24 Hour Painting Challenge - 23 hours 35 minutes in

Now for the final update, I've finished the last veteran squad with about 30 minutes to spare.

I'm now going to have something to eat, and then probably collapse into bed and not get up for a week (or at least until tomorrow lol!)

Proof pictures are below, I haven't added names to all of the bases, just the first 5 that I was trying it out on but I think I will do this to all of the models, as I think it adds a bit of character to the models. Its not just 'Random Guardsman 67' , its Rifleman Jenkins, who took out the eldar grav tank with his meltagun before it could dismount its troops onto Hill 370 in the Battle of Huang Ji, and who killed the Tau commander in the penulitimate battle of the Freema Campaign. So they will be named, just not today :)

First Squad


Second Squad


Third Squad



Thanks for reading.

24 Hour Painting Challenge - 18 hours in

One more update, and another 5 veterans completed. Its taking me longer and longer to complete each of the 5 man batches as I get progressively more tired.

Anyway, heres the proof for the latest 5 veterans, with only 5 more left to go I should have another update soon.

24 Hour Painting Challenge - 14 hours in

I'm 14 hours into the challenge now and have just about completed the last models of the second squad.

As you can see from the picture below I just need to add the camouflage stripes onto the face and thats the squad fully completed.

One more squad to go and 10 hours to complete it. Hell I might even have time for a quick nap or watching a bit of TV.

24 Hour Painting Challenge - 10 hours 30 minutes in

Another update, and another 5 veterans completed.

I'm halfway through my list of models and have 13 and a half hours remaining so I'm a little ahead of target, and have a bit of breathing room.

I'm finding doing this online to be a little harder than I think it would be if I were doing it in a room full of people as I keep getting distracted by posts on forums and blogs that are catching my eye and before I know it I've spent 15 minutes reading about someone's latest conversion/rules query etc. To be honest though, I think if I were in a room full of people I'd probably get distracted by something they said anyway :)

Here's the latest 5 models anyway...

24 Hour Painting Challenge - 6 hours 45 minutes in

OK, so the first 10 man veteran squad has since been completed. I'm giving myself a little break of about 30 minutes or so to get up and walk around and actually do something besides stare at little models.

I've cracked open a couple of redbulls so far as I am starting to get a little tired and at the same time a little restless and its impacting upon my concentration. I'll probably head to the local 24 hour garage soon, as i hope the cold air and/or junk food will perk me up.

I've messed around a bit putting names on the bases of some of the squad and a rank marking for the sergeant, so as to differenciate him from the rank and file as he is carrying a rifle instead of the laspistol and CCW he is supposed to have.

24 Hour Painting Challenge - 3 hours in

Just a quick update. After 3 hours, I've completed all the bases and conversions I need and have started on the painting. I'm doing the models in batches of 5 as that seems to be a reasonable number to do, allowing time for the paint to dry, but without getting bored of painting the same parts over an over again on the models.

I have (almost) completed the first five models, they just need the metal of the guns done, a wash with badab black and shading for the facial features before I add the camo paint. Should have them finished in about another 30 minutes, plus drying time for the washes.


Here's the picture, so far...

24 Hour Painting Challenge - 1 hour, 15 minutes in

First thing I've done is to complete the bases that I'll be placing the models on as I will need to wait a while for the glue to dry.

This is where I have cheated the most, the secret is in the picture you see below...

Yep, its a mixture of coarse sand, fine black sand, a couple of different colours of static grass and a small amount of medium ballast I had lying around. All dumped into a spare tub I had lying around and mixed together nicely.


With this mixture all I need to do is to spread a small amount of PVA glue across the top of the base, dip it in the mixture, shake off the excess and then put aside to dry. Lo and behold 10 bases in about 5 minutes...



I have all 30 bases done as well as having completed the conversions for the meltaguns that I'll need, lasguns are the next thing on my list...

24 Hour Painting Challenge - Start

I was planning on attending the Arkham Iron Painter event this weekend, unfortunately I can't attend due to work commitments. Instead of dropping out completely I've decided to do the challenge from the comfort of my own home.

In this case I've decided to paint three squads of melta armed veterans as a minimum target. I have 10 of these built as of now with the parts for the other 20 infront of me.

As you'll see from some of the pictures of the unpainted models (if and when I take them) I've recently stripped them from their original colour scheme. They were the first fully painted army I completed and I managed to do them in about 2-3 months. I was terribly impressed with them originally but 2 years later and I couldn't stand the sight of them when I now know I can do so much better.

Anyway, its 4.58, so I'm going to leave it another 2 minutes and start at 5.00 exactly, and I'll update about every other hour or so (but I make no promises lol!) or probably a better way would be to do an update as I finish each batch of 5 models, building, painting etc, rather than doing my updates in an arbitrary fashion.

Of course whichever plan I choose I probably won't stick to it anyway!