My favourite manufacturer of 28mm scale zombie figures, Studio Miniatures, have just released Zombie Mob 004, a set that contains eight finely detailed and superbly sculpted minis. As usual, the set contains five males and three females. Notice anything that the four zombies in the photos above have in common? They are all bearded. Given that some of these figures have been converted by the sculptor from the first two sets, a beard is a good way to make a figure look different.
Let's take a closer look at these undead critters. At the far left in the photos above is a zombie who has been shot in the chest. Wounds to his upper arms could be bullet wounds as well or bite wounds. What makes this figure stand out from the crowd is the fact that he is dragging a severed leg. It's a neat but gory addition that I really like. He is a conversion.
Standing next to him is another zombie suffering from multiple bullet wounds (chest, stomach and upper right arm). He is also missing his right eye. It isn't a bad figure but there is nothing about him outstanding either. He is also a conversion.
The next zombie in line certainly has the "X Factor" to make him unique. Someone has rammed a sawn-off shotgun through his stomach, with the barrel poking out of his back. It doesn't show too clearly in my photos; I should have posed him sideways on. I wonder if he charged the shooter just as they pulled the trigger and he ended up impaling himself on the shotgun as it blew a hole in him. It's a possibility. He also has a large cut to his left lower arm. He is a very characterful figure albeit another conversion.
Last in line is what at first glance appears to be a zombie pirate. I say "appears to be" because these are, after all, contemporary zombies. With his bandana over his head and his hook replacing his left hand he could certainly be used as a pirate. However, I see him as a new age traveller. His shorts and sandals don't fit in with the pirate look, they are too modern day. His wounds are pretty gross. His intestines dangle from a massive stomach wound. He has been bitten in the left shoulder and a large chunk of skin has been removed from his back to reveal his spinal column. He is not a pretty sight!
The male at the far left of the next group of zombies is clean shaven. He also suffers from a large stomach wound. In addition, he has lost his right hand and his face and head reveals more bite wounds. There is, what appears to be a piece of flesh dangling from his mouth. It is too big to be his tongue so I can only assume it came from some unfortunate victim. He too, has been converted.
Moving on, we come to the trio of females. The woman in the orange dress will never win any beauty contest with the way she looks! Her lower jaw has been dislocated to give her face a strange look. There is a large stab wound wound to the centre of her chest. Note that her right shoe has gone missing.
In the centre of the group is a striking looking female with no obvious wounds visible on her at all. When painting zombies I tend to copy the colour schemes that appears on a company's website as I have done here. It is easier than thinking up new colour schemes. Yeah, call me lazy! Occasionally I will deviate from what I call the "official" colour schemes. Here is a case in point. The artist who painted these figures for Studio has painted her scarf from neck to her midriff. But looking closely at the figure, there is a strip of material on her skirt that looks like it belongs to the scarf. So, although I have copied the artist's colour scheme, I have made her scarf much longer than he did. In addition. I gave my zombie black hair instead of blonde as it contrasts better with her orange beret.
The final female in the group could have been a fitness fanatic. She looks like she's ready to sprint after a victim. She has a bandage on her right arm. Chunks of flesh have been bitten from her right cheek and lower left arm. This is another converted figure but I like her.
Those are the eight figures that come with set 004. However, if you buy sets 003 and 004 together, Studio will provide you with a free figure. They had a similar promotion with sets 001 and 002, in which the free figure was a zombified George A. Romero. This time the free figure is my favourite zombie from the movies - Bub, the intelligent zombie from Romero's Day of the Dead film. Any zombie fan worth his salt will want to have this little beauty in their collection. I was unbelievably happy to get hold of mine, especially as I didn't know anything about the offer until my parcel of figures arrived. You can see him at the far right of the two photos above. The sculpting of this figure is just exquisite but what particularly impressed me was the way the pistol has been sculpted. Notice how the slide chamber has been pulled back, indicating the gun is now empty. That is a detail you very rarely see on a figure.
Zombie Mob 004 costs £15.99 if you want white metal figures or £24.99 if you want resin cast figures. If you want to buy Zombie Horde 002, which consists of Zombie Mobs 003 and 004 plus the free Bub the zombie figure it will cost you £29.99 for the white metal figures and £44.99 for the resin cast figures. I must admit that I don't know anyone who buys resin cast figures and I do wonder how many Studio sells in relation to the white metal figures? Do I really need to say that you must buy these figures if you are a fan of 28mm scale zombies? No, I thought not! Despite the converted figures, which I know some of you aren't keen on, there is more than enough here to highly recommend to you, especially that figure of Bub. Getting hold of him didn't just make my day, it made my year!
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