28mm Heaven: 28mm Horror Zombies

Showing posts with label 28mm Horror Zombies. Show all posts

Monday, 25 November 2013

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - Wargame Video 4

Wargames video 4 from the Demo Day.
Not shot by me.

The Kickstarter is now over £230k.. and new Wargamer Pledge Levels have been added, giving you the rule book and add-ons. Not the box set, but you still get the freebies.

So if you just want to wargame it, and not play the board game. Then Prodos have listened!

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - Wargame Video 3

Wargames video 3 from Demo day.
Not shot by me.

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - Wargame Video 1

Wargames Video 1 From Demo Day.
Not shot by me.

Sunday, 24 November 2013

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - Comments by Prodos on the KS

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - A few more photos from the Demo Day

A few more photos:

Photos from Demo Day by Prodos. Not taken by me.

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - Wargame Video

A video of a game played at the Demo day on Saturday.

Not shot by me.

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - Accounts of the Demo Day.

Here are some links to other peoples accounts of the demo day and the rule and boardgame play.

http://bogend.simplesite.com/301331545

and

Some more photos from the demo day!

Just a few more shots from the day taken by others.

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - Predalians?

Predaliens...???

https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/projects/616921/posts/672240/image-339682-full.jpg

Nice comparison shot though..

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - Game Play Video 2

Shot on Saturday. Part 2 of 2. Not shot by me.

These apparently were level 1 predators in the games. They go up to level 5 from the screen shots of the rule book and stat cards shown on the kickstarter.

Which is here: Prodos Alien Vs Predator The Miniatures Game - Kickstarter

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - Game Play Video 1

Shot on Saturday. Part 1 of Part 2. Not shot be me.

Saturday, 23 November 2013

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - Photos.

Here are some photos from the demo day held today taken by Jason Barlow.
His blog is here: http://jasonbarlowartist.wordpress.com/

These are looking stunning.
Very pleased I am backing this Kickstarter now.

Edit - ohh my lord.. I thought that was the warrior compared to infant aliens.. NOPE.. that is an infant compared to the stalkers.. that means the warrior is much bigger. ohhhh. Defnitely glad I backed this now. One to get for sure!

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter

Well, been a while since I did an update.
So here goes.

AVP.. that classic PC game, Comic and fan fiction genre. Always loved by many a sci-fi geek or 80's child who was scared shed-less by the black xenomorph.

Well it seems Prodos have the right from Fox and are nearing the end of their Kickstarter.

Only 5 days to go!

So here are some links.

Alien Vs Predator The Miniatures Game by Prodos Kickstarter

Some photos from the demo day they are holding today (23/11/2013).
http://jasonbarlowartist.wordpress.com/

So, it basically comes in two flavours the game.
A space hulk style board game and a Miniatures Wargame.

The Kickstarter miniatures will be uniques, as once this goes into production, they will be different poses and in basic plastic. Not the polyeurathene resin that the KS will be.

Currently the project is way past its funding levels and doing quite well.
Hopefully a last 48hour surge will strike, as per usual and the project will get to unlock the queen.
But fear not, even if it is not unlocked, Prodos have said already, it will be released in the future.

The box sets are nice. And I have had personal assurance the card stock is the same quality and thickness as the Third Edition Spacehulk, which frankly was quite lovely.

So do have a good look at the write up of the demo day on Jason Barlow's blog linked above.

And if it is your cup of tea, why not give it some support. I can already see this Ltd Edition sets making several hundred on evil bay and other auction sites once the KS is over! The figures will also make silly prices, as the later ones will be plastics.

Personally I will be hanging on to mine, as its always a great game and one I think every kid in the world who has seen the film would love to have a go at, at some stage!

Smart guns ahoy!! If it bleeds, we can kill it!

Oh and I should also say,, wow.. proper Predator Figures! I mean, no look alikes here. These are all licensed by FOX films. So are going to be stunning.

Oh and there is a lot more to come!

Sunday, 10 February 2013

No More Room In Hell - Zombie Rules by Iron Ivan Games

Well, as many of you will know. I have a long term zombie horde of 28mm miniatures sitting on my painting table currently gathering dust errr yeh less of that for now.

Anyhow.. with the eventual aim of getting them onto the table. I have been looking at rules options.
Lots out there. Some commercial and some free sets on freewargamesrules website.

Lots of choice. AR:SE is a good set. Simple and fast to play.
But I like a little more of a RPG type options in terms of getting better and interactions with scenery.
Ambush Z is ok, but again a rule set that has a particular style and one I didn't hit it off with.

