S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost to the Zone

[stone-cold-lead]

Great stuff here, especially the vehicles. Love the Land Rover but the rusting on the other vehicles is excellent.

[Wyrmalla]

Oh hell, what else did I forget to post here? Bugger.

Heh, well time to post the rest of what I've been up to. What? ...I forget some times.

A Controller who in no way looks like a rapper moving to a beat. Nope.



He's made from a Wargames Factory zombie. No, I'm not quite at the stage of having more models made from those zombies than I do have ones which are actually serving as zombies. ...Getting there though.

Hmn, where's a slurping sound effect when you need one? A Bloodsucker too, and would you believe it? Its made on a Wargames Factory zombie.



Plus the ever present Blind Dogs. These are some of Farmer Maggot's from the Games Workshop Lord of the Rings license (probably out of production by now). I just removed their ears and collars.



The models could be better, and so I may go back later and redo the first too as I'm not sure I'm happy about how the Bloodsucker turned out (I was doing it from memory rather than a reference). Meh, Bloodsuckers come in packs anyway, and well mutants are varied enough that my one's just a different form.

Tsk, anyway sorry about that. There's more S.T.A.L.K.E.R. goodness for you (as much as gribbly mutants can be. I'd get some shots).

[Daeothar]

Wow, those are quite some updates!

I'm liking all of it, although I must agree with you on the copplestone guys (the merc and the duty ones) and their weapons; they don't quite gel with the STALKER setting, even though the minis themselves are fine IMHO.

Don't beat yourself up over the bloodsucker btw; I've coincidentally started playing Call of Pripyat again this weekend and your sculpt really captures their essence well. besides; most of the time you won't see them coming anyway...

The dogs are perfect too; they look the part exactly (I hate those mutts, always arriving at the wrong moment and way too nimble).

Also, I'm really curious about the snork; they're one of my favourite monster types, just because they're so creepy. I might have missed it, but I didn't see how you did them up. Wargames Factory zombie too perhaps?

The cars are looking nice too; this all promises to be a really stunning table once complete...

[Wyrmalla]

Hey thanks for the input its appreciate. The Snork is indeed based on one of those zombies. ...Just assume that if I don't mention the source then the model's made from one of those. Sorry the Snork itself isn't very clear in that image, in part as its base coated. I'll have it painted with the other stuff that's currently on my desk. Surprisingly it didn't take much to hack up one of those zombies and repose it appropriately (so easy that I could make another, but I haven't exactly finished the first one yet). =P

Argh I gave on Road to Pripyat myself. It was all right till I reached a point where everyone started wearing outfits ripped from Call of Duty (or whatever game it was) and the guns stats were all over the place. That was the mod which had zone transitions in the strangest places right? Like the one from Yantar which is hidden in a place pretty much off the map and down a dead end. Eugh, there are some rather silly mods out there. Hmn, may go download Soup now. XD

[Daeothar]

Argh I gave on Road to Pripyat myself. It was all right till I reached a point where everyone started wearing outfits ripped from Call of Duty (or whatever game it was) and the guns stats were all over the place. That was the mod which had zone transitions in the strangest places right? Like the one from Yantar which is hidden in a place pretty much off the map and down a dead end. Eugh, there are some rather silly mods out there. Hmn, may go download Soup now. XD

No, that'd be Clear Sky. CoP is the 3rd installment, starting out on the derelict, rusted ship, with you being an army major, tasked with checking out what happened to some helicopters that went missing in the Zone. It's situated in another part of the zone entirely, and the areas from the first two games are only referenced.

It might be my favourite of the three, if only because of the fact you can repair and mod your weapons...  

[Wyrmalla]

Hah, nah when you said Road to Pripyat I thought of a story mod that goes by that name.

Yeah Call of Pripyat has to my favorite of the series too. ...Yes because in part its more accessible. The mods for that game are pretty good as well, though its a seesaw between ones which add a load of great content, but chose to needlessly ramp up the difficulty as well unfortunately. Fun fact this thread is titled "Lost to the Zone" due to as part of "research" I went back and played Call of Pripyat with the Misery mod installed. ...Those words were coming up on the screen constantly. I'll kill that mod's creator for crapfests he turned getting to the helicopters was. =P

Oh, and I'd recommend trying out Lost Alpha if you haven't. It plays oddly differently to the rest of the series, though in a good way most of the time. Its a remake of the original game based around what was cut, so the levels are completely redone and there's a whole host of new content. If you're not into that then there's a mod called S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SOUP for CoP which well... youknow how the base game has three main areas (Zaton, Yanov and Pripyay), yah, that has something like fifty three.

