Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Post-Apocalyptic Tales => Topic started by: Pattus Magnus on January 21, 2024, 10:47:03 PM
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I recently watched Last of Us, and that triggered my latent interest in post-apoc gaming. This thread will be where I document progress on all things in this “period”.
To start things off, here are some pictures of some Reaper Bones modern zombies I just finished. They are moulded in the original white material and the details were pretty soft. Fortunately, with zombies any missing details are just parts that rotted and fell off.
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Some closer shots:
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And two more close-ups:
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Irrespective of the sculpt quality your muted paintwork has really brought then 'to life'.
Looking forward to seeing what else you do.
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Looking properly creepy! 🧟♀️
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I agree -- they look great! I am also a big fan of The Last of Us and plan on re-watching starting this week while my girlfriend is off traveling for a couple weeks... lol
Mike Demana
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Nice job on those. They look sufficiently zombie-like... :D
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Thanks for the positive feedback! I was procrastinating for over a year about painting these, partly because of the soft details, then they turned out to be a lot of fun. I have some of the Warlord Games hard plastic zombies to build, and a sprue each of Mantic zombies and ghouls. I’m looking forward to doing some kit bashing with those. I have a vague notion of adding some green stuff fungal growths to some of the stranger poses to make more advanced stage infected. I think some will make good “clickers” with a little sculpting.
The survivors will be fun, too!
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A very convincing undead paint job.
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All fantastic! I love the beardy guy turning round, the eyes really pop… very intimidating! :D
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They look real good!
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Thanks! I was happy that they turned out well, as I mentioned in the “what I painted in January” thread, the skin tones on these were partly what Bob Ross used to call a “happy little accident” in his painting videos. In any case, I’ll take the win!
I rummaged around in the unpainted stuff pile and it turns out that I have some barricades, damaged vehicles and objective markers. Painting those should be fun!
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Good stuff
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Thanks! Here are two more zombies I finished up this weekend. The group shot is starting to look like a horde. It also looks a bit like the morning after a wild party.
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Yep, really like them too.
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🧟♀️ Looking good! 🧟♂️
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Good stuff! Looks like I will be picking up some zombies at this weekend's convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. That's slated to be my next project after I finish getting my Xenos Rampant stuff done.
I like the flesh tones you're using...
Mike Demana
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Thanks! I have been finding zombies oddly relaxing to paint. Maybe because zombies are already falling apart, so I don’t worry as much about flaws in the painting, they just look like they belong there.
Regarding the flesh tones, both batches have been “happy accidents”. Both based on putting a thinned wash of Agrax Earthshade over the primer, then adding thinned Reikland flesh. But the effect turned out a bit differently due to different primers. The first batch had white gesso and the second had grey primer with a white gesso drybrush. The second batch are a bit darker and the warmth from the Reikland Flesh is much less noticeable. It still works fine with zombies- the second batch were just infected earlier and aren’t as fresh…
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Those look good, too!
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Over the past few weeks I primed and painted some zombies to expand the horde. These new recruits are Zombicide figures, from a couple of expansion boxes. The details are a little shallow but they look alright with paint on. I also added some stuff to the bases to make them a little more interesting.
There’s an additional picture from a different angle in the workbench thread, here: https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=147489.0 (https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=147489.0)
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The Zombicide figures seemed a little taller than 28mm figures, but I think they actually mix pretty well once they’re painted. The picture has the new figures alongside the Reaper figures I painted earlier and they look fine together. Well within the range of actual human variation, anyway.
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I think they mix really well. Looking like a stonking horde! :-*
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Good to see that they look nice together…well, as nice as a zombie horde can! A friend of mine uses the Zombiecide figs, too.
Mike Demana
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Easy E, Mikedemana, yeah, I was pleasantly surprised at how well they mix. I was initially put off the Zombicide figures, but now I’m looking forward to painting more. They’re a good way to bulk out the shamblers. I’ll take a few more comparison pics soon and post them here. Folks may find some side-by-side shots handy for assessing which figures fit their needs best.
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Lovely gribbly zombies throughout! The backgrounds are also really nicely applied.
If I was going to expand my horde I think Reaper and Zbicide would easy wins for sure.
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I agree - they do mix well. And you've done a good job with them.
