This month's attempt to reduce my considerable mountain of metal, plastic and resin models has been somewhat motivated by my interest in the latest Kickstarter by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio". Focusing upon "Lurkers From The Deep - 28mm Cthulhu miniatures & terrain" my pledge is presently 'reeling in' thirteen new miniatures already, so in line with my New Year's resolution to paint two models for every one freshly bought, I'm presently looking at needing to finish at least twenty-six figures before fulfilment.
Fortunately, I have quite a few of the Lincolnshire-based manufacturer's miniatures already partially-painted, including a trio 0f their splendidly large Great Apes. These quite large metal models are already primed, shaded and dry-brushed, so following a little 'minor' repair work following their lengthy stay in storage, should soon be ready for final detail work before being table-top ready.
In addition this month also sees the continuation of Dave Stone's "Paint What You Got Challenge" over on his excellent "Wargames Terrain Workshop" blog. I've been using this event to complete the ten-figure strong roster I need in order to play "Marvel Crisis Protocol" by "Atomic Mass Games", and whilst I've almost completed this goal, I still have a few more of the super-hero skirmish game's models to clear from my painting area.
Foremost of this minor backlog is my Crossbones figure, whose dark palette is slowly being given some colour by some sporadic applications of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and Gunmetal. I've also finished all the metal work on She-Hulk's large circular base, and started tidying up the Avenger's predominantly white footwear in preparation of 'picking out' all its purple straps.
Progress wise, the past four weeks certainly saw me attain a bitterly disappointing level of productivity when compared to the same period over the previous six years. However, as opposed to simply painting everything and anything that I could which was reasonably straightforward to pigment for the annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, I've instead stuck to focusing upon miniatures which should actually see some table-top action in the future.
I also haven't found myself purposely purchasing non-essential models simply so I can quickly get them finished and submitted for the event; something which has lead me down some particularly costly paths in bygone days. Instead I have slowly but surely managed to 'tick off' my checklist several of the larger scale "Marvel Crisis Protocol" models by "Atomic Mass Games", and even start working on a small-time project focusing upon the "Unmatched" miniatures made by the little known "Mondo Games".