Zomtober 2018 (Week 4)

Another Zomtober comes to an end, and it has been great seeing every participant's outputs.

I was supposed to finish another Zombie this week than those I ended up painting, but I really wasn't feeling motivated on it, so I hurriedly prepped these three as an alternative with a plan to finish them all if possible, which I just about managed.

I think all three Zombies are from Studio Miniatures. I chose them primarily because of the two half-body Zeds as offering the possibility of a quick win. The more-intact Zombie (although he is hand-less!) is intended to complete my brown-shirt wearing triad (although I think I have the base brown colour wrong on this one).

I am pleased with doing six Zombies, although that pales compared to the dozens others have done! As usual, Zomtober has helped me paint other stuff and there is a chance I will get another mini finished for my Supers Unlimited range before the end of the month.

Zomtober 2018 blog roll (click names for links):

1. Four Colour Super Minis - Rob
2. Eclectic Gentleman Tabletop Gamer - pulpcitizen
3. Brummie's Wargaming Blog - Simon
4. Cheaphammer!!! - Kieron
5. Miniature Mayhem - Terry Silverthorn
6. Dizbusters Gaming Ephemera - Phil Curran
7. The Wargame Addict - The Wargame Addict
8. Saturday Mornings - Ivor Evans
9. The Lost and the Damned and the Stunted - Dai
10. Dead Lead Project - myincubliss
11. Colgar6 and the Infinite Legion of Toy Soldiers - Colgar6
12. Anything But a One! - Clint

Zomtober 2017 (Week 4)

Another Zomtober week comes to an end, and another Zombie painted!

Unlike last week's offering, there appear to be clearer causes of death for this week's Zombie - either a torn out throat or maybe a broken neck. Prior to that, it looks like she was chewed on by walkers for a little while (they seem to have taken small bites rather than going for a full course meal). Either way, she certainly carries a lot of injuries.

The figure is by Studio Miniatures (as have been all the Zombies I have painted this year so far); I found some of the bits of the mini hard to figure out, but overall I do like the sculpt, and the various signs of trauma certainly make it distinctive.

I went for quite a muted palette of colours with the clothing. Then, when all garments and flesh were painted, I liberally applied a mix of Tamiya Clear Red, Vallejo Smoke and Army Painted Strong Tone to areas of wounds etc and where I thought blood would spread. The flesh is my usual recipe of base Vallejo Green Grey, mixing in Burnt Umber for shading and Basic Skin Tone for highlights.

Zomtober 2017 blog roll (click blog names for links):

1. Brummie's Wargaming Blog - Simon
2. Four Colour Super Minis - Rob
3. Eclectic Gentleman Tabletop Gamer - pulpcitizen
4. Fantorical - Blaxkleric
5. Mike's Random Wargaming Meanderings - Mike C
6. Saturday Mornings - Ivor Evans
7. 28mm Victorian Warfare - Michael Awdry
8. Miniature Mayhem - Terry Silverthorn
9. ANYTHING BUT A 1! - Clint
10. Cheaphammer!!! - Kieron
11. The Wargame Addict - Wargame Addict
12. Lead Reckoning - Fred Jackson
13. da Gobbo's Grotto - Wargaming blog - da Gobbo Grotto
14. Never Mind The Jankers - Roy Williamson
15. Paintbrush and Superglue - Matt
16. Dizbusters Gaming Ephemera - Phil Curran
17. Wargaming With Barks - Barks
18. Thoughts of a Depressive Diplomatist - Edwin King
19. EndTransmission's gaming stuff - Paul Smith
20. Colgar6 and the Infinite Legion of Toy Soldiers - Colgar6
21. dead lead project - myincubliss

Zomtober 2017 (Week 3)

This week's offering for Zomtober is another Studio Miniatures Zombie. I left this one quite late and basically did 90% of the painting this morning. That said, I am reasonably happy with it as tabletop standard and it adds another mini to the horde, and takes one more out of the unpainted pile.

I am not sure what injury killed this Zombie, so I added a bloodstain to his t-shirt to indicate trauma over and above his dislodged eye.

