64. No More Undead are Invited to the Party

At long last, after the usual excuses, I have finished painting up all the zombies I own.  This is the second 25 of the "50 for $50" bargain I got from Victory Force way back when.  I think he still runs bargains occasionally, but I don't think you'll see the 50 for $50 again.

So without further ado, here are the zombies.

Zombies numbers 26-50, infesting my town of No-Whereville.

Zombies numbers 26-35

Zombies numbers 36-45

Zombies numbers 46-50.  Yes, my zombies have numbers instead of names.  THEY'RE DEAD, er, UNDEAD.  THEY DON'T NEED NAMES!

I used the same quick-paint technique as I did for the first 25, mainly a single color blocking in the clothing and "skin," and then a wash with black water-based furniture stain.  Full details can be found here from my original post on the subject.  This group of 25 plus the next 10 took me, I think, around 8 hours (not including filing/gluing).

I also painted ten Zombie Vixens from Wargames Factory that I got as a freebie from GenCon 2012 (a single sprue).  These, being plastic, were much more fiddly to put together, since they required actually being glued together, whereas the Victory Force zombies are singe-piece metals.  The Vixens are a bit more "animated" (pun intended) and certainly have more personality, but I'll take the metal over the plastic any day.  I'm worried that the plastic figs will break with very much use; that one Vixen in particular (far right below), the one on one foot, was a real pain to get to stay.

Zombie Vixens from Wargames Factory.

It was nice to have some variety, though.  Since all the arms and heads were separate, you can create some pretty unique figures.

I thought it semi-appropriate that the Vixens were either coming out of, or going into, the Gentlemen's Club.

The painted examples on the Wargames Factory website are painted better than mine, but since I used the exact same technique on these as I did on the Victory Force zombies I wasn't expecting anything different.

And after all, THEY'RE ZOMBIES, for cryin' out loud.  I was actually quite nauseated when I finished them all.

But now I've got 60 zombies, which should be plenty for my post-apocalyptic games.

I decided to put all sixty on the table for a group photo.  (I was going to call it a glamour shot, but that really doesn't seem appropriate.  And it's certainly not a money shot....)

"Here we come, walkin' down the street, we get the funniest looks from, everyone we meet.  Hey hey we're the zombies!"  And just whose house is that at the end of the street?

"Shuffle, two, three, four!  Limp, two, three, four!"

I also made a girlfriend for my ST:TNG Captain Picard zombie from the first batch of 25.  They can both be convention attendees, forever undead together unliving out their fantasy personalities....  He must be a special guy, for a Star Trek geek to have a pretty girlfriend.  :-)

I also had a second Hitler look-alike figure duplicated from the first batch of 25.  I didn't want to make a second Hitler, so....  Well, I'm actually a little embarrassed by this and hope it is received in the manner in which I mean it.  In my profession, the pilots for a certain Airline with the initials of AA are AFFECTIONATELY known by other pilots THROUGHOUT the industry as Sky Nazis.  So here is Captain Hilter (yes, Hilter, not Hitler), zombie pilot.  I think I should have made the shirt a little whiter, but oh well.

Last but not least, a fun photo.  Look at that guy run!  He always looks so scared.

I'd be runnin' too!

Thanks for stopping by!

58. If You Live in a Paper Building...

...don't smoke.

So.  How are you?  Long time no see.  <sigh>  Unlike many other people, my job makes me more busy during the Summer months.  My work schedule becomes absulutely crazy.  It's all I can do just to get in my gaming room, not to mention actually painting or playing games.  "Dun't bee seely."

Because of that, all I was able to accomplish over the Summer was the construction of some paper buildings.  These were easy to build and of very low time investment.  I could easily start them and walk away in the middle without worrying about not coming back for 2 weeks, with no untoward effects (like paint drying out, etc).

Every single one of these buildings was free off the Inter-Web-Tubes.  I did have to do some searching, as they are not all from one place.  You'll find links below the pictures.

My main goal was to quickly (that being a relative term) and cheaply construct a modern town for some good 'ol Zombie gaming.  It's pretty tough to do zombies with only one or two houses.  What I have here is still not really enough, but I am much, much closer than before.  I even have several more buildings unconstructed that I can add, plus a couple of these are generic enough to have two on the same table without a problem.

I used regular cardstock and an old-er ink jet printer on the normal setting.  These printed out just fine for 28mm gaming.  I've heard it's easy to scale down the printing for 15mm gaming, but so far I haven't needed to.  I've also heard some people say that you should spray coat your finished buildings to protect the ink from running if they get wet, but it seems to me it is just as easy to build a new model if that were to happen.  I've got other things to use expensive spray on, but that's just me.

Also, there are certainly more elaborate ways of building these types of models.  Some people such as the excellent Vampifan on his website build them, quite literally, to last a gaming lifetime.  His is an example of how to do it right.