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Thanks ragsta, CaptJim,
I have no idea whether the Zombicide expansion boxes are still available (CMON seems to do the version churn similar to GW), but they’re a pretty cost effective way to get a horde together. I’m considering slicing some of the duplicates off their bases and converting them into corpses for spawn points or set dressing. They were inexpensive enough that it doesn’t feel like sacrilege turning them into conversion fodder.
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Nice additions...you can't have enough zombies :)
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Not a huge amount of progress lately, but I did manage to finish a few more zombies. These are all Zombicide figures from two expansion boxes. They turned out pretty well, I think! The backdrop is from the Jon Hodgson sci-fi book.
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Here are some Zombicide figs and Reaper figures in front of a quarter inch grid, all essentially the same distance from the camera. From L to R, they are: Zombicide toxic walker; Reaper Bones zombie; Zombicide original walker; Reaper Bones zombie (female); Zombicide original walker (female); Reaper metal zombie (female). There is some difference in height and bulk, but nothing so drastic that I would feel odd using them in the same horde.
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Excellent jobs Pattus Magnus! :-*
I see you started the thread last year, so in that respect I'm late to the party lol. I really like the paintjobs, flesh tones and the style. Very appealing.
Like you, I think it was the tv-series The Last of Us that made me "get my thumbs out" and get stuff done.
Thank you for the size comparisons, as you say, there's a great variety in human shapes and sizes so they look great together, a nice mix. I believe the Zombicide range is Heroic 28mm (32mm) so slightly bigger.
I have found The Walking Dead range from Mantic a very cost effective way for me to build up a collection and they scale well with the vehicles/ terrain/ buildings I am using.
Looking forward to seeing how your project progresses.
Regards,
Legionnaire.
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They do indeed look good!
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Thanks for the positive comments!
Legionnaire, I’ve been enjoying seeing your progress. It seems like we’re working in parallel- I’m aiming at a similar sized project to what you’re doing. Ideally, I want to put together a decent sized horde of about 40 zombies, and enough survivors to make 2 or 3 bands. For terrain, I want to build enough for a suburban residential street, a gas station and retail strip (gas station, diner, a mini mart, etc), and an older-style downtown street (brownstone buildings, for example). I think by adding a barn and some sheds to the collection, I can use a suburban house to make a farm (a lot of farms in my area have replaced the classic farmhouses with more modern ones. It should give a versatile set of options for scenarios!
At my current rate of production, allow 2-3 years for completion!
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Thanks for the positive comments!
Legionnaire, I’ve been enjoying seeing your progress. It seems like we’re working in parallel- I’m aiming at a similar sized project to what you’re doing. Ideally, I want to put together a decent sized horde of about 40 zombies, and enough survivors to make 2 or 3 bands. For terrain, I want to build enough for a suburban residential street, a gas station and retail strip (gas station, diner, a mini mart, etc), and an older-style downtown street (brownstone buildings, for example). I think by adding a barn and some sheds to the collection, I can use a suburban house to make a farm (a lot of farms in my area have replaced the classic farmhouses with more modern ones. It should give a versatile set of options for scenarios!
At my current rate of production, allow 2-3 years for completion!
Thank you very much Pattus Magnus :).
I am going with roughly half that number of zombies, around 20, as the rule systems I plan on using (County Road Z for my solo gaming and Osprey's Last Days for the club gaming), state that you probably don't need more than that.
I wrote down what I wanted scenery wise from the start and have enough survivors (ca 15) for my needs. I have a few bits and bobs I aim to purchase (a diner and a handful of other vehicles beside cars and trucks) but with those I'm "nearly there" :D.
Even if your production is slow, it helps to have a little list to focus on when you do get some time for the project :). My biggest enemy bar none has always been to rush headfirst into a project, collecting lots of stuff and then, for one reason or another, it just sits there with nothing being done or not being played :'(.
For the first time, probably ever, I have a clear plan what goes into the collection, what priorities I give different things (terrain is at the top of the list) and when I hope to have at least enough done to have a proper game (April). I can now look at the things I've done and pat myself on the back, I'm doing ok :).
Apologies for high-jacking the thread, but I hope you've gotten something useful out of it.