The past three weeks has seen some stunning outputs for Zomtober and to everyone taking part, well done; but I am most in awe of the painters able to complete multiple minis each week.

Several other bloggers have been re-posting the Zomtober bloggers list with their posts, so I felt I should at least do the same:

Zomtober 2017 blog roll (click blog names for links):

1. Brummie's Wargaming Blog - Simon
2. Four Colour Super Minis - Rob
3. Eclectic Gentleman Tabletop Gamer - pulpcitizen
4. Fantorical - Blaxkleric
5. Mike's Random Wargaming Meanderings - Mike C
6. Saturday Mornings - Ivor Evans
7. 28mm Victorian Warfare - Michael Awdry
8. Miniature Mayhem - Terry Silverthorn
9. ANYTHING BUT A 1! - Clint
10. Cheaphammer!!! - Kieron
11. The Wargame Addict - Wargame Addict
12. Lead Reckoning - Fred Jackson
13. da Gobbo's Grotto - Wargaming blog - da Gobbo Grotto
14. Never Mind The Jankers - Roy Williamson
15. Paintbrush and Superglue - Matt
16. Dizbusters Gaming Ephemera - Phil Curran
17. Wargaming With Barks - Barks
18. Thoughts of a Depressive Diplomatist - Edwin King
19. EndTransmission's gaming stuff - Paul Smith
20. Colgar6 and the Infinite Legion of Toy Soldiers - Colgar6

Zomtober 2017 (Week 2)

This week's offering is a mini that was started but not finished for last Zomtober; he has basically sat part-painted for a year, meaning I am very glad to clear something out of the dreaded painting queue!

It has been great to see so many Zomtoberists progress to Week 2, so very well done guys.

This week's mini is from Studio Miniatures, and I think of it as part of my sub-set of Mutant Zombies. Most of my Mutant Zombies so far have also been Big/Boss Zombies so this is a nice addition to those ranks as a smaller model. No blood splatters on this one, but the remainder of the month will see more regular Zombies stumbling forth.

I am still generally doing modern-era Zombies for this year, with bits and pieces from a few ranges, however, an order of some chibi Tooth & Sword Shambling Zombies has arrived in recent days - now I am just awaiting bases for them.....

Zomtober 2017 (Week 1)

My Zomtober Week 1 mini is in the bag, phew!

I had a slow painting month in August, so Zomtober is just the ticket to help me pull up my totals for the year.  Having the mutual support of other Zomtoberists is a great spur for me to get 'something done', so well thanks and done to the 20 or so of us who have decided to take part this year.

Zomtober has helped me paint at least 30 minis over the 5 years it has been going, and this is the 24th modern Zombie I have added to my collection due to Zomtober (taking me to a nice round 40 in total).

I am not pursuing any kind of theme this year, just clearing odds and ends from years' worth of backlog Zombies, including this mini from Studio Miniatures. I imagine that prior to rising as a Zombie, this one had its neck chewed and hand chewed away then his neck broken before dying - very unfortunate!

I used this mini to try out how I shade and highlight what is a fairly new colour for me (the brown used for the long sleeve t-shirt), since I'll be using the same colour on another mini I have coming up. I may add some new acquisitions to the Zomtober painting queue, but that will depend on overall progress.

Hotwire (Cobra)

What a difference doing 'something'/'anything' makes! After posting my WiP post, I managed to paint Hotwire in the same afternoon (my equivalent to speed-painting....), and from that I hope to carry some momentum forward to get a few more minis finished this month.

Hotwire was added to the canon in the 2000's as a Cobra as a convention-only special character. The deranged Hotwire comes from a lineage of Bavarian scientists operating within criminal spheres and he specialises in B.A.T. Maintenance & repair, and is also a bio-mechanical engineer.