I am happy with my results, and reasonably proud of the quality.  I don't expect them to last forever, so I entered into the equation with the idea that I would just print more if I have to.  One good thing that happened, that beforehand I was worried about, was that I never even used up one cartridge of ink.  All these buildings and my ink cartridge is still going strong.

And now for the pictures.  Links are at the bottom.

Here's Harold the zombie in No-Whereville.

A view of the other half of the street.

Here, Harold is in front of a warehouse, from the most excellent Germy.  The "street furniture" is from Tommygun.

Harold picking up his dry cleaning.  Zombies like clean clothes, you know.  Building by MicroTactix.

Harold, worried that the Area Control office might see him go into the Gun Shop.  Buildings by Germy.

The nice thing about Germy's stuff is that the roofs (rooves?) are removable, with interior printing.  Very cool!

Harold, desperately trying to quench his undying thirst.  More from Germy.

An interior detail picture.  The pool table and bar are 3D accessories, too.

Harold, feeling he is missing something from his former living status, checks out the strip club.  Building by Tommygun.

Harold, still trying to fill the void within him, tries Stinky's Pizza.  Building by Microtactix.  Street furniture by Germy and Tommygun.

Seeking something to occupy his time, Harold thinks about buying a TV.  Model by Microtactix.

And now for something completely different....

I admit, I was caught up in the paper-model-building craze, and decided to try some new things.  Maybe a good Star Wars-ian sci-fi building would be fun.

 

"Come on, you Ewoks!  Bring it!"  At the Comm Station, by Momir Farooq.

Comm Station rear view.  This was a much tougher model than some of the others.  Lots of fiddly bits.

Next I wanted someting sci-fi but simple.  What better than Toposolitario's IKUBEs?

They come in many shapes and colors.  Wait, strike that.  They're all the same shape, but many different colors.  And super simple to build.  They're a box!

I also decided to build some "Street Furniture," as it's known by the "In" crowd.  Vending machines, ice machines, phone booths and so on.

A variety of selections, by Germy and Tommygun, mostly.  That's Harold just for scale.

After that, I wanted to build a couple more of Momir Farooq's Star Wars items.  Here's the Hoth Tactical map, the Death Star control console, and some various Star Wars-ian crates.  Oh, and the Death Star Vending Machines.  What, don't you remember seeing them in the movies?  I'm sure they were there....

O.K., O.K., I simply forgot to put the vending machines in the previous picture....

Close up of the Hoth Tactical Map.

Close up of the Death Star control console.  Too bad I don't have a Han Solo miniature, so he should shoot at it....

Links:
Germy
http://www.germy.co.uk/ 

Tommygun
http://tommygun.sector-17.com/tommygun/main.php 
Sadly, Tommygun seems to be off-line at the moment.  He was there in the summer, but when I checked just now it says the domain has expire.  That's a shame, as there is lots of great stuff there.

Microtactix Twilight Street series
http://www.microtactix.com/

Toposolitario
http://www.toposolitario.com/
 
Momir Farooq
http://www.momirfarooq.com/ 
He's got lots and lots of really cool (and quite complicated) Star Wars models (and not only buildings).


And Harold the zombie is from Victory Force, in case you were wondering.
http://www.victoryforce.com/ 

Thanks for reading, and check back soon.  Now that Summer is over, I hope to have more things to say here.

41. The Quick and the Dead...Quickly

Following on from my last post, regarding my success with "dipping" my Arabs, I mentioned that I was going for a change of pace and would try dipping some 28mm Zombies.

Here are the final results.

"Huurrrr," shamble, shamble, shuffle, "Braaiins."

I did 25 Zombies from Victory Force miniatures in 7 hours!  For me, that's an all-time painting speed record.  Granted, all I did was a very simple one-color coat, then dipped, then drybrushed some highlights back on.  But even so, it was extremely fast; faster even than the Arabs (10 hours for 20 figures).

The preparation time was relatively minimal:  some filing was necessary but not extreme.  The most difficult part was getting the feet tab to fit into the slot on the base:  they required quite a bit of hard filing to get them narrow enough.

And as I mentioned last post, while I don't really like zombies, these are nice sculpts.  They are fairly benign insofar as the "that's disgusting" factor is concerned, and really just look like ordinary people who ended up on the wrong side of the zombie apocalypse.  There are also a couple of famous persons who have been zombified (you can see them in the pictures below).

Just click on all photos to enlarge them, assuming you can stand to look that closely at rotting walking human beings.

The following pictures show the progression of painting, starting with the flat single coat before dipping.  All I did was "stay within the lines," and even with the many different colors used it was still pretty fast.

Zombies 1 - 5.  You may have had Names in Life, but now you're just a Number....

Zombies 6 - 10

Zombies 11 - 15

Zombies 16 - 20

Zombie 21 - 25.  The lovey Ladies.

