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 2018 (Week 3)

My Zomtober 2018 week 3, and this one was a bit more of a rush compared to the other two. Not a panicked completion, however my weekend has been occupied with other hobby stuff, not leaving much time for painting.

This Zombie is from Crocodile Games, and completes my 'grey suit triad' (as seen together in the bottom picture). Aesthetically, the feet are a bit on the big side (a funny contrast to the 'small' feet of the Cold War stuff).

I picked up the two packs of Crocodile Games Zombies for the cops that they included (this was before Studio Miniatures did some American cops for their range), which means I have had this mini lurking around since at least 2011, possibly a bit longer...

I don't imagine I will paint more than one Zombie for next weekend, but I hope to get some more painting done this week on my Kitbash Games stuff, with both Alpha Male and Soldier Hex underway.

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 2018 (Week 2)

Two weeks of Zomtober down, and two minis painted, without the usual mad-rush panic setting in!

Like last week's Zombie, this one is part of my grey suit triad. This one is another Cold War Miniatures Zombie, however, the mini is intended to be a priest, but as the dog collar wasn't too clear i ended up painting him as a suited Zombie. While I was finishing this one off I started on the final triad Zombie, which I hope to finish next week.

Painting all this grey has also helped with a non-Zomtober mini, as I managed to get some work done on one of my range of supers (The Cowl - I hope to finish her this 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 2018 (Week 1)

My Zombie for Zomtober Week 1 is done! Thankfully this one wasn't too much of a challenge, so I was able to finish it in a couple of hours while dabbing bits of paint on a couple of other Zeds to get ahead of myself for this year.

My 2018 painting plan is a trio of Zombies in grey suits (returning to my triad approach I used in previous years), plus a Zombie Rabbi. I expect next week's mini to be another grey suit Zombie.

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

Zomtober 2017 (Week 5)

My Week 5 Zomtober minis are done - another set of five Shambling Zombies from Meridian Miniatures' Tooth and Sword range. To be honest, I had planned to paint a contemporary Zombie too, but I have been feeling unwell for most of the week so decided to concentrate on these five alone which ultimately meant getting more minis painted overall - a 'good thing' in my book!

The painting is pretty simple and uses my usual Zombie flesh recipe, with Vallejo Model Color Green Grey as a base, some VMC Burnt Umber mixed in to shade, then highlights by adding VMC Basic Skin Tone. The eyes are graduated from VMC Sky Grey down to Silvergrey. To speed up the painting I used VMC Camo Black Brown mixed in to shade the various trouser colours.

With these done I hope to get some Tooth and Sword Adventurers and some Impact Minaitures chibi Monsters painted over the next couple of months (while also cracking on with my G.I. Joe Project again), but as ever my plans will probably change with a whim!

Finally, well done to every blogger who participated in this year's Zomtober, well done to everyone, and hopefully we will all sign up again next year!


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 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.

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....

Zombie

My first painted mini in November, and it has taken some time to get done. I started this during Zomtober but as I was focusing on my main theme (Zombie kids) it didn't get completed.

Come November, and a combination of work being very busy, consequent tiredness and finishing the Sovereign Theatre kit put painting minis on the back burner.

In the last week or so I have felt more motivated so a few more models have been concurrently tickled with the hairy sticks, meaning I may finish one, two or hopefully more before the end of the month... hopefully.

The mini itself is interesting to me, not least because Cold War, but I am very uncertain of that.
of the nature of his main injury, although the oversized hands are pretty crude. Not sure of the manufacturer, maybe

Now though, with another Zombie finished, I realise I really do need to do a new 'horde' picture before too long.

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 2015 (Week 1)

Well, Week 1 is done, and already a number of great entries have been posted. My own contribution was a little rushed (having spent yesterday at the Derby wargames show), but I am pleased to have made the deadline with 3 minis!

I was determined to use this Zomtober momentum to get not only some regular Zeds painted, but also some more of my Tooth & Sword Shambling Zombies, and possibly some other minis that are not quite Zombies but which tie in loosely (more on those as Zomtober progresses I hope!).

I am not sure about the manufacturer of the Zombie child, and atypically for me it is not based on a Fenris base (jn stead a Dragon Forge base). It has been under-coated for at least a couple of years, possibly longer, and the clean-up was poor on my part (I noticed mold lines while painting), but to be honest, getting it painted was key and so I can claim that it is done.

The Tooth & Sword Zombies are helping me get to grips with a simplified approach to my painting, and I am happy to have painted two more.

For the weeks ahead, I have some regular contemporary Zombies part-painted to finish off, as well as two more Tooth & Sword Shambling Zombiesand possibly the secret-for-now 'other stuff'.

Shambling Zombie (Tooth & Sword)

A first for me - painting a Chibi-style mini!

I backed the Tooth & Sword Kickstarter by Meridian Miniatures last year, completely enchanted by the style of the range. After quite some time, I have now finally found some to start tackling the minis with some tickling of the hairy sticks. Consequently, I decided to start down the 'easier' (in my own mind) path of painting a Shambling Zombie, using my usual Zombie skin recipe. The various other characters will follow after painting the first few Shambling Zombies.

Painting wise this was easier than I though, all I had to do was simplify what I do to suit the appropriate raised surfaces. The eyes are a little more complex than my usual zeds (who get flat VMC Silvergrey) - here I worked down from a more grey colour to the Silvergrey to create a slight sense of depth across the flat surface of the eye. The Chibi style will take a little getting used to in terms of technique. I think I will tackle more Shambling Zombies first just to get me in the right mode of thinking for painting for Tooth & Sword!

The base is by Fenris, and was chosen as round shoulder is my preference over slotta-style chamfered edge. These are 25 mm round shoulders to fit in the design for the Tooth & Sword game (more on that in a future post...).

On a side note, finishing this mini means that in July and August I have matched my painting output for January to March and April to June. :)