And now for something COMPLETLY different (sortof)...

Hasslefree Miniatures this year are running a sculpting competition, where the winner will get cast and put into their range for sale. By entering, you will get in return a lead cast version of your sculpt.

Basically it is a really cheap/easy way to get some new miniatures for their line, but I put my cynical nature aside, and felt the need to share my Intellectual Property with them!

The miniature we were to work from was an armature, looking like this..

Which to mean, sort of screams the hyper-sexualised fantasy-type female that gamers are so ruthlessly mocked for- I mean she has high heels MOULDED ON for crying out loud!

So my plan was to take this armature and turn her into something far more realistic and modern. After some googling, I found this...

She is an Italian (I thought she was Belgian, but I was wrong! Thanks Panaldi for the correction) paratrooper, shown at a relaxed position, assault rifle, webbing, camo all looking cool. When I decided I wanted to sculpt something a bit more "real", this was exactly what I wanted.

Being the Anglophile that I am, she had to change nationality to British, plus had to change her assault rifle to being an SA-80. Most certainly had to keep the beret too!

It was the first sculpting I have ever done, beyond making a canvas tarp or filling a gap on a model, and this is how it has turned out.

The photos make it look a whole lot less "neat" than I remember it being, but that is my finished product!

I would tell you to all go off and vote for mine, but really, you should look at the other entrants and vote for the one which you like- after all then you will be able to buy it!

You can view the others on facebook or on forum of doom (no link yet, apparently they will be up at some point).

Moderns game tonight, trying out an improved version of the mission Adam and I played last week.

CP

Neo-Noir Zombie Hunting

At present, along with the other painting I am doing for Historicals and Lord of the Rings, I have been slowly working away at a few more Zombie Hunters and the Zombies themselves. My plan is to have ten or so survivors to give the players a choice of who to run around as. I am going to have a few of the standard Zombie Hunter stereotypes, a few movie homages (like Sgt Angel) and then a few things which I think will be cool.

This latest one is Marv from the Sin City series of comic books. I remember getting the whole series of Sin City out from the Library, reading it, rereading it and then getting fined for not taking it back. The most iconic character from those comics had to be Marv. Not known for his intelligence, he is more brutal in his belligerance. With an unquestioning sense of nobility on one hand, and on the other hand he is quick to use the most cruel and horrifying form of torture without a second thought! He is just such a lovely, flawed hero, which makes him so appealing.


See, appealing!


Appealing!

Inspired somewhat by Curt's foray into Grey-scale painting, I simply had to buy this miniature when I saw it for sale at Hasslefree, and have a crack at painting him up like he would be in the comics. I chose a limited colour palette, choosing that the only colour on the piece would be the belt buckle (gold) and the blood on the ground.

So using various shades of grey, and my usual black washes, I came up with this.





I am pretty happy with how he turned out, my matt varnish has left him still a touch shiny, but overall he is pretty cool I think!

This brings my total of Zombie Hunters up to four, but they don't have any Zombies yet to fight. Perhaps I should finish them....

Right now am working on some Minas Tirith Lotr troops to use for SAGA, I have challenged Jamie to a game once he writes their battleboard!

CP

28mm Zombie Hunters

My Southcon fleet has been finished, but Spartan have taken me up on my offer of putting some of my doodles and random writings for their own website. So, the fleet will be up on there soon, so I apologize but you will have to wait!

To distract you then from the fact that I am not showing off the French just yet, here are some Zombie Hunters from Hasslefree Miniatures that I finished up last night.



These two guys, are obviously based off of these two guys...



Once I saw that Hasslefree sold these minis, I just knew I had to have them! One of my favourite movies, represented in 28mm? Perfect. Here they are close up.





The bases were made from Grey Stuff (my sculpting material of choice),carved into having some paving stone-esque designs, with some spent shotgun shells from a cut up paper clip. Finishing touches are the blood stains, simply a dry brush of a dark red, then smudged with my finger.

The third Z-Hunter is a wonderfully stereotypical fire axe wielding maniac!



I had to use the flash, otherwise you would have seen none of the detail! This guy has some sweet cammies. The axe, is a traditional fire axe, borrowed from an abandoned fire truck probably! He has a jacket borrowed off of some unfortunate member of the CDC (Centre for Disease Control), or maybe, just maybe he was one of the ones tasked with saving the world from the disease in the first place?



So, my plan is to buy some of the Wargames Factory zombies, a couple more Z Hunters and use the Iron Ivan (No More Room in Hell) rules for some Zombie Skirmishes.

But, that is off in the future, with the French finished it is time for me to decide what is next up on my painting table. Romans? 28mm Moderns? 28mm WW2? Greeks? Flames of War?

No idea. Tune back in later in the week, I might have made a decision. Or maybe not. But something will be here.....

CP