Friday, February 24, 2012

25 More Zombies

Hi, folks. Been working on more Zombies. These are hybrids made from Wargames Factory Zombie legs with Mantic Zombies heads, arms, and torsos. I think they are much nicer than just the plain Wargames Factory Zombies. I read about this trick over on the Lead Adventure forums in CDR Vyper's           Urban Zombie Board thread, here. It's a great read with many inspirational pics. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. I had won an auction on e-bay for a couple of boxes of WGF Zombies, but hadn't put them together, so I went back to e-bay and got some Mantic Zombie Heads and Torsos from the Hoard of Bits store. They're not a perfect match, the WGF hips don't really match the Mantic abdomens, but they look a lot better than the WGF stuff, and, at least the WGF legs have modern pants and shoes.

There's a lot of nice detail on the Mantic bits, and even some good stuff on the WGF legs.
I love the exposed spines on some of the Mantic torsos and the WGF shorts are much better than the long pants,
I only had twelve 30 round bases when I made these guys, I've got another 75 coming from Black Orc Games. I'll rebase the ones without the nicer bases when I get my order.
Once again on these Zombies I used Tamiya clear red over the Reaper reds for the wounds. I think I first saw that done on Shelldrake's blog.
On the guy 2nd from the right I had to use a WGF head. Big difference in size and quality, I think I'll name him Pinhead. One of the things I didn't like about the Mantic bitz was that so many of the right hands are holding a  severed head. Could have done without that. If I want a little head, I don't want it on a Zombie... know what I'm sayin' :)
Last group of 5. These guys will be rebased, soonest. The fence in the background is made from sculptor's mesh I got from Hobby Lobby. I added a few little signs from a variety of sources to the fences.
And there you have it, 25 hybrid Mantic and WGF zeds. Soon I will paint the WGF Zombies. Not really looking forward to them. WGF upper bodies are pretty much the suckness. However, they will make the horde grow. Thanks for looking.


32 comments:

malleman said...

Love the hole in the head zombies! Did you paint the insides of the holes? It is killing me!! Brain chunks Brain chunks

Lord Siwoc said...

Well done indeed mate!!! I do concur...The shorts are the better match. But it looks great none the less.

lrqan said...

Terrifying!

Simon Quinton said...

Run away! Great Stuff Joe. Nicely converted and nicely painted.

Unknown said...

You're a night owl too I see. I like the poses on these guys and the rips in the back with the spine exposed is wonderful. How in the name of Heaven do you guys paint so many figures?

The Angry Lurker said...

Commander Vyper inspired to start zombie gaming, the man's a machine, excellent work on those critters my friend.....

The Angry Lurker said...

Commander Vyper inspired to start zombie gaming, the man's a machine, excellent work on those critters my friend.....

Mathyoo said...

Put your hands up in the air... :D
Mixing them is a great idea!

They seem to fit nicely on the slim throusers as well.

How come you've settled on 30mm bases? I thought about it myself, too, that lip makes them very nice, but I've decided they come out too big :)

Clint said...

I shall have a closer look at mantic stuff thanks to you. Keep up the good work. Clint

Unknown said...

@Angry- what are you doing out and about at this hour? I thought you and Sir Ray had someplace to be today!!

Vampifan said...

You've done a fantastic job on these, Joe! Great conversions and great paint jobs. It's good to see your horde growing so big and so fast.

Adam said...

Your horde grows rapidly Joe. I really like what you've done to improve these zeds.

Luckyjoe said...

Thanks everyone for the kind comments. I appreciate you taking the time.

@Malleman: I did paint inside the holes. One of the big ones on the back of the head a about 4 colors in the skull wound. How's that for obsessive? :)

@Lord Siwoc: Yeah, I wish I could buy the shorts separately.

@Irqan: That's what I thought. The Mantic Zombies are more serious, I think.

@Brummie: I did do a few additional conversions on them, mainly arm positioning and the like.

@Anne: Sometimes I don't sleep too well, gives me lots of extra time for painting. :)

@Fran: He certainly gave a great tip about mixing the Mantic and WGF parts.

@Mathyoo: I like the larger bases for these minis because it makes them more cinematic. I can add additional stuff to the bases more easily, if I wish, and it doesn't really take away too much space in a horde, especially as I'm not trying to rank them up.

