Corpses 03

Well, it has certainly been an interesting week. I was all ready to post this review on Wednesday of last week when I found I had three nominations for a Stylish Blogger Award. I couuldn't possibly ignore them and had to respond. I think I ended up with seven nominations, which is just so heart-warming and gratifying. It's not only been a rewarding week for me, but also for a lot of other zombie fan bloggers. Well done to everyone.  My friend, Mikko, who runs the Dawn of the Lead blog responded to a comment that I left on his site "New blogs have sprung up like crazy, and blogs like yours and mine are already starting to feel like established, old-timer affairs. How crazy is that!"  I know the feeling! Here I am, in my third year of blogging, and already I feel like one of the founding members. Crazy, indeed!
Anyway, back to normal now with my third look of figures of corpses. I was recently digging through my collection of swaps of Horrorclix 35mm figures when I spotted a bunch of figures just ripe for converting into corpses. My first lot of Horrorclix corpses came from the original set. These five that I'm reviewing today are from the Freakshow expansion set.

At the far left of the photo above is a dead fire-eater. I cut off the flame coming out of his mouth and the jar he held in his right hand. By holding the figure over a lighted match, I was able to bend his limbs slightly so that he lay flat. I gave the flesh parts of his body a liberal wash of Citadel Baal Red ink wash to indicate he is a burns victim. He was a very easy conversion to do.
Next line is the zombie ventriloquist. He was also a very easy conversion. I cut off his right arm holding his dummy and remodelled the arm with Milliput modelling putty so that it appeared he was clutching his stomach. You don't have to be a good sculptor to do this, as most of his arm is hidden from view due to his position. I twisted his feet slightly using the matchstick method. You just need to hold the figure over the flame at the point you want changing (in this case, his ankles) for a couple of seconds for the heat to soften the plastic. I drilled a small hole in his forehead and a much larger hole in the back of his head. You can't beat a head shot for killing zombies!
In the centre of this group is a vampire roustabout aka the circus strongman. He was a much tougher conversion. It took me a while to decide if he worked best as a corpse lying facedown or on his back. In the end, I went for lying on his back. First thing I did was remove the hammer from his hands. Then I had to make a V-cut where his left leg met the hip to bend his left leg back. The V-shaped groove was filled with Milliput. I made a number of similar cuts on his arms and neck. I cut parts of his denim jacket away and added Milliput to the small of his back to help him lie flat but I was still having trouble with his arms and head. I had a sudden "lightbulb moment" when I realised if his head and arms were resting on something, like for example, a paving stone he'd lie flat. So I cut off a small piece of plastic sprue from some model I had close at hand and stuck it in place behind his head and arms at the elbow joints. Perfect! It worked a treat and he now lies flat without any gaps showing beneath him. A job well done! I finished him off by drilling a small hole just to the side of his left eye.
Fourth in line is Carny. He held a big lollipop in his left hand, as if offering it to someone, but he held an even bigger knife in his right hand, which he hid behind his back. I removed the knife and the lollipop. I made a few V-cuts in his legs at the knee joints and hip joints to get his legs lying flat. His arms were repositioned by slightly heating them. I used the same method to twist his head to one side. Unfortunately, you can't see my favourite bit of his conversion. I sculpted on spools of intestines spilling from a massive stomach wound. From the angle I have photographed him, which is how he'll appear in most situations, he looks like he could just be sleeping. Anyone turning him over is going to get one hell of a shock!
Finally, is the corpse of a circus knife thrower. He needed quite a bit of work done to get him to lie flat. I had to cut a large V shape out of his upper right leg at the hip joint. I completely cut of his right arm. I removed the hatchet he was holding in his left hand and almost cut off the knife in his right hand. The reason that I didn't is that by leaving it in place it gave me two anchor points to attach his arm to the body - at the right shoulder and right knee. This gave his arm a stronger bond when glued in place. He was another figure to have a small hole drilled in his forehead followed by a larger hole in the back of his head.
It took me a day to convert them and they were a lot of fun to do. Next time I play an ATZ scenario I'll be sure to include them on the gaming board. I have a window of opportunity for the next chapter of my ATZ campaign in the middle of June, which isn't that far away, so look out for another batrep soon.