challenge: Saturday Night Update

Ah, as I listen to the oft-heard sound of wife and eldest daughter arguing about...well, I don't know what and, quite frankly, have no wish to know as I might then get dragged into it, I think it's time for a painting challenge update.

Today's entries are from:

• Mr Douglas with more LOTR figures
• Mr Baldwin with an entry that originally got lost and is now found: some 6mm Sudan figures and some 15mm WW2 American Paras (I must get started on mine)
• Joakim with twelve Brimstone figures
• Mr Luther with over 100 6mm infantry and 24 6mm AFVs
• Jon Yuengling submits some cacti
• Mr Slade submits some Prussians
• Our friend Topi submits some 15mm WW2 vehicles and guns
• Mr Ralls returns with some more re-basing and also a spot of Brimstone painting
• Bad news for Carole: she's been laid up with a bad foot...but good news for her painting challenge score as it's given her a chance to ready another prodigious entry

Carole also becomes the first person to beat her 2014 score (new entrants don't count) although I suspect her previous year's score was so low because she only started submitting entries late in the year!

Today's picture is a reminder to me to get on with my US Paratroops: it's Mr Baldwin's US Paratroopers...

TFL Painting Challenge: Sunday Night, Lots of Achievements

So here we are, Sunday night, the calm before the storm of a week's work ahead of us. What could sustain us through the darkness? Why, the TFL Painting Challenge of course!

Here, in no particular order, are this week's entries:

• Jon Yuengling paints more 15mm vehicles
• Mr Burt does Alexander and his Companions
• John de terre neuve submits some French, some pulp and some appropriately winter-like terrain
• Monsieur "I Am Bruce" enters some Dux stuff
• Carole, never off this list, submits another brigade of 15mm Nine Years War figures
• Treadhead pops in a squad of US troops for CoC, some heavy weapon teams to support them, and almost enough outhouses to see to their other needs!
• And Mr Helliwell adds some more 15s to his collection

Rare that I choose terrain as the pic of the day, but today I have. Herewith JDTN's winter terrain in 20mm:

TFL Painting Challenge: Is It Tuesday Already?

Some big entries tonight...no smirking at the back there!

We have:

• Mr Douglas with lots of LOTR infantry types
• Mr Ralls with lots and lots of 28mm infantry
• Mr Helliwell with some British Grenadiers
• Benito with some more DAK for CoC
• Tony Stapells swallows his embarrassment...
• The wonderfully named Maerk joins us, and enters some rather nice 28mm figures for Sharp Practice
• Topi reappears with a huge entry of 15mm figures that immediately sends him over the 250 point mark
• And Mr AJH pops in a triple brigade of 6mm ACW troops for Elephant

 Today's picture is from newcomer Maerk: a rather nice horse and cart for SP...

TFL Painting Challenge: Sunday Morning Update

Yes, it's an odd one: a Sunday morning update.

Well, it's early and no-one else is up, not quite light enough to paint by...so it must be a good time to do an update and perhaps tidy up a few bits and pieces on the site.

BTW if you have your own website and like Vis Lardica, as I'm sure you do, whether you're in the Challenge or not, do please put a link to VL on your site: the Lard must be shared with all! Whatever it says in the top nav, www.vislardica.com will get you here, and it won't take more than a moment of your time to do.

Now, on to today's Challenge entries...

• Joakim enters some 28mm fantasy figures
• Topyob bangs in some AWI figures (photos please)
• The prodigious Carole finishes a whole brigade of horse and an orc found in the back of her drawer. That takes her flying past the 500 point mark: huzzah!
• Mr Yuengling pops in three more panzers 
• Owen is back, and with a vengeance. Three entries at once: some 15mm infantry, and then an enormous amount of 6mm sci fi including 58 houses. Takes him straight past the 500 mark as well: huzzah again!

To all you people who have been slaving away all weekend but haven't managed to send in your entries yet: don't worry, I'm sure I'll do another update tonight, tomorrow or Tuesday!

Today's picture is of Carole's brigade of horse: how does she paint so quickly?

TFL Painting Challenge: Monday Night Update

And the entries keep pouring in!

If they keep up at this rate, we are going to have some seriously high scores this year.

So, in no particular order, achievements for today are:

• Nils Hedglin with a selection of fantasy Viking werewolves
• Sapper with some Garde Francaise and Mongol commanders
• The incredibly productive (and female) Carole with another 15mm brigade of infantry
• Mr Slade with some lovely Austrians
• Mr Douglas switches to 28mm
• Mr Ralls bangs in loads of 28mm foot and seven 15mm Vietnam-era tanks that take him past the 1,000 point mark already. Most impressive!
• Paul Blankenship paints more Japanese...49 knee mortarmen and some guns that take him past the 500 point mark, huzzah!
• Mr Helliwell moves away from Germans to...Hessians
• Paul Baldwin with some Perry handgunners
• Mr Yuengling with some early war Germans
• Mr Luther gets points for his trees (lots of trees, lots of points) but none for his stowage. Sorry, Mark, I judged this to be polishing rather than creating from scratch.
• Mr Duffell submits lots of lovely 28mm WW2 figures
• and finally Mr "I am Bruce" submits some Spartans and some guinea pigs

Today's pictures are from Mr Duffell: his Panther and a modified SdKfz 250: