Post War Bolt Action Miniatures

As mentioned last year, I bought a Bolt Action US Army sprue at Warfare last year.

The sprue contained parts for five infantry but no weapons. To build a fire team of US supplied troops, I used the weapons sprue from a Wargames Factory (now available as part of the Warlord Games Project Z range) Male survivors set.

Some modification to the right hands (to grip the pistol grip of the M16) and the left hand (to grip the fore grip) was required.

The uniform is Citadel Death World Forest.
Webbing and pouches are Citadel Karak Stone.
Helmets are Vallejo US Olive Drab.
Boots and water bottles are Vallejo Leather Brown.
Furniture on the gun is Vallejo Black Grey.
Pistol holster is Citadel Mournfang brown.

Once base painted, they were dry brushed with Citadel Terminatus Stone.
Citadel Athonian Camoshade was used over the green parts and the helmet.
Citadel Agrax Earthshade was applied to the webbing, pouches, holster, boots and water bottle.

The hands and faces were base painted with Vallejo Panzer Aces flesh base. Heavy shading used Citadel Mournfang Brown with a final shade using Citadel Reikland Flesh Shade.

Oops, seems to have picked up some grass.

Fire team in action.

Now I just need the new Rubicon M4A3E8 kit to provide them with some support.

Of course some opposition is also required.

Zombtober 2015, sort of... part four

 So, having been happy with the last batch of figures, it was on to the next batch.

First I had to assemble some bases. I use normal 25mm bases capped with a circle of Slater's embossed 7mm scale paving. I use a circular cutter to create the tops, they then need to be smoothed and then fixed with liquid poly.

One thing to bear in mind is that different brands of "25mm" bases have different sized top surfaces. It is worth checking that the cap fits before running off a batch.

So, I completed 11 bases (okay ten plus one already assembled).

I then grabbed three sprues of Studio Miniatures Zombies. They are very useful miniatures, but do have the disadvantage that they have bases, which I then have to remove with a razor saw.

I also grabbed a handful of previously assembled zombies: a mixed bag including Wargames Factory male and female zombies, Mantic zombies, Studio Miniatures plastics and Michelle's zombie shields again sculpted by Studio Miniatures.

Before undercoating.

 Undercoated.

And here are the finished figures.

Zomb-tober 2015, sort of… part three

Okay, so here are the 'finished' figures.

So, nine very quickly painted zombies.

That is 45 points for 7ombieTV, another eleven to o for 100 points.

But first I have to assemble them.

Zomb-tober 2015 sort of… part two

Okay, so I have dug through the figure storage boxes and found eight plastic zombies plus assembled a Wargames Factory female zombie.

First off I used Humbrol 237 Desert Tan spray paint.

Once the spray paint had dried, I used the Citadel Agrax Earth Shade to cover the figures.

 Once that had dried I re-painted the dead flesh with Humbrol 90 - it is my normal dead flesh colour.

So that was yesterday.

Zomb-tober sort of… part one

As I was watching the first episode of The Walking Dead series six (time flies while your your world is being consumed by the shambling horrors),  I was wondering how long it would take to paint a large batch of zombies.

At my current production rate I estimate that I would have 100 points of zombies for 7ombieTV by about 2020.

And then I noticed something. All the zombies in the scene were the same over all colour (dusty mud) with occasional splashes of colour, mainly dried ick.

This makes sense as zombies are not known for their personal hygiene and as the apocalypse has been going on for a while they are going to get grubby.

Now the colour is going to vary, if it rained, say like in the UK, there would tend to be a graduation of mud over the Zombie as rain washed(diluted) the muck down the figure.

There is also the question of basing: rural bases could be the same colour as the figure, unfortunately I made my Zombie bases urban which does make it a bit more complicated.

So my plan is to dig out some assembled zombies, and try spray painting them an overall colour then detail painting bits of skin and clothing. Finally add washes of mud and blood.

I did assemble a batch of twenty Studio Miniatures German zombies (and some conversions), spray paint their uniforms and detail paint hands faces and other bits fairly quickly. They matched up nicely with the individually painted examples on my painting thread.

Zombtober is an annual Zombie painting thing, I do not paint things quickly enough.

Once and Future options

Crooked Dice have just released the Once and Future Supplement for their 7th Voyage game (currently as PDF with a printed version out shortly).

This includes three new settings, Beowulf, King Arthur and (topically) Robin Hood.

Now, this gave me the inspiration to dig out some of the plastic box sets I bought a while back (and buy a new one at the weekend).

Beowulf and the sagas are an opportunity to use the Viking and Saxon figures from Gripping Beast (and Wargames Factory) and perhaps the Celts by Warlord Games.

 Gripping Beast Saxon and Viking together with a Wargames Factory Saxon.

Bring Me Sunshine...

Warlord Games Celt.

The King Arthur setting (I know he was Dark Ages, but the normal setting is more 14/15th century).
Perry Miniatures do four box sets, Men at Arms, Foot Knights, European mercenaries and Knights.

 Two Men at Arms

Foot Knight (with a Wargames Factory Survivor head).

And finally a comparison shot:

Last Minute Shopping...

Abbi and her trusty Diemaco C7 face the hordes on the Last Day.

A Wargames factory The Survivors: The Women figure.

Girl Power

Wargames Factory have released their Apocalypse Survivors: The Women multipart 28mm scale plastic figures.

The box contains three sprues of ten identical figures and one sprue of additional weapons.

Scale wise, they look compatible with ranges such as Crooked Dice.

Terrible flash effect in the photograph.

Some of the poses are a bit extreme, generic poses are more useful if you are going to have lots of the same figure (an advantage of the Studio Miniatures zombies, four generic poses rather than the ten weird poses of the Wargames Factory Zombie Vixens).

The woman with the RPG is a bit odd and I am a bit dubious about the figure, but I will see if I find it acceptable.

Apocalypse Survivors...

Oh well, the Tau are now back on the shelf as I have been distracted by the Wargames Factory Apocalypse Survivors: Men.

The box contains three sprues of ten different bodies (nine adults and one kid) plus a sprue of weapons and accesories. The 25mm bases are on the body sprue and following on from the Zombie Vixens the figures have flat feet with no integral base (something that is a problem with the Studio Miniatures Zombies).

The bodies are a bit odd, some of them  have very limited reuse (one can have a cricket bat, the other a baseball bat, the other can have a baseball bat or a cricket bat). The kid has three different options (pistol, SMG and 'scope rifle). Eventually I will assemble a full set.

The weapons supplied are odd, M16 is understandable (but no M4), lever action rifle/shotgun and AK47. The SMG looks more like the Walther MP, rather than a more usual HK MP5, Uzi or Ingram. The real surprise is the inclusion of the L85/SA80. There are seven separate L85 rifles plus one with arms attached. There is also a rotary magazine shotgun/grenade launcer.

There are no separate arms, so if you want to use the additional weapons then it is out with the Swann and Morton...

So how do they compare in size. Below (left to right) are Factory with AK47, Empress British, Factory with L85, CD William Killan and finally another Factory figure with an AK47.

The guy on the left is at a slight disadvantage, the Empress British infantry man has a base. The two L85s are similar size. William Killan shows they are similar size to the CD figures.

The CAD process does lead to some slightly odd postures, but they are useful to fill out your survivor cast