"Let The Wookiee Win."

"Chewbacca here is first mate on a ship that might suit us."

This 44mm tall plastic "detailed figure of Chewbacca" is produced by “Fantasy Flight Games” and can be found inside the company's "Chewbacca Ally Pack" for their "strategy board game of tactical combat" "Star Wars: Imperial Assault". Based upon the Wookie during his exploits in "the midst of the Galactic Civil War between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire after the destruction of the Death Star over Yavin 4", the expansion apparently allows  players to either "prevent the Empire from enslaving Wookiees on Kashyyyk, or infiltrate an Imperial labor camp."

The miniature was undercoated with two layers of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, shaded with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and dry-brushed with both (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and (lighter) Heavy Brown. Chewie's side-bag was then treated to a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Brown and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, whilst his bowcaster and ammunition belt were pigmented in "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey. These areas were subsequently washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil and highlighted with a little more "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey.

"Star Wars: Legion" WIPs - Chewbacca and two Wookie Warriors are slowly getting their detail 'picked out'

The Wookie smuggler's bandoleer's strap was painted using "Vallejo" Charred Brown and (more) Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter. However, because I felt the model was already brown enough, I decided to leave Chewbacca's shell boxes metallic-coloured, rather than continue painting in the pieces of belt which held them in place. Finally, I applied some additional "Citadel" Nuln Oil to certain areas of the Millennium Falcon's co-pilot, in order to darken him down a bit and break up the colour consistency of his fur.

Sticking with both Wookie Warriors and "Fantasy Flight Games" I have made some more progress on the Origins Award-winner's slightly larger-sized Kashyyyk killers for "Star Wars: Legion". In particular, I have finished blocking in all the base colours on this rule-set's version of Chewbacca and now just need to apply a variety of washes to his weapon and equipment before a final couple of dry-brushes.

"Kitbash Games" WIPs - Punchline and Roughneck

I have also managed to get the majority of my "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna completed on both Chewie's accompanying special forces unit's Leader and his Ryyk Blade-carrying colleagues, and even started base-coating one of the Wookie warrior's bandoleer, hand-weapons, fire-arm and shoulder-armour. Being over 40mm tall all of these models should bag me at least seven points each in the Ninth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, so should help push me ever closer to my 500 point target tally by Late March 2019...

Lastly, I have been quietly working away on couple of super-powered resin figures by "Kitbash Games" from their "Supers Unlimited" range. I hope to have the "clown prince of smash and grab", Punchline, finished reasonably soon, and can then focus more fully upon one of the game's anti-heroes, Roughneck.

"Attention! Group Marshal Stike Of The Ninth Sontaran Attack Group."

"Stand at ease."

This 28mm metal Sontaran model is produced by “Black Tree Design" and can be purchased from their "Doctor Who" range as code DW613 - Stike the Sontaran. Determined to defeat the Rutans in the "endless Sontaran-Rutan War", the Group Marshal worked with the mad scientist Dastari on Earth in order to build a crude prototype space-time vessel for the Ninth Sontaran Battle Group to use, and made his BBC Television debut during the February 1985 story "The Two Doctors".

The miniature was originally primed using two layers of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, and then mercilessly dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal before being thoroughly drenched in "Citadel" Nuln Oil. "The long-suffering Stike" subsequently had his knee-pads, belt and neck armour base-coated with "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey and shaded with (more) "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

"The Nox are... elite troops who are taken from the best of the ordinary legionaries."

However, the resultant dull metallic colour was far darker than I imagined, or had achieved when using the technique upon Field Major Styre, even after I dry-brushed the areas with some additional "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey. I therefore replaced the acrylic Model Colour paint with "Citadel" Ironbreaker, and following an application of Nuln Oil and dry-brush, attained a signifcantly lighter outcome.

Equally as problematic was the Sontaran's disconcerting hold of his infamous rheon carbine. The firearm itself was 'picked out' simply enough using some "Vallejo" Black and a combination of "White" with a splash of Pale Grey. Sadly though, the sculpt's fingers seemingly turned the clone warrior's fingers into tentacles, which curled around the hand-weapon to an astounding degree. Initially, I just painted the half of the fingers with my usual Sontaran flesh mixture of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, leaving the rest "Vallejo" Black. But in the end I felt this didn't look quite right either, so later returned to Stike and pigmented the rest of his hand in as sculpted...

