Lead Painter's League, Pt. 2

   Okay, I have decided to go for it.

   I have everything but Round 9 at least partially planned out. I intend to go for all the bonus points, too, which means I am hitting up friends for some bare lead in the Ancients category. I have nothing, and don't really need anything, so I am reluctant to buy any. Well, maybe a few Egyptians to act as Nubian Guard for my Servants of Ra Company. If you have any Ancients you want painted (essentially Sumer to Fall of Rome), please let me know as soon as possible. I need at least five to make a 'team'. Maybe an artillery piece and crew?

   I am not going to spill the beans directly about what I am painting up, and the rules state that I can't share any pictures of my entries until after the contest, so there will be about 50 minis that I will paint that I can't display to you here until late in May. Please be patient. Better yet, please go to the Lead Adventure Forum and vote on the Lead Painter's League! Caveat: I think you have to sign up for a free account. Pretty painless, and they don't send you a lot of drivel in the mail. I think everyone ought to be on LAF as much as TMP, honestly.

LEAD PAINTER'S LEAGUE

Lead Painters' League

   I am thinking of entering this year's Lead Painter's League competition on Lead Adventure Forum. I think the experience would be good for me, pushing me to paint more, plus getting some feedback on my painting skills from a wide variety of folks. Also, I would have to paint some unfamiliar genres to get the bonus points, and that's always good for progressing my skills as a painter.

   I'm just worried that my heavy schoolwork load will keep me from completing teams on time. I think I need to get working now so that I can get ahead of the curve.

6mm Cannons

   One of my gifts at Christmas last year was a box of Steve Jackson Games's Paneuropean Set 6: Howitzer Battery and Mobile Howitzers. I painted them up last week, along with another 6mm (nominally) giant, the Games Workshop Epic 40K Goliath Cannon. This will fill in as a terrain piece for 6mm VSF, the fabled Verne Cannon capable of intercontinental shelling. It could perhaps also be used as something for Battletech or even Ogre games, probably as some sort of orbital defense cannon objective.

Paneuropean 'Arquebus'-class Howitzer

Note French tricolor with Paneuropean Helmet logo.

I added the antennae to the bunkers.

I chose yellow ochre for the color because of the historical carriage color on French guns.

The Arquebus v. the Goliath

The Goliath.

Very simple, and I think striking, paint scheme.

Fine Imports

   I went ahead and imported the files from my old terrain blog to The Scattergun Gamer. Look back in 2010, because that's when I stopped posting to it and started up The Scattergun Gamer. Which means that I am coming up on the 4th birthday of this blog. I know! I'll do a giveaway! Keep an eye peeled for more developments on this over the next couple of weeks. Maybe a contest...

Paint Table Turnover

   Having just finished a few bits of 15mm and 6mm scale stuff, the table was actually clear of minis for a few minutes. This will never do! So, I decided to rest my eyes for a bit and work on larger things. Now appearing on the paint table are:

Ork Dreadnought

(Games Workshop 40K)

   This fellow is destined to be a German VSF Walker. It's primary use is forest clearance, hence the big saw and claw which are permanent fixtures. However, it has two waist mounted hardpoints which permit the addition of weaponry "for self-defense against the primitives of Venus," according to the official statement of the Venusstaadt government.

Masked Minions with Flamethrowers

(Parroom Station)

   I love Bob Charette's Masked Minions. I already have 30-odd of them, and these two fellows will increase their firepower. Literally! I was going to paint them in infantry colours (blue) to be able to swap in and out with their rifle-armed fellows. But then I thought they needed a bit of flash, so I went with orange cuffs and collars instead. These devils serve Herr Doktor Professor Otto Maton in his efforts to become Solarian Emperor.

Masked Minions with Diabolical Weapons

(Parroom Station)

   Did I mention how much I like Bob Charette's Minions? These five ne'er-do-wells will fill out a squad of ten minions armed with these diabolical weapons. The weapon itself is, as you can easily see, an electro-galvanic emitter rifle. Does ghastly things to the human (or Martian, Lizardman, Parotfolk, Selenite, etc.) body. And is especially effective against armoured mechanickal devices, as the current blasts around within the metallic shell. Diabolical! (Note, the minion on the right is finished; the one on the left is in process.)

British Infantry

(Empress Miniatures)

   And now to my favorite maker of British Colonial troops in 28mm. The sculpts on these are just awesome, and very clean casts. These have languished for a bit, and I have more to get to as well, but this is a start on getting that second full unit of proper British Redcoats. Only six more to go! These I will prime in white, like I did the others - a departure from my usual black primer, but it helps keep the redcoat nice and bright.

Steam 1 Steamtank

(Ironclad Miniatures)

   This little guy is the second piece in my French forces. I see it as a small scouting tank, sort of the 'torpedo boat' or 'destroyer escort' of landships. Armed with only a machinegun, it's greatest advantage is that it is very light, and doesn't bog down easily. The figure is for scale reference; this tank is only primed so far, and hasn't even had its tracks attached.