Pendraken Painting Competition 2026

 Around this time of the year, I am hurriedly painting up 10mm Pendraken figures to enter into their annual competition. Recently, I have in fact been painting Pendraken figures however there was no intention of entering the competition. I was really just trying to get projects to completion. After talking with Leon from Pendraken at Cold Wars 2026, I decided to enter my International Brigade into a few categories.

I will toss my hat in the ring for the 20th Century Foot, Vehicle and Army categories. I told Leon that I don't have high hopes of recapturing past glories...the competition has really stiffened and my eyes are slowly starting to lose the battle to age.

I'm currently painting up some Moroccan Regulares for the SCW...I don't think they will be ready for the competition. If they are then perhaps they get entered as well. Anyway, wish me luck!

UPDATE: I managed to paint up an entire company of Moroccans. I pushed the proverbial hobby pedal to the metal and painted up the company in the span of 4-5 days (it took about three years for me to complete the CTV!). 

Unfortunately, I think I pushed things too hard...in addition to a stiff back and tired eyes, I had a mishap during the inking phase. Usually after I finish painting, I apply a gloss varnish to the figures. This provides a protective veneer over the paint and a smooth surface so the ink doesn't "stain" the paint and just slips into recesses allowing for definition of depth. I usually let this varnish cure for about 24 hours. In this case, it was about 5-6 hours. To make matters worse, I had recently made a new batch of my magic wash. The wash is ideally 8 parts medium, 4 parts AP Strong, 4 parts AP Dark and one part AP Blue Ink. I think I made this particular batch too strong.

Whatever the cause, the end result was that the figures ended up with a dirty appearance after inking. I attempted to clean up some of this grimy look with touch up paint. At this point, I have only based up one platoon with an officer base, bomber base and an HMG support base.

And here they are, in their flawed glory. I selected sculpts in various parts of the Regulare uniform: tunics, djellabas, turbans, tarbouches, etc. Perhaps I made them a bit too rag-tag. 

I entered these little buggers in the "20th Century Foot" category. The competition this year is pretty stiff (almost as stiff as my aching back). I don't expect to place but we will see....

And the results are in ..

Well the Pendraken painting competition results are in and, while I didn't have the success I was hoping for, I did manage to win the Sci-Fi/Fantasy category with my  Sardaukar from the movie Dune. 

It's funny how things occur, the Sardaukar were probably the fellas I put the least amount of effort into. I used a black SpeedPaint from Army Painter and then added green visors and some small details. 

The figures I placed the most effort into were my 10mm Sassanid Persians although I didn't necessarily think they came out the best. I was most proud of my Korean War Chinese, I really liked the end result and the snow effects. I also had some sentimental attachment to them because I purchased them directly from Leon over at the 2024 Claymore convention and had told them I would paint them up for the competition. 

There were some incredibly painted entries in the various categories and I am fortunate to have had some success. I appreciate those that voted for my entries so a thank you to all of the people who voted and participated. 

I have always enjoyed the competition, it's motivated me to paint some things that have languished in the queue. However it the 2025 competition may have been my last, at least it will be the last time I specifically paint for the competition. As I get older my eyes aren't quite what they used to be and I suspect that my painting quality will begin to noticeably suffer (if it hasn't already). I have also learned that photographing your minis is almost as important as painting them and I have accepted the fact that I'm not a very good at taking photographs.

I may enter something from time to time but I won't pre-plan projects specifically for the competition. I have been left with a large collection of partially painted projects that way and now it's time to start focusing my painting towards completing projects. However, I think I will use the prize gift certificate to purchase some 10mm Irish and English for the Nine Years War. Maybe a small new project...and who knows, maybe I will enter them into the 2026 Pendraken competition. 

Pendraken 2025 Painting Competition

It's that time of the year...approaching every February, I pause my various hobby projects and dedicate some resources and time to entering the Pendraken Painting Competition. I've had some decent but mixed success with the competition. Some entries won that I didn't expect while others I felt were better didn't. Regardless, it's fun and I enjoy seeing all of the other entries as many of these provide inspiration for future and current projects. 

Vehicle Category:

This is an Egyptian Su-100M from the Battle of the Chinese Farm that occurred October 15 to October 17, 1973. I made some modifications to make it the proper variant: extra fuel tanks, an additional storage compartment on the front right. I also opened up the one hatch and added a crew member. These conversions were either Pendraken bits, green stuff and plasticard. The inspiration for this was a scale model conversion that I saw on the internet. 

Fantasy/Sci-Fi Category:

Here we have the aforementioned Sardaukar on Planet Arrakis from the novel and movies Dune. I realize these fellas are a bit plain with the black uniforms. I added the three gold stripes to the right shoulder pads and tried to accentuate the neon face screens. The basing is plain because I wanted to stay true to the sands of Arrakis. 

