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Edit: OK, vote!


Here we are again, assembled to gawk in awe at a fantastic array of models painted for this month's challenge! The theme this time covered all things sneaky, so expect plenty of stealthy snipers, subtle scouts and awesome assassins below!

As usual, you can cast as many votes as you like! I recommend 3-5, but if you feel you need more or less to reward all those entries you think worthy of recognition for the skill, creativity, imagination or talent involved! Feel free to leave feedback on any entries, either here or in the entrant's blog/gallery.

Without further ado, the entries:

Aldo: Italian Paratroopers



Kustomer D: Imperial Guard Commando



Nevelon: Eldar Ranger



Inspector #264:Space Crusade Scouts


ZergSmasher: Darkshroud Speeder


Januine: Harlequin Troupe


Inflatable Love Badger: Ninja


Ustrello: Shadow Captain Korvydae


40kpirate: Nightrunner



TP^DC Deputy Manager: Tau Stealth Suit


AUGmaniac: Tau Pathfinders


Rollawaythestone: Genestealers and Broodlord


Midget Gems: Tanith Sniper


Ratius: Tyranids vs Catachans


Paradigm: Sudden Death


Bantha_beast: Ninja and Hac Tao


Arclaw: Djanbazan


Dcannon4life: Dark Eldar Sniper


LordRahl: Canoptek Spyder


Talys: Blood Angels Tactical Squad


Farseer Anath'lan: Mage Hunter
]

Polonius: 'Termite' Breaching Drills


Zoat: Sebastian


Timtheheirodule: Kroot Mercenary


Grimdork: Zero


Ezra Tyrius: Alpha Legion Operatives

I found myself drawn to the dioramas this month for voting. Stealth is very context based. It’s hard to sneak on a plain white background.

Well done everyone! Alway fun to see what everyone does with the contest.

Well done all. Sneaky/stealth is a pain to work out for model uniqueness. Good inspiration from everyone but my highlights:
@Kustomer D- Brilliant diorama, well thought out and executed
@Januine- They ARE Golden Demon standard models and I would really encourage you to plan a trip to the next GamesDay
@Paradigm- This month is your finest model as far as I am concerned (They're all great, but this one just takes the amp to 11 in the words of Spinal Tap)
@Bantha_beast- love the minis. They are highlighted well with the bold colours. Brilliant execution
@Arclaw- when you posted this mini as finished I knew you would be in the running for a top spot, it is immaculately finished. Well done
@Timtheheirodule- lovely converted Kroot. Moulded well and painted brilliantly. Would love to see your models in a diorama, they are just a joy to look at. Please keep entering so I can enjoy your future efforts
@Grimdork- the proof did not inspire me. The final piece did. Colour choice and execution was perfect
@Talys- the quality of your painting is sublime on every entry you have done. The snipers probably would have made me more comfortable with your interpretation of the theme. That said drop pods are sneaky(ish) by landing behind enemy lines, I suppose.

Have to say I was more drawn to the dioramas as well, they just... 'stood out' a bit more (oh, the irony)

Congrats to everyone who participated, and don't forget to vote for the glorious Alpha Leg- I mean, these ordinary cultists who are in no way or form connected to a Legion which may or may not exist, and who are definitely not hunting for certain Inquisitorial agents. Ahem.

Sorry, just needed to quickly add:
@farseer - your model this month is a massive step up in skill you should be very proud.

No where near finished this month. Some fantastic models again, well done all.

Some good paint jobs all round and i agree that the extra work on the dioramas definitely adds to the 'sneaky' theme. Good job folks.

A hard choice this month, I voted for about half a dozen.

Had to sit there thinking, "Sneaky. Sneaky." to myself because whilst some are really nicely done, I didn't really understand the link to the theme.

My fave single figures are Arclaw's and TP^DC Deputy Manager's, and then there's Januine's amazing little trio.

Good luck everyone.

Comparing my sniper to Arclaw's really makes me want to get better at painting

Echoing previous comments the dioramas defiantly held my attention this month, its hard to be sneaky without something to sneak up on.

My votes have been cast, well done to everyone that entered the challenge.

So far there are a few clear front runners, will be interesting to see how the results pan out.

Kustomer D, that diorama is great, that grizzled guardsman looks perfect sneaking out and offing the cultists one by one. Great diorama, and I like that you can take the models out and use them!