Regards,
Legionnaire
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Thanks (belatedly) for the suggestions Legionnaire, that all makes a lot of sense about the value of planning. I like the concept of planning- my execution is hit and miss, at least in my hobbying (at work I am pretty good at planning. Something haywire with my priorities lol).
I got back to my post-apocalypse project this week and painted some scatter terrain from Mantic Games. I think the pieces turned out fairly well. This first batch are just a drop in the bucket, too.
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I think the mixed height of the zombies from different makers gives a touch of realism, height uniformity is one of my slight 28mm frustrations when making non-soldier miniatures!
Also, I had Thriller going through my head as I read this thread.
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Fantastic job on the scatter terrain. I dig your more muted paint technique.
What mantic set are these from?
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Sakuragi Miniatures, lol Thriller was a classic! I’m not sure that these zombies will be so well choreographed, though!
Mr White, thanks, I appreciate the compliment. I enjoy your post-apocalypse thread, so it is cool to hear that these tick the right boxes for you! I figured that the barricades would have been out in the weather for a long time after the defenders died or ran, so everything would be sun bleached and have plenty of dust, so a muted palette seemed right, even for stuff that would be bright when it was new.
As far as the Mantic sets go, they’re from at least two (I got them a couple years ago, then immediately mixed them together…). Some pieces are from Street Scatter ( https://www.manticgames.com/terrain-crate/street-scatter/ (https://www.manticgames.com/terrain-crate/street-scatter/) ) and some are from City Accessories ( https://www.manticgames.com/terrain-crate/city-accessories/ (https://www.manticgames.com/terrain-crate/city-accessories/) ).
More are on the paint desk, so there should be updates soon.
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Those barricades look good, the muted palette suits them.
Some of them look like they were part of the Walking Dead: All Out War Scenery booster.
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Ultravanillasmurf, I think you’re right about the Walking Dead angle. One of the packages might have had Walking Dead logos (it has been a while). It might have been marked down for clearance, too. My understanding is that Mantic was able to keep selling those under the generic Terrain Crate label when they stopped selling Walking Dead stuff for a while, presumably because the terrain bits didn’t include copyrighted characters/ images from the original source material.
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That terrain looks great! Your zombies, too.
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That Mantic scatter terrain looks good. Well done!
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I finished a few more scatter pieces from the Mantic Games sets I have. I like how the benches turned out. I added the concrete bases to give them a little more stability.
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Nice barricades.
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Love the uneven wear on the benches, and the newspaper tossed underneath the seat...! :-*
Mike Demana
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Your scatter terrain really looks the part, very nicely done.
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Thanks fellows, I appreciate your comments! I’m pretty happy with how they have turned out. This is one of my main projects planned for the year, so I will be making fairly regular updates (hopefully- unless my butterfly mind gets distracted…)
Mike D, I’m happy you noticed the newspaper and like the worn benches, that’s the effect I was aiming for! I detailed and painted the benches so that they will (I hope) fit into post-apocalyptic settings, and also be usable for pre-apocalypse games. Honestly, it doesn’t seem to take long around the city I am in for plastic benches to start looking quite weathered.
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Your scatter terrain really looks the part, very nicely done.
What he said! :D
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All excellent work, really adds to the setting and will look great on the table. Wonderful stuff and now I have to see what bits and bobs I have to add to my own collection.
Regards
Legionnaire.
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Thanks for the encouragement! I just received a stack of MDF buildings intended for this project. I’m torn between painting the last 10 zombies that I have primed and ready, or painting the last scatter bits that are primed, or diving into the buildings….
These are the types of choices I like to have!
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I typically have one batch of miniatures and one terrain or scatter item on my desk at the same time. For 28mm, I will paint a base coat and then have to wait for the acrylic paint to fully dry to "shrink wrap" onto the figure so that dry brushing works best. So, it is good to have something else on the table if I am at a stopping point on minis... :D
Mike Demana
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More good stuff. They look sufficiently undead... :D
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Beautiful painting on the zombies and the scenic stuff, lovely!
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Thanks majorsmith! I have more on the painting desk and I plan to do some more this fall. I’m a bit behind where I wanted to be on this project - a 1:1 scale project bumped it over the summer (re-placing the surface boards on my deck). Updates will follow.