Foot - 20th Century Category: 

For the 20th Century Foot category, I am entering this Chinese Infantry Platoon, 1950 Korea. They are based for FiveCore Company Command. Comprising of three infantry sections, there are also assault and leadership attachments that provide an additional order and a bonus in assaults. Additionally, they have some extra firepower with a Russian Maxim machine gun. 

I purchased these figures from Leon over at Pendraken during the 2024 Claymore Convention. At the time, I told Leon I would make these winter-themed with snow bases so I guess I made good on my promise.  

I will put the whole company with various attachments and support weapons into the Open Category - Army category for the competition. 

Open- Army Category:

For the Army category, I chose my Chinese PVA infantry company based for Company Command. 3 overstrength platoons with company heavy weapons, attachments and even a Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go tank in PVA livery. I was pleased with how easy they were to paint up and how the basing and snow effects came out. I really look forward to painting up the Americans as well as some winter scenery and finally getting them on the tabletop for some gaming.. 

Open - Single Base Category:

This base depicts a standard bearer and commissar for the Chinese Peoples Volunteer Army's 38th Army (which was really more like a corps). I found an image of the actual flag online and modified my own image. When I saw the flag, I thought it looked so cool that I had to recreate it. For wargaming purposes, it is just like a commissar in Company Commander (or is it Company Command?). The figures are from Pendraken's WW2 Soviets in winter kit.

Foot - Pre-20th Century Category:

I went with Sassanid Persian levy spearmen for this entry. Originally it was going to be Pathans based for TMWWBK but I called an audible at the last minute. I purchased these figures with the assistance of winnings from a previous painting competition and the plan was to base them up for Dux Bellorum (and using my new bases that I plan to redo my existing DB armies). Unfortunately I couldn't find my bag of dice frames so I based without them. When I find those frames, I will add them to that empty area in the back right corner. I wanted the Sassanids in muted, soft colors. That choice probably doesn't make them "pop" to the eye but I am fine with that.

Mounted Category:

Similar to the pre-2oth Century foot, it was going to be Pathan cavalry based for TMWWBK for the mounted category. I went with Sassanid Persian light horse instead. Muted pinks, creams and whites for the color palette and a green and yellow shield. This code could have really benefited from an additional sculpt to add variety.

And that's it, there are my entries for the 2025 Pendraken Painting Competition. I enjoyed the diversion of painting these however I didn't enjoy photographing them. It is a skillset that I am very ignorant to despite much research and practice! Definitely looking forward to resuming some of my long-neglected projects and ultimately starting some new ones.

Frozen Chosin...

Or is that the Frozen Chosen? Any matter, when I went attended the Claymore wargaming convention in Edinburgh, I had the pleasure of chatting with Leon from Pendraken. I had placed a small order for pickup in advance but as I was standing there, I had pounds in my pocket that needed to be spent and lots of tempting miniatures on display. 

I opted to buy Korean War Americans and Chinese army packs in winter kit. It was completely impulse, I had never really considered collecting, painting or gaming the conflict (not entirely true, I think I purchased a pack of 15mm Chinese a few decades ago and maybe painted a couple and then sold them off, but I digress...). I told Leon I would paint some up for the competition with snowy scenic basing. 

Being a man of my word, I embarked on this project. I would initially paint up a platoon of Chinese with some support weapons. The army pack included infantry, officers, radios (alot of radios in fact) and 3 mortars with crews. I placed a small order for some additional support weapons and figures for both the Americans and Chinese. Hopefully that arrives in time for me to get them painted up as well. 

Here are my completed Chinese thus far. The uniforms were painted with a watered down, 50/50 mix of VMC 70.914 Green Ochre and VMC 70.821 German Camo Beige WW2. Green bits were Vallejo Game 72.145 Heavy Grey (which is actually green). 

Basing was accomplished with Golden fiber paste to create texture which was painted with Americana Dark Chocolate craft paint, given a wash of AP Strong Tone then drybrushed with CMC 70.843 Cork Brown. Brownish yellow static grass was applied and then GW Valhallan Blizzard (a very effective product). The reason why I am being descriptive with the paints and techniques is because I will invariably forget how I accomplished the look so I can use this as a reference later on. 

Here is a close up of an infantry base (representing a section) and the platoon command stand which includes an officer in an overcoat. 

Overall I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. I photographed them on a frozen tundra gaming mat that I purchased on sale from Cigar Box. I imagine I will paint up some snow covered hills and outcrops for additional scenery. I will have to do some research on the battles to get some good inspiration for scenarios. 

Sardaukar!

I managed to paint up the Pendraken figures that are my proxies for the Dune (1984) inspired Sardaukar Terror Troops. 