Chewbacca WIPs - The Wookie has been dry-brushed repeatedly and now just needs show shading

Sticking with freshly-finished partially-painted science fiction figures, albeit in 15mm scale this time, I have also completed three more Nox from the "The Ion Age" Code AIAF001. These heavily-armoured soldiers of the Shia Khan Empire have been painted in precisely the same manner as the trio pigmented last month, and means I'm now half-way through the six bases of miniatures I want to deploy against my Prydian Army on the tabletop.

Lastly, I have sought inspiration from Dave Stone's currently "Star Wars" obsessed blog "The Game Cupboard" to help motivate me enough to try and finish an old Chewbacca model I've had sitting around since the wookie's ally pack was first released by "Fantasy Flight Games". Rather embarrassingly I did actually manage to prime, shade and dry-brush the detailed hard plastic model a little under three years ago, but haven't made any significant progress on him since...

"Tiny Sparrows Are One Of The Most Common Birds In Northymbra..."

"...And can be found in towns and cities as well as the wild places."

This 28mm metal model of a Sparrow Warrior is produced by “Oathsworn Miniatures", and along with its "integral metal base" can be purchased as Code BB28 from their "Burrows And Badgers" range. Originally part of the County Durham-based company's 'Short But Deadly' pledge for their Free Lances kickstarter, Angus Quickbeak comes equipped with a one-handed weapon and light shield, as well as a sporran.

The "small passerine bird" was super-glued onto a 30mm plastic circular lipped base, and primed using a couple of coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Brown. His beautifully sculpted feathers were then washed using some Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter" and later dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Brown.

"Imperial Assault" WIPs - A Rebel Trooper, IG-88 and Dengar have had their bases layered

Primarily a seed-eater, the fearsome-looking fighter had its shield and sword pigmented with "Citadel" Ironbreaker and subsequently shaded with Nuln Oil. These areas were later dry-brushed with (more) Ironbreaker, whilst his toes were 'picked out' using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

Evidently a Scottish sparrow, I was momentarily tempted to tackle the short-tailed scavenger's Highland attire with a tartan of some kind, but soon opted for an all-red costume as I feared for my sasanach sanity. Resultantly, I painted his attire with some "Vallejo" Heavy Red and then washed it with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. In addition, I applied a tiny amount of both "Vallejo" Dead White and Pale Grey to the "generally social" bird's tassels.

"Imperial Assault" WIPs - A Stormtrooper, Gaarkhan and Chewbacca have had their bases layered

As a last step I originally painted the anthropomorphic animal's beak and tongue with "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre and Heavy Red. However, I felt the yellow actually made the figure somewhat resemble a duck, in my mind at least, so re-painted the area using some Charred Brown and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

In total contrast to "Burrows And Badgers" I have found myself rather taken by a series of "Star Wars" postings over on the "28mm Victorian Warfare" blog by Michael Awdry. I've previously started working on some "Imperial Assault" models myself, hoping to game a few 'scum & villainy' tabletop skirmishes, so it didn't take much to encourage me to dig out a half-dozen partially-painted plastic figures and get to work on them...

"If We Cannot Hide We Must Fight."

"The invasion has happened; you're probably surrounded by Zygons."

These two 36mm tall "finely-sculpted" metal Zygons models are produced by “Warlord Games” and can be found within the Nottingham-based company's "Into The Time Vortex" range. Based upon the “fictional extra-terrestrial race” depicted in the 2013 BBC television story “The Day Of The Doctor”, these sculpts are covered in the shape-changing extra-terrestrials' famous suckers and will provide some additional reinforcements to my slowly expanding Zygon "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" faction.

Originally primed with two layers of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone, these miniatures were then heavily washed with “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson and dry-brushed with more “Vallejo” Heavy Skintone. As a final touch, and in order to keep their colour schemes consistent with my existing Zygon models, I blended in some "Citadel" Abaddon Black over the ends of their feet and hands; a somewhat contentious palette choice which hopefully implies that these "Nu Who" variants are capable of firing “electrical charges from their hands that can stun or disintegrate”.

Ogrons WIPs - The Daleks' pets have been primed and dry-brushed

Sticking with "Warlord Games" and their "officially approved by the BBC" range of "Doctor Who" figures, I having started work on my latest additions... six Ogrons fresh "from the outer fringes of the Mutter’s Spiral". These "tall, ape-like humanoids of limited intelligence" looked disappointingly thin and malnourished when I first saw them 'in the flesh' at Salute 2017, but have clearly been pleasingly 'beefed up' somewhat since then.

