Friday 21 December 2012

Female Zombies

Well, I couldn't leave things hanging now, could I?  Apologies for the photos.  I've been trying to improve my pictures with a couple of tips from the ole interwebs.  I think the images are looking sharper, but a bit washed out and pastel-like compared to real life.  Still, to my mind at least, they do seem to have something going for them that I like.

First up, three WF zombie vixens.  The one on the left uses the extra handbag accessory.  I've tried to give the impression that she was a housewife, and so have used neutral colours like beige, brown and white to keep her from standing out too much in a crowd.  The middle zombie is wearing some sort of ball gown, and because her posture doesn't scream "zombie", I used a more skeletal head to give some sort of balance to the model.  She is the latest addition to the horde, so her base hasn't been finished off yet.  Finally, we come to a businesswoman who has seen better days.  I've used a few of the severed arms with splinters of bone protruding in building my zombie vixens, but tried not to go overboard with them.  Less is more, as they say.



















This next selection was fun.  There's not a lot you can do with the waitress body.  I may make something like a french maid or cleaner, maybe, with the others, but this time out, I decided to just go with the flow.  A lot of stick seems to be received because of the "gotta pee" pose, but I think a zombie in high heels is probably likely to end up in that pose at some point as it tries to move around.  In the middle is my zombie trailer trash chick.  Note the gimpy, shrivelled arm.  There are a few such pieces on the sprue.  I love 'em!  Little touches like that can really help creep you out on a subtle "somethin' ain't right" level without resorting to gallons of gore.  On the right is Murgatroyd, my first female zombie.  I converted her some time ago by simply slapping a pair of green stuff boobs on a Mantic zombie body (from which I removed an arm for extra gross factor).  I'm glad she has some company now.



















And, just because I wanted a change of pace, here's a fatty from the Zombicide board game which I finished off.  Zombicide is a great game, by the way.  Looking forward to getting the whole set of minis painted up.  This guy will also serve as a tank zombie in other games.























No surviors yet, but this is a work in progress of what I'm terming a Z-Tac team.  Corporate/Government (haven't decided which yet) zombie hunters with specialized weaponry, and body armour, designed to protect against hostile survivors, but also designed with panels that will tear off in case a zombie grabs them.  Z-Tac team members always go into combat bare-headed to allow their team-mates a clean kill shot if they get bitten.  I'll think more on the back story as I go along.

The model is an EM-4 plastic sci-fi trooper with a few GW bits added on.  In retrospect, I'd have used more realistic weapons, but I had plenty of spare GW plastic weapons lying around, and it seemed a shame not to use them.  Still, that gun certainly makes the sarge look like he means business!

Tuesday 18 December 2012

2012 on it's way out already?

Well, let's face it, I've done a pretty poor job at this blogging malarkey.  Probably due in no small part to what can only be described as an addiction to playing the Blood Bowl computer game.

I will try to do better in 2013.  Speaking of which, My good friend Deke will be joining me on creating a joint blog, in which we will set challenges and report on our progress in the hobby.  I reckon having someone else for moral support will help keep things a little more regular, and may provide more fodder for this benighted corner of the interwebs.

Since my wife and I will be spending this xmas apart, we had our own mini-xmas on Sunday.  I was excited to receive a box of Wargames Factory Zombie Vixens.  These are soooo much better than their original offerings.  Maybe not the best of the best models out there, but still really good.  Poses are pretty stiff and awkward looking, as befits zombies, and they really fulfill a need in my predominantly male zombie horde.  Further, it wouldn't take much imagination to convert one or two of the bodies into unarmed civilians or survivors - use the components on the sprue that do not display bite/claw marks, and half the job is done.  All that's left is to make the pose look a bit more natural and 'alive'.  There are plenty of extra accessories, like handbags, that can really help to add some narrative to a model, and I've assembled 4 and painted 2 (and a half, I guess - One came off it's base during painting, so it has been re-glued and put to one side for a day to give the glue plenty of curing time) already.  If I get the opportunity, I'll add some pictures before I disappear for the winter festivities.

Anyway, I guess I'd better put up some eye candy.  So here are some of the Star Wars Fighter Pod models that I've repainted and/or converted to use in sci fi games (as you can see, all of them are WIP, but I'm pretty pleased with them so far):





So it finally remains for me to wish anyone who is reading this post a merry christmas and a happy new year in 2013.  See you soon!