TFL Painting Challenge: Pre-Xmas Round Up

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A quick round up of the latest entries into the challenge just before we get the usual end-of-year, pre-Christmas rush.

First up we have Carole, with a selection of rather lovely figures from Bad Squiddo: Vampire Hunters and, perhaps, the fate that awaits them!

Mr Burt has been busy producing more medieval types. There are some French knights for Agincourt; and some Burgundian handgunners, so sort of French!

Andrew Helliwell sends in his usual substantive entry: huge numbers of 28mm foor for the Wars of the Roses, and more American War of Independence types in 15mm - separated in the gallery below so they don’t fight each other whilst you’re trying to admire them!

Stumpy has submitted a mixture of painted and re-based figures…remember: you get half points for any re-basing you do. I’ve only shown a couple below, so make sure you check out his gallery for more.

Next a couple of names we haven’t seen for a bit of time. First up is Mervyn, with a a couple of nice-looking entries featuring Vikings (you can never have too many Vikings!) and some figures for a French game called Forager.

And last, but by no means least, is Ralph and some great-looking 15mm Greek cavalry,

Last few weeks of this year’s Challenge now upon us, so let’s get those last bits of painting for 2025 done…and then it’s on to 2026!

TFL Painting Challenge: Mid-November Update

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Frost on the car this morning for the first time this winter, decorations and Christmas songs everywhere: must be almost the end of the year and the climax of the 2025 TFL Painting Challenge!

Lots of entries in this batch. First up we have Carole, and a lovely set of general Dungeons and Dragons types from Bad Squiddo:

Next we have Andrew and some more medievals: this time a mixture of 28’s and 15’s, all mostly from Mirliton:

The painting fairy has visited Stumpy, so lots of re-based figures from him. You still get half points for re-basing, so always worth sending them in:

Nick has been very busy: a huge entry of some very nice 28mm fantasy figures and a couple of outriders in a larger scale.

Dex has also been hard at it, sending in an ersatz German late WW2 Volksturm platoon for Chain of Command 2:

And last, but by no means least, here’s some of Mr Luther’s 6mm orchards along with Steve’s French knights from Agincourt:

Still plenty of time to get your entries for this year in: the Challenge doesn’t close until midnight on 31st December.

Keep them coming!

TFL Painting Challenge: End October Update

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Gosh, is it that time of year already? Soon be Christmas and another excuse to buy lots and lots of new little soldiers. And don’t forget the Black Friday sales argument either: I had to have it, it was such a bargain!

Once you have bought all the shinies, it’s time to paint them, and that’s where the Challenge comes in: more motivational than a goose giving a TED Talk in full business casual (thank ChatGPT for that one).

Here are this week’s entries: first up is Carole with some very nice 28mm figures from Bad Squiddo.

Next we have Mr Helliwell with his usual cornucopia. This time it’s a mix between the Napoleonic and the Medieval, with some lovely terrain builds as well. Below is only a fraction of what Andrew has sent in: a visit to his gallery (accessed via the NavBar at the top of the page) is highly recommended.

Mr Luther has some more tiny aeroplanes to add to his collection, and a vast amount of trees and bramble.

Steve Burt is still adding to his Agincourt collection. Here are some axemen and swordsmen.

Finally, here’s Stumpy, who’s been busy re-basing after a visit from the Painting Fairy:

Inspired by all the above, I’m off to put some paint on some Haiduks: keep them coming!

TFL Painting Challenge: Early October Update

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Three weeks since the last Painting Challenge update, and plenty enough entries to justify another.

First up we have Dex, who adds to his collection of 15mm WW2 Japanese troops. I’m loving the coastal defence gun, might have to invest in some of them myself!

Next up we have Carole, with three technically 28mm figures. I say ‘technically’ as they are all of the giant/ogre types so well over 28mm tall. Mind you, with scale creep being what it is, in a few years time, these will probably be seen as “small 28’s”!

Time for Mr Helliwell’s regular monthly entry. Andrew has been chipping away at the base lof his lead mountain, so an eclectic mix of odds and ends plus a unit of 1/72 figures: you don’t see many of them these days.

Mervyn is back to the Napoleonics: more 15mm figures, this time British and Dutch.

And finally we’ll finish on an unlikely pairing: Greek slingers from Stumpy and Agincourt French spearmen from Mr Burt.

A very varied mix of figures taken from all parts of the broad church that we call wargaming!

Keep them coming!

TFL Painting Challenge: Mid-September Update

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It’s been a couple of weeks since the last update, so plenty of entries have poured in.

First up is Dex, with some figures that I really like: SMASH aliens (i.e. from the 1970s TV commercials) and supporting vehicles.

These are apparently from a Kickstarter that has now finished: one that I wish I’d seen as I think I would have invested as well.

