AHPC 16: Lunar Supply lander

A quick break at home before my next trip - just enough time to complete this remote Lunar lander, to go with the Astronauts I posted last week.

Technically this is a remote (uncrewed) lander named the "KANGA-R.0.0" (love it!). It's perfect as an objective for games of LUNAR, where it will deliver key supplies (like air bottles and suit repair patches) to remote areas for the moon walkers to fight over. This is resin print and was a special release model by Black Site Studio for Adepticon 2025. 

Posted to AHPC 16 here:

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/02/from-paul-og-lunar-supply-lander-15.html

I also popped it on the BSS FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1K3HHtnkbs/

Painting Note: Gold foil is Green Stuff World's Gold Chrome Metal

Fabulous Moon from Earth orbit photo, taken from the ISS by German astronaut Alexander Gerst

A trip to the Space Coast

I've been lucky to go to Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) at Cape Canaveral a couple of times: 2008, 2014 (see here) and then again this week. Amongst all the fun theme parks around Orlando, I think of it as "Adult Disneyland" and it never disappoints.

Lets start with what I came for: ARTEMIS II. Stacked and racked and this was the day she was originally meant to launch. Always an aspirational date, it got pushed back to March (at time of writing) but fantastic to see here ready to go! Pic taken from the Gantry at Pad 39B, about 3miles/5km away (she was fuelled so we couldn't get any closer). That gravel path is the special road for the "crawler" that dragged her there

This is Crawler 2 - dedicated to ARTEMIS

The Crawler weighs in a 6 million pounds, and can drag 3 times it weight along the specifically constructed pathway at a speed of 1 to 1.5mph.  This is what the crawler looked like last week taking ARTEMIS II out to the pad (pic courtesy of National Geographic here

The two Crawlers have been in service for over 50 years!

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/exploration-ground-systems/the-crawlers/

This is the new SpaceX facility right next door at pad 39A, specifically built to support Starship launches at a rate of up to 40 per year. The structure of the 'Mechazilla' is clearly well advanced.

Pads 39A and B were made famous originally for their roles in the Apollo program. The nearby Saturn 5 display gives you a fabulous opportunity to walk under these monstrous and fantastic constructions. It is one of only 3 remaining.

The business end of the first stage - five R1 engines!

It's always amazing to stand right next to a real spacecraft and KSC has not one but two. 

Apollo 14 Command Module "Kittyhawk" was the third US crewed lunar landing mission over a 9 day period in Jan-Feb 1971. The LEM "Antares" landed in the Fra Mauro highlands while this spacecraft completed more than 30 lunar orbits before returning to Earth and landing

In Apollo 14's most famous event, Commander Alan Shepard (who was the first American in Space in FREEDOM-7) hit two golf balls with a makeshift six iron!

This module splashed own in the South Pacific and was recovered by the US Navy ship USS New Orleans

Alan Shepard's model A7-L EVA suit worn on Lunar surface moon during Apollo14

Also on up-close display is Space Shuttle Atlantis (OV-014) - the fourth and second last orbiter built - which completed 33 seperate occasions and spent a total of 307 days in space. She was the last shuttle to fly, completing mission STS-135 in July 2011.

There is just one surviving US Shuttle I haven't seen now - Endeavour, which is currently not on display

Of interest - the concept Mars Rover or Mars Rover Vehicle Navigator (MRVN)

Other fabulous artefacts on display include:

Training Lunar Rover

Jim Lovell's flight suit worn during the infamous Apollo 13 mission

The Lunar surface map collection carried by Apollo 11

I always enjoy seeing maps where humans have set foot on the moon. I hope to see this expand greatly in the next few decades, starting with ARTEMIS III

No trip to KSC is complete without going past the "VAB". The famous "Vehicle Assembly Building" is the largest single story building in the world. Built to assemble the Apollo Missions, repurposed for Shuttle, then the cancelled ARES program, and now used to stack ARTEMIS missions.

The Rocket Park - another great meander through but I'd done that recently in Huntsville (and WITH a rocket scientist!) so I didn't spend too much time there


And having seen ARTEMIS on the launch pad, we felt compelled to stop at the local brewery at Titusville "Playlinda" and enjoy a couple of their Artemis II IPAs to close out a great day :-)

 "I'll be back!"

AHPC 16: NASA Crew for LUNAR

After literally years of obsessing about this project in multiple scale, Black Site Studios release of plastic Astronauts and Cosmonauts had me scrambling for my credit card (visits to the Smithsonian Air & Space museum and the NASA Marshall rocket centre this year also helped!).  This year's painting challenge prompted me to finally get them onto the painting bench

Here are my first five NASA crew, mostly with a range of improvised and much deadlier (but temperamental in lunar conditions) equipment, battling with their Soviet counterparts!

