Sunday 9 September 2012

Studio Miniatures' Zombies 16 - U.S. Army Soldiers

Following on from my review of the four Studio Miniatures' zombie cops, I'm now going to review the "Grunts and Screams" set, which contains four 28mm scale US Army soldier zombies. This review ties in with my last one, as I bought and painted both sets at the same time.
When a zombie apocalypse kicks off, it is inevitable that many of the first vistims to be infected will come from the emergency services as they struggle to contain the problem. Soldiers, whether they be from the regular army, special forces or National Guard, will be in the front line and will suffer many casualties. As such, this is a set that I welcome very much. I have painted these guys in the same camo pattern that I used on my Black Scorpion US Army troops (I haven't got round to reviewing them... yet). It is my interpretation of the current digital camouflage scheme used today in the US Army. It's not the easiest camo pattern to paint in 28mm scale but I'm happy with it and to be honest, that's all that counts.
At the far left of the two photos above is a soldier whose left arm has had most of the flesh stripped from it. You can see bone showing through from his shoulder to his wrist. Oddly, his left hand hasn't been touched. He is holding on to his pistol holster in his right hand. He is one of two soldiers wearing a helmet.
The second helmet-wearing grunt is lurching forward with his left arm stretched out. Note all the ammo pouches that he has on his chest. Other than the holstered pistol on the previous figure, these are all unarmed. But being zombies, they have no need for weapons.
The third zombie in line is clutching something to his chest but I wasn't sure what it was. Just as I'm not sure what the cylinder on his back is for. Are the two related? Is it a gasmask and oxygen cylinder? There is a tube leading from the bottom of the cylinder to his front. I decided to smear his hands in lots of blood, which has covered his front to help obscure whatever it is in his hands. Heck, it could be an internal organ, like a heart from some victim!
The figure last in line was one of the walking wounded before he became infected. His right wrist has been bandaged and he he has a bandage wrapped around his chest and back. His jacket is half on and half off, which is a nice touch, and helps to show off his prior injuries. He wears dark sunglasses, which also makes him stand out from the crowd.
Here we have four very well sculpted zombie soldiers. If you feel you don't have a use for them, you could very easily paint them up as SWAT troopers. This would tie them in with the cops I reviewed last time even more. Inevitably, I like them a lot and I can highly recommend them. Hey, they're by Studio Minis - what's not to like? This set retails at £12.99 from their webstore.
EDIT: Here's the  image I found on Google that I used to base my camo scheme on.

15 comments:

  1. Those are great miniatures, and beautiful paint jobs!

    Is there someplace you can suggest we learn how to do the camouflage paint scheme you've shown here?

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    1. Thanks, Varangian. For painting the camo scheme I did a Google Images search on contemporary US Army uniforms. When I found one that I liked, I saved it to my Pictures folder and used it to copy from as best I could. See photo above.

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  2. I actually like how that camoflage turned out.

    Now there is a creepy thought...Zombies in camoflage... If they did not moan...We would be screwed!

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  3. Those camo schemes look great as do the mini's great work sir! Look forward to seeing the Black Scorpion chaps to

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    1. I have no excuse for not showing you the Black Scorpion US Army figures seeing as I painted them a couple of years ago! I'll try and get them photographed as soon as possible.

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  4. Replies
    1. Thanks, Ray. I'd be lying if I said that camo scheme was easy to paint!

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    1. Thanks, Fran. Patience, a steady hand and a fine detail brush are three esential requirements for painting it!

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  6. The camo may have been difficult, but it came out nicely, which is very tough to pull off at 28mm. This is a good looking set, that I'll probably wind up with eventually, they just weren't top of my own list at this point.

    I really like the zombies that show injuries from before they were infected. Adds a lot of character.

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    1. Thanks for the kind words on my painting, Adam. I agree with you about the wounded soldier in the bandages.

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  7. Camo si tough but you did a great job, Bryan. Nice figs. I didnt even know abot these guys.

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    1. In that case, I'm glad to let you know about them, Roger.

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