Dead Snow

Nazi Zombies
15 mm

After finishing the Untoten Soldaten for my brother, I liked them so much I decided I wanted some too!  I gave these ones snow bases, obviously inspired by the Norwegian zombie film Død Snø (Dead Snow).

Grr Argh!

(Hey, apparently the whole film is on YouTube... for now.  It's probably the second bloodiest zombie film I've ever seen, I think Peter Jackson's Dead Alive wins first prize.)

Jungle floor bases

So I've had a few requests in the comments here to explain how I made the forest floor bases on my Huntarr.  Pictures = 1000's of words etc.,so I've put together a quick demo.

Most of the materials I use: oregano flakes, a stick, paints, white glue and clear coat.  I'm using a 25mm base for visibility.

Some cut-up pieces of stick become broken saplings and logs on the ground (I forgot to take a pic of this step).  For 15mm scale you don't need to cut these very carefully.  Glue them down with epoxy or white glue... crazy glue will just soak into the wood.

The basic cover of oregano is laid down by sprinkling over white glue.  This will generally need to be touched up by adding single flakes to fill the gaps.  Then, a tool is used to squish the flakes down and compact the surface.

The leaf litter is liberally soaked with a mixture of acrylic matte varnish, brown, green and black paint.  This will darken it and help to physically consolidate it.

The litter is drybrushed with lighter greens and browns, all mixed with a light tan to desaturate them.  The logs are just drybrushed with bleached bone.

This should all give you a passable jungle floor for 15mm, or even larger scales if you are a bit fussier with how it looks.

Huntarr - finished!

Huntarr Aliens
15 mm scale

It's been a challenging couple of weeks in parenthood, but I managed to squeeze in a few minutes here and there to finish these mean boys off.

 

The figures themselves: Honestly not my most careful paint jobs ever, but I like em!  They have the "feel" I was going for, and as a bonus I managed to not break the one guy's spear.  I swear I thought it would never survive...  The chieftain's cloak is supposed to be some sort of scaly reptilian hide, I'm not sure if it's from a BIG animal, or a bunch of Garn skins sewn together ;D

Basing:  I'm still not sure about the green plants, but I think the forest floor effect turned out really well. It's not out-of-scale either which is good, because I've used this method for 28mm minis as well.

Dragon's Treasure

Guelph's very own FLGS and comic book emporium The Dragon has won the prestigious Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award!  Amazing!  I'm certainly not their most frequent customer but it really is a great place - welcoming, bright, extremely well-stocked, great staff, and no lingering smell of unwashed neckbeard or angry teenage Magic fanatic.  Really, everything a comic book store should be. 

The Guelph Mercury's article

Jungle Bases, and a Third Doctor

Still working on these Huntarr...  The figures themselves are largely done but I'm trying to make some credible jungle/forest floor bases.  Not easy in 15mm!  I thought about sculpting them from greenstuff but in the end fell back on the old, reliable spice rack, in this case, oregano.  It's very hard to apply without seeing it stick up in an out-of-scale manner, and I always end up filling in gaps by fussily tweezering individual tiny flakes into place.

Come at me bro!

I'm having a bit of a creative block deciding what material (or rather, species) the chieftain's cape should be.  This is just a placeholder, I swear.  I really should have just sculpted some fur onto it before I painted him.  Too late now.

---

The Third Doctor
28mm

Meanwhile, to give my eyes a rest, I thought I'd hit a 28mm project for a change.  This is yet another Black Tree Miniatures Doctor Who figure: John Pertwee's flamboyant, ruffles-wearing Third Doctor.  He's flagantly violating Edna Mode's rule: "No capes!"

So far so good...

My Huntarr seem a bit... metally so far, but I'm sure they'll come together in the end.  I'm trying for the same look as my previously painted Vacation Aliens (pictured).  Not, alas, aided at all by my rapidly expiring bottle of Brazen Brass.  And god help me if my Tin Bitz bites the dust.

Avast, me hearties!

