SKINTHAMMER CHALLENGE... Shot my blot

Frenetic work continues to get this army completed by the end of the month. Once the attic had cooled down last night I started on these 2 bolt shooters and finished building them this morning.

They are made of bits of dowel , balsa and foil  I had  knocking about on the bench. Coated with plastic putty they look a bit messy at the moment but will paint up to match the catapult in the last post. I splashed out on the bases which are pennies. Starting on the crew next. 

SKINTHAMMER CHALLENGE.... Old Knopper the catapult

Yes, 2 posts in a day!! It's simply too hot in the attic to do anything, so most of us have been lounging in the sitting room which is the coolest room in the house. An upside of this is the family actually sit down together and talk to each other.... not something that tends to happen much. Oldest boy passed his 9 GCSE's with flying colours so is bound for my Alma Mater to study Countryside Conservation and Management for a year and then forestry. Middle son also passed his Grade 4 Folk Violin with distiction, so there is a certain sense of jubilation (and relief) reigning here at the moment.

Old Knopper started off as a battered ELC toy catapult picked up in a charity shop for 10p, that looked like this.....

I cut the side shields off and covered up the damage with garden string. More garden string was added to the firing arm and round an added dowel roller. A firing lever was added to the dowel as well. 

I added a cross brace at the front, and then a Green Man pendant I picked up in Glastonbury a while back. Some green stuff knots and burrs were added and them copious amounts of Vallejo plastic putty to make the whole model look more organic. Then I covered the whole thing with 2 coats of the brilliant Citadel Typhus Corrosion which softened the plastic edges even more and gave the smooth plastic a bark like natural texture.

The missiles are acorns believe it or not , from a garden I work in. They have been been infected by the splendidly named Knopper Gall Wasp which lays it's eggs in the acorn causing the gall. The acorns warp into a wonderfully Froudian shape. I just gave the dried acorns a wash with Seraphim Sepia. The plan is that each missile houses a nasty little Gubbins which will hatch out and start attacking the nearest enemy.

The crew below were finds from the comic book convention. From left to right a citadel Orc, the middle porcine chap is an unknown make (I am calling him Roly) and the whipmaster is Uncle Frank we have met already.

Total cost of Old Knopper and 2 of the crew was £3.10 bring the total to £25.01p. £4.99 to spend on something rather fun.

SKINTHAMMER CHALLENGE... Beware of Lambkin

Lambkin is Mother Gubbins' first born and the apple of her bloodshot eye. He tends not to live with the rest of the clan, but burrows deep into the moss found on the moors close to the Gubbins' lair. From there he raids nearby villages,  using his great height and long extendable arms to open and lean in through bedroom windows to seize the sleeping occupant.

Lambkin is a plastic figure from Caesar's box of 1/72 Fantasy Adventurers, and as I pinched him out of the kids toybox he was technically free. Sorry about the terrible photos... combination of rushing using my phone, and not being able to see the picture very well on the small screen. Once I upload it to the laptop, I can see the blurring and other mishaps.

Total spent so far £21.91p 

SKINTHAMMER CHALLENGE... The Lungwort Brothers and Standard Bearers completed

The Lungwort Brothers are sentient collections of lichen animated by Mother Gubbins who dotes on them. More cheap boardgame figures, painted in a trice. I may go back and redo them at some stage as I wasn't too happy with them.

The Gubbins infantry standard bearers came out a bit better

I was pleased with the standard poles...my first ever bit of sculpting with green stuff and Vallejo plastic putty (I really like the latter) over a copper wire. More stuff in the pipeline to be finished by the end of the month!!

SKINTHAMMER CHALLENGE.... The Aunts

Another cheapo/skinflint unit painted for the aforementioned Sprinks Challenge. The Aunts of the Gubbins family.

These will count as Savage Orcs in 3rd ed. Warhammer. They are pieces from a boardgame purchased at Devizes Attack 30p each, bringing the total spent so far to an eye watering £20.11p

Very quick blocking, drybrush and wash, followed by spattering (which I enjoy).

SPRINKS' SKINTHAMMER CHALLENGE so far

Some time ago , the noble and erudite Sprinks of Wronghammer fame issued the following challenge

naturally this appealed to my parsimonious nature and I plucked up the tattered fingerless mitten from the dust and accepted the challenge. This of course is as far as it went until I uncovered another bag of cheapo plastic orcs at the Lincombe Barn Wargames club tabletop sale. Progress has been glacial to say the least, but this is the story so far. I decided to use standard Warhammer figures, but the cheapest I could find

presenting The Gubbinses of Shatford Lea

This little lot I picked up a year ago at the same show... 17 figures for a £4. Some had been painted by Blind Pew using an industrial paint roller, but I just undercoated straight over that without stripping. 

The grunt and bile of the army cost a tenner for about 56 figures, some of which were broken. I sifted out the best and added shields bought at the same show

The gaps in the front ranks are for the standard bearers, WIP

The chap on the right was one of the broken figures, and the metal dude was from a rummage bin at last weekends show, Attack at Devizes. He cost 50p and was missing a hand. Happily I have had one of the kid's old goblins riding around in the glove box of the car for about 2 years, and he willingly sacrificed his hand for the greater good. I might use him and add a hook later. (note newly tidied workbench for this photoshoot).

A couple of personalities. Uncle Frank on the left will be crewing the catapult when it is painted (a 10p plastic ELC job from a charity sale). Uncle Frank was gleaned from a comic book show last year where I was helping Geoff from Oakbound man his stall. We didn't sell much, but were pitched next to a chap with a huge dumpbin of old figures. I bought a bundle and they worked out at 32p each.

Mother Gubbins, the matriach of the clan and mother of them all is a Runequest figure I have had since the early 80's. She comes from a set of 10 figures which were (I recall) £4.99, so she cost err ...(counts on fingers) 49p. 

Here is Uncle Frank's pet porker Trotter

Trotter came from Devizes Attack a couple of years ago when EM4 Miniatures had rummage bin of old game pieces. I missed all the Deep Ones which the git in front of me showed me as he skipped off with them gloating, but there were a few odds and sods worth buying for 30p each. I also bagged a bundle of goblin types from the same bin which should be painted very soon.

So £15.61 spent so far (I think) of the £30 limit. Lets hope I can interpret the challenge flexibly and get the whole of August to paint in too.

ON THE WORKBENCH

A flying post as my mojo arrived back last night after a long excursion. For some reason I was seized with the idea to paint up some cheapo orcs and start a "traditional" Warhammer army. I have picked up plastic orcs very cheaply here and there with a vague idea of doing something with them and splashed some paint onto a test figure

all in all he took about 40 minutes following the suggestions on the excellent blog HOBGOBLINRY. The author JC (?) is a master painter with a great attitude to speed painting, which end in stunning results, and I have tried following his sage advice. The main aim was to bang through the figure using block painting, a drybrush and washes. I allowed myself one highlight on the eyes and skin. I am still undecided on how to do the bases, but this fellow has some excellent. premixed scatter from OAKBOUND STUDIOS. 

This orc is the first of The Gubbins Family, a tribe on cannibal orcs who dwell Grimstock Wood. The rest of his regiment awaits undercoating. The premise is to do the force as cheaply as possible and these guys cost £4 for 17 at Reveille last year.

Also being painted for son 3 is this 40K abomination, a Slaaneshi Noise Marine he got for his birthday. Having found this plastic figure cost £20!!!! I feel under some pressure to at least try and do a decent job. I do quite like the glam rock stacked heels and the gun mounted in the guitar.