Zomtober 2016 (Week 5)

Another Zombie painted, and I have managed to meet this year's Zomtober quota despite struggling with painting motivation for the last few weeks. I actually started another mini as I thought I was not going to manage this one, but then suddenly this weekend momentum caught and he got there in the end (leaving me with another part-painted Mutant Zombie - LOL!).

This mini was prepared years ago, as evidenced by his black undercoat, but he never got further than undercoating unlike some of the other minis I finished off for this year's Zomtober. The mini is one of the many Studio Miniatures Zombies that I have in my 'lead mountain' (enough to keep me going for a lot of Zomtobers to come to be honest!).

I like the fact that the Zombie is shuffling around with a katana embedded through his torso! Makes you wonder what happened to his attacker!

In previous years Zomtober has spurred on other painting, but not this time. However, I met my target which is the most important thing, and the horde has grown a little more which is always positive.

Finally, once again I have to say it has been brilliant to see so many participants involved in Zomtober 2016 each week, and I hope to see as many of the bloggers who have been involved this year striving to do so again next year. Well done guys!

Zomtober 2016 (Week 4)

Another Zombie done, and another of the long-gestating backlog paint-jobs finally taken out of the painting queue. This one was started a few years ago and abandoned, despite being a totally ace mini and a brilliant nod to Shaun of the Dead. It was undercoated black and I had blocked out some colours before it sat for a few years unpainted. With my primary focus this year on clearing the queue, I kept putting this one off, and it took a bit of work on it for me to start to feel as though it would get finished. Well it is now, which is a bit of a relief!

The mini is from Hasslefree, and I think it is such a great sculpt.  I *think* there is a Survivor version as well.

While painting this, I tried to get an effect I'd be happy with to represent the blood that would have poured down the front of shirt from his torn throat, and I am reasonably happy with it on balance.

Now there is one week to go, and across the blogosphere there has been lots of Zomtober painting action - I look forward to seeing everyone's final outputs. Well done all taking part. :)

Zomtober 2016 (Week 3)

A pretty freaky Zombie this week, some kind of Mutant Zombie. Originally made by Tengu Models, this mini is currently available through CP Models. I think this was the last of the pack that I had not yet painted (the CP versions are sold singly)

This isn't the mini I planned to do for this week's entry, but as I am still feeling only limited motivation for painting in general, I knew I didn't have enough time to finish the intended mini. Instead I set about doing some speed painting to clear this from the lead mountain, and thankfully got a quick win. That said, I did splash a little bit of acrylic paint on the next two weeks' minis too, so hopefully the final two for Zomtober 2016 will be less of a rush!

It is really cool to see other bloggers' posting their Zomtober stuff, following what started as a throwaway discussion a few years ago. Personally being involved helps me get focused on finishing minis, so I foresee myself Zomtobering for years to come!

Zomtober 2016 (Week 2)

Week 2 and again it has been great to see other bloggers finishing their entries for Zomtober. I am just about still on target, although this entry is a bit scrappy in the painting to say the least. Like my Week 1 Zombie, this mini has sat unfinished for a long time (it had some dead flesh painted and that was it).

Part of the problem was the consistency of the green I used as a base coat - I didn't mix the paint well enough and it made a horrible shiny and thick base coat, which I didn't really recover from. That aside, it is finished which suits me. A bit of a shame as it is a really nice sculpt, but being 'done' is key for me.

I am still struggling for painting motivation, so the annual commitment of Zomtober is helping to ensure I don't stop entirely. There is stuff I'd like to have painted, I just don't really feel like painting unfortunately. I am hoping something 'clicks' soon.

Next week's planned mini is also one that has sat unfinished for far too long, so another bonus for me from Zomtober this year is clearing the backlog of stuff that really should have been completed years ago.

Zomtober 2016 (Week 1)

Zomtober 2016 is underway! Already the dead are walking into blog posts while beleaguered Survivors arrive to turn back the Zombie tide. Well done everyone who is taking part, with a lot of familiar names - great stuff guys.

This year my own personal project is to finish off any part-painted Zombies that I have lingering in the painting queue. And to start that, this mini was commenced at least a couple of years ago I think, and even had some work done last Zomtober before being abandoned once again. Well, thankfully it is finished now! (Although on the way to that this weekend I have grappled with computer issues - losing Picture Manager is a blow - as well as picking up a bit of a cold bug).

The mini is from Hasslefree, but not sculpted by Kev White. Not sure why I kept abandoning the painting, but that just happens to me sometimes. Anyhoo, the annual paintathon of Zomtober provided sufficient motivation to get this one cleared. The painting is a little rough in places, but it counts as finished which is the main thing for me.

And I note that still have not done an updated 'horde' picture that I mused about last year....