Wednesday 17 August 2011

Black Orc Games Zombies 03

In a recent editorial (The Kindness of Bloggers ) I mentioned that I received some free zombie figures from Mikko Merilainen (author of  Dawn of the Lead blog-site) that he'd sculpted for Black Orc Games. I recently finished painting them and so I thought I'd share them with you.
Mikko sculpted two new 28mm scale zombie figures but as you can see there are three figures in the photos I've taken. The figure at the far left is called Joe the Jogging Zombie. When I first saw I him I was rather put off by the fact that his left side was flat. Also, despite his lack of genitals, I could tell that he was meant to be a nude zombie. I mentioned this to Mikko and he told me that due to a mix up with Black Orc Games they had added a slottatab to his figure when it was supposed to be lying down, hence the flat left side. Mikko kindly sent me a second copy of this figure so that I could have one standing and one prone. Clearly, standing Joe needed some work doing on him. I bulked out his left side with modelling putty, redefined his backside and added his meat and two veg between his legs. The figure has some spectacular wounds on him. There is a huge hole where his lower stomach once was. In between his man boobs is another big hole. When I resculpted his left arm, I added a massive bite wound to it. The flesh has been stripped from the shin of his left leg, he has a piece of flesh torn from the back of his skull, and finally he's had a bite taken from his right buttock. Awesome set of wounds, I say!
The figure in the centre of the group is Joe as he was meant to be, lying down and struggling to get back to his feet. It's a very original concept and I applaud Mikko for coming up with the idea. I added his cuffs, collar and waistband so that it looked like he was wearing a track suit to help tie in with the name Black Orc Games gave him - Joe the Jogging Zombie. I toned down the gore content on this figure. The chest and stomach wounds are still present, as is the bite to his bum. There is also a bite to his right leg which I've made more prominent on this figure than on upright Joe.
I took this overhead shot to better show off the third figure in my photos - namely Matt the Crawling Zombie. As you can see, there isn't much of Matt left. Part of his intestines and other pieces of his innards trail behind him as he uses his hands to propel himself forward. I like this figure a lot as I can always find a need for zombie crawlers.
To be fair, these are not the best sculpted figures on the market. Joe's anatomy shows a number of faults. I don't want to be hyper-critical of these figures, especially when  Mikko let me have them for free, but at the same time I do want to give you an honest review. I like the concept of Joe more than the execution, but he isn't a really bad figure. My conversions were fairly minimal and easily done. Matt, on the hand, is a real gem and I have nothing but praise for him. As with all of Black Orc Games' figures these are ridiculously cheap, retailing at a mere $1.00 each.

17 comments:

  1. Very nice Bryan - great job as always!

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  2. Great work, would look fine among the horde.

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  3. looking good,lots of gore,the way i like it

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  4. @Fran. yep, useful additions to the horde.

    @Shintokamikaze. What can I say? I'm a gorehound too!

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  5. Wow, the Big Fat Guy is impressive, you're right, they have a very nice concept.

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  6. Thanks for the honest review! Also, it's always great to see my stuff painted, makes me all warm inside. You've done them up very nicely!

    I actually thought long and hard (no pun intended, seriously) about his genitals. In the end I came to the conclusion that as he is massively obese, in that position the sheer wallowing amount of lard in his thigh would roll over and cover his junk. Should've sculpted it a bit better, though!

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  7. @Zerloon. The concept of both figures is just great. I have always had a soft spot for lumbering, fat zombies.

    @Mikko. Once again, many thanks for the figures. I had a lot of fun painting them as I painted them at the same time as I painted those last lot of Studio Miniatures zombies and survivors that I've just reviewed. Painting Studio Miniature figures always puts me in a good mood so your figures got the special treatment.

    I can see your reasoning for neutering Joe. I know for a fact that Americans are far more prudish about sex and nudity than we Europeans. It makes me think would a fully nude zombie have gone down so well with the Black Orc Games as much as the version you did sculpt? I guess we'll never know.

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  8. Looking good. I agree the crawler looks great

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  9. Thanks, Brummie. He does look great!

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  10. Wow what a post, this has some real average zombies (sorry Mikko) but it also has probably one of the best zombies I have ever seen, Matt the crawler, what a work of art, I so liked him that I went straight to the website to purchase him, but alas it wasn't meant to be, I got this message:

    "We are sorry for the inconvenience; however, at the present time we are unable to use PayPal to process orders from the geographic region you selected"

    Grrr thats lame........so if anyone has a spare one, I would be more than happy to throw some cash your way.

    Vampifan a good honest, ballsy review, thanks mate and good painting ya gorehound...lol

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  11. @The Extraordinarii. That's one of the most enthusiastic replies I've ever received. Many thanks! Black Orc Games are not the friendliest firm to deal with if you live outside of the USA. When I ordered my last lot of zombies from them I got an American friend to order them on my behalf and I reimbursed him. I'd suggest you contact Mikko personally to see if he still has any spare figures available. Leave a comment on his blog and I'm sure he'll get back to you. After all, you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

    Oh yes, I am a gorehound and proud of it!

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  12. Good work on the figures Vampifan. I look forward to examining Mikkos lack of miniature tackle personally in the near future.

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  13. Great review bryan. They clearly are not the best, but they are still very good and your treatment of the lying Joe is superb.

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  14. @Sho3box. QUOTE - "I look forward to examining Mikko's lack of miniature tackle personally in the near future." Laughing my arse off!

    @Zombie Ad. Thanks and let's not forget that Mikko is just an amateur sculptor. Bravo to him, I say, for having the guts to put his work on sale.

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  15. "let's not forget that Mikko is just an amateur sculptor. Bravo to him, I say, for having the guts to put his work on sale"

    Exactly. Good for Mikko.

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  16. @Sho3box. Absolutely! Good for Mikko, indeed!

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