Viewed by many fans as simply the pets of the Daleks, on account of their two television appearances during Jon Pertwee's tenure as the travelling Time Lord, the Ogrons have actually been "used by other species as mercenaries" in the science fiction programme's wider canon. Indeed, I've been especially inspired to get these "mindless" minions painted, having recently listened to their misadventures in the "Big Finish" "Doctor Who" audio story, "The Romance Of Crime", starring Tom Baker, Lalla Ward and John Leeson.

Fenn Signis & Gaarkhan WIPs - The two Rebels have been re-based and undercoated

With so many mini-projects on the go currently, the last thing I really needed was yet another distraction, and so it was with some horror that I recently found my "Star Wars" mojo reignited, courtesy of a review of "Imperial Assault" by "Fantasy Flight Games" over on "The Game Cupboard". To be fair, I already own a copy of the boxed game, and have previously painted a few of the miniatures, but rather ashamedly, I haven't actually ever played a game.

Determined to put that right I have subsequently had a look at the rule-set's Tutorial, and set about re-basing and priming two of the Rebel characters; Gaarkhan and Fenn Signis. This duo will (hopefully) just be a minor detour in my painting plans, as I don't currently intend working on any of the other plastic miniatures in the starter set. Having said that though, the pair might provide me with some George Lucas-inspired practice in time for the release of the Star Wars "army" miniatures game "Legion" next March...

"I Am Dmitri Bukharin -- The New Crimson Dynamo!"

"The Crimson Dynamo knows Iron Man -- and you -- brought down so easily -- are no Iron Man."  

This 28mm pre-painted plastic "Wizkids" model of the Crimson Dynamo is miniature number 52 from the Marvel "Heroclix" Xplosion range. "Considered to be the definitive version of the character", Dmitri Bukharin was the fifth man to don the Soviet power armour and made his debut within the pages of Issue One Hundred and Nine of "Iron Man" in April 1978.

Having given the figure an undercoat of "Vallejo" Heavy Red, Tony Stark's nemesis was treated to a heavy wash of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson, before being dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Heavy Red. I then gave the Russian super-villain a glaze of "Citadel" Bloodletter.

"Star Wars" WIPs - IG-88 and Chewbacca should soon be finished

Such a simple paint-job has given me a little time to potter about on three of my favourite "Fantasy Flight" plastic miniatures for the company's "Star Wars" board game "Imperial Assault". I've only just started to apply an initial layer of "Vallejo" Bronze on the brown-coloured leg-armour worn by Dengar but have already encountered something of a dilemma. The sculpt of the heavily bandaged bounty hunter really does contain an incredible amount of detail, and although I've initially 'picked out' the thin metallic straps holding his outfit together, I may eventually need to compromise such delicate brushwork simply to retain my own sanity.

Both IG-88 and Chewbacca however are proving reasonably easy to progress and have been appropriately dry-brushed and washed with brown and black ink respectively. The assassin droid just needs some additional highlighting, as well as some straps and wires to be painted, before being finished. Whilst the Wookie now needs another couple of brown dry-brushes before I start work on his weapon, satchel and ammunition belt.

Cyclopean Alien WIPs - The shaggy hide of these 'pulp' extra-terrestrials will be green

One of my aspirations for this year is to try and paint all the wonderful miniatures people have generously gifted me in recent years. These six Cyclopean Aliens were a surprise present from Roger of "Rantings From Under The Wargames Table" fame when we met at Salute 2015. Made by "Wargames Supply Dump", the metal multi-limbed creatures can be found within the manufacturer's Miscellaneous Miniatures range.

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge 2015 - WIP - Week Six

Molly Hayes WIP - The mutant child's pink top needs finishing before being shaded, as does her toy animal hat

With the Sixth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge now into its sixth week, I’ve spent a little time working on the “Heroclix” model of Molly Hayes, which I hope to submit into the event's Defensive Terrain Themed Bonus Round.

Having finished painting the little girl's white trainers and dark blue jeans I'm now slowly applying several layers of pink onto the mutant's top and cuddly animal hat. In addition I've started work on the huge piece of grey concrete the diminutive powerhouse is holding above her head in order to protect a trio of passing ducklings from any hazards.

"Imperial Assualt" WIPs - Chewbacca and IG-88 could leap ahead of the painting queue

Along with a trio of Rebel soldiers, I still have one more “Fantasy Flight” bucket-head to complete from the company's "Imperial Assault" Stormtroopers Villain Pack. But that hasn't stopped me basing and priming a wonderfully hairy sculpt of Chewbacca for the board game, as well as a model of the assassin droid IG-88.