@Clint: I'm very pleased with Mantic. I'm glad you like them. I have 35 WGF Zombies waiting for paintjobs. I'm strongly tempted to take them apart and just use the legs, and order more Mantic bitz.

@Vampifan: It IS getting big now. I just ordered a 10 pack each of the new Victory Force Zombie Soldiers and Medical Zombies (I have they have a fat one with beard and glasses I can use for a Zombie mini me :). You got me again, BTW, I downloaded "Patient Zero" on my Kindle, and am loving it.

@Adam: Once I get over 200 painted Zombies, I'll slow down on them and start doing more survivors. Someday, I may even play a game, too. :)

Jay said...

Love the dancing zombies on the tarmac stage, Joe! They're doing the "Flesh Boogie!"

Ray Rousell said...

Some great painting there Joe, well done!!!

Unknown said...

Go Joe Joe Go!

These are very cool, and you just keep right on converting your models!

You are getting a cool game set up my friend, it should be very fun to play!

EinarOlafson said...

They match very well, well done!!

Gnotta' said...

Excellent work sir.. :)

Lead Legion said...

Really nice work Lucky Joe.

Luckyjoe said...

Hi, folks. Thanks very much for your kind words. I just got off a long shift at work and it is very nice to see your encouragement.

@Jay: LOL. You know, when I was putting these together I thought it would be cool to convert them with their arms spelling out "YMCA". :)

@Ray: It was mostly just drybrushing. The detail on the Mantic bits is perfect for a drybrush.

@Brother Joseph: Eventually I will play on it, but my own particular brand of crazy is keeping me from playing on it until the minis are painted. :)

Zabadak said...

Great job on the mix-and-match, giving some reakky unique figures (love opinhead -reminds me of one of my friends; it does make me wonder if there is any mileage in using the two-part Blue Moon (from Old glory) zombuies too, to mix with the WF and Mantic figures.

Unknown said...

I was looking at your profile and noticed that you're from Ohio. The Hubby's family is from Ohio. I did my undergraduate work at Muskingum College in New Concord OH. It's a beautiful state and looks much like Ireland. You buckeyes are a pretty neat bunch of people too!

Luckyjoe said...

@Zabadak: Thanks. I don't have any experience with the two-part Old Glory Zombies. I did a quick google to see what they look like, guess who reviewed them on his blog? If you're thinking Vampifan, the web's foremost Zombie mini resource, you were right. :) They look like they may be a bit limited for modern, though because they all seem to have kilts or skirts.

@Anne: Thanks, but I'm just a transplanted Buckeye. I'm an Army Brat. I was actually born in Bamberg, Germany, and grew up all over the place. I do love Ohio, though. We have lived here for 14 years, the longest time I've ever lived in one place.

Zerloon said...

Wonderful stuff here!! :D
I really like how you mix the Zombie from Mantic and Wargames Factory!

And, as a side note...

The fence in the rear is something I'm going to steal, know it! :P

The Extraordinarii said...

Wow nice painting there Joe, there are some interesting zombies in that group, and so many...."someone get me my assualt rifle quick"

Luckyjoe said...

@Zerloon: Thanks. I'm glad you like the fencing. It's very quick and easy to make.

@The Extraordinarii: Thanks. "someone get me my assualt rifle quick" And some banana clips! :)

Unknown said...

I have not played any games in a while either Joe, because I want to use my models, on my terrain, like you are doing, and it takes time to do all of this work...lol.

I understand why you feel the way you do about gaming.

DJ Kettlety said...

These are brilliant, I wouldn't like to meet these guys on a dark night.

Zombie Ad said...

Well done, that swap around really is a good trick. Looking great sir.

Luckyjoe said...

@Brother Joseph: I can imagine. I'm just painting, you're actually creating and sculpting. That's a lot more.

@Derek: Thanks, they are rather menacing. :)

@Zombie Ad: Thanks. I just wish some of the Mantic torsos had shirts. I may have to get some liquid greenstuff in the future for the next batch.

colinmnash said...

Brilliant LuckyJoe! I might just have to try this (combining WGF and Mantic plus the fence!) myself now

Luckyjoe said...

@CMNash: Thanks very much. Those fences are easy to make, too.