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Welcome all to the penultimate voting round of this rotation of the painting challenge! This month, the entrants were set the task of entering a group of models that represented a tight-knit group of skilled warriors, adventurers or soldiers. The brief produced a fantastic range of entries, from your classic dungeon-delving adventures to elite bodyguards, pillaging pirates to vicious warbands.

As always, please vote for as many entries as you like and for any reason that catches your eye, be that paintwork or conversion, effort or ambition or anything else. You are also encouraged to leave some feedback for the entrants, either here on or their own blog or gallery pages, it's always appreciated by everyone!

Without further ado, the entrants!


u971: Heroes of Middle Earth


TheDraconicLord: Shadespire Ironjawz


Nevelon: Salamanders Sternguard Squad



ZergSmasher: Chaos Cultists


ChaosDad: Alpha Legion Headhunters


Guildenstern: Ork Lootas



Power Elephant: Chaos Chosen and Cultist


KernelTerror: Dark Mechanicus Troops


Apollinaire: House Escher Gang


dukeofbeer: Dungeon Explorers



SirOllox: Black Templars Hellblasters


vejut: Animal Adventurers


Ratius: Mordian Iron Guard


Cryocat: Spartans


Moolet: Blood Angels Intercessors


Modock: Adventuring Party


n1ceguypaul: Tzanngors


Keezus: Changelings


Paradigm: Vostroyan Firstborn Command Squad


Midget Gems: Ork Tankbustas


womprat49: Valhallan Ice Warriors


feltmonkey: Pirates


ZoBo: Death Guard Terminators


Tim121RVC: Gretchin


Sqauwky: Wolf Pack


Chris56: Skeleton Warriors

Modock - I've seen you do better, but that just speaks about how good of a painter you are, since your adventurers are a leauge above the rest
feltmonkey - That blue dress alone was reason enough for me to give you a vote. Great paint job, and amazing models!

Limited myself to 5 votes, but by khorne that was not easy, amazing collection of models.
I am especially impressed by the the rendering of the facial expressions on Feltmonkey's pirates, pure genius.

Thanks a lot Paradigm for organizing the contest.

Apollonaire: Lovely gang, nice work.

Moolet: Nice, crisp marines.

Modock: Love the dungeon crawlers.

Paradigm: Gritty and lovely.

Womprat: A nicely painted lovely squad of Valhallans tugs at my heart strings.

14 Votes,So many nice models deserved many votes,Now to vote on everyone's images.

A great set of entries this month for sure! I barely held back to 5 votes. Here they are:
Cryocat: Those Spartans look amazing! I'm jealous of how well you were able to paint realistic skin.
Moolet: Very nice crisp paintjob on those Blood Angels!
Modock: Yet another great entry from you! I always look forward to your entries, as they are always great.
feltmonkey: Those are very cool models, and you painted them extremely well. That blue dress on the one girl turned out especially well, and I love the colors on the parrot!
ZoBo: Lord Felthius and his Tainted Cohort turned out gross! And that's high praise for devotees of Nurgle! The muted colors contrast nicely with the bright green slime!

Everyone did very well, even if you didn't get a vote from me! It's always inspirational to see everyone's work in these challenges. I realize that my own entry is not on par with many of my others, but that's because I'm in the middle of working on an army for a big event, so I couldn't put as much attention on them as some of my other stuff. It may be more of the same over the next couple of challenges, then I'll try to be back with higher quality stuff. Special shout out as always to Paradigm for running these shows. Keep up the good work my friend! See you all in the Big Stick challenge!

We seem to have had a lot of really fun, colourful entries this month. Great work everyone!

Thanks for the comments, Power Elephant, KernalTerror and ZergSmasher. You're too kind. Kernal - I think the faces were the part I was most proud of.

As I sometimes do, I just have to comment on everyone's entries this month!

u971 - Nice work. You've picked out all the details (such as Gandolf's eyebrows) nicely.

TheDraconicLord - A fearsome bunch of orks. I like how you've varied the skintones.

Nevelon - Hang on, Nevelon Space Marines, but they're not blue? What's going on? They look good, especially the custom shoulderpads. One tip, and this is going to sound weird, is to put some wash on the rocks on the base to tie them in more with the miniatures. Otherwise it kind of betrays the scale and makes the marines look like minis rather than full-size space marines.

ZergSmasher - Aah, the Dark Vengeance cultists. I love those guys. I like how you've got a lot of colours on them all, to make them look sort of disorderly, but at the same time they're all tied together by the blue.