As I've previously painted a "Wizard Of The Coast" version of the Wookie, and plenty of "Reaper Miniatures" Cyber-Reavers recently, I'm hopeful that these two figures shouldn't take too long to finish, especially the Holowan Laboratories robot.

Fangtooth WIP - Still lots to do on this bulky metal miniature

Finally I am still trying to paint my Union "Guild Ball" team, and have found some time to progress Fangtooth's flesh despite the miniature itself not actually being eligible for submission to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. This rather formidable-looking brute by "Streamforged Games Ltd" is covered in plasters and bumps, and as a result has proved rather time-consuming. Once all the foul-smelling player's flesh is finished I will still need to shade and highlight it, along with his chains...  

"No. I Am Your Father."

"I find your lack of faith disturbing."

These three 28mm scale plastic “Fantasy Flight” models come from the company’s “Star Wars” “Imperial Assault” range and can be found inside the Core Set and Stormtroopers Villain Pack. The trio were completed as part of a larger submission for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge Epic Fail Themed Bonus Round and based upon the Empire’s attempt to recapture the stolen Death Star plans from the Rebel Alliance...

"These aren't the droids we're looking for."

Darth Vader was initially given several coats “Citadel” Abaddon Black, as for some reason the soft rubber-like model did not seem to like the rather oily Base colour. However once I had a reasonably even undercoat in place it became a reasonably undemanding miniature to paint and I was able to dry-brush the Sith Lord’s clothing with “Vallejo” Charcoal before washing it with “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Once this was finished I applied some Ironbreaker to his neck chain, shoulder plates, light-saber, chest and belt units. These were then also washed with Nuln Oil.

Originally I had tried painting his laser-sword with a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Red and “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson. But the end result was much darker than I wanted, so it was soon redone using “Vallejo” Dark Vermillion and the “Citadel” Glaze Bloodletter. There is also a definite curve to his weapon’s beam. I did consider heating the model and straightening it out but found myself constantly gripping Vader at this point whenever I was handling him. As a result I felt that it would soon bend back towards the cloak (or worse break) during gameplay so left it alone.

"Open the blast doors! Open the blast doors!"

Having finished the “enforcer of the Galactic Empire” I set about undercoating his ‘escort’ with “Vallejo” White before heavily washing them with Pale Grey. This transparent acrylic not only gave the bucket-heads some much-needed shading but also helped me ascertain where the joins in their overlapping plastoid composite plates were so I could ‘pick them out’ using “Citadel” Abaddon Black.

"Commander, tear this ship apart until you've found those plans.

Once all the ‘gaps’ between their standard Stormtrooper armour had been finished, I washed them with some Nuln Oil, and allowed some of the Shade to occasionally brush over the adjoining areas in order to create some heavier shadowing. Finally their E-11 blaster rifles were simply painted with more Abaddon Black.

"I Am C-3PO, Human-Cyborg Relations. And This Is My Counterpart, R2-D2.”

"Don't blame me. I'm an interpreter. I'm not supposed to know a power socket from a computer terminal."

These two 28mm scale plastic “Fantasy Flight” droids come from the company’s “Star Wars” “Imperial Assault” range and can be found inside the Artoo-Deetoo and See-Threepio Ally Pack. The pair were completed as part of a larger submission for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge Epic Fail Themed Bonus Round and based upon the Empire’s attempt to recapture the stolen Death Star plans from the Rebel Alliance...

See-Threepio was initially undercoated using some “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna, before the droid was given two coats of Gold. He was then heavily washed with some “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade before being dry-brushed with more “Vallejo” Gold. I then picked out his various 'belly pistons' predominantly with "Vallejo" Heavy Blue" and Heavy Red.

"The City's central computer told you? R2-D2, you know better than to trust a strange computer."

To begin I applied two layers of "Vallejo" White to Artoo-Deetoo and then heavily washed him with Pale Grey. This transparent acrylic helped give the model some much-needed shading and also helped me to ‘pick out’ the little robot's numerous panels. These were then either painted using Heavy Blue and “Citadel” Asurmen Blue or “Vallejo” Gunmetal Grey and “Citadel” Nuln Oil. As I wanted to add a little more colour to the miniature I decided to use a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Red and “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson for the astromech droid's wiring.