So, when I spotted No More Room In Hell being offered for £7.50 on a wargames store website. I thought it worth the risk.

So far I have had a quick flick through. Its not too bad. A small glimmer of hope is alight at the end of the proverbial zombie infested tunnel. So now looking forward to giving it a try and seeing what I think.

I will do a full write up as and when I get the chance to play a few games.

For now I can only comment on the art/binding/quality. For the usual £20 price it can be got for.. NOPE!. The book has a colour cover but is grey scale. It is thin card cover with stapled half fold spine. Now a few colour photos would be nice, but mostly a better more sturdy binding would be more important and I think lets it down a little.

That said, if you look after your books and are not harsh of them, it should last. However if you having gaming friends who insist on wrestling their way through a book over and over, chances are after a season or two of gaming it may to start shedding pages.

As for the content, the layout is fairly logical and I commend Iron Ivan games for that approach, as frankly Ambush Alley/Osprey and other rules companies of late seem to have lost the "user-bility" factor or even any thoughts of proof reading and seem to happily miss out content like tables?

Ok before I go off on a rant about a certain rule set that wound me up. I should say, may be I am being a little high in expectations from Iron Ivan, games given they are a small company. And they certainly seem to have produced a much better rule book than the AA/Osprey debarcles of late. So that is a plus mark in their favour.

On the other hand, getting hold of there rules in this country is tough!
Iron Ivan don't do all their rules in PDF option, and searching the UK gaming stores shows few stocking them.

Their WW2 rule set, has been around a while and they have a good spread of expantions and other bits in their catalogue.

So for now.. I wait to play it and see. More to follow!

Sunday, 25 November 2012

I'm alive! Well sort of..

Hi Folks,
Firstly another apology about the lack of postings of late. New job has meant a sudden and dramatic decrease in spare time and energy levels.

So.. well an update.. errr!

1) Zombies project = stalled..
2) Vietnam Project = stalled..
mmmm I spy a trend!

3) Mongoose Starship Troopers Project = hmmm can you guess?? ..... well actually its moved on a little. Only a little mind, but I have made some progress.. or more precisely, some more purchases!

I found a box each of cougar and grizzly power armoured suits via the personal collection of a local gamer. And then back in Oct an impulse buy got me some painted figures, though sadly these took a battering in the post, and so are now in need of repairs before being able to get onto the table. :(

It is scant progress admittedly but it is at least some progress.

As an aside, I am about to run a 40k campaign for 8 players in our club. I am just umpiring for them. The sides have been picked and each player starts with a 2000pts force.

First session of planning and first campaign turns should take place in early December and games to follow as and when. I will try and get a general over view of the info as the campaign goes along.

So.. going back to zombies quickly!

Well, its going to be interesting to see at some point.. I haven't read the book, but what I can gather from other comments else where on the net, is that the film only loosely follows the book.

So time shall tell how good it is.. filmed up in Glasgow, for some of the city and battle of Yonkers scenes, apparently.

Saturday, 11 August 2012

Zombies, clutter and "that dreadful decision"

Hi Folks, (What follows may be some waffle, so apologies now) Zombies

Well, yesterday we actually had some sunshine. Infact today is not too bad either.

So, having had a very crap day yesterday, I decided that I would spend some time in the afternoon, about 30 minutes to be precise, and take advantage of the sunshine to undercoat some figures.

I usually spray undercoat figures, in batches of around 20 to 30, using my spray booth. Thought the booth is designed to do this, the over spray quickly clogs up the filter and the fan hasn't quite got the umph needed to draw all the over spray away, so I still tend to wear a filter mask.

So, given the fact the sun was out. I nipped out side, and began operation zombie spray!
The net effort being to get all my remaining zombie 28mm figures undercoated. This was slightly delayed by the necessity to actually dust the miniatures as they had been sat on the shelf far too long and got covered in dust.

Once that was done, I quickly went through what was left of can of white GW primer out side on the drive. Thankfully there was a constant wind, so was actually able to stand up wind and spray in safety. Fine particulates and lungs do not mix well.. so spraying, sanding (resin and MDF in particular) etc are best done with a mask or out side in a well ventilated area.

Anyhow.. zombies done! Well undercoated. I shall now start the speed painting of these to get them onto the table. They have been a stalled project for far too long. And as they are ready, based and only needed painting I have decided they are the first to knock off on the list. Also gives me a ready to go game once done.

Clutter

Whilst I was digging out the large stash of zombies, I was marvelling at the huge piles of clutter in my painting room. Infact, too much! Correction.. waaaaaay, too blooming much! Excuse my french.

