Ach more Zombies

I'd like to say I painted these up today but its more I painted these up some weeks ago and only just got around to photographing them before carefully packing them in a box with all my other finished miniatures. 

4 Plastic Studio Miniatures Zombies and one metal figure from the same manufacturer. As ever nice little sculpts which are pretty forgiving to the lazy painter (aka me) 

Having just punted a fairly large amount of money on the latest Studio Miniatures kickstarter I thought it was time I got these finished figures up on the blog. 

This chaps an attempt at a US postal service worker, the logo is meant to look like theirs, turned out okay but not great. 

A Hard Life

So wanting to do something a bit different with my hobby time I decided bash together this chap. He's made from (I think) parts from 5 different kits some of which are GW some of which are not. I sculpted on the fur trim for the cloak myself and it came out a lot better than I had expected. 

I have no idea what I would use him for, Necromunda or something like that I guess. 

The cloak is from an old GW plastic giant kit and has been in my bits box for literally years. 

And the painted version, I wanted him to look a bit worn down so there are some scuffs on the armour (which turned out okayish) and his weapon is painted to look like some old antique piece of kit. 

My sculpted fur trim turned out pretty nice once it was painted, and I am equally pleased with how the dragon scale cloak has turned out. All in all I am happy with how this chap ended up, though he will invariably never make it to a gaming table and may be doomed to live out his days either in my storage boxes or eventually a display case. 

Dress Whites

Quick little update today, I've had this figure from Artizan Designs floating around in my lead pile for quite some time. I'm not a big fan of the black SS uniform, and I didn't fancy painting a traditional uniform. So a quick google later and we are onto a white dress uniform. 

Not my greatest paint job but serviceable none the less. 

There is more than one way to wear Tartan

I've spent the last few days on these two Highlanders from my lead pile, they have been undercoated for quite possibly years but I never got around to painting them, like so many of my projects. I have however been just picking random stuff of late to paint from the lead pile, and these two floated to the top of the pile! 

I believe they are from one of Warlords ECW sets, though I forget each one (arrant scum perhaps, I don't really remember) 

I actually rather like the figures, quite nice sculpts and casting, I have little knowledge of ECW so I have no idea at all how accurate my pallet is, but I enjoyed painting them and I like how the tartan on the Kilt and Trews turned out. 

Undead Biker

Only managed to paint up a couple of Zeds from Studio Miniatures in the last week or so. I am rather pleased with how the bandanna on the biker type turned out, though I think he might need a bit more gore!  

A trio of coppers

Finally finished 3 additions to my 1970s project. These are Crooked Dice Minions with police heads and bullet proof vests sculpted on by yours truly. The intention was to create some RUC looking types but when I look at these I think I picked a bit of a German Border guard green. 

Still happy with the results, I need to do a fourth at some point, as three seems like an odd number! 

As usual my picture taking skills are such that the shading is lost in the images but still, they look nice enough. 

Night of the Living Dad

Finished another 4 of the Studio Miniatures Zombies, this first chap actually looks oddly like my father (right down to the beard) I had intended to get these done before the end of October but such is life. 

I went for some high viz stripes on this chap, not sure how well it worked out really. 

All in all a pretty gore heavy group of miniatures. Such is my way I am currently toying with a return to a smaller scale perhaps 20mm or 15mm for the fiscal savings alone its an attractive proposition. 

Von Dracula

Well thats me back from a very restive week in the Highlands, I managed to get some painting done yesterday, though sadly not very much. The above figure is (if memory serves) from the Warlord Games Weird War range. Its been floating about in my lead pile for awhile now and I though as its Zombie related would suffice for this week. 

I went for a bit of an old school Horror type look with the cape and a dress white uniform. Overall I'm pretty pleased though the the skin tone could have done with being paler. 

I also had time to paint up another of the plastic Studio Miniatures figures. Nothing very fancy but a Zombie none the less. I have finished another Studio Miniatures lead figure as well but he's awaiting the drying of basing materials at present. 

Holiday Zombie

I have to apologise for the very poor quality images, I'm away on holiday so don't have my usual gear available to me. That said having trundled over to the Highlands to enjoy a weeks piece with my wife I packed in the paints and was able to get this finished earlier. 

Another Studio Miniatures multi-part plastic Zombie with a duty belt sculpted on by me. I wanted a sort of State Trooper look to this one which sort of works though the washed out pictures are not really doing it justice (honestly).  

Hopefully I'll get some more done this week but I'll likely wait until I get home to post more given the naff pictures.

The dead walk (again)

So its Zomtober 2016, I have over the last few years for various boring reasons not been able to post something suitable during the sacred month. So this year I was determined, as I am trying to get back in to regular painting and modelling, to contribute to the Zomtober.

The first two completed zombies, their progress slowed to "walker" speed due to a visit by friends over the weekend, are provided herein. I have painted quite a few of the Studio Miniatures plastic multipose zombies in the past and I like to try and make them look individual with a bit of basic converting. For these two I added duty belts to give them the look of private security. They are modeled on the uniform scheme of some armed G4S guards I found during a google image trawl.

Overall I'm happy, the modelling work on the belts is okay, though as I have not sculpted for ages its a bit messy in places.

More (hopefully) to follow before the end of Zomtober.

Two man Recce

Been busy with work of late, but have managed to get another two of my 1970s troops finished. These are from the Gripping Beast Argentinian range but they do fine service as a couple of squadies in soft cover patroling rural areas. My picture taking skills are as shoddy as ever so the pictures are a bit washed out.

