Zombie apocalypse survivors

Last year I focused what little time I had for painting on WW2 North Africa... this year my intention is to focus on zombies!

So here is the first instalment. Hasslefree miniatures (www.hfminis.co.uk), in my humble opinion, produce some of the best sculpted figures on the market... OK they're a bit pricey, but they paint up well!

All of the figures were painted using a mix of Citadel and Vallejo paints, washes and varnishes.

The figures are a mix of one, two, three and four piece minis, offering a good range of poses. M last lot of survivors made up a family... this group are all 'youths' according to HF. Who better to survive the zombie apocalypse than 'the ASBO five'?

Both of the figures above were single piece castings. The miniature on the right comes from a set that resemble Scooby Doo and Mystery Inc (although for legal reasons they cannot use that title).

The figures above are slightly smaller in stature than HF's adult figures, giving them a youthful feel. The figure on the right came with separate arms, with options for a shotgun or a pistol.

OK, so clearly it's Kick Ass, HF clearly can't use the name (Actually they do a good range of TV and Film inspired characters). The mini comes with an alternative head, minus the mask and the arms are separate allowing a range of poses.

Next on the table, skips, recycling bins and barriers from Fenris Games.

Long Range Desert Group (LRDG)

You can tell that it's almost the end of term... I've found time to paint!
At long last I have completed the six LRDG that I started back in October half term! The results of which are below:



 With the end of term looming I should get a bit of paint time in between all the festive madness!

Next on the table are a small group of Post apocalyptic survivors from Hasslefree Miniatures and a small village worth of scratch built adobe buildings for North Africa.

 

28mm Artizan Long Range Desert Group (LRDG)

At long last I have been able to put the DAK to one side and start on the British. Ever since I started war gaming I have had a hankering for putting together figures from the unit my maternal grandfather went on to serve with, the Long Range Desert Group.

 

Artizan Miniatures produce a small range of LRDG/SAS and desert commando figures. I started three of the LRDG packs. The figures were all well cast and in dynamic poses.

 

In order to differentiate them from the DAK I chose a lighter palette. The base colours for the uniforms are Vallejo Iraqi Sand and Vallejo English Uniform.

 

 

 

 All the webbing details were picked out with a 50/50 mixture of the two base colours.

 

This first group of LRDG are wearing a more standard uniform than those normally associated with the unit, but are historically accurate.

Next on the paint tray are six more LRDG, but with much more varied uniforms.

28mm Afrika Korps wearing Greatcoats

One of the things that I remember my grandfather telling me about his experiences in the desert was that as hot as it was during the day, it was freezing cold in the night.

Artizan miniatures include in their Afrika Korps range a single pack of mid war infantry wearing forage caps. Painted up in desert colours, they make a worthy addition to my Afrika Korps force.

The greatcoat was painted with a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Green Brown and Citadell Gorthor Brown. This was then washed in Citadell Agrax Earthshade.

Next on the paint tray the first of my Long Range Desert Group.

28mm Afrika Korp Sentries

 

Well the joys of summer holidays painting time continues. Below are a couple of pictures of the latest batch of Afrika Korps to make it off my painting tray.

 

For the first time ever I actually felt sorry for the figures as I painted them... as sentries, I suppose that this hapless little group are forever destined to be killed first by the LRDG figures waiting in the wings.

Next on the painting tray, riflemen in greatcoats.

28mm Afrika Korp HMG team

 The summer painting frenzy continues...

 I have always been happy with the quality of the sculpting of Artizan Miniatures, however there does seem to be a bit of a size discrepancy between the gunner and the loader... It looks like the loader bought his kid to work!

As always, a mix of Vallejo and Citadell paints and varnishes were used.

Next on the table, sentries and greatcoat wearers!

28mm Afrika Korp Mortar crew

 Below are photos of the latest addition to my 28mm WW2 Afrika Korp; a mortar team.
The figures are from Artizan miniatures. I'm not a big fan of basing support weapons and their entire crew on a single base, so decided on each figure and the weapon based separately on 2p pieces.