Quite seriously, its now gotten to a rediculous level of clutter. If it is not piles of paper work (I accumulate those with speed, due to other hobby activities and pastimes), its parts of projects or RPG books. That influx rate, coupled with my gaming horder gene = clutter!

So, I had a bit of clear up for an hour or two today and barely scratched the surface! So this is another operation that shall need to be returned too. Whilst I was doing it thought, I started to look at my collection of minis and thinks of some of the un-finished or unstarted projects sitting in the wings waiting their turn!

"That dreadful decision"

All miniature wargamers are hoarders. I have yet to meet one who isn't. If you don't think you are a hoarder, just ask your self how many miniature periods/scale/rule sets you have, and how many are "waiting to be finished" or " nearly finished" or even waiting to be started.. ??

Be honest now.. !!

Anyhow, for me I have a few to say the least, I was going to list them, but then decided that frankly it would have only depressed me further. But the realisation dawned.
I game once a week (though occasionally at a weekend, now and then through the year). You can only play one game at a time. And I have far too many figures sitting waiting to be painted.
Something has to give! Yes, its time to rationalise i have to admit. Not just that I have too many projects, but the fact I am running out of space. Part of the clutter issue has been the boxes for this and that, that related to other projects sitting in places they shouldn't due to a lack of space.

So yes, I am going to have to sort the clutter out. And that may mean some figures being sold. I get great ideas in my head about what periods/battles/systems I was play and then tend to hunt down figures etc, then something else comesa long and the "oh shiny" syndrome kicks in with avengance and so other projects fall by the way side.

So yes it is time to be cruel and cut back! I cannot actually believe I am saying that, but then the reality is, I could barely move in my painting room, infact I coldn't actually paint due to the piles of things kicking around.

I am starting to admire that rare breed of gamer who only plays 2 or 3 systems and thats it. How do they do it?

So, yes, its time to review the troops and apply some cut backs! So wish me luck!

Thursday, 9 August 2012

How miniatures are born! Video guide.

Spotted this on you tube.

A video guide covering the basics of pewter miniature making and casting.

Stephen Oates who runs "The Baggage Train" is a club member and has often explained some of the difficulties of making and casting figures. But it was nice to see the process in motion and the way at least this chap goes about it.

And here is a guide on how he makes the actual moulds..

Its good to see how it all happes. And how our nice shiny figures are made! :)

Saturday, 21 January 2012

Let the Zombie Horde Begin - Part 3b Painting begins.

I have managed to get some more work done on the first batch of zombies.. the bases are now done, and more importantly the gore is added and they have had a wash.
So what do you think?

Gore and bases done! Only varnish left to go!

The gore was done with three colours of red.. a dark, a middle and a bright red. The burnt cadmium was the dark. Basic Red was the middle and the fresh blood was Game Colour blood. This latter is pretty bright and without a wash over the top, is too bright I think.

I started with burnt cadmium and covered lower edges of wounds and did some blood marks on clothing. I wanted them to look gory but not over done. I think making a figure look bloodied is an art. A lot of people get too heavy with the blood, and they forget dried blood looks almost black. For a first attempt, and with no previous work to go on, I am pretty happy with the look so far.

Close up the bloody and gore and wounds.

More blood and gore.. the light is making the red a little bright.

Those these were cheap figures, the details comes alive with paint on.

The detailing may be softer on VFM figs, compared to others, But you find more as you get painting.

So you can see the group as a whole. The bases were done with my usual three tone system. A dark, a middle and a light. The dark base colour is bases on to completely cover the base. The middle tone goes on with a moderate dry brush. The lighter tine then goes on last with a light brybrush. I chose the grey, as usually I go with brown and I use Silfor Tufts to detail the bases. But I decided the grey worked well and as often these will be in a modern environment, (when I make the buildings, that is! ) I went with grey. Also I think I made do my hero's and survivors with brown bases. That was its easy to tell them apart. But time will tell.

First 15 zeds ready to roll into the varnish shop!

Zombie Dogs, bases dones the same way.

As you can see I have done the zombie dog bases the same way. I could get some off white and pick out a few individual stones on the bases, to break them up a bit, but give the time and number (still over 100 zombies to go!) its a lot of work. I will see.

The final step will be a gloss coat of varnish as a protective layer. Maybe two coats. As I suspect these figures will get a lot of handling. Then a matt varnish over the top to get rid of the shine!

I see a lot of people using matt only varnish and frankly its a waste of time. Matt varnish will not protect your figure. It will give it a nice flat look and add thin layer, but it is a thin layer. You need a sealing gloss varnish to protect your figures.