On the work bench I'm busy converting some Crooked Dice Minions into RUC/1970 Armed cops by adding some bullet proof vests. Hopefully get them onto the painting queue today. 

In other news my nostalgic urges have been aroused by the new Gamesworkshop Genestealer cult miniatures. Personally I don't think they are as nice as the lead ones from back in the day but I am tempted. However in standard Gamesworkshop style I have been put off by the horrifying price of some packs. 

The squad size plastic box sets (10 figures) are not horrifically priced, though are still high by comparison to say a platoon box from Warlord which is the same price. But the leader box of 5 figures is over 30 quid which seems a bit steep, particularly when GW have already paid for the tooling as the figures are all from their Overkill board game that was released some months back. 

A walk in the country

The Winter of 79 wargaming concept has recently caught my eye. Like VBCW the Winter of 79 is based around the strife and unrest that persisted around the late 70's and 80s in the UK, but it diverts from history to an alternative where an army council has taken over control of the government and various factions have formed. It has a more "serious" focus than VBCW but the opportunity to create some semi-realistic what if units was to much to pass up. 

I've had some argies from the Gripping Beast mofo range rattling around my unpainted lead box for quite some time (possibly 4 years now I think about it) and as visually there is little difference between them and British infantry of the same period decided they would do as an interim measure. 

I've painted these four up in a uniform similar to that warn by troops in Northern Ireland in the late 70s. The argies padded jackets have been painted green to pass for flack vests, with DPM shirts and green trousers. I went for a slightly "comic" kind of simple look on the SLR's overall pretty happy with the results. The DPM isn't quite where I wanted it to be, in particular I think the 3rd dark shade in the pattern (the smallest black marks) need to be smaller. 

I've some bits on order with Gripping Beast, and the Ferret at Sloppy Jalopy has also caught my eye so more will likley follow. Come to think of if it I also have an airfix landy kit somewhere in 1:48 that will also be of use. 

Thanks for looking any comments on the DPM would be appreciated.

More Germans

Just finished painting another two early war Germans from Crusader Miniatures pictures came out a little dark, not really sure why to be honest. I took the time to paint the German flag flashes on the helmets, and the collar tabs on the figure that had a collar that they would fit on. 

Overall I'm pretty pleased with the results, another two on my workbench at the moment, I imagine I will finish a full squad before moving onto something else. 

Early German

I decided to paint up some early war German figures. These are from the Crusader and Artizan Range, available from Northstar Miniatures. Both are really nice castings, detailed without being fussy or "cluttered". I have actually previously painted the officer with his hands behind his back, there is a picture on the blog somewhere. 

I decided to go for a stereotypical early war type camo, and took the time to paint the German flag on the side of the helmet for the other figure. 

Pretty pleased with these, more to come assuming i'm not distracted by some flight of fancy.  

 Trying out some new basing materials at the moment, not sure whether I like the results at the moment.

Double Swords

Possibly the final Highlander, I have two left but i'm not sure if I'll do them or move onto something else. I suffered with a loss of tip to my smaller brushes on this one so some of the lines are a bit "blobby" in places. I know I know a poor workman and his tools and all that, but I think I need to invest in some new brushes as my current ones are getting a bit knackered out.

Wrong end of the Musket

 Another highlander finished, I did this one using my favorite tartan pattern to paint. The effect of the pattern is really nice, and it looks much more complicated than it actually is. I can't remember if this is a real tartan or not, I think it is but I really don't recall where I got the pattern from.

In other news I'm eyeing some 15mm Napoleonic at the moment for a new project.

Jug o Ale

 Another week in and another Warlord Clansman done, I think this ones from the "Arrant Scum" packs or something like that. I actually started painting this guys kilt about 2 years ago and gave up as the tartan wasn't going how I wanted it.

For this iteration I painted over the older, paler tartan with a darker choice, again fairly happy with the results, though I think the shirt needed a few more highlights.

I wanted that "been drinking awhile" look so added a red glaze to the cheeks and nose of the figure, not sure how visible that is in the pictures but I like the effect.

Working on more of these at the moment, really starting to enjoy painting tartan and as before just one figure at a time.

In other news my wife and I have become obsessed with the Magic the Gathering card game, surprisingly simple and complicated at the same time. We gave it a go as something easier to setup and play than a full board game. So far very enjoyable and as there are thousands of cards lots of options and all that with updating decks etc.

Highland Warrior

 Bit of a change of pace, I have had this Clansman figure from Warlord games in the lead pile along with another 20 or so from the same range for about 2 years. I think (but I can't really remember) that they were bought as part of a now aborted ECW project.

I've never got around to painting them as they are mostly wearing kilts or trews which require some kind of competent tartan. While I have painted tartan a fair bit in the past I tend to have only one type of tartan I can paint and its a nightmare to paint on non flat surfaces like this more old school looking kilt.

Well bored over the weekend I decided to pick one of the Clansmen at random and paint him on his own, I actually quite enjoyed the freedom of painting just one single figure as I am often painting 3 or 4 at once, or a unit etc.

Overall fairly happy with the results, my tartan is a bit dodgy in places but overall I like how the figure looks. My basing came out a tad more yellow than I intended, but as I'm trying a slightly different basing material at the moment I'll just go ahead and forgive myself!