AHPC XI - Week Two in the Dungeon

The second week of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has seen some amazing entries from the competitors. Already the top painters in the points tally are pulling ahead and the leader is closing in on double my entire points total for the whole challenge! As I have said before (many times) I'm not in this for the win, so long as I meet my own personal target and get plenty of painting done. My first two weeks of the challenge have found me spending a lot of time at the paint desk but, as I have also been home on vacation, I have taken a lot of time for family activities, writing, reading and making new videos for my YouTube Channel,  rather than simply painting like a man possessed. My target for this year is more gentle and I'm enjoying the more relaxed pace I have set myself. I have started work on some WWII figures for Chain of Command but my submissions thus far have been limited to the Chambers of Challenge bonus entries and I am following a fantasy theme throughout these.

The Chamber of Darkness - Greyscale Adventurer with Lamp

I've never painted greyscale before but I really enjoyed giving this a go. I've also never tried to paint lighting effects before so this figure was a double challenge. I knew when I read the description for this room, exactly what I wanted to do, but I didn't know if I could pull it off. I may do some more like this in future, I'm sure I could improve on the technique with a little practice. 

The figure is a Northstar plastic figure for Frostgrave that I prepped for last years Challenge but never got round to starting. Ten (eventful) months later and, seemingly in the blink of an eye, its back on my desk demanding to be painted.  Once again I'm trying to make as many of the bonus round figures usable on the games table (as opposed to being display figures only) and have based this as per my Frostgrave theme.

The Larder - Olaf the Brewmaster

Olaf loved his craft and brewed the best beer for hundreds of miles, but he hated his employer and yearned to see the world. So one day he picked up his favourite barrel, a few tankards, and left the city of his birth. He took his work with him of course (what self-respecting Dwarf wouldn't??) and his fighting technique can only be described as 'unique'. He'd faced many challenges and adventures with his trusty brew to sustain him, and now as he crossed the great desert, he was confident that brining something to drink was a good idea...

This is a Ral Partha figure that I saw on eBay a few weeks ago and bought specifically for this room in the Chambers of Challenge. He'll make an amusing addition to my fantasy RPG collection and I'm positive I'll see him on the games table at some point in the near future! 

Leaving the Larder I now view the passage down to The Hatchery with some trepidation. I can hear a lot of growling and grunting from the room below so I grip my brush tightly, raise my lamp higher and descend the stairs slowly...

Tracking my Progress 

Long time readers of my blog will recognise my Progress Chart shown below and you can see that this year my start to the Painting challenge has been modest compared to previous years. However, I am making good progress with my list of projects and I am pulling slightly ahead of my weekly target. More importantly, I'm enjoying myself which is what this event is all about. 

I have a couple of really nice projects that should be ready by next week and then I can start to unveil some of my WWII figures for the Challenge. I'm taking my time over these as I want to make a good job so I'm not rushing to finish them. I'm also back at work this week, so production time will be a little bit curtailed from now on, but I have used my Christmas break to get a lot of writing, filming and planning done so I think I'm in a good position to keep up with my hobby schedule. Crossed fingers!