AI background generated on ChatGPT

These boys with the "Right Stuff" are ready to defend their Apollo site and scientific equipments in the face of Communist aggression!

These are 32mm plastic figures by Black Site Studio, which I reviewed late last year:  

https://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2025/12/review-lunar-astronauts.html

I've broadly painted them as NASA Model A7L space suits (used for Apollo 11-14) and the decals add great splashes of colour. Decals by District Miniatures, including the original NASA "meatball" logo: 

https://districtminiatures.com/collections/black-site-studios-lunar-32mm

The original NASA "meatball' logo, designed in 1959

Comrade Cosmonauts of Roscosmos coming next!

"Moon Marines" artwork by Fána Smetana
Source: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/BXXxB9⁩

Submitted to AHPC16 "Toy Story" bonus round here:

https://analogue-hobbies-theme-rounds.blogspot.com/2026/02/toy-story-from-paul-og-astronauts-and.html

Dystopian Wars: Russian Fleet Reinforcements

A small Cruiser Squadron to reinforce my growing Russian Dystopian Wars fleet. After a couple of weeks away from the Hobby bench (for the best of reasons!) its was nice to get these finished to meet this week's deadline.

Disclaimer: I have used AI to generate a more contextural background.
The models themselves are unchanged and are my own work.

Like the rest of my fleet these are an Ebay rescue, and as a bonus they came with nicely magnetised turrets. I've painted them up in more grungy wartime colours to contrast with the rest of my Fleet. I used historical paint schemes again, this time from the Russo-Japanese war. I think of these ships as offensive night patrollers - going out to screen the main force against marauding torpedo boats

This looks good

But this looks better!

Submitted to AHPC 16 here:

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/01/from-paul-og-russian-cruiser.html

Black Templar Crusade Ancient

Joining my Black Templar army and toting a war banner of the Black Templars is this Crusading Ancient. He inspires his brethren to fight for their Emperor and shows the way, smiting foes with his super hot blade of smiting! 

Ineptus the Vexillifer!

A new model released last year specifically for my army, so of course I had to get one (what a sucker!). He was fun to do, though I did suffer a bout of 'analysis paralysis' on shield - with more than one chat with Reilly needed to get to there in the end!

Kept to the 4 colour "Zorn palette" to match the erst of my army

I also enjoyed hand writing all the prayer/inscriptions on both sides of the banner for extra 'drip'. I snuck a couple of decals in there to keep it interesting

Submitted to the "Empire" Bonus Round of AHPC 16 here:

https://analogue-hobbies-theme-rounds.blogspot.com/2026/01/empire-from-paulog-crusading-ancient-57.html

A little bit of OSL goes a long was and was fun to do!

The sum of my Black Templars modelling for the last 6 months now looks thus:

2 Crusading Squads, an Execrator, a Crusade Ancient and an Apothecary!

More Templars to join them!

Dystopian Wars: Russian Coalition Fleet

Happy New Year everyone! Starting my 2026 Hobby in the best way - newly painted models!

Comrade James and I have been planning a Dystopian Wars renaissance and while the new rules by War Cradle Studios are much improved, I much prefer the older Spartan games era ships in their highly detailed resin. These are quite bit smaller in scale to the newer plastic ones and don't mix well so I'm staying with resin, though they are getting harder to find.

Yes the background is AI generated but how cool is it!

A few years ago I bought a painted Prussian Fleet at CANCON Bring & Buy, and James has a few others of his own, namely Brittanic, Covenant of Antarctica and American. New chum David also has some VERY NICE Brittanic plus Italian States fleets too! Surely this would be enough?

So with this post I start another fleet: Russians! Obvious really....

These are an ebay rescue - a modest fleet for a small battle, and I'm naturally planning expansions. All painted in colours of the (real world) Russian Imperial Navy Pacific Fleet of the pre-dreadnought period.

Moskva Class Dreadnought looks like a floating citadel more than a ship! This is large enough to fit in the Admiral's voluminous drink cabinet and dining set.

Borodino class Battleship -the manufacturer proudly states that "this industrial nightmare will forever haunt the ambitions of anyone who dares cross the path of the Russian Coalition". 

3 Suvorov Cruisers - "the harsh, unbending anvil against which foes are crushed" - characteristically subtle

9 Novgorod frigates "operate in a radically different fashion to the majority of frigates around the world, boasting a curious circular hull that affords it unmatched manoeuvrability." These guys provide AA and close range support for the bigger ships.

Submitted to AHPC16 here:

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/12/from-paul-og-dystopian-wars-russian.html

Painting Notes

Undercoated in White, and washed in thinned Nuln oil (GW)

Contrast for the decks and then planks re painted with Zandri dust (GW)

Hulls worked back to the Celestra White (GW) using a makeup sponge. 

Funnel stacks are Averland Sunset washed in Reikland Fleshshade (both GW)