Having realised that the robot's dome was actually metallic, it was given a coat of “Vallejo” Gunmental Grey and a wash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil, before being dry-brushed with more “Vallejo” Gunmetal Grey. I then ‘picked out’ all the details and plates on the Artoo unit’s ‘head’ with Heavy Blue and some additional “Citadel” Asurmen Blue.

"Heroclix" WIPs - Molly Hayes, the Black Panther and (another) Crimson Dynamo

With my entry for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge Epic Fail Themed Round finished I am already working on the "Wizkids" models I hope to use as my Defensive Terrain submission. As a result I have already separated my "Heroclix" Molly Hayes miniature, and the three ducklings the super-strong adolescent is protecting with a piece of concrete, from their 'clicky stand', and placed them upon two different circular bases.

In addition, simply in an effort to try and make some headway in my substantial collection of "Wizkids" models, I have re-based and undercoated a highly detailed "Heroclix" sculpt of the Black Panther and the rather large eighth Crimson Dynamo.

"They Live Only To Fight... And To Destroy!"

"Brainless creatures of almost incalculable power..."

These two brutish-looking 40mm tall plastic “Wizkids” models of a Mindless One are both miniature number 05 from the Marvel “Heroclix” Giant Size X-Men range. Summoned via magic to do the bidding of others, for they have no will of their own, these extra-dimensional beings have a rocky hide and no face except a single glowing eye. “Most often seen in the employ of Dormammu” the savage humanoids were created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and made their first comic book appearance within the pages of Issue One Hundred and Twenty Seven of “Strange Tales” in December 1964.

"... Living only to fight, to ravage, to destroy!!"

Unsurprisingly, despite their girth, these figures required incredibly simple paint-jobs. But did give me the opportunity to try out my “Vallejo” USA Olive Drab as an undercoat. Once dry the models were heavily washed with “Citadel” Nuln Oil and had their cyclopean eye ‘picked out’ using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Red and the “Citadel” glaze, Bloodletter.

C-3P0 WIP - Having received lots of dry-brushing, this humanoid robot is almost finished 

Having finished such a simple submission to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge I have found some time to progress my painting of the figures I want to use as my entries for the event’s Epic Fail Themed Bonus Round. These plastic miniatures will be based around Darth Vader's failed attempt to retrieve the plans to the Death Star from a pair of droids...

Rebel WIPs - The grey wash on R2-D2 needs cleaning up, whilst still early days on the Rebel Trooper

I have already managed to complete two "Star Wars" stormtroopers from the "Imperial Assault" boardgame by "Fantasy Flight Games" as well as their powerful master, the Dark Lord of the Sith. As a result I’m now just finishing a wonderfully detailed sculpt of See-Threepio, as well as his ever trusty diminutive companion, Artoo-Deetoo. If I can then I’m hoping to also include a few Rebel Troopers and perhaps at least one more Imperial ‘bucket-head’ to the mix. But failing that then these additional figures should be completed in time for next week’s regular submission instead.

"You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry..."

"That's my secret. I'm always angry."

These two bulky 38mm tall plastic “Wizkids” models of the Hulk are both miniature number 58 from the Marvel “Heroclix” Infinity Challenge range. The figures have been given different paint-jobs in order to represent Bruce Banner’s grey alter-ego when the scientist first transformed into an “unidentified creature”, and then the gamma-powered monster’s more recognisable colour scheme; green skin with purple pants.

First published in May 1962 the creature’s co-creator Stan Lee chose grey for the Hulk because he “wanted a colour that did not suggest any particular ethnic group.” Unfortunately colorist Stan Goldberg had problems with the grey and this resulted in the behemoth appearing throughout the publication in different shades of grey, as well as green. After seeing Issue One of “The Incredible Hulk” Lee chose to change the skin colour to green and for the next two decades whenever the monster’s origin was retold he was depicted as being green. Indeed even the reprints of the original comic were recoloured…

"Is he man or monster or... is he both?"

In December 1984 however Issue 302 of “The Incredible Hulk” reintroduced the grey Hulk in flashbacks and confirmed that when the scientist was first struck by the detonation of a gamma bomb, his transformation was grey-skinned. Since then the reprints of the first issue have reverted back to displaying the original grey colouring, and the official “Marvel Worldwide” fictional canon states that the Hulk was initially grey.

In order to cover up the grey Hulk’s pre-paint I initially painted the model with “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey and then pained his split trousers using a combination of Heavy Blue and “Citadel” Asurmen Blue. As Banner’s shirt during his first transformation is usually depicted as being a yellowy-orange in colour so I painted it using “Vallejo” Heavy Ochre. To dirty it up I gave it a wash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Finally I applied more of the Shade to the anti-hero’s skin.