ChaosDad - That's a very nice Alpha Legion colour you've got on them. The snake shoulderpads look cool, are they custom ones? I also like how you've muddied up the feet to tied them in with the bases. A nice moody squad overall.

Guildenstern - Some crazy big guns! Lots of dakka. The ork skin-tone is great, and I like how you've picked out things like the cables to add colour and character.

Power Elephant - I'm not completely sold on the colour scheme but that's some good painting. I bet they look great on the tabletop.

KernelTerror - I love the weirdness of these. Great conversions.

Apollinaire - Really colourful, and good details on areas like the face. Nice job.

dukeofbeer - Very nice cartoon-style painting. It's a shame the pictures look so yellow, it makes it hard to see what the actual colours are. Great work, though. I particularly like the halfling.

SirOllox - Lovely stuff. Really moody, muddy, and atmospheric.

vejut - Some of your best painting, I reckon. Nice highlighting on the blue parts of the dress, and the eyes on the same model are excellent!

Ratius - Nice details and bold colours. They could do with a bit of shading and highlighting, but the choice of colours is great.

Cryocat - These are really good. Good skin tones, and bold reds.

Moolet - I really really like these. I like how everything ties together into your style. Everything is clean, smooth, and well-defined. The weathering is excellent. I think you said in the thread that you weren't 100% happy with the weathering, but it suits the miniatures perfectly. You don't paint in an ultra-realistic style, so this kind of weathering fits the paintjob really well. Again, I bet they look amazing on the tabletop.

Modock - Fantastic as ever. I love the bold green on the elf, and stuff like the glow around the face on the tree, the colour of which echos the elf's glove, and ties the whole thing together nicely. The face on the human warrior is excellent.

n1ceguypaul - Lovely colours - turquise and gold is always a solid choice. I like how you've picked out individual scales on the armour as well. I know you were a bit rushed this month, but it's a shame you didn't have time to do one of your trademark OTT bases!

Keezus - Sinister and disturbing stuff. typical Malifaux, I guess! I really like how you've swapped the purple and green on the suits and neckties of the three, it somehow enhances the creepiness. Really nice use of colours overall, actually.

Paradigm - Great painting as usual. Really filled with narrative. Not as blood-covered as your work usually is, except for the medic who would be, I guess!

Midget Gems - No crazy diorama this month, but sometimes you've just got to concentrate on the painting, right? I think this is your best painted stuff I can remember. The ork skin is fantastic, there's some excellent blending and edge-highlighting going on, and real attention to the details.

womprat49 - A moody-looking squad. The weathering is the standout thing on there for me. I really like the way you've got the snow clinging to the bottom of their coats and staining the coats white.

feltmonkey - These pirates (from the board game Rum and Bones) were really fun to paint. I tried to make them more colourful and contrasty than I sometimes do. I was particularly concentrating on getting the faces right, and I reckon I almost did so in two of them. The face of the girl in the blue dress (Vivienne the Sea Fox apparently) is the bit I'm most proud of. I'm glad people seem to like the blue dress, as I had "finished" the whole thing, but wasn't happy with it and went and re-did it as it is now. I don't know if anyone else has this, but the things people like tend sometimes to be different to the things I like on the minis I paint. For example, I'm really pleased with the red cloak, the stripey underpants, and the skintones on the male pirate's chest, and Vivienne's thighs. I doubt anyone else would think anything of them! I reckon the bases might let them down, as well as some really scrappy painting as usual. Incidentally, for the second month running I found myself awkwardly highlighting tiny plastic boobs. It's becoming a habit.

ZoBo - Oh yes! ZoBo returns to Nurgle with spectacular results. The verdegis! The slime! The rust! The manic grin! But enough about my painting area. Fantastic work, mate.

Tim121RVC - You've got to love a funny gretchin diorama. Great stuff. I like the guy carrying the drumstick in his mouth.

Sqauwky - A big ol' pack of wolves. Good idea to vary the colour of the fur, some people would have done them all the same, and it wouldn't have looked as good.

Chris56 - Just great use of colours. The repeated greens and bronze look fantastic.

 feltmonkey wrote:
Nevelon - Hang on, Nevelon Space Marines, but they're not blue? What's going on? They look good, especially the custom shoulderpads. One tip, and this is going to sound weird, is to put some wash on the rocks on the base to tie them in more with the miniatures. Otherwise it kind of betrays the scale and makes the marines look like minis rather than full-size space marines.

Thanks.

They are for my son’s Salamander army. I’ll be painting Ultras for this month, but might go back to green for March.

