Happy Halloween!

Zomtober 2013 - post #5

Although the Zed filled event that was 'Zomtober 2013' has officially come to an end, it seemed churlish not to squeeze in one more zombie related post to mark 'All Hallows' Eve', especially when you consider my choice of miniatures for the post.

These two are from 'Grekwood Miniatures', which have a wonderfully entertaining range of Zombies that just love to dress up!  I had hoped to get all four of the costumed cadavers that I'd ordered done for the day, but sadly 'stuff' conspired to reduce my tally by half.

That said, I couldn't resist just a little conversion to the chap in the'Mummy' costume by adding a trailing bandage, fashioned from a strip of masking tape; in addition the 'Ghost' was pinned to a rather splendid 'Fenris Games' base to tie in with my other shufflers.

I have to say that they were a delight to work on, requiring only the minimal of cleaning up; this coupled with outstanding customer service means that I will no doubt be back to pick up some more before too long.

So once again Halloween sees yours truly wrist deep in pumpkin flesh as I try to fashion something 'spooky' on the front of the 'Saintly Mrs Awdry's' squash (see above for this year's effort) in readiness for tonight's ceaseless door knocking by the ferrel children of the village.   That said, my willingness to embrace this tradition, so highly regarded by our American brethren, is a small price to pay if it means I can smuggle chocolate 'contraband' into Awdry Towers - 

Trick or Treat?

A Clown with the horn!

Zomtober 2013 - post #4

So the end of 'Zomtober 2013' is upon us and here, then, is my final entry.*  Bubo the clown is another fine sculpt from those good people at 'Tengu Miniatures' and a delight to work on.  Again, another two piece sculpt, this time the lower left arm, holding the horn needs to be attached and positioned according to taste.

Bubo's particularly unpleasant skin condition certainly marks him out as one of the damned, but hearing that infernal horn sounding as he shuffles forward towards you might certainly rank up the fear factor! 

Finally a group shot of what has been achieved over the month; 'Zomtober 2013' has proved to be a wonderful diversion and I just want to thank 'Pulp Citizen' for coordinating this year's madness.  It has been lovely to follow the exploits of the others taking part and I look forward to next year!

* I hope to have a Zombie related Halloween post later in the week!

300 Followers!

Just the briefest of posts to acknowledge that '28mm Victorian Warfare' has amassed three hundred followers.  This of course is such a thrill and I am extremely flattered that so many take the time to peruse these oft rambling pages.  Those of you that comment are perhaps most responsible for my continued, inane dribbling as the encouragement that you offer is such a boon to my hobby progress.

A heartfelt thank you to one and all.

If perchance you have followed and I haven't managed to find you then please feel free to list your blog  in the comments section and I shall endeavour to track you down!

Addendum:

Since I started putting this post together we are now at 301 followers!  Welcome aboard Maj. Diz Aster.

Send in the Clowns

 Zomtober 2013 - post #3

Isn't it rich?

Are we a pair?

Me here at last on the ground,

You in mid-air.

Send in the clowns.

A somewhat rushed, Zomtober post #3 sees these stunning sculpts from 'Tengu Miniatures' rise and join the ranks of the undead.  Essentially the same design they come with a different right arm, head and tie to allow for a variety of poses.  When it came to the painting I drew inspiration from a variety of sources, for example the chap with the bow tie was based on the zombie clown that makes an appearance in the climatic scenes of the wonderful 'Zombieland' as for his companion, well let's just call him 'Donald' and assume he had a dubious Scottish ancestry! 

I'm afraid, I've fallen behind somewhat on replying to comments and have missed a great many posts on the erstwhile blogs that I follow; fortunately there is some respite in sight and an opportunity to catch up once again. 

Mars Attcks Kickstarter

Yes, it's true, I've finally succumbed to the phenomenon that is Kickstarter, the world's largest funding platform for creative projects.  I'd long been aware of many wonderful ideas that have been brought to fruition by crowd funding and still regret not backing the 'Empire of the Dead' when I had the chance so as Kickstarters go, 'Mars Attacks' was always going to cause me problems!  Fantasy, Science Fiction fun based, initially, on the Topps trading card series and later comic books, 'Mars Attacks - The Miniatures Game' really caught my imagination and when I heard that it was going to be produced at my favoured 28mm scale, I was in! 

Starting on the 4th October 2013, the project made its target in a day and is currently reaching new goals even as I write this.  Unquestionably another diversion, but it does look great fun and fun is exactly what I want my gaming to be all about.  

So clearly I want you all to go along and pledge some of your own money, join in the fun and help me to reap even more benefits - go on you know you want to; just click the pretty picture on the right side bar!

Creeping Crawler

Zomtober 2013 - post #2

Just making the week two deadline, these are the last zombies from my ‘Studio Miniatures’ pack.  As with the previous entry one has been pinned to a rather lovely ‘Fenris Games’ base, while the ‘crawler’ has had sand added to try to give the impression of tarmac.  

The rest of the pack can be found at:

Why did the Chicken cross the road?

Tea at Granny's?  

The Dead don't Dance!

 Don't forget to check in on the other collaborators by clicking the 'Zomtober 2013' button at the top of the page.

To the Barricades!

As the school bell rings out across the grounds most pupils eagerly stuff their satchels with the paraphernalia required for the next lesson, but alas no more.  Now the pupils of St. Trinians are more used to sharpening stakes than the ubiquitous HB pencil and the tolling of the mid morning bell is a call to arms; an advance warning of an impending attack from a migrating hoard of undead.  

