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@Gulgog Tuftoof: Cool ork I love that each new ork you make for these competitions has a story behind it.
@Josh in Japan: I like that walker, it looks cool.

I have finished my Iron Hands Space Marines. I thought I finished 2 days ago, but realized that I forgot to do the backpacks.

@Lovejoy: That's a pretty cool scrapbot so far.
@Syro: I love how janky and lo-tech those bionics are-- they give me real RT vibes.

I added some weathering to the mech, and tried something new with the canopy:





There are about 20 layers of paint on the front canopy-- I just couldn't get it the way I envisioned it, plus gouache paints reactivate if you don't let them dry thoroughly. I need to get some spray varnish before I add decals.

 Lovejoy wrote:
Firstly, your Twi'lek looks great!

Thank you.

 Lovejoy wrote:
After a thorough search of my minis stash, I've not found anything appropriate. And I have a rule of not buying new stuff for this challenge.
But, I'm going to attempt an entry anyway, by sculpting a robot. Not sure I'll manage to finish it in time, but I'm going to try!

If you don't have it, make it? Always a good approach as far as I'm concerned.

Good luck getting the robot done, even (or is it especially?) if the clock is ticking mercilessly.

Vejut wrote:Lovejoy: hoping he gets done, its a neat little guy! Going for a more SF look, or a steam or magic critterbot you could slide into the next Burrows and Badgers batch?

Cheers - I'm going for a hard sci-fi style, ideally. Nothing Burrows & Badgers related, I'm treating this as a test piece for a different project.

JoshInJapan wrote:@Lovejoy: That's a pretty cool scrapbot so far.

Thank you! So far, it looks nothing like I want it to... hopefully I can fix that as I go!

Geifer wrote:Good luck getting the robot done, even (or is it especially?) if the clock is ticking mercilessly.

Yeah, I may have been a bit too ambitious this late in the month... we'll see!

A bit more roughing out:


Hopefully I'll get an hour or two of the proper sculpting done this afternoon.

cheers,
Michael

JoshinJapan: wow, that canopy's looking great!

Lovejoy: Gun's starting to look pretty classic scifi, and the bot's firming up nicely. Interested to see what comes out, and hope he makes it this month.

My entry is as finished as it's going to get.

Sturm Käfer

JoshInJapan, that Sturm Kafer looks great! I think the colour you've gone for accentuates the 'bug' nature of the piece. Very sci-fi, but also very insectoid/creepy too. Love it!


A bit more progress on the robot:


TBH, I'm really rushing this, and it's showing... I'll see how I get on over the next week, but I may abandon it. I'll see what I can do...

cheers,
Michael

It's too damned hot to paint. I barely started my Eldar Beep-Boopers today...

That's two cases in a row of plenty of month left. Come on, you can do it, guys!

We still have about a third of the month left. Keep at it!

But looking ahead to cooler months, anyone have any thoughts for September’s topic?

Magical Mystery Tour?
The Hidden Blade?
On Wings of Fire? (have we had that before?)

No Instructions - That's not where the backpack goes- pikemen are meant to wield pikes not rats- that head's on backwards- are you even looking at the instruction booklet? Each multi-part miniature has a proper way of being put together, and it can go to hell. Conversions, but not just swapping one head for another or tweaking the pose - we're doing things the way they weren't intended, hammering square pegs into round holes, and whether the results are cool, comical, glorious or never-to-be-spoken-of-again, the one thing they're not is off-the-shelf.

 Daia T'Nara wrote:
No Instructions - That's not where the backpack goes- pikemen are meant to wield pikes not rats- that head's on backwards- are you even looking at the instruction booklet? Each multi-part miniature has a proper way of being put together, and it can go to hell. Conversions, but not just swapping one head for another or tweaking the pose - we're doing things the way they weren't intended, hammering square pegs into round holes, and whether the results are cool, comical, glorious or never-to-be-spoken-of-again, the one thing they're not is off-the-shelf.

I second this.

A bit late with my proof pic but I'll segue it in here. This month the Mekboys and maddocs have got together to create a new and improved Ork boy.

Able to get into the fight quicker (but defeated by stairs unless they can bunny hop up them) I present my

Ork Segway Boyz

Beep boop. R2 is done. Again not my final entry. Still got to paint TC-25 and take a group picture of the droids.

 JoshInJapan wrote:

 Daia T'Nara wrote:
No Instructions - That's not where the backpack goes- pikemen are meant to wield pikes not rats- that head's on backwards- are you even looking at the instruction booklet? Each multi-part miniature has a proper way of being put together, and it can go to hell. Conversions, but not just swapping one head for another or tweaking the pose - we're doing things the way they weren't intended, hammering square pegs into round holes, and whether the results are cool, comical, glorious or never-to-be-spoken-of-again, the one thing they're not is off-the-shelf.

I second this.

My main issues with this is that we are a painting competition, not a modeling one. And aimed at all skill levels, including beginners.

That said, we do try to push everyone forward in different aspects of the hobby, so I’m not adverse it having a modeling-centric topic. But it should have an outlet for people not fluent with the hobby knife. For some people, a head/weapon swap is a non-trivial activity. We need to accept that and encourage them; not exclude them. You can look at almost any month of the comp and see that we range from people who don’t even clean mold lines to hand-sculpted GS masterpieces. We have enough of the later that we’d have a full packed podium for this topic (and I’d love to see the results) but I’m not willing to sacrifice the half the participants to get there.

There would also have to be a painting option. Hot-pink stormtroopers, neon-camo, or other off the rails paint schemes should be included in the brief. This would make space for newer people. Not everyone has GS and a deep bits box.

