Sunday 24 March 2013

Reaper Zombies 02

Following on from my last post, here are some more Reaper 28mm scale Chronoscope zombies to look at. This time, all of the zombies are armed with melee weapons. They can be found in set 50066 Urban Zombies (3) and set 50091 Chainsaw Zombie. The first three zombies in my photos remind me of Victorian-era zombies, although there is no reason why they can't be used in contemporary times.
The zombie at the far left of the two photos is holding a mask of a handsome male to hide his ugly face. In his other hand, he holds a blood-stained knife. He sports numerous wounds. Starting from the top and working down is a bite wound to his right cheek, a bite to his right shoulder, a gunshot wound between his shoulder blades and a few bite wounds to his legs.
Standing next to him is a zombie armed with a knife and a meat cleaver. There is something deeply disturbing about his most obvious wound to his stomach. At first, I thought he was wearing an unusual belt buckle, which does stick out a fair bit. Closer inspection revealed it to be a rat's head. It is not a belt buckle at all, but a rat that is burrowing through his stomach to emerge from the front. Now that is just sick, but for a gorehound like me, just way too cool!
The third of the urban zombies carries a large two-handed axe. His coat has been holed in many places, but he doesn't have any major wounds visible. What is disturbing about him is that he has a very cute teddy bear stuffed into the left side pocket of his coat. Does he use that to lure child victims? Possibly.
Finally, is the chainsaw wielding zombie. His chainsaw was made by Stihl, a popular manufacturer of chainsaws. Whenever I paint zombie figures, the last thing I paint on them are the gore effects. Painting the gore on this chap was a lot of fun. I took an old paintbrush with stiff bristles and used my finger to splatter the Tamiya Clear Red onto him and the chainsaw. The effect looks like he is drenched in blood.
I really do like these four figures. There is something inherently evil and disturbing about them. Because they are all wielding weapons and appear to know how to use them, I'm classing them as Smart Zombies, as described in the ATZ supplement I, Zombie.
Two things may put some of you off from purchasing them. First is the fact that they are all armed. I don't mind that as Smart Zombies will become a part of my ATZ-FFO campaign. The second point regards their size. These are definitely heroically scaled. Three of them measure 38mm tall and the zombie with the axe is 42mm tall, although bear in mind he is wearing a top hat. These are all even taller than the last lot of Reaper zombies that I reviewed, so be warned.
The set of three Urban Zombies cost £8.60 and the Chainsaw Zombie cost £4.35 when purchased from the Miniature Heroes webstore.

31 comments:

  1. very nice Bryan they would make great zombies are these average size or big like the zombie dog one?

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    1. The actual size of the figures is listed in the last paragraph of my review, Simon. Failed a Spot Obvious roll, eh? Yes, they are about the same size as the Reaper zombie dog handler.

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    2. Doh obviously not quite awake properly this morning! my apologies and thanks for pointing out the obvious!

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    3. No apology needed, Simon. We've all been there, me included.

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  2. They are a bit bigger, just like the zombie dog handler.
    But they are great! I have the zombiedoghandler and the chainsaw zed.

    Well done Bryan, they look great!

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    1. Thanks, Johnny. I agree. They may may be tall, but they are great!

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  3. I have these guys as well. Their size doesn't put me off, I like the occassional freakishly tall zombie. The weapons however, do bother me so that I actually removed them (and didn't paint the axe zombie).
    I didn't even notice the rat head when I painted mine, I just made it gore.

    Very nicely done.

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    1. Thanks, Adam. Unless you are looking very closely, it is very easy to miss the rat's head or mistake it for something else.

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  4. I have all the zombies in the review.You are right they are very big, but in real life some people are taller than others. Your paint jods are far better than my efforts, i did not even notice the rat

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    1. People come in all shapes and sizes, SK, so why shouldn't zombies? I wouldn't worry too much about missing the rat. As I said to Adam, it is easily overlooked.

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  5. Great paint jobs Bryan! The zombies that carry weapons usually throw me off, though I admit I hadn't considered the smarties idea.

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    1. It's a point that is often overlooked, Jon. If a zombie is carrying a weapon aggressively, I would always assume it to be a Smartie. I don't have many weapon armed zombies and nor would I want a lot. But they do fill a niche for me and so I'd never dismiss them out of hand. They do have their uses.

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  6. Not a Zombie gamer, but your painting is fantastic. Best, Dean

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  7. These are some very disturbing sculpts, probably due more to your paimt-job on them than anything else - great spot on the rat's head.

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    1. Thanks, Joe, although I do think that the sculptor should take some credit.

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  8. Another brilliant collection. I love the way you get the shading on he facial features.

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  9. Cool figures, I love the guy with the big axe! :D Awesome painting as always!

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  10. I could find a use for these figures, despite the fact that I personally don't like zombies holding weapons. But perhaps there is a semi zombie state where they have some functioning cognitive behaviour. The Painting as ever top notch. Nice one Bryan.

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    1. I see these as zombies who have evolved from the majority of the undead as their reasoning powers return. Your reasoning is similar to that stated for Smart Zombies in ATZ, Clint.

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  11. Very cool looking miniatures, these guys could also be used as Psychos, say for a halloween game or something?

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    1. Good call on the Halloween psychos, TE. Trick or treat!

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  12. I love the paint work, but I will echo my dislike for the weapons. I guess I prefer my zombies to be mindless walkers, not weapon-wielding fiends.

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    1. I understand what you're saying and I'm sure you're not the only one to share that opinion. Personally, I don't mind a few weapon armed zombies.

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  13. I've always been a big fan of the Chronoscope range and it was nice seeing this set. Definitely disturbing.

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    1. I agree, Carl. It's the little touches like the rat in the stomach, the teddy bear in the pocket and the face behind the mask that makes them so disturbing. Plus, let's not forget their weapons.

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  14. I bought the Urban Zombies to use then a vampire henchmen for my Empire of the Dead games. I don't consider weapon wielding zombies to be true zombies. But I found the sculpting to be rather rough for Reaper and was disappointed. Being an American I own a lot of Reaper figures and I felt them to be sub par. Well that's my 2 cents.

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    1. The thing with the Reaper Chronoscope range is that they use quite a few sculptors so it is inevitable that some figures will be better than others. Personally, I like these figures. There is nothing wrong with having your own opinion, and I very much respect that.

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  15. Yes they do. I like the guy with the top hat best and the one holding the mask the least.

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