Of course defences were hurriedly erected, but what did those denizens of England’s most notorious school for girls use, I hear you say?  Well pretty much everything it would seem including packing crates, classroom furniture, barrels and pallets.  When these were exhausted the dungeons were raided for the girls’ trunks, tuck boxes and vanity cases – oh necessity calls when the undead drive!

Another one of those oh so distracting, but oh so fun projects has finally come to fruition.  Once again the proposed '7ombieTV' scenario, now loosely entitled, 'Battle of the Lower Hockey Pitch', calls for defences that have to be maintained by the pupils as the undead surge forward.  This could simply be represented with the appropriate tokens, but with the fortified cricket pavilion and armour plated school bus already completed, I thought it would be quite fun to have a couple of additional bespoke pieces on the board.

The first is made of all sorts of oddments, many from the wonderful 'Fenris Games', including the ruptured oil drum, pallets and park bench.  These combined with other bits and pieces to form part of the barricades.  It is funny how the smallest things seem to completely absorb me, how to represent the toxic substance oozing from the ruptured barrel being a case in point - in the end lashings of UHU glue and fluorescent green paint were the order of the day, but these sidesteps are often what hold the most charm for me.

 

  

The other stand was constructed entirely from the lovingly crafted resin goodness purchased from the wonderful ‘Slug Industries’.  This father and son ‘cottage’ industry conceived by 6MilPhil and the boy Slug has produced some wonderful terrain pieces to date* and these certainly rank as some of their best.  Catalogued as ‘luggage’ they were just perfect to represent the girls’ hastily constructed barricades and a wonderful excuse to paint leopard print and crack open the pink paint!  

Aware that I might still be preparing for this game come the next ice age, I resisted the temptation to make up any additional stands instead inveigling the assistance of ‘4Grounds’ barbed wire road blocks.  By comparison these proved a doddle to put together and will appear as they are without any additional paintwork – provided of course that I actually get round to rolling the dice in anger! 

*The Mighty Motorhome for one!

The Dead don't Dance!

Zomtober 2013 - post #1

I had been studiously ignoring the mournful groans emanating from the far corner of the painting queue until the call to arms that is 'Zomtober 2013'!  

  These two additions to my hoard of undead seemed to lack some of the character of the previous miniatures; at first glance the sculpts appeared confusing and unnecessarily fussy, but as the layers of paint were applied the individuality of each piece seemed to emerge.  Before long, I found myself, once again, overindulging with the paintjob for these shambling sacks of sorrowfulness, a now far too familiar trait!

Both from the wonderful 'Studio Miniatures' and I hope to have the final two completed by next week.  It would seem that the undead have risen in droves across the land and further afield so if you would like to see what the other collaborators are up to then click the 'Zomtober 2013' button at the top of the page.

The Pavilion!

This particular piece of scenery has been a long time in the making as it was initially bought as a farmhouse for my New Zealand Wars collection a couple of years ago.  As with a good many of my fanciful ideas it was soon shelved and was quietly gathering dust until a chance reading of the proposed 7ombieTV scenario revealed the need for a changing room; well perhaps not a changing room, but how about a cricket pavilion, thought I?  

Those that have enjoyed the love of our great sport, particularly when played at village level will, I hope, instantly recognise this bastion of all things English.  Perhaps not unlike a bone fide pavilion it was clear that I needed to add a few modifications to the start kindly provided by the Perry brothers and so the raiding of the bits’ box began in earnest.  

The basic timber framed building would work well as it was and fortunately the roof is cast to resemble tiles, so I instantly imagined these as the red sussex roofing slates that are prevalent in this area.  I still felt that I needed to give it that quaint look often associated with these structures and to that end some cut down picket fencing was fastened to the front at the perfect height to put your feet on while waiting to go into bat.  

I did consider removing the chimney stack as this seemed a little grand for a pavilion, but decided that it might prove a job to far and so it was left, but with the addition of a central heating exhaust and television aerial as a nod to modernity.  

Clearly the days of playing cricket or lacrosse are fast dwindling from the minds of the girls, their days devoted to nothing more than survival and so defence was the order of the day.  Windows have been boarded up and the back door has been secured with corrugated iron sheets.  Those that have played cricket will no doubt be aware that dodging rain showers can be important, particularly at the start of the season and so guttering was installed, collecting the rainwater in a rusty old water butt, although how successful this will be is in doubt given the amount of weeds growing in the gutter.

  

With a nod to the Englishness of it all, the bunting, again from the talented 'Jesse Bunting', is reinstalled this time in a rather fetching red, white and blue.  This was enhanced with the addition of the ubiquitous ‘Keep Calm’ poster, but sadly it would appear that the fourth former sent to paste it to the wall has been snatched mid posting!   The ram’s skull is a nod to the ferocity of the girls and acts as a talisman against the undead; even the crafty fox is wary of staying too long within its vicinity!

This has proved to be a wonderful distraction and I’m afraid to say rather took over my hobby time as I kept finding new things to add.  It was great fun seeing it on the board as I edge, albeit painfully slowly, towards the proposed game.  

As I was searching for ideas for my pavilion I stumbled across Zabadak's alternative version of both the farmhouse and the barn.  What I love here is that he has considered the interior as a playing area and furnished them accordingly with exquisite detail.  

Although, I haven’t considered adding interior detail myself at this juncture seeing Zabadak's did stop me gluing on the roof so the option is still there and of course I can now illuminate it for those spooky night games!

Now I just need to prep some zombies to paint this weekend!  Don't forget to click the 'Zomtober' button to see how the rest of the chaps are getting on with the challenge.