Studio Miniatures Zombies

Back to one of my favourites, the Studio Miniatures Plastic Zombies. They are my favourite of the plastic zombies available, and I have lots and lots of them.

A wee while back, I (foolishly?) said that I would complete 3 zombies for every survivor I completed this year. Now, I am obviously now more than a little bit behind. But fear not! For I have a plan.....

And at least for now, I have completed 4 more zombies :)

All pretty much straight out of the box builds, with the exception for an arm or two borrowed from the Wargames Factory Survivors sprue for variety. Nothing major!

And luckily for me, I can remember how to paint zombies!

Back to survivor assembling- Wargames Factory sprues again this week!

Chris

Survivor- Lefty

It's Friday, so it is time for another survivor!

... The horde shambled onwards, their dead eyes and gaping maws groaning as they advanced.

A single solitary figure stood in the road, their target. The wall of zombies moved with all their speed towards him

Bottom of the ninth, two out...

The zombies edged closer, trampling over those zombies which tripped over the discarded rubbish lying in the street, crashing into parked cars as they raced towards the figure

Lefty on the pitchers mound....

The wave of zombies got closer to the figure, he could see their rotting flesh, the tattered remnants of their clothes hanging off their grey, discoloured frames

Theres the windup...

The zombies rushed closer, twenty metres away now

There's the pitch...

The figure tossed the burning Molotov Cocktail straight and hard towards the onrushing zombies.

STRIIIIIKE....

The lead zombies were doused in flames, the fire spreading to the zombies around them, quickly engulfing the whole horde. A few zombies dropped, the flames reaching their brains and burning them out. But not fast enough, the horde of zombies was now a burning mass, racing closer to the figure.

He had stood still to admire the flight of his pitch, but quickly realized that the Molotov hadn't stopped the horde like he had planned. He ran towards the nearest tall object- a nearby SUV, quickly scrambling on top of it. All he could do was swat at the burning zombies with his bat while he waited for the fire to do its work- hopefully it wouldn't take long....

Lefty is another survivor from the Wargames Factory boxed set. He took a bit of converting to get right- basically I came up with the idea of having a baseball player once I spotted the baseball bat arm, but then had the bigger issue of the other hand! After some deliberation, I decided on the Molotov holding arm, which I positioned to make it look like he was throwing left handed- hence Lefty!

I greenstuffed Lefty's shirt into a more traditional baseball shirt, adding the tails to the shirt. Painting the shirt was pretty simple, simply a matter of painting the shirt white, and then using a 0.05mm pen to draw the vertical stripes in. Simple!

I am enjoying the plastic boxes so far, I have another few conversion ideas in my head too. Ah well, another survivor done, and hey look, 50 posts!

Chris

Bonus survivor- Jacques

Well, I am now solidly back into the groove of painting survivors. So, as a me culpa for missing three weeks, I am planning to make it up to you all by posting not one, but TWO completed survivors!

... during the course of the research into how people managed to survive the outbreak, it became clear that they did it by any means necessary. This included gaining proficiency in all manner of weapons, but also by utilizing a wide variety of defensive strategies. Reports of military grade body armour, police issue stab proof vests, sporting equipment and thick clothing such as leather were common. Less common were medieval suits of armour, shark suits and even one report of a diving apparatus...

This bonus survivor comes from Reaper Miniatures, and was a bit of an odd idea that I had! Basically I saw the miniature on the shelf and thought that it would be a pretty funny "armoured" figure, all I had to do was give him a weapon! The M16 comes from the Wargames Factory survivor kit, no more conversion needed than simply gluing it into his hand!

I am pretty happy with how it has come out, certainly one of the more oddball survivors I have completed so far!

Back Friday for another offering from the Wargames Factory kits....

Chris

Survivor- Tim

Hey ho! Yet another survivor!

"... "But I don't want to be a zombie, I am always the zombie" The girl whined.

"Nope, you and your friends have to be the zombie, because we are the survivors" the boy called, gesturing to his two friends.

This was another game of survivors and zombies, played out across the grassed area out the back of the church- between the church and the wall.