L: "Vacation Alien", R: Huntarr

Star Wars Blog Extravaganza

I just came across this Star Wars mini blog via the Lead Adventures forum... "Scotty Speed" apparently has about six hundred SW miniatures, some WEG, some custom conversions and sculpts of his own!  He's a really good painter too:

I've painted the middle pilot figure myself.  Never seen the others before...

Sy Snootles and the Max Rebo Band, aww yeah!

 
Hmm yeah.  Nice!  Seriously worth checking out if you're even a quasi Star Wars fan.

Big Game

In touch with the ground
I'm on the hunt, I'm after you
Scent and a sound
I'm lost and I'm found
And I'm hungry like the wolf

Huntarr aliens
20 mm

So I finally acquired up some of Khurasan's "Huntarr".  These are technically 15mm scale but have been bulked up over their "Vacation Alien" cousins to be rather more intimidating!  There are a couple of sets available - typical lightly armed hunters, heavier rifle-toting shock troops and a chieftain.  I'll probably just paint these few guys up due to time constraints.

The obligatory size comparison, since pics of these figures are few and far between out there...

Danny Glover could still kick their butts, though.

Untoten Soldaten - finished

Nazi Zombies
15 mm
 

Corporal Bauer huddled inside the ruined bakery, listening for any hint the hideous creatures outside might have detected his presence.  The scratching and moaning continued to come from the street outside however, interspersed with wet sounds he was sure were his dead squadmates being dismembered and consumed.  After a day of heavy fighting, they had been caught by surprise, by what seemed to be a group of their own Waffen-SS... but empty-eyed men soaked with blood and stinking of death, attacking with bare hands and teeth.

A tiny scuffing noise made him look frantically around the debris-strewn room.  In one dark corner, a British soldier crouched, a heavy coating of grime and mud making him almost invisible.  Bauer spasmodically clutched his Mauser, but the Englishman only brought a finger to his lips, and with his other hand, held up a cloth bag bulging with heavy, egg-shaped objects.  Bauer stared for a moment, then glanced down at his own belt, where a single grenade remained...

---

It took me way too long to do these, but some days I feel like a zombie myself. I think I'll keep them to admire for a while before the go in the mail to my brother...  Anyway, you can check out a much, much more impressive 28mm WW2 zombie project, entitled "Don't Fraternize with Germans" at Anatoli's Game Room.  Amazing!

Nazi Z's in progress

The Obersturmführer:

The mooks:

So I guess they're Waffen-SS, for that extra dose of evil :O Finishing the leader (do zombies have leaders?) has definitely helped motivate me to work on the rank and file (all 5 of them, ooh!). So far so good, though I was hoping the uniforms would look "field grey" which is actually more green. Maybe I can fix that with the highlighting.

Untoten Soldaten

Zombie Nazis
15 mm

These guys will be a birthday gift for my brother, so if you are reading this M___, I guess you spoiled the surprise! Anyway, $11 got me a good handful of these from Rebel Minis, and they're going to be fun to paint. They're pretty cute little sculpts, I like the guy dragging his rifle and the missing-arm/carrying-an-arm pair (I based those two together).

The gift minis will have dirt-n-bushes bases to match M___'s Flames of War Panzergrenadier army... but if I ever get to paint some for myself, they'll have winter bases... Død Snø style :D

For my own future reference, FoW base sizes are:
Small: 1 1/4" x 1"
Medium: 2" x 1 1/4"
Large: 2 1/2" x 2"

Waterside weirdo

Cultist of the Octopus God
15 mm

God knows what the acolytes of the Tentacled One are up to down by the pier; it can't be anything but horrific.  Perhaps a shipment of ghastly idols and arcana, or doomed sacrificial victims being brought in from wherever they were kidnapped.  This guard is ready to skewer any interlopers with his sacred trident and send their remains to sleep with the Deep Ones.

A companion piece to these cuddly fellows.

