Sunday 26 October 2014

Zomtober 2014 - Week 4

<== Week 3 is this way

Introduction

It's the 4th and final week of Zomtober 2014, so I'm going to present another in my series of "duels" between a single survivor and a single zombie.  Rather than just launching into the models, here's a little background:

Iggy was a small, drab man who was not very successful in life.  He always felt that this was because everyone and everything had been unfair to him since the day he was born.  He'd had a hard time at school and until recently his boss had bullied him at work.  But since the plague had broken out, he'd not seen anyone else, including any of his detested colleagues.  The shops were shut, buses weren't running and even the phone lines were dead.

For once, there was no-one nearby to tell Iggy what to do or to tell him what was "appropriate".  He could please himself - and what he wanted to do most was to burn things!  There was nothing wrong with the world that couldn't be put right with some fire.  All the misery, all the sickness in the city would be cleansed by the purifying, noble flames.  He'd just have some fun to start with: a can of petrol and some bottles would do nicely...

The Duel

I don't think that Iggy is looking where he's going properly.  He's in his own dream world and hasn't noticed the zombie that's right beside him.  Also, Iggy might have found it easier to use a backpack or something to hold all his kit, as he seems to have too much in his hands: he's dropping things.

The zombie is a straightforward Studio Miniatures plastic zombie, though I've used one of my tee shirt decals to decorate him.  I made a bit of a mess of this one: the coloured background was hard to match with paint for the rest of the shirt.  Also paint seeped under the decal, blurring the white lettering.  I had to twist the zombies left leg a bit to get him to stand straddling the kerb (i.e. with one foot on a higher surface than the other), but I think this looks all right.

Iggy is made from the body and arm of a Studio Miniatures plastic zombie.  The other arm (holding the Molotov cocktail) comes from a Wargames Factory survivor kit.  The slightly over-sized head is from a Gripping Beast Dark Age warrior.  The jerry-can is a metal casting from some vehicle accessories sprue, possibly from the old VOID range.

Like many of my recent figures, both of these models make use of resin bases from Escenorama.  I've mentioned before that the heights of these are a bit uneven and that can be seen easily here.  Iggy's base has been shortened with a razor saw by perhaps 1.5mm .  However, the zombie's base was merely sanded smooth - I built him some time earlier in the month before I decided that some of these bases were really too tall for my liking.

Conclusion

I've enjoyed greatly making these models for Zomtober 2014.  Without the spur of this joint enterprise and the encouragement from all the other participants and from the spectators, I doubt that I'd have built any of the figures I've shown over the last 4 weeks.  Indeed, I've also completed several further survivors and zombies that haven't been so suitable for a "duel".  So, in theory I should have more space on my workbench as these models (some of which have been sitting there, partly built, for a long time!) are moved off it.  In practice, of course, that bench space has already been filled (and more) by other projects.  Ah, well!

So, who will win this duel?  Well, I cannot see Iggy coming out of it alive!.  Either he finds his matches or lighter in a hurry or he doesn't.  If it's the former then I suspect that both Iggy and the zombie will be burnt to a crisp - not because he desires it, but simply because fire really isn't a good close range weapon!  If Iggy doesn't find his matches then the zombie won't have any difficulty in killing him, though if there's a struggle and the can is spilt then the zed might find that fuel-soaked flesh doesn't taste very good.

38 comments:

  1. They're beautifully done. Using decals and resin bases, you must have the nicest zombies out there. I feel guilty not giving mine so much attention.

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    1. Thanks, Baconfat. You shouldn't feel guilty, though - not all of my figures are finished to anything like this standard!

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  2. As for who wins it depends on if they are fast or slow zeds. If Fast the zed wins, If slow Iggy has a chance. He can smack the zed in the head with a petrol can. Do this enough and you'll cave a skull.
    A nice interesting and balanced duel let mew know how it turns out.

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    1. Well, I'm not so sure. If the petrol can is full then it'll be quite heavy and therefore very unwieldy. I just don't think that Iggy is man enough to use it as a weapon!

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  3. Excellent! As expected, you did a great job on these. I love the duel match ups you have done. The idea of t-shirt decals is great, being able to decorate some shirts in a nice, quick and clean way would be nice...

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    1. The decals do look good (in some circumstances), but I'm not so sure that they're either quick or easy to apply!