"But we always have to be zombies, why do we always have to be the zombies" the girl continued to whine. Those standing with her nodded in approval.

"Because you don't know what they look like, so we have to tell you" the older boy replied.

"You do not know what they look like, you have been in these walls for as long as I have, you haven't seen any either!" The girl's response was right, the boy hadn't ever seen one. Their parents had gotten them out when the first outbreak happened and taken them north, to this now safe community. The adults periodically went out for food, supplies or to clear the walls, but none of these children had left the safety of the town. So they were left playing zombies and survivors, and running around the churchyard.

Not all of the children had such a lucky escape in the apocalypse. One boy sat by himself, away from the others. He had a borrowed shirt, borrowed pants and a .22 rifle sitting next to him, unloaded. The adults couldn't pry the gun away from the boy, they had found him holed up in a shop in town. He didn't talk much, only his name, and what seemed like every swear word in a sailor's dictionary when they tried to take his gun away.

In truth, the adults were happy that he didn't talk much. It would save them having to explain the world beyond the walls to their kids, or explain what $^*# meant.

The girl walked up to the boy, and bravely said "My brother thinks that this is how zombies move". She imitated a zombie's shuffle and moaned "braaaaaaaains".

The boy didn't respond, not even to acknowledge her presence.

"So... do you want to come play with us?"

Again the boy didn't respond.

"Is that your gun? My daddy says they aren't safe, and that it is" she put on her big voice "ridicu.... ricidu... silly that Tim can have a gun in the walls" The girl reached to touch the stock of the .22.

The boy moved his arm, slowly, deliberately and brought the rifle into his lap, away from the girl's outstretched arm.

"Fine, if you don't want to play, you should have just said. You are just weird kid" The girl stormed off, back to play the game of zombies and survivors.

The boy sat, listening to the rustling on the other side of the wall. He didn't even register the game going on in the church yard, those kids were dead as soon as the walls fell, so why bother talking to them?

With his rifle in his lap, the put his hand into his pocket and felt the cool metal of the bullets in his pocket.

When the wall fell, he would survive. He always survived.

This week's survivor is another one from the Wargames Factory boxed set. No conversions, just a simple build exactly as it is meant to be done. Which seems a little boring for me, but there you go. Perhaps the next one will have more modifications!

The paint scheme was again decided by my wife, but I added the Captain America shield logo, his top was a bit boring without anything on it.

I am really loving the Wargames Factory boxed sets at the moment, I am enjoying working with them. Painting continues, more on progress over the coming week.

Chris

Survivor- Sarah

What? Another one on time? Crikey!

.. Pops had been dead a year before the outbreak, so his cabin had been empty for a year before I managed to get out of the city and reach it.

I had taken my car to his house, I had already planned the trip and was headed out of town when NY was ordered to evacuate, before the bridges were cut, before that happened to Manhattan. The car is still in the garage, it eventually ran out of gas, like everyone else's I guess. I was lucky, I got out before the motorways clogged, before the dead had really taken over the cities. So my drive was pretty clear, no walkers, not even any crazy traffic. I just drove along, Taylor Swift blaring through the speakers.

I hope she is ok....

So I got to Pop's cabin, it was exactly as he had left it. His favourite chair, his crappy oven, the head of that deer he shot when he was 17 mounted above the fireplace. Pops had been a hunter when he was young, but he never touched a gun after the war. He didn't talk about the war either, he would just get real sad on a few dates of the year.

I am glad Pops didn't have to see this world, he had fought his war a long time ago.

It had been a week or so, I was just living off of tinned food and the food I brought with me. Pops had kept his cupboards well stocked and he had a veggie garden out back- sadly the wrong time of year to harvest. I had plenty of firewood to keep warm, and plenty of books. I turned the radio on each day to check on the news, there wasn't much, it only took a day or two before it was just static.

Took a week or two before I saw my first roamer. I was out tending the garden, and it shuffled into the fence. I had heard the broadcast on what to do with them when they arrived, I got a garden fork and speared it through the head. It took a couple of tries, but I managed it.