Note, the other advantage of doing a gloss layer followed by a matt layer, is as the matt varnish wears away, you will see you figures getting shiny. When that happens, its time for another coat of matt varnish. Before the varnish layer is completely worn away.

Warning - The following may come across a bit patronising!

A tip with varnish. Many people get a white milky look! And scream "nuts" or words to that effect and swear they are not varnishing their figures ever again..

There are a couple of reasons why this happens.;
1). Read the instructions, I don't mean just look at them, I mean follow them. If it says shake the can for 2-3minutes. It means it. Get a watch, and time it. Shake like hell. Your arm and wrist will ache! If they don't you haven't shaken the can enough! The propellant chemicals and adhesives chemicals will not be fully mixed. That means you get cloudy looking finish.

2). Peas - No not the green things you eat. Nearly every good quality can of undercoat, varnish or lacquer has a metal "pea" in the bottom. If the can has stood in the same place un moved for a long time. This gets stuck on the bottom of the can. You need to bang it to free it. This can take a serious clout. Be careful, don't hit it on or with anything sharp or the obvious will happen. But if you don't hear and feel that pea, rattle, then you will never get a proper mix of propellant and varnish. See note 1). It can take several bangs and some serious hard ones to get the pea loose.

3). Atmospherics. Yes, atmospherics. what??? I hear you scream.. two things.. humidity and dust! Varnishes, don't react well to humidity, spray one in a damp atmosphere, the water vapour in the air sticks too and is trapped in the varnish as it settles on the figures. This gives you a cloudy finish! It also effects the life of the varnish.
Like wise with dust. The fine spray of particulate varnish, is electro statically charged as it turns into an aerosol, as it leaves the can. That charge, makes it attract dust. So try and make sure you spray and leave you figures to dry in a dust free place. (This is the one thing I struggle with, majorly, its frustrating, but my extrator helps, and with the fumes).

4). Coats, No not 1970s Afghans with furry collars.. ;) I am talking applications and layers. Apply your first coat. Apply it in short bursts, don't apply it too heavy. Work with smooth sweeping motions, don't hover over a single target or you will over dose it! If the coat/layer is too thick! It will go cloudy and look horrid. Better to under - coat it, and apply several thin layers. BUT, ensure its dry between applications. If you put another layer over a curing layer, the chemical reaction of the base layer will effect the second upper coat. The volatiles in the lower layer won't beable to escape, and will effect the second layer!
That leads to a white milky look or can lead to bubbling in the varnish.

5). Too much Matt - Yep, matt varnish, when over applied, goes satin and can even go glossy. It doesn't take a lot of Matt varnish to kill the shine. So make sure you go lightly.
Putting Matt varnish over a gloss when the gloss is not fully dry is another cause of milkyness.

6). Stick to same brand - I personally rate the HMG varnish sold by Figures in Comfort and some other retailers. I like it. It works. I use both the Matt and the Gloss. However if you are tempted to mix manufacturers, heed the following. Different makers, use different combinations and cocktails of chemicals and putting one over another may lead to a variety of issues. Firstly, none setting. Secondly milkyness. Thirdaly peeling in extreme cases. And some cheap chinese varnishes use some pretty horrendous banned chemicals that can react and catch fire, according to an artical in a train magazine, a friend of mine told me about.

So, you are now fully aware, well at least aware of some of the issues that I know of or have come across with varnishes!

Ok, in all scineretly I hope the above is handy and informative! Despite all that above, it is very much worth varnishing your figures. They will last a lot longer. And there is nothing worse than half way through a game, reaching for a figure, only to notice a chip in your fabulous paint job, which just spoils the enjoyment of the game!

So, anyhow.. that 20 something zombie dogs and 15 human zombies done! (with exception of varnish). To save on varnish I will do them in batches and so these first sets of figures will get put aside and I have to wait for a dry none rainy (humidity) day.

So.. whats next.. I hear the my masses of followers ask in eagernes.. ?? errr. hmm well 15mm sci-fi..

Only kidding! My club mates are busily amassing some serious volume of 15mm scifi, from various sources and had a great looking game last week at the club. It looked really good. And yes I would be tempted if I hadn't already got a mass of stuff and my current projects on the go!

So, the next step is to de-mount the figures from the 6" nails they are on and look to getting the next lot mounted and undercoated.

I see VFM have a new set of additions out to their horde range! Going by a post on their blog too. And thus this week I will be following the mantra of " I must not buy more zombies, I must not buy more zombies..!"

Hope you like the look of the ones above. And I will keep you update with the progress of the next lot. I need to get a few more "ordinary, colours". My paint collections are pretty military in nature and I need a few more shades of colours and ideas, before I wind up with too much of one colour in the horde.