Next up, we have Coop and his regular monthly entry. Coop is always a month behind, so here are some of his August figures:

Mr Helliwell also sent in his usual monthly entry: more Medievals and more American Wat of Independence, both is more than one scale.

Stumpy has been re-basing like crazy: all Napoelonics, mostly for the war in Spain.

Carole’s painting mojo is back after its summer holiday, and as a result we have some a command stand, an Otyugh, and some entrenchments.

Finally let’s pop a couple of singletons together. On the left we have Mervyn with some little boats - a departure from his usual fare; and on the right is Steve with what he laughingly calls his ‘final’ batch of Agincourt Knights…as nothing, where collecting our little soldiers is concerned, is ever final!

Some lovely work all round there. Keep them coming!

TFL Painting Challenge: Quick End August Update

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Exactly what it says on the tin: a quick end of August update to the Painting Challenge.

First up is Mr Burt with the last of his Traitor’s Toll figures and a return to his Agincourt Knights.

Next we have Mervyn with a couple of Darkest Africa entries: British Naval types and Askaris.

Also sending in a brace of entries is Stumpy, with some casualty markers for Sharp Practice and some British Light Dragoons.

Finally we have Mr Helliwell with his usual cornucopia of entries. This time it’s mostly medieval with just a hint of the AWI.

Loving the shields on the last two!

That’s it for this time: just a quick one as I said.

Keep them coming!

Weave of War: the End of Painting Tartan

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Ask any miniature painter what the most difficult thing to paint is and “tartan” will always appear near the top of the list. I’ve certainly struggled with getting kilts ands cloaks to look good whether I’m painting 19th Century Highland infantry, Highlanders to support my 17th Century Covenantors, or just looking to add a bit of variety to Celtic types.

A new company, Weave of War, now has the solution: they sell little 28mm “Campaign Cloaks” that simply wrap around your miniatures.

This is an absolutely brilliant idea that has me reaching for the lists to plan a new army of some kind of Highland infantry just so I can use them!

There are currently eight varieties of tartan with, according to the website, more planned. A pack contains eight cloaks and there’s currently a launch offer giving you two packs for £11.

Here are the eight varieties:

And there’s even a YouTube video that shows you the best way to fit the cloaks

What a good idea…now all I have to do is persuade them to produce them in 15mm!

Painting Challenge: Early August Update

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It’s beena couple of weeks since the last Painting Challenge update, so let’s have a quick run through the latest submissions…

First up is Nick with his usual collection of fantasy figures. I particularly like the six thieves, bottom left.

Dex has also been busy, this time with a German WW2 Volksgrenadier platoon with a section of Jugend in support.

Dex also sent in some rather neat sci-fi figures as well: check out his gallery (accessible via the top NavBar) to see them.

Let’s get the third large submission out of the way as well now: Mr Helliwell with a rather lovely set of American War of Independence figures (well, it was July when they were actually painted) mainly from Peter Pig’s excllent range.

Stumpy is up next, with a few odds and ends sorted. Here are his Roman cavalry and a few British WW2 Home Guard.

And last, but by no means least, is Mervyn with some trolls of the non-Internet variety:

Keep them coming! I’m off to finish my Berber horsemen…

TFL Painting Challenge: Late July Update

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Here’s the latest batch of entries for this year’s Painting Challenge.

First up, Dex has had a very productive few days producing both a Hungarian platoon and a Japanese Special Naval landing Force in 15mm:

There are more figures in his gallery, accessible from the top NavBar, and I’d always recommend looking at people’s full galelries rather than the selection I post here on the updates.

Next up, Mark Luther who has replaced all his telephone poles (66 of them) and found time to add a few more aircraft to his collection as well:

Melvin has been busy too: working towards finishing a Norse and a Congo project. I’m not quite sure what he means by this word “finished” but it’s probably an excuse to buy more figures!

Along the same lines, Mr Burt uses the words “final batch” in his e-mail to me. Well, I know what a “batch” is, but I think we all know that the word “final” is, shall we say, flexible in wargaming collection terms…

And last, but by no means least, here is Mr Helliwell with his usual mass entry. Lots of Napoleonics and Medievals for us to enjoy.

Keep them coming!

TFL Painting Challenge: Early July Update

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A quick interuption of the flow of AARs from the To The Smallest competition to update the Painting Challenge.

First up, we have a new entrant, Dex, who has sent in some very nice WW2 miniatures, including a Phillipino force. Welcome, and we’re all looking forward to seeing more of your work:

It wiuldn’t be a Painting Challenge update without an entry from Mr Helliwell, so here’s a selection of the usual vast amount of figures that he’s sent in:

A bit late, so added after this post first went live, is Sapper, with some very nice 28mm figures from across the ages:

Steve Burt and Stumpy get to share a spot with their entries this time around: more Traitors Gate from Steve and some Italian Napoleonics from Stumpy.