Januine, I said it before but those Harlequins are sublime. Neat color choice and the freehand is excellent.

TP^DC, that stealth suit diorama is quite nice. Classic orc is gonna get his comeuppance for the greater good!

Paradigm, It's hard to take models and get them to fit that well together with such motion without sculpting them from scratch. Often it looks kind of silly, but you really pulled it off. That last photo is just phenomenal!

Bantha Beast, your Yu Jing stuff is great, I would love to see a whole force painted to this standard, really good stuff.

Farseer Anath'lan, good stuff. The colors really go well with the sculpt of the model and give it a very sinister tone overall.


I've got to agree with Nevelon, a lot of my love went to the dioramas this month, it really helped with the theme!

Remember, I just voted for what struck my fancy guys, more of an overall theme/tone/effect. For instance, Tayls painted some excellent blood angels but I'm not a big fan of blood angels so I didn't vote for them this round. I also didn't vote for me as although I know that the Zero is stealthy, it wasn't really obvious the way I painted her

I'm still proud of all of us for painting some cool minis and sharing our work, this is all such great fodder for future inspiration! I hope to see you all at the next wave

Voted. Looking forward to the next one. And man I wish I'd taken pics in terrain before I posted my 'finished'. They turned out pretty decent. Live and learn!

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/658645.page#8025543

Another month of great entries!

@Arclaw: My favorite this month! Fantastic finish and the outstanding base created the much needed context for this topic. Well done!

@Paradigm: Really good modelling job! It is really hard to capture the movement the way you did with this model!

Special mentions also to Kustomer D and Deputy Manager for capturing the theme! It sure was a difficult one!

Tough choices as usual! The standouts for me this time were:

For paintwork, Januine! I know, hardly surprising, but just look at the coat on the Troupe Master! Look at it!

For capturing the theme, TP^DC, Kustomer D and Arclaw stole the show! A few times this month I thought we'd ended up with a really hard theme to pin down, but your three entries certainly hit the spot! KD, your detail work is fantastic! TP, the whole concept just exudes awesome! Arclaw, the sculpt is amazing in the first place, but the basing really sells it!


Have to say I'm surprised at the comments/votes my entry is getting! I'm pleased with the conversion work, but I really didn't think the paintwork/photography was up to scratch at all.

Wow! What a great month- the entries are super. Additionally, I'm flattered that mine is going down well! Makes all the time I spent on that armour and camo seem worth it . Competitions sure are good motivation... I'll try and get something in for next months one (Haqq remotes?)

My pick:

Kustomer D: Nice diorama! Those cultists will never know what hit them.
Januine: Harlies are a great choice to show off some skills, and you definitely have done so. You seem to have a great sense for colour!
TP^DC Deputy Manager: Great idea, done very well. Awesome!
Bantha_beast: I took a close look at these and I think they're really good. Love the sword on the ninja and the armour of the Hac Tao- nice highlighting.

That said, great job everyone!

It was tough picking who to vote for, as there was not a single entry I didn't like! I did restrict myself to five votes (like the last competitions).
Kustomer D: That diorama is awesome; looks like a cross between 40k and Metal Gear Solid (too bad there wasn't a cardboard box around...)
Januine: Awesome freehand work as usual for you!
TP^DC Deputy Manager: That Tau diorama is just epic!
Midget Gems: I love that sniper! The base is pretty good and goes very well with the guy!
Talys: Your stuff never fails to impress, and this month is no exception!
Great stuff this month from everyone involved. Special shout out to Paradigm for having these contests. I may not be a good enough painter to really be competitive in these things, but they do provide a good incentive to get stuff painted and to push my abilities!

I didn't restrict myself to 5 votes and have no remorse about it at all

Great job folks, that truly is amazing work from all of you.

You're missing Djanbazan in the vote list. I wanted to vote for his kneeling sniper.

Edit: never mind I'm an idiot.

Haha, Djanbazan is the model, painted by Arclaw! Vote for him to pick that one!

Oops, didn't see your edit! No harm done!

Wow, really good bunch of entries! The Tau Stealth Suit and Imperial Guard Commando dioramas are very well done with nice character and those Harlequins have a spanking paint job.