Not I have the gore and bases colours sorted out, I hope I can crack on with them.

Please stay tuned for the next update.

Thursday, 12 January 2012

Let the Zombie Horde Begin - Part 3a Painting begins.

I thought I would post a quick update on the horde. I managed a little painting over the holidays. Not quite as much as I had hoped, but that always seems to be the way with painting miniatures. You never quite seem to get as many done or quite as far with a figure as you would like in the given time.

Anyhow, here are the latest shots. All of the first two sets of zombie dogs are now painted (excluding bases). I have also started on my first batch of the VFM zombie figures. The first 15 are coming along nicely as I hope you can see.

The first 15 zombies progressing along nicely.

The first 15, still some work to go. But taking shape.

The second set of zombie dogs, the pink ones from Part3, now done.

The other side, I really like the way these came out. Still have the bases to go.

So as you can see they are progressing. The second batch of dogs from Part 3 (the pink ones) are now all looking rather gruesome! The quick dark grey dry brush, with a pick out of the bones has given them a kind of almost burnt / charred flesh look.. grizzly!

Once the first set of 15 zombies are done, I will move onto the basing. The skin tone is looking good on the zombies. I went with stone grey. It is an almost greenish grey without being too green. I aim to give each figure a wash of newton&winsor nut brown ink, before the are done. This will change the tones a little.

I still have the "gore" to do and wounds on on the zombies. Its easy to splash on red paint, but often it looks a little too bright for my taste.. So some experimenting here shall be needed. But so far, so good. Am pleased. I just wish I could get more done faster..lol.

These will definitely not be my finest work. Simple because having so many do to, and they are a "mass" collection, there is no need. I suspect the survivors shall be hosing them down in their hundreds so to speak. But I still want them to look good. I just won't be putting them in the display cabinet.

Right, back to painting I think!

Wednesday, 28 December 2011

Let the Zombie Horde Begin - Part 3 Painting begins.

So having based all (or so I thought, see previous post) of my zombies, I went ahead and undercoated a the first batch. I have taken, since doing some Empress moderns, to mounting my figures on 6" nails. I found it easier to hold the model and more comfortable. And more stable as it gives the model more weight. I use hot glue, but have found this can sometimes need re-doing. With these zombies, I have experimented and tabbed a couple down with some white scenery glue. I am hoping the bond, won't be too strong to pop off. And a quick clean up with a razor blade should remove any glue from the nail head and the coin base.

Here are the first set of zombies. I have gone with a white undercoat for now, as I want to try and keep them bright and colourful, or as much as I can. I find black can darken things a little too much. Also the VFM figures don't have vast amounts of deep detailing where leaving black in the recesses can give nice shadows. I am going to be experimenting with skin tones and colours for a bit I suspect. So I decided to get a bit of progress on the zombie dogs.

First batch of zombies to be undercoated.

Having mounted and undercoated what I thought to be all the zombie dogs. I wanted to get a bloody/resident evil type feel to them. So I began with a white undercoat and a simple watery red paint wash. Put on quite heavy. Above and below show how effective the simple one colour scheme can be.

The effect with only a single red paint wash over the undercoat.

Having been quite pleased with that, I decided to give a few a simple brown leather, dry brush, or actually more of a wet brush really. I tend used a done white to pick out a few of the obvious bones, like the shoulder blades, the ribs and leg bones, oh and the eyes. (All vallejo game colours or model colour paints).

I think these are great figures for the price..

Sorry this is a bit dark but you can see the simple effect. I think they look pretty good. I have done 15 in this leather brown/tan type finish. And think I will do some more in a dark grey nearly black and maybe some lighter tan. The three colour schemes should hopefully break up the monotony of the single pose.

White undercoat, red wash, leather brown dry brush, and done white pick out of bones! Simple really!

The zombie bogs.. missing about 13 that managed to some how escape and not get based yet.. grrr!

So there they are,, what do you think?

Tuesday, 27 December 2011

Sneaky zombie dogs.. keep your eyes on them..

Well, there I was admiring my nearly undercoated zombie dogs, and thinking..to myself.. the number didn't seem right.. hmm.. why..?

Because, 13 of them had managed to sneak off the painting table and into a box and avoid being based.. grrrr!

Well, the first zombie dogs are now very red and very evil looking, but not quite the effect I want. I apologies for no photos yet, but more will follow once I have finished playing with colour schemes and I have got the rest of the pack rounded up, stuck down and textured, then undercoated and up to speed with the rest..

So, be warned.. you have to keep an eye on these sneaky zombie dogs!