And finally here’s some re-basing (always a horrible task) from Mervyn for the Congo game from Tomahawk Studios:

So just a quick update this time, with the last two AARs from To The Smallest following shortly!

TFL Painting Challenge: Second June Update

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Plenty of big entries into the Challenge since the last post, and a quiet Sunday morning before gaming this afternoon has given me time to log them all in…

First up is Carole, with a vast number of Peter Pig WW2 figures as she prepares to play Chain of Command 2: Germans, Soviets and British.

Next we have Nick’s usual month-late entry ;) . Here we have a selection of fantasy figures from large (a giant) to small (some dwarves) and all sizes in between!

It wouldn’t be a Painting Challenge update without Mr Helliwell’s contribution. Here we have some 15mm Napoleonics and his usual selection of 28mm medieval figures…and there’s a sneaky fantasy figure sneaked in their too!

Mr Burt has been producing figures for Traitor’s Gate at a rapid rate of knots. Here are two more groups of civilians and some geese…

And to finish a couple of singleton’s: Mervyn’s 28mm Napoleonic Portuguese and some more of Ralph’s 15mm Greeks.

Some lovely looking and highly inspiring figures posted there. In fact, I’m off to the painting table myself now. After all, those Berber Spearmen won’t paint themselves…

Painting Challenge: End of May update

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It’s a ovely sunny morning and all are asleep except me…which gives me time to do a bit of basing (they are drying) and to update the Painting Challenge.

First up is Carole, with a whole grimmace of ogres:

Next we have, as always, Mr Helliwell, with some more 28mm medievals: the result of a large Bring & Buy purchase!

Next we have four singleton picture entries, with the caption telling all…

So a short but sweet Challenge update this time. Keep them coming!

TFL Painting Challenge: Mid-May Update

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Loads of entries coming in this year: we all seem to have got out painting mojo back!

I recommend visiting everyone’s individual galleries (the NavBar, above, has all the links) but here are some highlights of this entry’s batch.

First up is Mr Cooper, with his usual eclectic collection of 28mm fantasy figures:

Steve Burt is also living in a fantasy world, with his civilians for Traitor’s Gate:

Back to reality now with Andrew Helliwell’s entry. I haven’t shown the hills, but here are two 15mm Napoleonic battalions and a rebased unit of Seven Years War cavalry:

Mr Luther, king of the micro-tanks, has another large entry: an assortment of WW2 eastern front vehicles. I haven’t shown them all here, and you can see them all in action in his many battle reports in the IABSM AAR section of this website.

And to finish, here are some individual entries:

Let’s keep those entries coming in, folks!

TFL Painting Challenge: End April Update

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I know it’s May 1st, but I haven’t had time to update the Challenge until now: loads of excellent entries coming in!

Let’s do these strictly in the order in which I received them. First up, therefore, is Carole with some Bloody Miniatures ECW command types and a double-brace of Soviet tanks:

Next is Mr Plowman, who continues his 15mm Ancients adventure:

I do like a nice scythed chariot!

We couldn’t have an update without a large entry form Mr Helliwell. Here I’ve included only a few of his submissions: please do visit his gallery via the NavBar, above, to see them all.

Mr Luther is most definitely back with a vengeance. Building on the veritable forest of small trees he sent in last time are some tanks and graveyard pieces. Also more in his gallery.

Up next is Steve Burt with some lovely medieval guard types and, pictured below, a even lovelier marketplace. I like this a lot!

Stumpy has been re-basing like crazy: here are some very large orcs and some normal-sized Royal Marine light infantry for the Sudan:

Mervyn has gone ape, literally!

But enough of this monkeying around, let’s reach a grand finale for today with Sapper showcasing more Vikings and more Napoleonic French:

Well that was a big one!

I’ll update the Scorecard when I get the chance, but do take advantage of the bank holiday to do lots more painting!

Keep ‘em coming!

TFL Painting Challenge: Mid-April Update

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This year’s Challenge is really getting into its stride now, with loads of entries coming in over the last couple of weeks.

First up, we have Stumpy’s latest additions to his collection, Hera’s force for Mortal Gods, some of which are shown below. See the rest in his full gallery, accessible via the NavBar, above.

Nick Cooper also sent in a big entry this month, although it’s more of a late March entry than one for April. Here’s some of what he sent in:

I’m loving the Ents!

We have a first entry of the year this month from Mr Luther: an absolutely heroic job producing over 1,000 6mm trees. As he says: I picked up some crappy little Xmas trees on clearance at a craft chain after Christmas 2 years ago. 92 packs with 11 mini trees each (yes 11 in a pack)  for a total of 1012 trees. So I cut the bases off, drilled a bazillion holes in mdf bases, painted the trees a more natural pine green, glued them to the painted bases, then sprayed them white, then flocked them with Woodland Scenics snow,  then gave them a clear coat. Enough snow covered pines for a impressive forest.