As mentioned in the WiP post (you can see the source inspiration and chosen base mini below), I zeroed in on tackling this model mainly based on ease of conversion - the mini is from Studio Miniatures and was immediately obvious as a candidate for reworking for my G.I. Joe Project. However, as I plan to eventually paint up some B.A.T.s (Battle Android Troopers), it makes sense to have a character who can boost them, making it an even better decision to make Hotwire. Therefore, expect to see Hotwire eventually in mine and Brummie's games of Squad Wars at some point. Painting him takes me up to four Cobra characters, so I have a way to go to catch up with my number of Joes and the number of Cobra that Brummie has painted. I have a nearly-finished Cobra Ninja Viper, and a few Joes already part-painted, so with luck a few more minis may get done this week.

G.I. Joe Minis Painted (14)

G.I. Joe team: 10*

Cobra: 4**

Arashikage: 3*

Iron Grenadiers: 1**

Oktober Guard: 0

Red Shadows: 0

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 2015 (Week 4)

The final week for me (barring a 'bonus mini' after this post like I managed after Week 4 last year!), and thankfully I have met my original goals for Zomtober - one Zombie per week plus getting related stuff done for Pulp City, Anima Tactics and BMG), and also getting four Tooth & Sword Shambling Zombie minis painted. All in all, I feel this has been my most successful Zomtober on a personal level both in terms of output, and in breadth of ranges tackled.

This week I finished Sharsha 'Fiedegunde' first (over on on my Anima Tactician blog), spurred on by painting Zombies (she isn't Undead, but I used my Zombie flesh recipe for her).

After that I finished my fourth Zombie kid (this year's accidental theme!; this mini is from the Tiny Terrors pack from Studio Miniatures), then I finally managed to complete the painting of the last two of my five Tooth & Sword Shambling Zombies.

With these additions I have managed to paint 11 minis in total so far this month, and with a few days left, there is the chance I may yet manage one or two more.

Zomtober 2015 (Week 3)

Another week, another Zombie kid! And some more yellow  - I am using the opportunity to practice painting yellow in anticipation of 3 minis I want to get painted soon-ish that all feature yellow quite prominently.

Work has been very busy for me this week, plus the Pulp City: Cold War Kickstarter launch took place, so time for painting has been limited when I have not been feeling tired. Therefore getting one Zombie painted was a nice small goal. All that aside, I now have some time off work so I hope to get a few more minis painted in the next 7 days!

In addition to this Zombie kid, I also finished Papa Zombie (click for link) in the past few days for my own Pulp City collection as a fitting ancillary miniature for Zomtober. That means I have finished two out of the planned three minis I planned to paint that were not regular Zombies or Tooth & Sword Shambling Zombies. That took me to seven minis for the month, already matching what I managed in 2014, and leaves me every chance of finishing ten or even eleven in total if momentum is sustained.

I need to prep another Zombie kid to ensure I can stick to the theme I stumbled onto for my own output this year, but I am fairly confident of meeting my weekly target for the final entry next week.

Zomtober 2015 (Week 2)

Just one mini for this week, yet a theme for me for Zomtober 2015 is already emerging - this year looks like it will be Zombie kids! After painting last week's primary Zombie entry I dug out a few more Zombie child minis and settled on that as my focus.

The mini was fairly simple to paint although lacking obvious major injuries leading to Zombification, so I tried to paint his face as though that had been the main point of attack. Overall a pretty simple paint-job, although the yellow was a little bit of a struggle.

Although I have only painted two minis so far for my regular-Zombies horde, this is my fifth completed mini of the month with the other related stuff I have finished, and I hope to finish the month with a tally of between seven and ten painted minis in total, maybe slightly more if motivation permits. My best total in recent years has been ten minis in 2013, so if I match that I would be very happy. So far this month I have completed Xiao Loong for BMG, and two Tooth & Sword Shambling Zombies. I have also made some nice progress on a mini called Papa Zombie for Pulp City, so Zomtober impetus has certainly carried over!

Zomtober 2014 (Week 4)

The final deadline is met! This minis was finished yesterday, but was actually started sometime last year but left unfinished until now, mainly because I was struggling with the orange. I am not as satisfied with the orange colour on this as I was with the last of the orange triad I painted (see post here). Nonetheless it is finished and that is the main thing, even if it is far from my best painting. Definitely one to hang around the back ranks of the horde!

