Saturday 15 December 2012

Fresh Zombies - and a Survivor

Introduction

Recently I published a short review of Studio Miniatures' new plastic zombies.  In that article, I claimed that the completed figures I was showing had been painted in too much of a rush and that I could do better.  Well, I took a bit more time and care over this lot.  See what you think...

More Zombies

Here are another 4 of my Studio Miniatures builds.  I've done some things a little bit differently from my first efforts:
  • Firstly (and most obviously), I've cut off the bases that were moulded onto the figures.  Instead, they have been glued to the thin Renedra circular bases that were provided in the kit.
  • Secondly, I've taken a little bit off the necks on each figure.  It was probably only about 0.5mm on each figure, but I think it does help to avoid the "ostrich effect".
  • Thirdly, some of the arms have been trimmed a little to enable them to hang down close by the figure's sides (rather than sticking out a bit).  This was a very easy modification and is most obvious on the second figure, with the white shirt and green tie.
  • Finally, I've added a sandwich board with an appropriately doom-laden slogan to the final zombie.  This is a small conversion that I had been thinking of for some time; these zombie figures are ideally suited to it.

 There are another 3 new zombies in this second picture.  The extra model (at the left hand end) is one of my original builds; this shows clearly the difference between the small, moulded base and the larger, separate ones.

A Survivor

I said before that I thought the plastic Studio Miniatures' zombies could be converted into (living) people without too much effort.  Here's one I prepared already, called "Earl".  I've equipped him with a large spanner or wrench.  The tool came off some vehicle stowage kit (I cannot remember where I got that) but could just as easily have been made from scratch from plastic card or green stuff.  I've remodeled the open right hand so that it is clenched around the spanner, but the other arm hasn't been altered at all.  Other than the hand, the only other modification was to fill a small tear in the back of his jacket.



14 comments:

  1. Nice conversion and I like the sandwich board.

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    1. I was quite pleased with this myself, though I think I should have lowered "Earl's" arm a bit.

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  2. Great work, Hugh. Sandwich board zombie is my clear favourite. I'm going to have to copy that idea!

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    1. "Sandwich board" zombie worked out quite well, didn't he? Mind you, I was wavering between a totally mundane slogan ("2 for 1 at Pete's Cafe", "Sale at BedWorld"...) and something prophesying the apocalypse. Obviously I chose the latter, but now I'm not so sure.

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  3. I am soooo going to steal the idea with the sandwich board! Great work.

    ANd the survivor.... That is pretty amazing!

    Well done all around!

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    1. Thanks, Lord S. I'm better pleased with this second batch of zombies than I was with the first four.

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  4. The "new" z's look great and sand-wich z is truly inspired.
    The conversion is outstanding, I doubt if anyone would realise is was a zombie in a former dead existence (unlife ?0, without being told.

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  5. He He Sweet Survivor. The zeds look great, I shall definitely have to pick up a set in the new year at some point.

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    1. Yes, I can just imagine 'Earl' calling out "Over here, you b******. Come and get it!". The thing is, I'm not sure that he's quite as tough as he thinks he is :-) ...

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  6. They look great,
    It's nice to see some of these zeds finally painted up, and converting some of them into survivors is a genius idea! A great cost effective way to get some normal looking survivors who are not armed to the teeth for once!

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    1. Thanks, Dave. Although I think the survivors that could be created will be limited in variety as not all of the 4 bodies are really suitable. Unless you want some very ragged clothing on one, of course :-) .

      Having said that, I've now started to wonder just how easy it would be to sculpt a new shirt onto the body with nothing but shreds on it...

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