Every day after that first roamer, more and more arrived. It was the zeds from NY off in search of food.

At first, it was easy enough for me to get rid of them. One day I was out checking the mailbox. To this day I couldn't say why I was checking it, who was going to send me mail? Who was going to deliver it? Old habits die hard I suppose.

I had turned to go back to the house, when ten or more of them were blocking my path. A growling, seething mass staring at me, waiting to take a bite.

I ran.

As fast as I could.

I tripped and fell onto some rocks, putting a gash down my forearm.

Luckily I hadn't been idle the past few weeks, I could still outrun them. Thankfully Pops didn't have any twinkies in his cupboards, only the healthy stuff!

I made it back to the house, headed to pops room and searched frantically for the medical kit. I knew he had one, was it in his room? I could hear them outside, they had reached the fence and were trying to push it over. I was sure that they would succeed in a few minutes.

I pulled his shirts out of the wardrobe, only to find a dark green case, with USMC 7485951 written on the top in yellow letters.

I opened it carefully to find a pressed army uniform sitting on top. I pulled it out, hoping for a medical kit. What was underneath was more interesting than any medical kit. It was a gun, a Thompson if my memory of Pop's stories was right. Beside it lay a big metal knife with Peleliu and Okinawa inscribed on the blade. The gun was clean, oiled and the magazine was full. Pops may not have gone hunting after the war, but he sure knew to keep a gun clean and ready.

Suddenly thankful for the shooting lessons I had as a little girl, I figured out how to load the magazine just as the zombies broke the fence down. Cocking the gun, I grabbed my orange sweater and the blade and headed downstairs to clear out the back garden...

Hey ho!

Another survivor done, and on time and everything!

Sarah comes from the Wargames Factory plastic kit, except for the Thompson arm which comes from the Perry Desert Rats boxed set- which was the actual inspiration for building this model, the arm was too perfect not to use for something, and so the idea for Sarah spiraled from there!

The colour scheme comes directly from my wife, who (probably to her frustration) I have started asking for clothing colour advice. She is way better at this whole dressing thing, so all credit to her for what I now think is one of my favourite survivors- big title I know!

Anyway, next week is another from the Wargames Factory sprues I think, I am enjoying building using them.

CP

Survivor- Logan

Surely not- another survivor? Two weeks in a row? Craziness!

... the door exploded with a crash.

In walked a figure in his leather jacket, a massive cleaver in his hand, pistol at his hip. He stopped beside a piece of burning doorframe to light his cigar, carefully starting the light, tenderly growing the flame, savouring the taste of the smoke as he inhaled.

"Did you have to destroy that?" spoke the voice from behind him. A small, bookish man stepped out from behind Logan.

Logan shrugged.

"Typical" was all the lab coated man could say..

A noise caused the two to turn and look outside. The horde of shamblers was hot on their tail.

Logan pulled his pistol and fired a few shots into the mob before ducking back inside.

Logan took the lead, machete raised, pistol blazing as he cut his way further into the facility, the doctor following close behind him, always trying to match him step for step.

It was when Logan was reloading that he heard the scream, and he realised the doctor wasn't behind him in this latest room. He had fallen behind.

Logan cut down the zombie ahead of him, and turned around, heading to the sound. He arrived just in time to see the doctor torn in two by the shamblers.

Logan cut them down, severing each and every one of their skulls with fell blows from his cleaver.

The last act he did before leaving was to put a bullet in the good doctor, the brainiac didn't deserve to go out like that....

Logan is another from Reaper, except that I replaced the rock which he was standing on with a Zombie from the Wargames factory set. To make it fit on the base, I only used half the zed, making some entrails out of a greenstuff sausage. Once I had decided to put him standing over a zed, it was simple enough to pose him to be giving "mercy" to a zombie with his pistol.

Inspiration for the jacket colour, and the name are pretty obviously from Wolverine, a head chewing a cigar was just too perfect you know?

The story was a bit shorter than I wanted, but I have only just got back home from a 3 day course, haven't got much spare brain power for story writing!

Next week's survivor currently looks like this:

Little bit of work to be done!

C