The mini clean up was poor on my part, but the casting was a little rougher than I am used to with Studio Miniatures; however it is what it is.

Still, I have achieved all my Zomtober deadlines this year, and I am pleased with that. More importantly, It has also prompted me to paint a couple of non-Zeds (here and here) this month, so that has been very pleasing. The ranks of the Zombies have been swelled a little more, although calling it a horde is being generous I suppose!

I have one more mini that I did some work on today, in between modules for an E-Learning course that has a looming deadline, so I may have a bonus Zed before the end of the month, time permitting.

Most importantly, well done to everyone who has participated in Zomtober 2014; it has been great to see everyone's productivity. :)

Zomtober 2014 (Week 2)

This was a rush paint-job to hit the deadline, and I am not ashamed to admit that. Still, despite that, and a pretty crappy mini, it is done, and another walker adds to the meagre horde.

I generally like the Studio Miniatures range of metal zeds, but this is poor and shows off the worst aspects of some of their minis IMHO, with some ill-defined areas, weird lines in parts that don't really make sense, and a flipping huge bobble head.

Since I don't plan to chuck out the 'bad minis' of theirs that I have picked up, it was due for painting, and it was already under-coated, which made it prime choice for quick painting this week.

I only had limited time for this mini due to working on a big final essay for a course, so this is what it is. It is another addition to the newest 'Zombie triad' (the 'greens'), which means I will try and complete the trio next week.

Two weeks in and two deadlines met for me. So far, so good. More importantly, it has been cool seeing other Zomtober works from around the minis blogosphere - well done guys!

Zomtober 2014 (Week 1)

It is week 1, and the first deadline is hit for me; or to put it another way "Oosh!". However, apologies for the ropey pictures.

The cool thing about Zomtober is seeing the fruits of other hobbyist's painting and those posts have started to roll in. Great stuff guys. :)

This year is going to be odds and sods additions. I have tended to paint up triads of Zombies with a linking colour to them; my thought is that in bulk they won't look too similar, but if I have an in-game reason to activate a small group of models, then they are identifiable for that reason.

This is the first of a planned 'green' triad, and I hope to add another to the group in Zomtober, maybe even with the next submission for Zomtober.

So that makes one mini down, three (or more!) to go. I have started work on the next couple, so my only tricky deadline is next weekend as I have a big course assignment to work on over the next week. I am still hopeful I can get Week 2 done in time though.

Zomtober 2013 (Week 2)

Another week, another deadline met, another walker added to the cause!

I will never be as prolific as so many of the guys taking part in Zomtober, but I hope for all of us it is about getting something done we may have been struggling to do otherwise. For me that is certainly true - this mini was started many, many months ago and is only now at last complete. He is the second of a planned trio (since I paint my Zombies to match up in groups of 3), and although not brilliant, he will do. The orange was a bugger to do though!

Engaging in Zomtober has actually helped me get paint on to non-Zombie minis, so that is positive too. For example I finished Cenette here on my Anima Tactician blog simply because of renewed motivation, which was a nice bonus.

Back to Zomtober, I was thinking I should create a central post listing everyone who took part and how much they achieved (whether 1 mini or 100 hundred, it doesn't matter, just taking part and getting stuff finished is the key).

Coming up I don't yet know if it will be more Zombie Clowns or the last of this 'orange trio' next. Stay tuned. And finally, good luck to everyone with each week of Zomtober.

Zomtober Zombie (Week 4)

The final Zed - another Big Boss  Zombie, and another ugly one!

This could have been finished at the weekend, except for my sojourn with Rob to some VBCW gaming in Evesham (read about here on Rob's blog).

So the last bits and bobs of painting were completed over the past two nights.

In all I hit the minimum target which is pleasing. Considering I had painted so little in the last few months I suppose I should be satisfied with doing even just 5 minis.

This Boss Zombie is from the same pack as the last one and is by Studio Miniatures. Base as usual is by Fenris Games to tie my horde together.