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  4. It's another winner, Hugh. I love the ideas you have come up with for your mini duels. I reckon the zombie will win this duel quite easily. Iggy's mind is somewhere else.

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    1. Thanks, Bryan. I agree with you: Iggy is just not paying attention to his surroundings...

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  5. I have really enjoyed seeing the duels across your Zomtober posts.

    I love this one too, and excellent work with the t-shirt slogan - a very effective touch. :)

    Well done all around sir. :)

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    1. Thanks, Pulpcitizen. This particular tee shirt decal gave me quite a lot of trouble and needed some remedial work to make presentable. It may not be my best figure ever, but I think the zombie acceptable.

      [Blimey! I initially mistyped this as "zomble". My head is now filled with terrifying visions of zombie wombles. Ack!]

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  6. Absolutely brilliant, I love the conversions. Iggy wins this one for me, the zombie isn't going up in smoke, he's going to get battered by that jerry can!

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    1. Again, thanks, Michael. I still think that the can is too heavy to be used as much of a weapon - Iggy can barely lug it about as it is :-) !

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  7. Excellent work, nice touches using all the scrap bits to add to the story. As well your decal work has me fixated.

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    1. Thanks, Terry. Sometimes the story just presents itself and it becomes obvious which bits from the spares box would work well to enhance it. Sometimes, not so much (but those models tend not to be displayed so prominently on this blog!).

      Again, I will go into further detail on the decals, real soon now. Promise!

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  8. Superb stuff once again. I fear though that this particular survivor is Zed meat. Its been a joy to visit this site every weekend to see your next Zomtober pairing, but looking forward to seeing what you come up with next :-)

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    1. Thanks very much, Blaxkleric! I think that's one of the greatest compliments I've ever had: to say that you're looking forward to the next instalment :-) .

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  9. Great stuff C6! Love the duels and your t-shirt decals. I want to see the one's not suitable for duels as well.

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    1. Hmm, well maybe I'll show all the oddments too. It's not necessarily that they are inferior models in any way - just that they didn't immediately fit into any story that I could see. Thanks, Bob.

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  10. Great pairing again C6, love the idea of using non-modern heads too

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    1. Thanks, Joe. Some of the Dark Age heads are quite shaggy and (I think) quite suitable for a post-apocalyptic world where personal grooming has become less important than surviving!

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  11. Another great duel. An inspired way to tie your Zomtober posts together.

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    1. Thanks, Finch. This is the second year that I've run "the duel" for Zomtober and it does seem to have been a very popular series.

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  12. Nicely done. I like the fact he's carrying a can of fuel as well as a petrol bomb its makes it seem that little bit more realistic. Great job!

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    1. Thanks, Simon. I've been wanting to make a survivor with a jerrycan for some time; the arm with the petrol bomb just seemed to go well with this!

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  13. Iggy seems like someone that plays for the team Undead with that petrol can!

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    1. Hah, yes! I think he's more of a danger to himself than to any zombies :-) . Thanks, Mathyoo.

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  14. Once again, fantastic detail, love the molotov particularly!

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    1. Thanks, ZA. I did try to paint it up just like a wine bottle (which meant making sure that I had some empties ready to hand :-) ).

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  15. I've relaly enjoyes seeing these pairings - great characters.

    I do remamer reading something in a survival guide discouraging the use of flame weapons. "One thing worse than being mauled by a Zombie is being mauled by a Zombie that's on fire".

    My youngest son recently found a reference to the Flemish godendag - a fairly primitive polearm. I think that would be my improvised weapon choice in a Z-world.

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    1. It seems to be generally accepted that using fire on zombies is a bad thing!

      I think I'd prefer a good cutting blade such as a machete or a sabre myself. Or maybe a boar spear, to keep them at a distance (though it really only would work for one zombie at a time).

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  16. Great work. Unfortunately for the survivor ... no free hand to strike a match equals death. ;)

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    1. I think you're right. Iggy has this great plan in his head, but he just hasn't thought through all the practicalities of carrying it out!

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  17. I think that fire will not be Iggy's friend, with a molotov and a jerrycan, he may ignite himself instead of the zombie.

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    1. It's extremely likely that he'll burn himself, I think! Maybe the zombie will be set on fire as well?

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  18. Nice work! I like how you've been putting their names on the bases too.

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    1. Thanks. I usually name all the humans for my skirmish games, but not zombies, creatures and so on.

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