Halloween and the end of Zombtober

Well, Zombtober has come to an end, on Halloween no less. I have painted one last survivor this month, another from the Hasslefree Sculpting competition many moons ago.

She is dressed as her favorite comic character, Z-Girl, the zombie fighting superhero (who I just made up!).

This was the real reason to get her painted up...

Worst Halloween party ever....

I am sure she will be fine....

Chris

Survivor Saturday- Corporal Ellen Best

Apologies for the late survivor this week, my Friday was spent farewelling a really good mate of mine who passed away unexpectedly last week. Tried to write a tribute for here two or three times, but the words didn't work, I couldn't get it right. There were people who did it much better than I could ever imagine of doing it, and I am so grateful to them for that, including Tim's, which you can find here.

I painted this week's survivor a week or two ago, and she is a bit unique, as I sculpted her too! She was my entry into the Hasslefree competition a few years (three maybe?) ago. I wanted to avoid the stereotypical female in gaming, the chainmail bikinis etc. So, I instead layered my model up in thick clothing, body armour, gave her an SA-80 and made her a British Solider!

Overall, the sculpt isn't great. I was immensely proud of it then, but looking at it now I can see the number of flaws that are in it, and certainly can see why I didn't win! All that aside, I still love having her in my group of Zombie survivors, and it is a good kick in the pants for me to get out my sculpting tools again.

I have paired her up with a Military Working Dog from Recreational Conflict, and have given her an approximation of MTP camo, as well as a nice red beret and an MP armband.

She relates to one of my favourite stories from WWZ, the one around the usage of dogs as infection spotters, trackers and herders for the fight against the undead. No story this week, because I am pretty sure I couldn't do it better than Max Brooks did!

I have a fair bit on the painting table at the moment, so check back in for Walking Dead Wednesday!

Chris

First Survivor- Carol

Here is the first contribution to my Survivors of the Zombie Apocalypse, Carol!

"... so there I was, flying F-15's over Iraq. Nothing beats the feeling of power of flying one of those. Dropping bombs was a bonus, the afterburners were the real kick, the bombs were just the icing on the cake."

Calmly, this six foot something blonde woman, wearing the most impractical knee high boots and a well worn USAF top removed the clip from her M16, inserted a fresh magazine and began resuming her work of thinning the herd. Looking at her you would call her a liar, she couldn't be who she says she was. Except that she had all the stories to back her up, and there was no way anyone would argue with how good she was with a rifle.

"... you wanna to talk about tragedy? The saddest god damn day of my life was the day they said there wasn't any fuel left, my poor Eagle was left sitting in a hangar at Wright Patterson AFB. She'll probably never fly again. Now that is the real damn tragedy here...."

Another empty mag, another calm reload and the disciplined fire resumes...

Carol comes from the Hasslefree Sculpting Competition which I entered a few years ago. Before you ask, no it is not my entry- although I plan to paint mine later on! I don't know if Hasslefree ever plan to release her, but for now, here she is, looking badass. While the figure is kind of over the top, with the big boots and big gun, she makes a perfect first survivor for my Zed Apocalypse.

For those wondering about the USAF shirt and back story, I was inspired by one of the stories out of World War Z or a former USAF pilot who went down over Z lines, and had to get her way back.

As for the name, it comes from this Carol:

(Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel is property of Marvel Comics, not of me. Image taken from Google)

Which also works so well with her USAF background too!

So there you have it, the first survivor! Now, off to work on next weeks, who is a little more practically dressed....

Chris