(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge” December 2021

"Slayers! To arms!"

This month's effort to diminish my ‘peak of potential’ will be significantly shaped by Curt Campbell’s Twelfth Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (AHPC), or at least the obligatory painting desk clearance push I need to complete prior to the event’s start on December 21st. This means both an end to my own personal weekly painting challenges which have kept me so motivated over the past few months, and a concerted effort to polish off some of the figures still remaining unfinished from them.

Perhaps the biggest of these mini projects, randomly chosen by the turning of a playing card, was the nine 28mm Sorcerous Sentinels by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” I initially elected to pigment last month. Despite being predominantly “Vallejo” German Grey in colour and being split into three digestible-sized batches, these ‘Slayers’ have taken a lot longer to complete than I first thought. But I have now finally got some “Vallejo” Matt Varnish on the last two and flocked the bases.

"Battlefront Miniatures" WIPs - Two partially-painted 7.5cm Tank-Hunter teams

However, I am actually far from finished with the Otherworldly watchers as I plan to expand my collection with three more sculpts during the AHPC. This trio though, will be painted using “Vallejo” White so as to better represent a party of Fortress Guards from Peter Yates’ 1983 “science fantasy swashbuckler” film “Krull”.

In addition, I’m planning on making much more progress on a number of partially painted 15mm plastic models taken from on the “Hit The Beach” starter set for “Flames Of War” by “Battlefront Miniatures”. I have a number of Late War German blisters ready to start prepping for the AHPC, so want to quite quickly progress a number of half-finished bases first. This includes a 7.5cm Tank-Hunter Platoon which has patiently been sat on my hobby table half-done since I originally opened the “ultimate starter set for the Flames of War Series.”

November 2021 - No change to my favourite manufacturers

Productivity wise, the past four weeks have been fairly typical for this time of the year overall. I didn’t get anywhere near as much done as I have during the previous years, but I certainly accomplished more than I achieved back in 2018. Most of this success was due to my finishing an impressive nine 28mm figures from “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio”, including a couple more Simian Minions for my burgeoning “Planet Of The Apes” project.

I’ve also been busy clearing some more wooden painting sticks prior to the AHPC by finishing three old(ish) 10mm dinosaurs by “Magister Militum”, and persevering with my ongoing “Judge Dredd” project by completing my “Mongoose Publishing” sculpt of Oola Blint. To be honest I think December’s output will prove just as eclectic a mix, as I continue to work my way through a load of somewhat forgotten ventures in an effort to be fully focussed upon the AHPC towards the month’s end…