It’s funny what we choose to spend out time doing, but they do look good!

Next up we have Carole, with her eight wizards painted to represent the eight Warhammer
Fantasy Empire's Colleges of Magic:

Mr Helliwell sent in his batch of new figures, only some of which are shown below. Where does he get the time?

Mr Plowman has spent his time renovating some of the very first wargames figures he ever painted: 15mm Hoplites. Here they are, along with some lights to cover their flanks!

Sapper has also been busy: three battalions of French Napoleonics ready to march back from Moscow, plus some Viking casualty markers (not shown, but in his gallery):

And last, but by no means least, Steve Burt has some escaping POWs for 02 Hundred Hours:

That is a lot of excellent work on show this update. Keep em coming!

TFL Painting Challenge: Last March Update

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A third update for March: we have all been busy!

First up is Sapper, with a whole column of 28mm French infantry retreating from Moscow and a horde of mounted Vikings:

Another mass entry from Carole: twenty Scots for the ‘English’ Civil War, all from Bloody Miniatures:

Mr Helliwell has also been very busy, with a cornucopia of entries mostly for his 15mm napoleonic collection:

Next up, a couple of singleton entries: Steve Burt’s French Knights for Agincourt; Stumpy’s Fallschirmjaeger in 28mm; and Ralph Plowman’s first entry of the year, some 15mm Greek psiloi:

And finally there’s Sapper, who has been busy down in the jungle:

An excellent final entry for March from everyone. Now lets keep them coming for April onwards!

TFL Painting Challenge

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Half way through the month, and a good time to have a very quick Challenge update.

Let’s start with Mr Helliwell, who has been painting and re-basing at his usual rapid pace. There’s a whole circumference of walls (three metres worth) and plenty of Napoleonic figures too.

Next up is Steve Burt with some Agincourt figures: knights and commanders…

Stumpy has been busy working, but still found a bit of time for some re-basing. Egyptians from the Sudan:

And last, but by no means least, we have John Emmett with some nice Silver Bayonet kit. I’m liking the “clue markers”!

Much more to see in the individual galleries, accessed through the NavBar, above.

Keep ‘em coming!

TFL Painting Challenge: First March Update

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A nice early March update for you all: gives me the chance to do another one in a couple of weeks.

Today we’ll start with Carole, who has been painting some Bloody Miniatures ECW figures:

Next up is Sapper, who has submitted a mix of figures and scales. Here are his 28mm Vikings and 15mm Byzantines:

Talking of Vikings, here’s some more…this time from Mervyn:

Here’s Mr Burt with some more English archers. These were added late, as Steve has an uncanny knack of sending his entries in just as I press “Post” on an update!

And last but by no measn least, Mr Helliwell has been his usual busy self. Today’s entry included a load of 3D buildings from BattleHonours and the start of an immense re-basing project:

That’s all for now, more on the way. Keep those entries coming in!

Painting Challenge: Early February Update

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Time for our first update in February, and a bumper crop it is too.

First up is Carole, with a selection of 28mm fantasy pieces:

Then we have Mr Burt first two entries of the year. A new project: Agincourt.

Mr Cooper has also sent in his first batch of minis for 2025: his usual mixture of fantasy figures, some of which are shown below.

Now I know you’re all thinking that Mr Helliwell hasn’t had time to paint any more figures…but he has! Another big batch of medievals, Napoleonics and more:

Sapper joins Messrs Cooper and Burt on the “first entry of the year podium”: Napoleonics and Vikings.

And finally here are some more Vikings, this time ;painted by Mervyn. Never dispose of those extra sprues: you’re bound to need them one day!

That’s all for now, but keep them coming!

PS new entrants to the Challenge still very welcome…

TFL Painting Challenge: Second January Update

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And some returning entrants as well.

First up today we have Carole, who has participated in every single year of the Challenge so far, one of only seven people to do so. Her submission consists of pikemen, musketeers and a very creepy graveyard!

John Emmett also sends in his first entries of the year. It’s John’s seventh year of the Challenge, and his submission includes a mixture of WW2 Germans and various Napoleonic character pieces including Sergeant Hakeswill: boo, hiss!

The prolific Mr Helliwell sends in his second submission for the year: mostly Napoleonics this time. Andrew has only missed one year of the Challenge so far, and recorded 5,000 points in both the last two years: an impressive achievement. 6,000 this year perhaps?

Finally this update, we have Mervyn Douglas, one of the other people to have never missed a Challenge. His submission is some more figures for his American War of Independence collection.

So that’s it for this update: let’s get those brushes working as, unfortunately, the lead mountain won’t paint itself, no matter how hard we pray it might!