Hasslefree Survivor Females 01

Following directly on from my last post here is part one of a review of my Hasslefree Miniatures 28mm scale female survivors from their extensive range of adventurers. This post will concentrate on some of the females armed with melee weapons. My next post will concentrate on females with firearms. There are far more females to choose from than males, which is why I've split this review into two.

At the far left is one of the very few Hasslefree adventurers to be given a first and second name in their catalogue - HFA006 Ashlee Campbell. With her baggy combat pants, heavy boots, tight short T-shirt and headband Ashlee is probably a mercenary or some kind of special forces soldier. She is armed with a pair of pistols kept in shoulder holsters (nice touch!) and a chainsaw, which I have bloodied around the business end. It should be noted that Hasslefree make a zombified version of Ashlee, so I guess her chainsaw ran out of petrol at a crucial moment. I wish there were more figures available in "before and after" modes. It is rare to see a female toting a chainsaw so kudos to Kev for sculpting her with one.

Next to her is HFA002 Jess, a character who is ideally suited to hunting down zombies. Her most obvious weapon is her hockey stick. But look closer and you'll see she has a pistol in a holster on her right hip, a sheathed knife on her left hip and a sawn-off shotgun strapped to her back. If you want a female star for your zombie apocalypse game you'd do well to consider Jess. She is such a beautifully sculpted figure.

In the centre of this group is Hasslefree's not Buffy Summers aka HFA019 Sadie. I'm sure I've mentioned before that I am a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which case it should come as no surprise that I love this figure. The only thing I don't like about her is her name - Sadie. What an awful name for such a fine figure! She is armed with a wooden stake and has a crossbow slung across her back, perfect for killing vampires but just as good for killing zombies. If there were enough figures to represent the Scooby Gang from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I'd certainly use them in a scenario or two. Kevin White, HF's sculptor is a Buffy fan and I'm grateful for the non-Buffy figures he's made so far (Buffy, Willow and Spike) but I want more (especially Angel, Giles and Xander). Kev clearly likes this figure as there are another four variants of her. Check out my next post to see some of them.

Fourth in line is HFA025 Suzi (b). The (b) denotes that it is a variant of another figure (HFA014 Suzi). Here, Suzi's SMG has been replaced with a katana. This figure is clearly based on a Japanese schoolgirl from an anime film. The unfeasibly short microskirt that shows her bum and panties is, if you'll pardon the pun, a cheeky touch! If you want cute and deadly with a huge dollop of sex appeal, Suzi is your girl. Suffice to say, I'll be reviewing the other Suzi figure next time.

Finally, is HFA004 Kat, a very animated swordswoman. She has something of the look of Selene (Kate Beckinsale) from the Underworld films about her, although I haven't painted her as such, despite the fact that Selene is probably my favourite vampire character in films. (Speaking of which, I just read earlier this week that Kate is going to star in Underworld 4, and that hubby, Len Wiseman, is going to direct again. Fang-freaking-tastic!) This figure is full of dramatic movement and Kev really is an expert at sculpting the female form. I saw this figure painted in this colour scheme on the Forum of Doom a few years ago and really liked it, as it was such a contrast to painting her in black leathers, which must surely be the default choice for painting her.

So, here are five very worthy females to join, or in some cases, lead, a party of survivors in a zombie apocalypse. I can't recommend them too highly to you. Prices are as follows: all except Kat are £3.50 each. Kat is slightly dearer at £4.00 but bear in mind, she is a three piece casting - the arms are separate from the body. Join me next time for a look at Hasslefree's females with firearms.