A nasty looking piece of work this one, I wanted the 'cracked skin' on the hands to have the hint of red-raw muscle underneath.

So Zomtober ends, and my horde (ha-ha - a genrous definition if ever there was one) has grown by 5. Well done to all who participated. There will be next year I reckon...

Zomtober Zombie (Week 3)

Okay, my offering for Week 3, and the fourth of the target minimum of five. A big Zombie (or a boss as I like to think of the Zeds I mount on 40 mm bases).

That means my current 'horde' stands at 19 minis, and if I hit the Zomtober target it will mean a twenty five per cent increase since last year.

I love the irony of this mini - a fat Zed in sweats!

I feel my painting rustiness has subsided, so this is probably the most satisfying of the minis painted so far this month, and the nice big surfaces probably helped in that. The skin toe is my usual Zed-recipe of Vallejo Green-Grey base, with highlights of a Green-Grey plus Basic Skin Tone mix at 2:1, 1:1, and finally 1:2 ratios, with some very thin Devlan Mud as a wash.

The mini is a from a pack by Studio Miniatures, with the usual (for me) base choice from Fenris Games.

I have some more Zombies in various stages of completion, so I think I should hit the Zomtober target; just one more to go to hit the target, anything else is a bonus. Rob, inevitably, has painted about twice as many as I have!

Zomtober Zombie (Week 1)

Phew, just made it!

Readers may recall that Rob threw down a challenge to paint five Zombies this month (which we renamed Zomtober in deference to the undertaking), and today I have been busily working on three, of which this is the first completed. the others are not quite done, but they get me 'ahead' as it were for next week and maybe the week after.

This Zombie is from Studio Miniatures. My painting is certainly a bit rusty since I have been so out of practice, but at least I hit the first deadline. The base is Fenris Games which I tend to use for most of my Zeds.

Rob has already completed two Zeds, but he paints faster than me so that is to be expected.

Onwards then with Zomtober, and if you want to join in please comment and label your own blog posts/threads Zomtober and I will give you a plug on the Eclectic Gentleman Tabletop Gamer.

WWII German Zombie

A fairly quick paint-job on this one simply as I needed to get something 'done' in order to help me get over my latest bout of painters block.

Click to embiggenify.

This mini is not really intended to go with anything I currently game, paint for or plan to do. It may get used in a planned 'pulp' style game I hope to do in the future (using some Reaper Chronoscope minis amongst others), but that will be a way off. I also have a ton of AE-WW II minis, but cannot see myself getting into them any time soon.

So a mini painted simply for the sake of it then.

The mini is by Studio Miniatures, and the base by Fenris.

Zombie Group (2)

The last Zombie update post for a while, and my third group of 3 (I have lots of future groups planned BTW!).

Purple theme this time. I will try and do a group shot of the infestation so far to give a sense of how they look together, but meanwhile I will leave you with this.

Left and middle are Studio Miniatures , while the one on the right is Crocodile Games. Bases left and right are Fenris Games, middle base is Dragon Forge.

Zombie Group (1)

Well the title says Zombie Group (1), but this is actually my second finished 'group' of Zeds after painting the previously posted Cops. The groups will be marked by thematic colour schemes, which will be dominated by the colour chosen for their tops, shirts, jackets, dressing gowns, or whatever. The plan is that en masse the colour-theming should not seem too obtrusive, yet in game-play will mark them out easily.

Click the picture to embiggenify.

I have taken to paining some of my 'rank and file' type Zeds in 3's for a couple of reasons. Firstly is that when playing Pulp City (see the Pulp Citizen blog here), Zombies are fielded in groups of 3 models, so this gives me options there. Secondly, but it probably helped speed up the painting process a little with only a limited palette in use.

These three minis are all Studio Miniatures (if memory serves me!). I love the characterful touches on the Zed in the dressing gown/bathrobe* (* delete according to personal brand of English!), with the bunny slippers and broken mug still being clutched. Bases are by Fenris Games. I have a lot more Studio Miniatures walking dead to paint, so stay tuned.