Here's the front view to see the green facial screens on both the figures and the movie.

A side view, I decided to give them a small bit of color so I painted three yellow gold striped on their right shoulder pad in homage to the Padishah crest of a lion and the stripes on the white armor of the Sardaukar in 2021/24 version of the classic. 

Being all black-clad in a desert environment, there is only so much you can do with the painting. I might do some additional drybrushing of the base to lighten it up. I used Army Painter Speedpaint black and Fanatic paint for the green screen. Basing was GW's Armageddon Dust (which I was underwhelmed with if I'm being honest). 

I plan to enter these fellas in the Pendraken painting competition's fantasy/sci-fi category because it's not often that I find myself painting 10mm sci-fi. 

Saudakar idea...

February is approaching faster than I realize and one of the things that happens in February is the Pendraken painting competition. I typically throw my hat in the ring but only the historical categories...with Pendraken's recently released sci-fi range, I saw a pack of miniatures that sparked an idea. 

These little fellas (FWC-COL2 Human Collective Power Infantry) made me think of the Saudakar soldiers from the 1984 version of Dune. Ever since I first saw the movie, I was intrigued by these elite "terror troops". 

The 1984 movie depicted the Saudakar in what appeared to be black rubber uniforms with a head covering that had a clear green face shield. 

I'm thinking of painting the Pendraken sculpts up using a light primer with some type of black contrast paint that will show the depth of the sculpting and a neon green face shield to make them visually pop. The basing will be some kind of desert look that is evocative of the planet Dune. It should be a simple project but heaps of fun. 

Badger Games Painting Contest

As previously mentioned, I entered the Badger Games painting competition where attendees of Adepticon voted for the winners. Badger requested participants not to post images of their entries but since Adepticon is over, I think it should be okay to post now (even tho results haven't been announced).

Without further ado, here is my entry:

Since the Space Gobbo had a retro feel, I wanted to paint him as such. I gave him a pink boom box stereo, denim pants and bandana with red star.

The back of the boom box has some retro stickers with the anarchy and NOFX stickers. Rules didn't permit modification of the base but you could decorate it. I added some mushrooms and a few spent shell casings made from plastic rod. I liked how the red armor came out, overall I was pretty pleased with the little green fella. 

I didn't get the results I wanted in the Pendraken painting competition (completely shut out from placing) and I don't expect to place in the Badger competition but I enjoyed painting the models. 

When the Dust Settles...

As mentioned in my previous post, I have directed most of my hobby attention to the Pendraken painting competition the past few months. I was also convinced into participating in Badger Games painting competition which is to be judged by the attendees of Adepticon. The model is a Space Goblin "musician"...such an awesome sculpt from Regiment Games (see below).

I have to have him shipped to Badger by March 15 so I need to get him finished ASAP. I have to admit that I'm a bit burnt out from the Pendraken competition and it's been a while since I painted 28mm or Gobbos for that matter. At this point I'm.just hoping not to embarrass myself with my entry. 

When the dust settles from the two competitions, I will ultimately return to my 10mm Crimean War project. Before that return, I think I might indulge in a small diversion project. 

I'm a big fan of Tumbling Dice's Wings at War rulesets. Their free game is Desert Spitfires which is a quick play set to refight the air conflict during the 1948 Arab/Israeli war.  

It's a pretty interesting conflict, Israeli had volunteer and mercenary pilots flying Czech versions of Me-109s against Egyptian Spitfires. The Israelis ultimately upgraded to Spitfires (and some Mustangs) and the Egyptians added Macchi fighters to their air fleet. B-17s, T-6 Harvard's, C-47s, and plenty of other planes also saw action in the war.

I had previously tackled (and fumbled) this project years before. Figures had been purchased and priming had occurred but it languished. When I looked at my aircraft from the previous attempt, they were loose and mixed in with other projects. I decided to order some new planes for the project to start fresh. Tumbling Dice sent a small envelope with my order in record time. 

The impetus for restarting this project is that I've been reading Angels in the Sky by Robert Gandt which is an awesome account of the early days of the Israeli Air Force. It's a very readable book and I highly recommend it. 

I think it will be a nice little break from the pressures of painting for competitions and will give me something I can easily finish before resuming the grind of finishing my Crimean War project. 

Pendraken Painting Competition 2024

I haven't posted in a bit but I have been painting...I took a hiatus from my various projects to paint up some entries for the Pendraken Painting Competition. I can't believe it's been full year since I was in this same position for the 2023 competition. I still remember making the conversions to the little Italian tankette and trying to figure out how they were painted up in the Spanish Civil War. So much of my life has dramatically changed for me in 2023, it really wasn't a good year.  Here is hoping that 2024 brings more joy and less sadness. 

Anyway, I decided the competition would be a good opportunity to kickstart some new projects and resurrect a few dormant ones.

