Bilbo, Gandalf and a Hummel

Well the 20th of March finally rolled around and marked the finale of the Analogue Hobbies 3rd Annual Painting Challenge.

I had a bit of a problem after finishing my Goblin Town models, my detail brushes gave up the ghost entirely.

I often make do with cheap synthetic brushes I get from the post shop, but these although cheap, only seem to last '5 minutes' before the tips curl and or the bristles start splaying out...

I do love the Windsor and Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable range, but I have not found a source of these here in NZ. They are pricey and then there's shipping too, which makes them quite an investment... So I had a look around for other options, and decided on the Army Painter range of brushes, and ordered a set from Warlord Games.

Whilst waiting for these to arrive, I got on with another item that wouldn't need super fine brushes; a 15mm Battlefront Hummel for Flames of War. This I did in my 'usual' style for German three colour camo...

Getting the Ranging Posts done was the only tricky bit, and I swore and cursed as my brushes couldn't manage this! I ended up cutting away most of the bristles left on an old detail brush till there was literally only a few hairs left... it worked but so few bristles can't hold much paint so it was a bit laborious back forth. But I got there in the end.

So this Hummel brings my Heavy Armoured Artillery Battery to 4 Hummels, which in game terms means the battery has a little longevity before it's reduced to 2 models firing with its reduced effectiveness, and at this size they get 2 observers. Of course the downside is the battery is getting rather expensive in points cost!

Finally with 2 days to go, my brushes arrived from Warlord Games...

Yippee. Well package and the bristles were good, and the brushes good to go!

I had already base coated and shade washed Bilbo and Gandalf and now I could finished them off.

In the The Hobbit starter set Bilbo, comes with a choice of two arms, one holding Sting and the other his staff. Whilst the pose with the staff was quaint and more hobbit-like, the game is about fighting and I think a sword would suit Bilbo better in these situations! So it had to be Sting.

Here Bilbo explores Goblin Town and finds a bundle of the dwarves gear...

Next up Gandalf comes to the rescue! Some folks have said they don't like the pose of the model but I rather like it.

I have been using the The Hobbit Visual Companion book, by Jude Fisher, as an aid to getting some of the colours and little details correct on the figures. One thing which I found from the book, was the colour and decoration of the belt for Glamdring, the sword Gandalf finds in the troll cave.

I would never have thought of painting it blue! But blue it is with small star symbols. I couldn't manage stars at this scale so white spots would have to do!

Gandalf catches up with Bilbo in Goblin Town.

So that was my final submission to Curt's painting challenge, and finished just in time, the flock was still drying on Gandalf's base as I took these pictures and got them submitted by email to Curt with 30 minutes to go!

I must admit I fell well short of my target of 600 points, but I knew I would have several things on the go that would score no points - during the challenge I made the Goblin Town board which took 3 weeks, and also I converted the Goblin Throne, again a 'terrain piece', and had my experience with Finecast painting up Groblog, an LOTR model that wouldn't be accepted as a model for the challenge. And then to finish off I made my paint store carousel!

I did fail to get the required Ronin figure in on time, but that is on the painting table now and will be winging its way to Curt ASAP.

Again I have to say special thanks to Curt for running a wonderful competition. He must have been working like a man possessed to get all these submissions up on his blog!

Congratulations to all that took part, the standard of work was a joy to behold.

The final positions have been noted and prizes will be awarded to the winners, but there remain some little extra spot prizes to be had, the challengers voting for their favourite submission, and the blogging public can vote for theirs too! So pop on over the Curt's blog and cast your vote, but making a comment on the blog.

Shameless plug; here's the list of my work on Curt's blog!

Vote away gentle reader...