I actually did put a nulan oil wash on the rocks, same wash that went over the marines. Coulda maybe gone with another coat to darken them up, but The Boy is the one that picked out the gravel, and didn’t want to obscure the color too much. A lot of the paint scheme was set by him, just me slightly bending and interpreting it. He didn’t want anything on the rocks, but I knew they needed at least a little something.

Cryocat, Moolet, Modock, Paradigm and feltmonkey got votes from me, though there were many others whose work I really appreciated as well.

Cryocat's Spartans look great. The paint scheme is well tied together and yet colourful, with aggressive red cloaks and realistic bare metal, wood, skin and leather.

Moolet's Blood Angels are impeccably done, the only problem I have with them is that I think the Blood Angels colour scheme isn't very good, but since it's a canon chapter I can hardly fault the painter for that. Beautiful shades and highlights break up the tedium of red power armour, making these guy stand out.

Modock's adventuring party is superb, with great individual characterisation and gorgeous highlights. The large areas of a single colour are vibrant with darker and lighter shades, and the painting is crisp as heck.

Paradigm's Vostroyans are gritty and realistic, with great weathering and suitably dull colours. While I can't help but think a few brighter highlights on the red would've made them pop more I have to tip my hat to Paradigm for this overall superb paint job.

feltmonkey's pirates are another example of how I' a sucker for well-made highlights. The blue dress is especially gorgeous. My only problem with them apart from the sculpts (not feltmonkey's fault) is the basing. It's thematic but a little dull. Some rum, a treasure chest, a skull, some coins, anything would've made them stand out more. The paint job is more important than the base though, so it's not that bad.

As an aside, I really liked SirOllox's marines, but one thing pulled them down for me: the visible mould lines. Few things kill a model for me like visible mould lines, and with the work put into the painting of them, I reallly think they should've been trimmed properly.

Woah! There are some awesome entries here! I really tried to vote for only one but ended up voting for three! They're just so equally good!

Keezus - such interesting models! So fittingly painted! Well done.

Feltmonkey - Really nice highlighting! Awesome party of models.

Modock - High quality painting there, mate! Well done. The only reason why you weren't my sole vote was that the ranger has way too much green. Her gloves should've been a different colour to give her some more vocal points.

 feltmonkey wrote:


ChaosDad - That's a very nice Alpha Legion colour you've got on them. The snake shoulderpads look cool, are they custom ones? I also like how you've muddied up the feet to tied them in with the bases. A nice moody squad overall.

Thanks! The "tying to the base" thing is what i'm trying to do with that whole army, so if that's what you make of it, then my clever plan is working...

The shoulderpads are from the Alpha Legion Headhunter upgrade kit from Forgeworld.

A couple of things I want to say:

TheDraconicLord - You didn't paint them in a yellow scheme, kudos for that! Did you use a wash on the metals? I like the subtle dirt on the cape

ChaosDad - Nice choice of the colour scheme! I don't see Marines that often done in those colours.

Power Elephant - The axe really stands out for me, great job on that!

KernelTerror - Sweet conversions using the Sigmar knights (don't know the exact names).

SirOllox - Very cool combination of the glowing red eyes and the plasma lighting.

Ratius - I have a soft spot for grenade launchers. Nice arctic bases.

Cryocat - A very realistic paintjob, inspiring work.

Moolet - I can hardly see any edge highlighting on your BA armour. I don't know exactly what techniques you used, but the models look just awesome.

Modock - I like the knight best. Impressive metal (NMM?). I agree with Skuerkie about the elf and her gloves. Other than that she's lovely. That tree stump is a great base.

Keezus - Jesus, what a disturbing and creepy bunch of guys! I actually don't like this kind of horror. The fact that your models have that effect on me is a compliment. A bad paintjob wouldn't give me such a uncomfortable feeling.

Paradigm - Great painting, this is definately a cohesive group of figures. The kneeling guy looks funny, like that fur hat gives him some itches.

Midget Gems - Loving the ork skin and detailing. The ones with the burners are my favorites. Especially the one on the left, like he's playing a guitare!

Feltmonkey - No question, those models are painted in a wonderful way. But I keep looking at the bases, aren't that regular flat bases? Did you paint the wood on it or is it sculpted?

ZoBo - Terrific slime effect! I used to watch The Real Ghostbusters as a kid, your slime reminds me of Slimer.

Chris 56 - The glowing effects are well done. Cloaks too.



Thanks for the votes on my little green men. Didn't expect to get any votes at all, hahaha!

 Tim 121RVC wrote:


Feltmonkey - No question, those models are painted in a wonderful way. But I keep looking at the bases, aren't that regular flat bases? Did you paint the wood on it or is it sculpted?