First up is an M24 Chaffee in French service during the Indo-Chinese war, this is "11". I added some homemade storage and a radio wire. The Chaffee (or Bison as the French called them in the war) is a small little bugger but they were thought of quite highly by the French as they offered good firepower, protection and low ground pressure. 

I didn't really do anything spectacular with the basing as these are, first and foremost, gaming pieces. 

Next up is a Viet Minh platoon with attachments. These guys are based for Five Core Company Commander. Each big base is a section of infantry, supported by some support weapons and attachments: a sniper, commander, bazooka team and heavy machine gun. I painted them in a mix of khaki, yellow green and grey green to capture the polygot nature of the uniforms.

The sniper is actually a Japanese sculpt but since the Viet Minh didn't have a sniper in their range and they used a lot of old Japanese kit, I figured it would be quite suitable. 

Next up we visit the late 17th century, specifically 1685 and the battle of Sedgemoor. I painted up Kirke's Lambs, the Queen Dowagers Regiment of Foot. I have painted this notorious unit before in 15mm. If you follow my blog, you may remember I painted up some of the rebels for the 2022 Pendraken competition, after that I let the project languish for nearly 2 years before I tackled these fellas. 

I also painted up Oxford's Regiment of Horse in their blue uniforms and blackened armor. What's interesting about these guys is that I first began painting this unit in 10mm in 2016 or so. They were less than half painted and languishing in a bin for about 7 years so dusted them off (literally) and repainted them I in their entirety. 

From 1685, we go back to the future to 1866 with the wacky invasion of Canada by Irish American veterans (Fenians) of the Civil War. First up, we have some Canadian militia. The mounted arm of the Canadian force is the Governor General's Bodyguard in their dark blue uniforms trimmed in white. The GGBG weren't present at the Battle of Ridgeway but we're involved in some of the peripheral actions.

Most uniform descriptions I have seen indicate the cross belt should be white however I saw a black and white photo of a trooper wearing a buff leather cross belt and decided it was a an accurate way of adding a bit more color to the unit. 

Next up we have a mounted officer of the Queen's Own Rifles (QOR) as he leads his men past a fence line at the battle of Ridgeway. The fence is courtesy of Pendraken's very nice fence range and I felt bad butchering a segment for the purposes of this base. I promise to use the remaining pieces in bits of scenery. 

I painted this mounted officer to represent Captain Otter of the QOR. As such, he sports a neatly trimmed mustache and brown hair. 

Next up is a mounted officer from the 13th Hamilton militia (same sculpt as the QOR officer) looking very triumphant as he rides past a fallen Fenian invader. I painted him up as a specific officer of the 13th but I can't remember his name.at the moment. The fallen Fenian was inspired by some beautiful artwork found in the Osprey volume (which was inspired by an actual black and white photo from the period) that covers the Canadian 19th century militia. 

Here is our Canadian army commander stand which depicts General Alfred Booker and a member of the GGBG acting as escort. Booker has a map of the area clenched in his right hand. 

Booker gets some criticism for his handling of the battle because he panicked when he saw some mounted Fenian scouts and ordered his units to form square in the middle of a firefight. The ensuing chaos forced the Canadians to retire from the field. 

 

Here we have 3 companies of Fenian invaders. I painted them in uniform bits described in Peter Vronsky's book about the Fenian Invasion and gave them a conjectural Fenian flag. The Fenians wore surplus ACW kit, some of which was trimmed in green, civilian garb and green uniforms bits.

The figures were sourced from the Pendraken ACW range. I quite like the ragtag look that's tied together by bits of blue and green. 

And finally we have some Canadian infantry, red clad 13th Hamilton and green uniformed Queens Own Rifles. I should state that I had some difficulty with the uniforms of the Canadians. They used very dark blues and greens that's were hard to replicate in miniatures and still be historically accurate. Hopefully I captured their look decent enough. 

And there we have it. Actually, not quite as I still need to finish up some 1973 Yom Kippur War Egyptians. They will also be based for Five Core Company Commander rules which are my default choice for 20th century conflicts at the company level. Stay tuned for them as I race against the clock to get them finished and photographed. 

UPDATE: I managed to snap some pictures of the 1973 Yom Kippur War Egyptians. I always imagined that if I ever gamed the conflict, I would probably do it in 3mm or 6mm and would probably focus on the armor aspects. Pendraken released their 1974 ranges and I really like the sculpts so I picked some up. I didn't really know much about the Egyptian uniforms so I was surprised to see them in their "assault vests". 

I'm fairly happy with the basing. I used a fiber past with sand glued once dry. The base color was craft paint "teddy bear fur", a diluted AP soft tone wash and then some dry brushing to even everything out. The figures are based for Five Core Commander.