What is the TFL Painting Challenge
The TFLPC is something that allows participants to collectively track what they have painted in 2024.
They can see what they have achieved, compare it to what other people have managed, including professional figure painters, and generally spur themselves on in a light-hearted way to increase their painting/modelling output during 2024. Those that took part in the previous four years' challenges can also try and beat their previous scores.
The TFLPC is not intended as a competition between participants, but rather as an encouragement to self-improvement. The non-competitive nature of the exercise is also why it hasn’t been labelled a competition or challenge.
The system that follows has been cobbled together to provide a straightforward means of allowing the campaign to develop. It doesn’t cover all eventualities. It's deliberately vague and full of broad sweeping generalisations. If you want to join in but have something that doesn’t fit the classifications, flag it with the co-ordinator and/or the TFL group and we’ll work it out.
All participants will note that the campaign relies on the honour system. It’s not designed to withstand corruption by gaming the scoring. It is assumed that all targets stated and achievements recorded are as presented.
Next year, 2021, people will be able to compare what they've achieved year-on-year.
Joining The Campaign
Just e-mail the co-ordinator at vislardica@gmail.com with your name. You'll then be added to the list of participants. Simple!
Submitting Achievements
Every time you complete a "unit" (i.e. a finite entity be it a platoon or battalion or squad of infantry, a single ship, whatever) just e-mail the co-ordinator at vislardica@gmail.com with your achievement.
Keep it simple: "Hi Rob, I've just painted a platoon of Panzergrenadiers for my 15mm late war German army. Including the Big Man, that's twenty-five 15mm figures to add to my list. I've attached a photo or two. Cheers. A Lardy"
The co-ordinator will then add your unit and any photos to the list of your achievements, your points to the overall scorecard, and hopefully flag your submission in News.
Please try and clearly identify units and their photographs, and add up the points yourself if you like: anything to make the co-ordinator's life easier please. You won’t believe how difficult it is sometimes to count the number of figures on a large element base!
Categories
There are five scales:
Less than 15mm: most probably 6mm or 10mm figures, and most ships, aeroplanes etc at anything smaller than 1/100
15mm up to but not including 20mm: so really either 15mm or 18mm or anything about 1/100
20mm: intended for 20mm models
25mm up to but not including 30mm: intended for 25mm, 28mm, heroic scale 25mm, heroic scale 28mm etc
Bigger than that
There are six types of model
Foot
Mounted Troops: includes men on anything approximately horse-sized i.e. includes motorcyclists
Land Vehicles/Artillery: anything from an elephant to an armoured car to a superheavy tank to a cannon and its crew
Aeroplanes: 'planes, spaceships, that sort of thing...large walkers are in this category as well
Ships: everything from the Graf Spee to a Viking longboat
Buildings: buildings, scenery, trench systems, hills, woods etc
Use your common sense when submitting claims.
A sampan, for example, is more the size of a tank than a ship, so call it a land vehicle.
Vehicle and artillery crews are included in the points for the vehicle/gun.
Just claim the crew for most infantry support weapons (mortars, MMGs etc) as a splash of black highlighted with gun metal is hardly an achievement.
It's up to you...and, remember, this isn't a competition, you're only cheating yourself if you overclaim!