They're just flat bases, and I painted to wood on. :/

I lost confidence in the painted-on planks and got some sculpted wooden plank bases but didn't have time to rebase them. What do you think? Do the bases let the models down?

 feltmonkey wrote:

 Tim 121RVC wrote:


Feltmonkey - No question, those models are painted in a wonderful way. But I keep looking at the bases, aren't that regular flat bases? Did you paint the wood on it or is it sculpted?

They're just flat bases, and I painted to wood on. :/

I lost confidence in the painted-on planks and got some sculpted wooden plank bases but didn't have time to rebase them. What do you think? Do the bases let the models down?

At a glance, they absolutely look sculpted. And the planks themselves aren't perfectly straight, which is accurate for a hand-worked plank back in those days. I'd love to see pics of them rebased for texture purposes, but you should be very pleased with what you accomplished.

Agreed.

Thanks guys.

Below are my vote and some comments on them, I'd love to comment on all but I just don't have time this month. Excellent entries all round, the standard just keep raising.

Thanks Feltmonkey for commenting on all the images and Tim for doing a while bunch too. I appreciate all the comments made about my intercessors.

SirOllox: Lovely hellblaster, i really like the tone you’ve given them and the bases are brilliant. My only suggestion is to pay a touch more attention to those mold lines on the head. =)

Vejut: I think you’ve raised your game with these. Very well done. The colours in the middle one are vibrant but not too glaring and colours and tone you get fur and skin are enviable... Bravo

Cryocat: You’ve really captured what i have as an image of a Spartan warrior you choice of colour tones and your style of painting is perfect for these models.

Modock: I’m fed up of saying it, but these are great. Your brushwork is only outshone by your choice of palette. Really, very well done.

Keezus: This is tied as my favourite this month. Much like your zombie girl from a few months back, you’ve captured the eeriness of these models well and your skill at choosing shading and highlighting colours give you a unique style I’d love to try and emulate.
These are so well done.
Paradigm: Your usual style but a little more vibrant than usual and i think it really makes these stand out. Your ability to impose a gritty/dirty atmosphere on a model yet bring out small details is second to none.

Midget Gems: having more time to concentrate on painting (despite erratic hours and likely time you should be catching up on sleep) instead of converting has really shown off your talent. I can see you’ve done a lot of blacks areas and they are really well done. I’d like your recipe for the yellow jacket on the nob if you wouldn’t mind imparting it.

Feltmonkey: the thing that sold me on these was the fact that i am looking at the blue dress and thigh high boots rather than letting my eye wander elsewhere. These are really well done and incredibly characterful. Most impressive is the use of all those different vibrant colours yet keeping them all still very cohesive.

Zobo: These look awesome. You’ve mastered nurgley rot and decay and you’ve done it by using a none standard colour scheme with a lot of electric blue in it. Its really well done and works surprising well.

So...how do you submit entries, and is it too late to submit one?

It's too late for last months' competition, but you can still submit your entry for this month here:
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/749907.page

I would write up everyone, but I don't really have time right now, so all of you be assured you did well, and here's the list of people I voted for (maybe half of the entries):
Draconic Lord
Power elephant
Dukefofbeer
SirOllox
Cryocat
Moolet
Modock
Keezus
Paradigm
Midget Gems
Womprat49
Feltmonkey
Zobo
Chris 56

Thank you very much for the comments and votes Felt, Tim 121RVC, Mootlet, Creeed. It was nice to have a change from my normal conversions and about time I got on with painting a part of my army, just happy I got them finished tbh.

Yeah CthuluIsSpy you are more than welcome to join us in this months challenge as linked by Power Elephant

This monthI liked
KernelTerror's conversion
SirOllox - Dirty and battered Hellblasters
Cryocat, Spartans, you got the red very vivid which is perfect for them.
Mootlet - excellent work with the intercessors and for trying new things.
Modock - as always, the more you look the more you find with your painting, just noticed how good the dwarfs axe looks
Keezus - Freaky kid things
Para- Still your trademark dirty look but with some brighter colours in and the V the right way around
Felt - The stand out entry, beautifully painted and I didnt even notice the detail work on the base until someone pointed it out
Zobo - Good rust and weathering on the models + slime
Tim121RVC - I like how you posed the models in the seen
Chris56 - The eerie green glow sells them to me, hope you have fun playing with them.

Good luck everyone

Edit - opps almost forgot

 Moolet wrote:

I’d like your recipe for the yellow jacket on the nob if you wouldn’t mind imparting it.