[Wyrmalla]

Whilst I'm painting up some vehicles I managed to finish painting the Snork. As I'd rather keep those to their own post here's the Snork on its own. =P



As ever its made from a Wargames Factory zombie. I hacked it up and reposed it a little then added a greenstuff gas mask with a bit of wire for the hose. Yup, pretty simple really. I'll wind up making another as these things rarely turn up alone and I'd like to have one which looks more like the in game one more. This one however is based on a cosplayer's outfit from DeviantArt however, which I thought was kind of neat with the blue and white vest and all (hmn, though do Ukrainian soldiers still wear those vests or is it just the Russians?). There's that then, I'll turn up later with the junkers.

[Dr Mathias]

That's terrific. Didn't get the mask on in time?

[Wyrmalla]

Too feral to know how to take it off apparently. The in game notes say that these things operate mostly by smell due to the odd angle the goggles are at and that the lenses are cracked. Also its nose apparently extends through the length of that tube, so I really don't want to see what its face actually looks like. 

Throwing it out here, but a load of boxes just fell off the top of a cupboard. Inside was my old 40k army (True-Scale Chaos Space Marines and Traitor Guard), a little worse for wear, but they were already a bit of a state. Would people be interested if I repainted them and posted them up here in another blog? I doubt I'll ever play with them again unless I can arrange some sort of Skirmish game version (like In the Emperor's Name, or hell 7Tv), but I mean if there's going to be enough response I could give it a shot. Ah, so yeah, anyone want to see me get even more distracted from my current projects? 

[aliensurfer]

unless you want to sell them? 

[Wyrmalla]

Sell my 40k stuff? Maybe, I did pawn off some the Forgeworld stuff months ago. There's a real issue with that game where you can paint up a wonderful looking army, but nobody wants to buy it because it isn't in their preferred colour scheme. Everyone wants their models unpainted, and well they look like crap like that and sell for pennies. Ack, I repainted the Chaos Lord I have anyway, and yes I may well start another thread in the Future Wars forum for it. ...If that eventually leads me to having a reasonable selection of models then yeah, I may just throw them into the bazaar and see what happens.





Scale shot with the female Loner, a Victoria Miniature's Guardsman and the Duty Exoskeleton. He's a big beastie.

And I'm having a go at painting this as well. Its a count-as Leman Russ Vanquisher made from a mix of the original kit and a Chimera. Yeah it does look a bit like a Tiger (the Dust Tactics muzzle break doesn't help). Ah, so yeah do you think people would be interested in buying a Chaos Space Marine/Traitor Guard army painted up like that?

[Daeothar]

My bad: I totally screwed up the name of the game there... I never played any mods though; just the regular games have already eaten enough of my time as it is.

Loving the snork; suitably nasty and creepy. Just so you know; all your ideas are being firmly filed for future reference

And that cosplayer is going to be aching all over the next morning if he has to move around in character like that for an entire day!

[Constable Bertrand]

Not to mention seeing nothing of the convention apart from the ceiling! 

That marine is a big one! I'd say start a new thread Wyrmalla, it will help you keep things a bit tidyer.

Cheers
Matt.

[aliensurfer]

nice work on those chaos models as well as your zombie stuff 

[Wyrmalla]

Please tell me he washed his hands afterwards...

I thought I'd clear out the remaining vehicles that I have to make way for the humvees. These are all used by Stalkers as opposed to being wrecks. Anyway, without further ado then.

First of the armoured jeeps is a 1/43rd diecast Gaz 69 made by DeAgostini. The armour style is somewhat based on a truck I saw in a news article, but I wound up extending it a bit. Basically I just covered every surface on this poor thing with bits of plasticard so it was this box on wheels. I'll post a picture of the original beneath for reference.





The second jeep is another 1/43rd diecast, this time another Land Rover Defender (a more modern one than the other one) from an unknown manufacturer (both diecasts were picked up from Poundland, I've had this one for years though). I removed the roof and the rear cab then slapped on the plasticard armour. Not perhaps the most practical of conversions in regards to cutting the cab up a bit, but it could now work as a technical (if it weren't 1/43rd that is, sticking a 28mm gun on this would be awkward). A bit more suitable for the Zone than the other Land Rover, but still I wouldn't want to ride that without wearing a protective suit.





The last vehicle is a 1/48th Airfix British Army quad bike. This I chose to paint in civilian colours rather than the military one as I don't think the other quad bikes that I have fit the setting much. A practical vehicle given the terrain and poor quality of the roads I'd think, but yes completely useless if you're going to use it for anything other than as a transport vehicle. They'll likely be used as just a bit of tat for Stalker camps or in scenarios where there doesn't happen to be a load of guns shooting at it. =P



With those vehicles shifted I'll get back to the Stalkers and cabin (which I'm just adding the furniture to now). These give me a fair number of vehicles to work with for scenarios and I really doubt I'll need anything more than those (especially once I have the Ukrainian Military Humvees, which'll do particular for the Military forces stationed in the Zone). I'll probably wind up adding more in future however as I don't really get to make too much modern stuff and they're always fun to do. Heh, and yes I do happen to have a BMP which I'm still pondering how to use (either painted up as a military vehicle or as a wreck). Anyway I'll see what else I can do, till then buh bye.