This isn’t a hard “No”. I like the concept. As is, it would make for a fun side challenge, or a non-binding sub challenge for December’s open round for people who wanted to engage. But it would need some tweaking to make it to the polls.

How about calling it "Off the Rails"? Mention the odd colors and clashing of themes with "Wait, that piece doesn't even go with that model!" at the end of the description?

 KidCthulhu wrote:
How about calling it "Off the Rails"? Mention the odd colors and clashing of themes with "Wait, that piece doesn't even go with that model!" at the end of the description?

Works for me - my original idea was something along the lines of 'that's not right' (you have to say it like Sam Rockwell in Galaxy Quest), with the mini being not what you normally expect to see from that mini which'd include paint, I just couldn't quite get the flavour text to sound punchy in my head.

(The mini that inspired it is literally a Legionary with his head on backwards, so I wasn't thinking complex green-stuff conversions. Back of the helmet looks surprisingly good as a 'face'.)

Not really on board with the 'making a mini look wrong', idea. I'm almost always painting something for a faction or army I'm creating, so having something that sticks out or deliberately seems odd in context would be a waste of a month's painting for me.

Just simple conversions I can get behind. I do lots of conversions for my Exodites and kitbashes for my Raven Guard.

How about something like "One of these things is not like the other"? You could paint something well outside your wheelhouse-- fasntasy for an SF hobbyist, or a bust rather than a gaming miniature. Another option is a squad with one member who doesn't fit-- think team of pistol/CCW Scouts, but one member has a heavy bolter, or alternatively a shooty squad with a CC oriented leader. This topic would also alllow wild kitbashes of the type Daia is suggesting.

I'm going with how I said I liked all of the possible topics for this month, during the last vote. So I will re-suggest the three that didn't win

Dress For Success - Models with extravagant, over-the-top, or just plain fabulous outfits and/or accoutrements. Break out the fancy hats with feathers, poofy sleeves, and ball gowns. Or blinged-out power armor. People should know at a glance you are a rising star, or have already archived the highest positions. Your entry should be dressed for victory in whatever field they are on, be it the battle field or in court.

Absolute Unit - Some things are just Bigger than others. Entries should be larger than their peers. Giant tanks, big bruisers, or even the roughest little fey in the fairy circle. Or it could just be part of the model. Swords longer the the wielder is tall, or hammers bigger than the torso of the guy/gal swinging it. Sometimes size does matter.

The Last Drop - This one is a little more abstract and open to interpretation. Drop of liquid? Supply drop? Drop from orbit? What is the last drop and why is it important? Empty wine bottle for a drunkard, vampires drained victim? Last drop of courage, or the bitter dregs of fate? Needed supplies floating down to besieged defenders? Loyalists on their way to Isstvan V? Take the topic and run with it, and let's see what we get!

FYI I have now thought of an idea for Absolute Unit that's not just a Legionary with her dong hanging out, so we can mark that one as 'safe'.

My beep-boopers are not going well. The models have too many smooth curves that aren't holding highlights well and my color choices just might not be working.Then again, I'm far from complete, so it might just be seeing models in the "ugly phase" that's killing my enthusiasm.

EDIT: I'm also this close to yanking one of Executioners off the base, slapping him on a Necromunda base, and painting him in lurid colors as a combat servitor for my Ordo Xenos Inquisitor.

Random idea popped into my head this morning: This Time It's Personal - A lot of miniatures get painted to round out the numbers in a squad, or add the latest fancy weapon to your army, or to fill in a capability gap in your list so you won't get your backside handed to you again like you did last game. Not this one. This is the new version of one of the first minis you ever owned (or if your pile of shame goes back far enough, maybe it is one of the first minis you own). Or the colour scheme is based on your favourite sports team, or your school, or whatever. Or you always wanted an insert-name-here back in the day, and now you've finally got one off ebay. Or Christopher Walken gave you this miniature after hiding it for years in his- you get the idea. It may be a one-of-a-kind custom conversion/sculpt, or it may be a regular trooper just like those in who knows how many thousands of armies all over the world, but there's a specific reason this mini is special to you. And you could just make that reason up and paint whatever was next on your desk anyway, but we'll take your word for it.

I might have to drop out for a fairly stupid reason: I seem to have literally misplaced my model I was entering! I can't seem to find it anywhere on my cluttered desk. Which means I might have moved it off the desk for some damn reason. Oh well, I probably didn't have time to paint it anyway, but I feel kind of silly anyways.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
I might have to drop out for a fairly stupid reason: I seem to have literally misplaced my model I was entering! I can't seem to find it anywhere on my cluttered desk. Which means I might have moved it off the desk for some damn reason. Oh well, I probably didn't have time to paint it anyway, but I feel kind of silly anyways.

Have you tried walking around your house yelling “BEEP” and listening for the “BOOP”?

You’ve got a week to find and paint him, or an acceptable substitute.

—

I’ll try to get the poll up tonight or tomorrow. Just need to flock and take pictures of my guys.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
I might have to drop out for a fairly stupid reason: I seem to have literally misplaced my model I was entering! I can't seem to find it anywhere on my cluttered desk. Which means I might have moved it off the desk for some damn reason. Oh well, I probably didn't have time to paint it anyway, but I feel kind of silly anyways.

I've been there. Sorry it happened to you. Good luck finding it.

Not likely to get my original plan of a warlord titan done, so did some battlemechs instead. Proof:


Finals:

I finished one of my beep boopers tonight and I'm really dissatisfied with him. Poor little guy; it's not his fault. He's a weird RT sculpt with too many curves that's hard to really highlight.

Gonna enter him anyway. Expect photos soon and pity my wraithboi.

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/814477.page

Topic poll for next month. We’ve got a week left on this one, time to stop procrastinating!