Sunday 16 December 2012

Vampifan's Chinese Restaurant Workers

I'd like to show you some of my own 28mm scale figures that I sculpted way back in the 1990's. These are my Chinese restaurant staff, who were sculpted as NPCs for my Feng Shui RPG campaign. Feng Shui was one of my favourite gaming experiences and was a huge amount of fun to play and to games master. Published by Atlas Games, Feng Shui was set in contemporary times and dealt with the Secret War, a global conflict in which various factions sought dominance through the control and acquisition of feng shui sites, places of mystery and power. The heroes of the game were known as the Dragons. They were a minority group of humans, whose numbers had been decimated by the other factions. My campaign was set in Hong Kong, which was the default setting for the game. The player characters' base was the Blue Dragon Restaurant, a minor feng shui site. These six figures that I'm about to review were the staff who were involved in the day to day running of the restaurant. Most of them knew nothing about the Secret War.
Two of my players had characters who owned the Blue Dragon Restaurant and lived in apartments above it. However, they spent a lot of time adventuring and were often away from home, so they hired Lau Yu, seen at the far left of my photos, to be the restaurant manager. Lau Yu was a typical inscrutable Oriental type and he always had a severe look about him. He was in his mid-50's when my campaign started. He came to Hong Kong from Shanghai just after World War 2 ended. He has lived there ever since. He had always been fascinated with sorcery and he collected books of Chinese magic. He knew a few minor spells but he knew nothing about the Secret War.
Su Yin, seen holding a meat cleaver, was the head chef. She was in her 40's, and was fat, cheerful and a superb cook. She previously worked at the famous Floating Jumbo Restaurant in Aberdeen Harbour on Victoria Island, Hong Kong. Su Yin would gossip with anyone who impressed her, regardless of nationality. She knew a lot about the Triad gangs of Hong Kong but never discussed them openly. She knew nothing about the Secret War.
To the right of Su Yin is Tony Zhang, a 17 year old nephew of Lau Yu. The old man hired him to teach him a trade and some discipline. Tony was frequently in trouble at school for fighting and truancy. Since training to be a chef at the Blue Dragon, he settled down under the tutelage of Lau Yu and Su Yin. He, too, knew nothing about the Secret War.
Chun Wang, fourth in line and shown holding a bowl of food, was the head waiter. He was 25 years old and a heavy set man. He was a neighbour of Su Yin, who recommended him to Lau Yu. Previously, he worked as a waiter in one of Wanchai's (a district of Hong Kong Island) seedy nightclubs. He was also a fledgling Sorceror who knew a few Weather spells. Although he knew how to handle himself in a fight, he'd deal with really bad situations by creating a mist to escape in the confusion. He knew nothing about the Secret War.
Yung Wu, shown polishing a glass, was the restaurant's bartender. He was in his early 30's. A good-looking guy, he had a joking manner and was very friendly. Although he was quite a flirt with any beautiful women, he would never betray his wife and three children. He also knew nothing about the Secret War.
Last in line is Li Feng, the only staff member to know anything about the Secret War, although he kept his knowledge well hidden. He was a very introverted person and rarely had anything to say to anyone. He kept his head down and quietly got his waiter job done. He wore his long hair in a ponytail. He proved himself to be good in a fight and his martial arts training saw off more than one intruder or belligerent drunk. He claimed to have come to Hong Kong from mainland China, but he remained very evasive about his past or his original home. In actual fact, he escaped from the Buro future of 2056 into the present day. He spent some time helping the Jammers, an anarchist group from the future, in their fight against the Architects of the Flesh, one of the major factions of the Secret War. However, he decided he didn't like the Jammers either, and left them to lead a quiet life without attracting attention to himself.
These were all minor characters in my campaign and this is reflected in the way that I sculpted them. Most of them were sculpted in very static poses. This was deliberate on my part as they were meant to blend into the background. On the few occasions when a fight did break out in the Blue Dragon Restaurant, these six took a back seat and let the player characters deal with the threat. My group of player characters were more than capable of defending their homebase.
Back in those days, I used 2D floor plans extensively. How my gaming habits have changed nowadays. One of the card modelling projects on my "to do" list is to make a 3D version of the Blue Dragon Restaurant. I envisage a three or four storey building with a minimum 12" square footprint. The ground floor would be the kitchen and food storage area, The first floor would be the restaurant itself and the floor/s above would be the owners' apartments. I have it all planned out in my head. I just need the time to turn my ideas into reality.

