We're back in the new year with another Community Painting Picks article that has been long in the coming. So, it's time to check out some of the awesome work that's been going on over in the Hobby & Painting section of the forums and within the What Are You Painting Now? thread which still contains to grab peoples attention!

Ridend Knight By needlesbeckett

We kick things off with this wonderful looking Ridend Knight, the Kapolops. This strange and fascinating faction for Tor Gaming's Relics looks great when painted up and I think that needlesbeckett has done a great job on the armour and the mount itself.

I particularly like the attention to detail in blending the tail features. It's nice to see a good contrast between the two styles. I also think the work on the eye of the mount is very good and it seems incredibly realistic. A big thumbs up from me on this one and I reckon most other community members would agree!

Chaos Knight By suetoniuspaullinus

Here we have suetoniuspaullinus' continuing tireless work as he paints his way through all manner of genres and time periods. While I love the look of his World War II models this one caught my eye. I always loved the aesthetics of the Chaos Knights and it's wonderful to see one done in this style.

The thing that caught my attention here is that it looks like it's a sketch come to life. The metallics and the shading/weathering make it look like one of the black and white sketches from the old Army Books come to life.

Bonesaw By doctorether

Keeping within the realm of Fantasy we have a look at Bonesaw from Guild Ball. The stance of this model is fantastic and doctorether's work is great too. I like the way he's managed to bring out the definition in Bonesaw's muscles and also the creases in his clothing too.

The base also tends to 'make' the miniature come to life and I think that while subtle the tufts here haven't been overdone and they work to almost frame the model who is crouching low. You could almost imagine him playing out the game on a very dirty pitch which has just seen a whole lot of sun and turned into cracked and brittle earth.

Malifaux Crew By zaphf

Here we have a big dose of colour from zapf as he has painted up this wonderful array of Malifaux miniatures. The Dreamer and his Hide & Seek crew are a really good excuse to paint some crazy bright colours and go wild with your paint schemes.

I think the contrast between the 'toys' and the creepier looking additions to this crew works well and the basing of wooden floorboards is good for Malifaux and doesn't take over from the models. Lord Chompy Bits is exceptionally brilliant and I love the amount of blending and shading work that has gone into the model giving him an almost ethereal quality despite his size.

Kurganova Mecha By claudiazuminich

Last but not least from the community we have this fantastic Mecha from the Toughest Girls Of The Galaxy range. While the work on the model itself is wonderful and really plays on that oily industrial feel of this Gothic world the fact that we've got a proper background and a bit of work after the fact really adds to things.

While this isn't going to be something everyone can do I really like it when we get miniatures placed within a surrounding and bought to life like this. We mentioned about enhancing your gaming on The Weekender XLBS and this certainly does that.

Come and join the Hobby & Painting forum and share your own work with us. Maybe it will get you featured on the front page!

Which is your favourite from this host of miniatures?