Sure thing, I wanted it to look like a Steel legion jacket as if he had been hunting tanks on Armageddon.
Colours are:
Gray Primer
Base Zandri Dust
Wash of Agrax Earthshade applied only in the creases
Thin layer Zamesi Desert in all but darkest areas
Another thin layer of Zamesi Desert in raised areas catching the light
Edge Highlight of 50/50 Zamesi Desert/Ceramite White (i think it was that white but could have been another very light colour)

One month to go and we're done for the season. Nice to see coherent entries for a change. Different takes on various infantry size models.

Big thanks to Power Elephant, Elbows, ZergSmasher, Feltmonkey, Cream Tea, Squerkie, Tim 121RVC, Moolet, CREEEEEEEEED and Midget Gems
for taking the time and commenting, giving feedback on my trio adventurers.
Also thanks for every single vote.

Power Elephant wrote:Modock - I've seen you do better

Yes, I didn't put 100% in these because I started to paint them a good week before the end of the month and I was busy with other life nonsense.
They lack the contrast ( kinda like them this way, more natural look) and some other details. Overall they look quite nice but I must say others
did a tremendous job as well.

Squerkie wrote:Modock - High quality painting there, mate! Well done. The only reason why you weren't my sole vote was that the ranger has way too much green.
Her gloves should've been a different colour to give her some more vocal points.

If you believe me I wanted to paint the gloves a different tone but like I said I was short on time so I cut corners.


It's quite late so I'll be quick with commenting.
OK, to voting:

Cryocat: Nice models with a coherent paint job, well done!

Moolet: I love the smoothness and the clean job on these. The German grey goes well with the red . I like you're style I always did.
Only one thing I would add is edge highlight on armor the same colour you used for battle damage.

Keezus: Creepy little beasties. You and your skin work!

Paradigm: They look great together, as I look at them I can see they are telling a story. Nice touch with the pelt hats (different tones).

Midget Gems: I agree with Feltmonkey, these are one of the best paint jobs I've seen from you. I can tell you've put more effort into painting this
time. Less converting more painting, hehe. Excellent work MG!

Feltmonkey: Amazing party of pirates! So much character backed up with a superb paint job. Priceles faces, waves of blonde hair and THAT
blue dress. Highlights on the right spot, seamless blend and perfect tone.

ZoBo: Way to go ZOBO! This is how death guard should look like. Full of rot, rust, verdigris and slime. I really like them. I believe one terminator
got way too excited and unleashed his... :

Chris56: Cool osl and the dusty look does them justice. Well done Chris.


Thanks again to everyone who contribute to this challenge and make it so amazing!
See ya in the last challenge.

Thanks to everyone for the nice comments. So many great entries yet again.

Thanks to Para and Midgetgems for all their hard work as usual and a belated congratulations to Midgetgems on the wonderful new arrival - it is amazing that you got anything done, much less some really well-painted orcs. Top stuff.

Thanks for the comments and feedback everyone. Only ever posted my painting here on Dakka and the mythic battles Facebook group so to receive so many positive comments is very encouraging

Winners!

Taking third place this month, Moolet's super-crisp Blood Angels Intercessors. Certainly a few good men to have on your side in a firefight!



Taking second, Modock's fantastic adventuring party. Fine fellows to take questing!








And out ahead, Feltmonkey's pirates! They're almost certainly not 'good' (morally speaking! The paintwork is of course great!) and only one of them's a man, but they're still a fearsome crew you wouldn't want to mess with!















Congrats to you three and everyone else who entered. Please do head on over to February's round where the best advice is to carry a big stick! Final round of the annual rotation, so a great opportunity to score some last-minute points and push yourself up the League table!

Congrats to the winners, and great work everyone!

Congrats everyone!

yay finally I've been wanting to see a Feltmonkey winning entry and Moolet placing (or winning) in this years comp.

Congrats to you both and Modock of course

Great work all around

Congrats to the winners, and thank you everybody who commented on the models-actually is helpful for trying to figure out what could go better next time!

Thanks everyone, and congrats to Modock and Moolet, and of course everyone who took part. This monthly challenge continues to be a credit to Dakkadakka as a whole. The painting, modelling, and more importantly the attitude of everyone who takes part is always excellent. Thanks again to Paradigm for organising it every month.

It is a real surprise to me that I came out on top this month! I chose to paint the pirate crew because I thought they would be fun, and they certainly proved to be enjoyable to paint. I'm delighted that people like them. Thanks for all the lovely comments.

See you next month! I really need to get started on that...