Wednesday 26 January 2011

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.

16 comments:

  1. Very nice Bryan! looking forward to part 2!

    ReplyDelete
  2. So am I, Colin. I almost lumped the firearm females with the melee weapon females but I soon realised there was just too much work involved.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful as always, hasslefree do great stuff and I have a couple of these females swell.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks, TLA. I love Hasslefree. Not only do they produce great figures but they are a pleasure to do business with. After all, who else in our hobby sends you free sweeties with your order? Their customer care is at the level that all companies should strive for.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great paint jobs mate, Geez your amassing a good range of 'all things zombie' miniatures, would have to say that my favorite is definately Suzi(b)purely on the 'panties' factor, what an awesome mini !!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Outstanding painting on Kat! I don't have this miniature in my collection yet, but I really think I need it.

    Full agree on Hasslefree. Wonderful miniatures, wonderful people.

    Whiteface / Oliver

    ReplyDelete
  7. @The Extraodinarii. I have to agree, Suzi is a very special mini.

    @Oliver. If you do buy Kat, I'm sure you'll be able to find plenty of other HF goodies to add to your order. Maybe you should hold back until after my next post.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Awesome to see so many of the girls together in one place. All superb.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @Vampifan:
    Hehe, I am well aware of their minitures range, but I ordered only half of the minis I wanted to have, after I realised that my whole wishlist would have cost me more than 100 Euros. I am (have been?) good at the buying part of the hobby, but not that good. Some minis will have to wait...and I need more zeds, not survivors.
    I don't think there is anyone sculpting better female miniatures than HF.

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Adam. They are nice, aren't they? Just wait until you see part two!

    @Oliver. 100 Euros plus? Ouch! That's a big order! You can never have too many zombies but you can have too many survivors, so I take your point of prioritising on what you spend.

    When Chris Fitzpatrick was sculpting for Ral Partha in the 1990's I always thought he was the best at sculpting females. Now that he's at Crocodile Games and concentrating more on fantasy figures, I think the crown has been passed to Kev at Hasslefree.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I didn't spend that much, I downsized my wishlist three times until it fit into my monthly miniatures budget (and I just noticed, it was more than 100 GBP not Euros...). I am sure Kat was between all those miniatures I had to abandon. But I got Cobra, the Hazmats an M16 for the Copplestone Vampifan miniature, Harby and other great minis.
    Hasslefree minis are obviously survivors or important NPC characters. Now I need zombies, simple gangers and maybe some military people. On the other hand, buying four or five miniatures can't do harm.

    ReplyDelete
  12. A good-looking party you've got there, if I dare say... =)
    I especially like how you've painted Kat's outfit.

    ReplyDelete
  13. @Oliver. There's always next time, or the time after that, or whenever. As for gangers, military types and more zombies you really are spoilt for choice. Reviews of contemporary military types and gangers are something I have planned for the future. As for zombies, well, ahem, you know where to look for inspiration.

    @apeekaboo. Thanks. When I saw how Kat had been painted on the Forum of Doom I knew I wanted to paint her just like that. The bodysuit is painted with Citadel Regal Blue and her corset in Citadel Ice Blue.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Looks like a great gang of followers for LTL Dad. When I'm ready to commit suicide I'll give it a go.
    I could never paint number 4, the old hands would be shaking too badly with that pose.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I know exactly what you mean about committing suicide, Willy. If LTL Mom caught you with this lot, the outcome would not be pleasant!

    Painting Suzi sure was a lot of fun and yes, a steady hand is required. Another part of the fun is you get to decide what colour panties she's wearing!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nice color choices Bryan. The girls look excellent. BTW what do you use for the hot pink?
    Mine always comes out like pepto bismal :)

    ReplyDelete