But my favourite is that sniper Arclaw: Djanbazan

Ahhhh - back home in Ireland with the missus. Long trip to get here. Last thing you really want to hear just before your 4engined monster of a plane is on the runway about to take off is ' sorry folks, there's somethign wrong with one of the engines, we need to go back to the main terminal to have a look at it' - cue two and a half hours looking out the window at a group of fixy fellas open up said engine and fiddle about with it. Thankfully didn't see any of them shrugging and belt the innards with a wrench to 'see if that'll do the trick'. Anyways - made it home and first thing I did was grab the mother's laptop and check out this thread!! Some really cracking entries yet again this month (isn't there always!!)
First of all - thx so much for the kind words folks. really means a lot. This month was practice freehand and start playing with glazes for me. Looking forward to painting the last two of the troop and building a ruined shrine dio for them to sneak through eventually!! But let's have a look at what really 'jumped out' for me this month (geddit?!! yeah ok - I've been traveling since saturday afternoon korean time with very little food or sleep.... o.O )

@kustomer D - lovely wee dio, really captured the theme. The little things you added; posters, rubbish strewn about et cetera bring life to the dio. I might dirty up the ground a little with some weathering powders or ground chalk pastels. bloody good work though

@TP^DC - great job. that whole stealh camo effect is a bugger to do and you def nailed it. He lookslike he's coming out of the landscape to end that orc. cracking work

@Paradigm - Love the compostion and the posing here. There's fantastic movement and the muted palette is bang on for the theme. That last photo (the one looking up through the scene from the cultist's feet) is awesome

@Farseer Anath'lan - great fig; full of malevolence. The little bit of scenery at her feet show the idea of her sneaking through and up on some poor sod to cut them oh so pretty with those nasty weapons. the addition of a little point colour in the hair makes the figure pop. great colour choices. dark , simple and very effective

@Grimdork - very nice chocie of figs. I'm not mad keen on the infinity figs (it is Infinity right?!!) but this one is well cool. nice smooth paint job and lovely scheme. defintely fits the theme. A slightly darker background and ever so slightly underexposed shot would really fit the action/nature of the fig. lovely stuff.

Well done one and all. Another month, another fantastic and inspiring batch of entries

...how did I manage to get 6 votes? That's like... 6 more than I expected

When does the voting end, by the way?

The vote runs for 5 days, as usual!

Great to see everyone has at least one vote again!

 Paradigm wrote:
Great to see everyone has at least one vote again!

It's a very even spread this time, as well. I tink that speaks volumes about the increasing quality of entries.

Feel proud, guys.

 Buttery Commissar wrote:

 Paradigm wrote:
Great to see everyone has at least one vote again!

It's a very even spread this time, as well. I tink that speaks volumes about the increasing quality of entries.

Feel proud, guys.

Have an exalt - I fully agree about everyone deserving to feel proud

I also really liked the various dioramas. My favorites ran with the crowd, and I agree that there's a pretty clear lead tier.

I know my submission was very borderline for theme, but I jumped in late. I'll be more on point for August.

 Polonius wrote:
I know my submission was very borderline for theme, but I jumped in late. I'll be more on point for August.

I actually thought yours fitted really well. You don't get much more sneaky than taking the feet right form under people! Might be my bias after cracking and buying the HBD, but I love them.

 Polonius wrote:
I also really liked the various dioramas. My favorites ran with the crowd, and I agree that there's a pretty clear lead tier.

I know my submission was very borderline for theme, but I jumped in late. I'll be more on point for August.

My entry was also borderline as far as fitting the theme, so I understand why I'm getting less votes than the ones who fit it better. That's as it should be, really. I'm still happy that at least 3 people liked my Darkshroud enough to give it a vote!

I feel like I should if explained mine better since not everyone knows the raven guard fluff and how stealthy they are.

 Ustrello wrote:
I feel like I should if explained mine better since not everyone knows the raven guard fluff and how stealthy they are.

I genuinely didn't know that and it does cast a different light on the model (which I loved - the skin tones were refreshingly not pink or brown). I didn't get the link to the theme though. I think in the second challenge (Veterans) it was encouraged that participants write a short bit of "fluff" for their entry. I loved that, but forgot for my entries in the following months. Mine that time was too long, but it was great to tell people more aspects of my vision.

I'm reluctant to propose making it mandatory, but what does the group think? I would recommend a max word count (say 75 words). I think I'll start doing that from now on anyway just for myself.