As ever, the figures are painted with a combination of Citadel and Vallejo paints and varnishes.
The main paints used for the uniform are Vallejo Desert Yellow, Vallejo Iraqi Sand, Vallejo German Field Grey, Vallejo Khaki and Citadell Agrax Earth shade.

Next on the paint tray, a HMG team, Afrika Korp sentries and infantry in greatcoats.

Converting Western Europe to North Africa part 2

Now that the summer holidays have finally arrived, it means just one thing... PAINTING FRENZY!

Below are pictures of  the completed sandbagged guard post that I started months ago... the transformation from Europe to Africa is complete. The model was painted with a mix of Citadel and Vallejo paints and varnishes.

Converting Northern Europe to North Africa

 If you are anything like me, you will no doubt have drawer fulls of terrain and models that have never been out of storage since it was first painted! With my current focus on North Africa (and whilst waiting on miniature deliveries from Artizan) I decided to look through my old terrain pieces to see if any could be converted.

The piece below is a tin roofed, sand bagged check point built against an old fence. It also features a downed telegraph post. I figured that this would look like something found on the outskirts of s French colonial village.

The first step involved soaking the model in warm soapy water, which made the flock come away from the model easily. The residue of the glue can be seen at the base of the telegraph post.

The next step will be to paint the model with a base coat of Vallejo Desert Sand.

More 28mm Afrika Korps

 Here is my second batch of Afrika Korps. I really like the Artizan Miniatures, it is just a shame that it took almost four weeks for the figures to arrive! Whilst waiting for the figures to arrive, I painted n old Solido Puma that had been sat on a shelf gathering dust.

As per my last blog entry, the figures were painted with a mix of Vallejo and Citdel paints and varnishes.

Next on the paint table are 4 NCOs armed with MP40s. I have also ordered a HMG team, an 81mm mortar crew and a first pack of SAS raiders.

28MM fox holes for North Africa World War 2

 Whilst I was waiting for my second batch of Afrika Korps to arrive from Artizan, I decided to paint up two old two/three man foxholes that have been in the painting mountain for a while. I bought these several years ago from the now defunct Snapdragon Studios. I painted several up for Northern Europe, but for some reason left these.

I started with a base coat of Homebase exterior paint 'sandstone' and then washed it with Citadel Devlan mud. I followed this with progressively lighter drybrush coats using Vallejo Desert sand, Vallejo Iraqi sand and finally Citadel Dry Tyrant Skull.

The wood started with a base of Citadel Base Mournfang Brown,followed by dry brush coats made up of the base and iraqi sand.

 "Vere ist der Englanders, Heinrich?"

"You dumkopf Fritz, Mark has not painted any yet!"

 

 

More Afrika Korps are due on the paint table next, just as soon as they arrive!



28mm Artizan Afrika Korps

Ever since I started wargaming I have always wanted to game the North Africa campaigns of World War Two. (My Grandfather served as an infantryman in the Lincolnshire Regiment, part of the 8th army, before transferring to the LRDG). I recently bought a copy of Call of Duty and there were some pretty good skirmish scenarios for North Africa and this prompted me to look into figures.

 

I opted for Artizan Miniatures range of metal figures, purchasing four packs of their DAK to start with. The miniatures were well sculpted and had no flash or cast lines on them. The picture below shows some of them glued onto 2p bases, the bases covered in polyfilla with cork rocks added.

 As ever I added sharp sand which I then painted because it didn't look enough like sand (am I the only gamer that thinks this way?). The figures were then painted with a range of Citadel and Vallejo paints. I deliberately varied the colours uniforms to give them that faded, in theatre look. The pictures below show the figures painted and gloss varnished (awaiting a final matte coat). I used grass tufts for the fist time with these figures and was really happy with the results.

 

I'd be really interested to know what you think.