For the green Hulk I used a very similar approach and just changed the paint colours. I therefore used “Vallejo” Heavy Grey and “Citadel” Thrakka Green for his ‘gamma-irradiated’ skin, “Vallejo” Heavy Green” and “Citadel” Nuln Oil for his hair, “Vallejo” Heavy Violet and “Citadel” Druchii Violet for his trousers, and finally “Vallejo” White with some watered-down “Citadel” Nuln Oil for his torn shirt.

Stormtrooper WIP - The buckethead's armour just needs to be properly picked out before a final grey wash

Having completed my miniatures for the Nostalgia Themed Bonus Round, I have already started painting the figures I want to use as my Epic Fail and Gambler/Risk Taker submissions. As a result I have begun progressing the "Star Wars" stormtroopers I based and primed just before the start of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. These three sculpts from the "Imperial Assault" boardgame by "Fantasy Flight Games" will hopefully form part of a number of models based upon Darth Vader's failed attempt to retrieve the plans to the Death Star from two droids...

For now I've just been concentrating on a test figure to try and work out how best to paint the bucketheads' distinctive white armour. To begin with I've heavily washed the white undercoat with a grey to help see all the figure's wonderful detail and then picked out all the black areas. Currently I'm tidying all these 'joints' up and 'whitening' some of the darker armoured areas before I apply a 'softer' grey wash over the miniature.

Star Wars WIPs - Darth Vader, Artoo-Deetoo and the Corellian Bounty Hunter known as Dengar

Obviously such a submission wouldn't be complete without the presence of the Dark Lord of the Sith himself, as well as the first of the Rebel Alliance's robots. I've already dry-brushed Darth Vader's costume with some charcoal, and undercoated his red lightsaber. But still have some metallic areas to 'pick out' as well as wash his attire before applying some shading to his cloak. Artoo-Detoo still has a long way to go as, having washed him to see the sculpt's detail, I've only just started to work on the undercoat for his chrome head.

Finally I thought I'd try and paint a small number of "Star Wars" Bounty Hunters for the Gambler/Risk Taker Themed Round, and perhaps one or two of their prey..? To begin with I've undercoated and washed my favourite of George Lucas' 'Scum & Villainy' creations, the Corellian mercenary Dengar...

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge 2015 - Preview - Fortnight Themed Bonus Rounds

The Incredible Hulk WIPs - The original Hulk was grey-skinned

Having entered the Sixth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge I've been busily basing and priming a number of miniatures from my collection in preparation for its start on 20th December 2015, and in particular having been identifying suitable figures for submission into the event's series of thematic Bonus Rounds. Each fortnightly entry must be based on a particular theme and earns an additional 50 points; something I'm going to need to take full advantage of if I hope to repeat last year's tally of 500 points.

The first theme is Nostalgia, and as an avid superhero comic book fan I couldn't think of something more appropriate than going back to the first Issue of "The Incredible Hulk", when the gamma-giant was actually grey in colour instead of green. As a result I've dug out two identical "Heroclix" models of Bruce Banner's alter-ego; one of which I'll paint as the more recognisable green-hued behemoth, and the other in the monster's original grey. Both though will obviously be sporting a torn white shirt and purple trousers.

Star Wars WIPs - Plenty to paint for my Epic Fail Themed Bonus Round submission

In addition to these two large "Wizkids" plastic figures, I also hope to take advantage of my initial painting fervour and complete a model of Daredevil I'll be sending to Curt as my 'Tip to the Croupier'. This miniature will thus act as my entrance fee for this year's Challenge and will fit in nicely with the event's theme of Risk-Taker, Daredevil or Gambler.

In addition to preparing a few "Heroclix" miniatures, I have also based and undercoated a small number of sculpts from the "Imperial Assault" boardgame by "Fantasy Flight Games". These "Star Wars" models will form my Epic Fail entry and be based upon Darth Vader's failed attempt to capture two droids and the plans to the Death Star...

Popeye The Sailor Man WIPs - Three colourful miniatures for the L'amour Themed Bonus Round 

Lastly, for now at least, I've been busily prepping these three "SLAP Miniatures" of Skipper Fred, Bosun Ace and Steward Gladys. Recommended to me by Bryan from "Vampifan's World Of The Undead" blog, they are terrific likenesses of Popeye, Olive and Brutus; and should make an appropriate entry into the L'amour themed bonus round once painted.