These next pictures show the final results after dipping, highlighting and finishing the bases.  One crucial difference between these dips and the Arab dips is that I used the Classic Black Minwax water-based wood stain for the dipping (and NOT the Coffee color Minwax water-based wood stain which I used on the Arabs).  (I have a more in-depth explanation of that process a couple of posts back).  I felt the black was more in keeping with urban undead than a brown would be.

Zombies 1 - 5

Zombies 6 - 10.  The Famous Zombies:  Jughead, Hitler, Jim Henson (that's a Kermit the Frog on his shirt, hand-painted), and either Elvis or Evel Knievel; and some not-famous lady to make it 5 figures).

A closer look at the three big famous-ies:  Hitler (I realized his uniform's color is probably not historically accurate, but I felt the need for artistic license:  he's a frikkin zombie, for crying out loud); Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets and Kermit the Frog; and either Elvis Presley or Evel Knievel the daredevil motorcycle stuntman).  I don't really know if Victory Force intended these guys to be who they are, but that's who they looked like to me, so that's how I painted 'em.

Zombies 11 - 15.  As I was painting this group, I realized I had unintentionally painted the second-from-left zombie as Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek:  The Next Generation.  His shirt was originally a plain maroon, but when I realized what I had done, I added the black stripes on his shoulders to match the TV uniform.  The only trouble is the figure is quite obviously wearing tennis shoes, so maybe he is a Trekkie convention-goer.

Zombies 16 - 20

Zombies 21 - 25.  The Ladies of Zombie.

The square shapes on the bases are pieces of masking tape.  I had to cover the holes on either side of the feet where the miniature's tab fit into the slotta base, and I had originally intended to use my usual technique of gluing sand on the base to cover those pieces of tape.  But after thinking about it, I didn't feel green grass was entirely appropriate for the walking dead, so I painted the bases a "sidewalk grey" and I think the random squares help add to that perception.

Now the next thing I need to do is paint some Survivors.  They will necessarily require a bit more personal attention than the hordes of shambling undead, so my dipping days are at a (temporary) end.  Except for the fact that I want to go back to my Arabs and knock out some more squads for The Sword and the Flame; my French Foreign Legion is spoiling for a fight!  I am becoming addicted to getting units painted and ready for the table.  This is not a feeling to which I am accustomed....

My next big challenge is actually getting to be home long enough to paint something at all.  My job keeps me away for long periods, but it also allows me to buy new toys so I guess it's a marginally fair trade.

Thanks for reading!

30. Zombies and Dinosaurs, Oh My!

So there I was at the dollar store, innocently buying candy for the kids' Christmas stockings, when I come upon the following:  undead Dinosaurs!  Well, dinosaur skeletons, at any rate; probably meant for display in a miniature museum.  But they're scaled perfectly for 28mm, and they were $1 a package!  I bought two packs, and they had two more packs with different dinosaurs in them that I didn't buy (mainly because an undead Duckbill dinosaur just doesn't seem all that scary, nor does an undead Pterodactyl.  Maybe it's just me....).

Here's what the packages look like:

And here's an action shot of a fearless Legionnaire finding out he's gotten more than he bargained for!

On another line of thinking, I've been slowly getting into the Zombie gaming craze.  I bought Two Hour Wargames' "All Things Zombie:  Better Dead than Zed" (otherwise known to the "in" crowd as ATZ:BDTZ) during their Black Friday sale, and I must say it's quite enjoyable.  I'm limited in my number of zombies, so I'm making-do with the 1:72 scale plastic zombie chicks from the Zombies!!! board game by Twilight Creations (they're cheap, and close enough in scale to see me through my zombie-free crisis).

One thing the rules want you to do is place a marker whenever a gun is fired, or other similarly loud noises occur, as that attracts zombies.  I didn't have what I felt were appropriate markers; little pieces of cardboard just didn't do it for me, and dice take up too much room, plus I get them confused with the dice I'm actually using.  So I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up a package of ruby red acrylic gems, normally used for decorating and "blinging" little girls' purses and such.  It was $3.47, but I just happened to get it this week for 50% off.  What luck!

So here's what they look like in action (I should mention that these are not 1:72 scale plastic zombies from Twilight Creations; they are, in fact, Dungeons & Dragons zombie miniatures).  Our fearless heroine blasts away at a hapless zombie shambling toward her.

Uh oh, she missed, and what's worse, she's brought more zombies to the feeding trough that is going to be her!  Zoinks!  Better run, honey!

I also bought some grey felt at the fabric store, and made myself some roads.  Ya gotta have roads in modern zombie gaming, y'know.  I simply cut 8" wide strips, in straights and curves, and then took a white china marker and drew some simple white stripes down the center.  Here's a pic of one road section (I might put up more pictures soon of them all, but I'm not completely finished making the various shapes yet).

They don't look nearly as good as the felt roads from Hotz ArtWorks, but it cost me $5 for 36" by 72" and all I have to do is cut them out.  I can live with myself until the day I can afford the good stuff.

Merry Christmas!