Gun Crazy

Wasteland Gunslinger
15 mm

OK, after some delay, my last Khurasan post-apocalyptic figure!  This mysterious fellow with a big belt buckle and two pistols seems to be "all cowboy, no hat".  I guess thematic headgear is one more thing that's in short supply in the bleak, radioactive future.

And, the long-delayed group shot.  A pretty dangerous bunch...


Wharfside Cultist
15 mm 

Another little thing I've just started.  What's this sinister fellow doing down at the docks?  Some nefarious work to advance the return of the Old Ones, no doubt.

Removing his attached base was a fussy job with the rotary tool, but I wanted this to look a little different from the two I painted earlier.  The floating barrel is an Instant Mold cast of a Khurasan steel drum, not because I'm cheap but because sawing a metal one in half was surprisingly difficult.

Gun Molls

Wasteland Women
15 mm

The Apocalypse is a hard time to be a woman: sadly, the collapse of all civilization tends to strike a severe blow against gender equality, in addition to mutants trying to eat you. But between Gloria's cool hand on the 12-gauge, and Pippi's willingness to solve most problems with extreme aggression, it turns out the waste lands will have to have room for a feminine touch... or else!

Back in the saddle... maybe?

We're slowly settling into our new house, so I'd like to try and do a bit of painting in the wee hours.  I thought I'd start with two more of Khurasan's nifty little post-apocalyptic characters.

Wasteland Women
15 mm

 Two tough female survivors...  Packing heat and, apparently, hairspray.

Fun with Photoshop...

Just frigging around to unwind, after an evening spent painting... the new nursery.

Raul warily surveys his surroundings, the ruins of a once-great city.

Tex, a little off his head from eating some spoiled Fancy Feast, attacks an abandoned car while hallucinating that it's a "mutant red buffalo".

Psycho killers, qu'est-ce que c'est?

Fa fa fa, fa fa fa fa fa far better...


Wasteland Raiders
15 mm




In a world ravaged by war, and/or environmental collapse, alien invasion, sub-prime mortgage crisis etc, only the cunning and brutal can survive. Scavenge for gas and canned food, and count your bullets... save one for yourself when your luck runs out.

Gas being so precious, Tex doesn't always use a chainsaw in battle... but does keep it ready for when a psychological edge is required.  Raul del Oso wears the pelt of a giant bear he encountered in the ruins of San Diego, supposedly killing the beast using only his knife.


Run run run, run run run away!

A couple of small things

The move is getting close so these might be the last thing I post for a month or so. But I thought I'd get them done before it all gets packed up.

Xenomorph Eggs
15 mm scale



These are from Khurasan, sold as "Vespulid eggs" I believe. But we all know what they really are! Hard to see, but I added a bit of gooey alien stuff around the eggs for authenticity.

Riflething Drone
15 mm scale



A little UAV scratchbuilt from a 4 mm ball bearing, putty, and some plasticard.



Action shot...

Blog Roll: 15mm, aliens, and zombies, oh my!

Two sick parents plus one teething baby is not a household conducive to painting, but I'd like to post at least one more handful of things before we pack everything up to move to our new casa...

In the meantime, I thought I'd mention a handful of interesting blogs I've come across in the last week or so:

The Closet Gamer - 15mm sci-fi from Khurasan, Traveler and GZG. His latest posts are a bunch of nice LIGHTSABERS FOR EVERYONE conversions.

15mm Strife - more 15mm sci-fi including a nice Commander Shepard conversion.

Dawn of the Lead - Xenomorphs, zombies, and Blood Bowl.

Lucky Joe's Place - A LOT of zombies, and some nice terrain.

Last of the Things

Riflethings
15 mm



Finally done... And a group shot:

Khurasan, y yu torment me?

I literally JUST bought a handful of minis from Khurasan (none painted yet of course)... and they come out with more stuff I desire.



15 mm Deep Ones?! WANT. Just the thing to terrorize your troops on any expeditions that violate the Benthic Treaty. Of course, I bought some 25mm Deep Ones a while ago, and haven't painted them up yet...

Riflethings are almost done, by the way. So sloooow :P