32 comments:

  1. Wow they all look great,i hope you have more sculpts to show off,i am a chef so guess which one i like best.

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    1. I had no idea that you were a chef, SK. How cool! I do indeed have more of my own work to show off and indeed, I plan on reviewing more of my sculpts next time. They are kind of related to the figures in this post - sexy waitresses.

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  2. Very nice work! I wouldn't have guessed they were" homegrown"! Despite the majority being static poses, you can easily discern their character without your descriptions. I'm very impressed with them.

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  3. Bryan...This is really great work!

    I am impressed!

    Have you thought of making some to be casted and sold?

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    1. I have thought about it, Johnny, but that's as far as it got - just thinking about it.

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    1. Cheers, Danny. Always nice to hear from you.

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  5. These are great! I'm jealous of your ability to sculpt.

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    1. That's very kind of you to say, Jon, but in my opinion, I'm nothing more than an adequate sculptor.

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  6. I am going to have make the same comment about really nice figures. You should look at making greens to sell to manufacturers. While I am not much of a 25mm miniature gamer anymore, I still like to pick up some 25mm for display because of their personalities. I probably would have done it with this set.

    Also on a side note, I am planning to start my ATZ campaign some time mid-next year. I know that you have been doing this for a while, so in your opinion, how many zombies do you think is a good number to have on hand at least initially? I know that in the Police Station raid that you had well over 100, but I am thinking that might be too much for goal to reach for at least the first. I plan to get about 100 or more, but that will be a while.

    Thanks,

    Joe

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    1. Again, I thank you for the compliments, Joe. To answer your question about how many zombies do I think you need to start playing ATZ, I'd say about 30. Then build from there. 100 is a good goal to aim for and with the availability of so many plastic zombies nowadays, it is a goal that is easily achievable. Plus, you can do it quite cheaply too.

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  7. They're really great Bryan, I think you missed your true vocation.

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    1. Thanks, Joe, but as I said to Jon, I don't think I'm that talented. I did once apply to be a sculptor with Citadel Miniatures but was turned down. Rightly so I feel. I might have had more success with one of the little known companies and who knows what might have happened then.

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  8. I always wanted to play "Feng Shui" But despite buy and reading the rules my fellow gamers at the time did not want to so I dipped out!

    As for the sculpts, really nice, characterful and well proportioned. I think you should do more sculpting as you obviously have the talent, you just need more experience I think.

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    1. It is such a shame that you never got to play Feng Shui, Clint. I found it one of the easiest games systems to play. More importantly, it was a hell of a lot of fun!

      I'll be showcasing more of my sculpts on Wednesday. My output of sculpted figures is quite prolific.

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    2. Just to say West wind Biker gang arrived this afternoon.

      Thanks mate really appreciate you letting me know where to get them. Best wishes Clint

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    3. Yay! I'm very pleased to hear that, Clint. Have fun putting them together! You'll see what I meant about having loads of choices with this set.

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  9. What a fantastic set of figures well done with these they are awesome and I'd of though they where shop bought not self sculpted. This rpg sounds interesting!

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    1. That's a very nice compliment, Simon. As far as I know, the Feng Shui RPG is still available. I know thatmy local Travelling Man Games store are still stocking it and some of its supplements.

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  10. You've sculpted some pretty cool figures over the years. You ever consider casting and selling some?

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    1. Yes, I have thought about it but I never got past the thinking stage.

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  11. I would wish you to think again about having these cast up, I can think of loads of uses for these figures.
    Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

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    1. Thanks for the kind words, Richard. All the best to you this festive season.

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  12. I really like these Bryan! They are full of character! I also hope to do a Chinese restaurant. I have purchased a two story K-Line O gauge building for this purpose and also two Chinese Lion statues from RAFM. These are sometimes called Foo Dogs, though they are really lions. I look forward to seeing your vision of a Chinese restaurant done as a card building. I know it will be superb!

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    1. Thanks, David. I like the sound of your own Chinese restaurant project. I know all about Foo Dogs, having encountered them in my Feng Shui campaign. I am giving some serious thought to making my Blue Dragon Restaurant sooner, rather than later.

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  13. Cool sculpts! Howcome did you stop sculpting?

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    1. I mainly sculpted figures for whatever RPG I was playing with my gaming group. Once my gaming group diminished to just me, I cut right back on my sculpting activities. It has been a few years since I sculpted anything.

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  14. really nice sculpts :) So you should start again if you wish it would be cool.
    But it's bound take time to make that.
    Maybe Vampifan will cross them in future in your FFO campaign, it could be fun!

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    1. Many thanks, Pandafurtif. Who knows what will happen in the future.

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