Assorted Pimps 01

Staying with my recent theme of reviewing some of my African/American figures here are a set of four assorted pimps. Two were sculpted by me, one is from Black Orc Games and one from Killer B Games.

First in line is Raphael "The Man" Robinson. Most citizens of Mayhem City think that he is a flashy, flamboyant businessman and nightclub owner (he owns six!). Few realise he is a notorious crimelord and leader of the Crips gangstas. He is a skilled martial artist in Savate and La Canne de Combat (cane fighting). He is also armed with a gold-plated .40 Glock 27 Pistol. He is one of the criminal elite and is involved in drugs, extortion, gambling and prostitution.
Next up is James Earl Barton, a pimp from Black Orc Games. He was such a tall figure that I stuck him on a plastic disc instead of a slottabase. "Jeb" as he is known as (after the initials of his name) is just a minor figure in the criminal fraternity. He is not armed and is not a fighter. This is why he employs street thugs to protect his interests. He cost just $1.00.

Third in line is Lionel Thompson and he was sculpted by me. He is based on a figure made by Graven Images from their 40mm scale range of Dystopia figures - set Pros001 Pimp and Hoes. Lionel is also unarmed but he is a vicious brawler and is very handy with his fists having trained as a boxer. He keeps fit and regularly works out at his gym. He is more successful than "Jeb" but nowhere near as powerful as Raphael.
Finally is Dwayne DuBois, a newcomer to the scene. He has clearly been influenced by Raphael and wishes to emulate his style and success. However, he has allied himself to the Bloods gangstas, which naturally makes him an enemy of Raphael. At the moment, Raphael ignores him because he is just a small fish in a big pond. But that could all change if Dwayne gets too big for his boots, or should that be Gucci shoes? Dwayne is armed with a cane but that is more for show than as a weapon. This figure comes from the Killer B Games range of 28mm scale Geezers, Shut It! set of 1970's cops, crooks and civilians. He is described as Pimp on their website and he costs £1.80.

This is an illustration I drew of Raphael "The Man" Robinson for a GURPS Character Record Sheet. Compared to the illustration I fear my sculpt is a bit too chunky. He should be a lot slimmer. I'm sure I could do a much better job if I re-sculpted him now.
As a GURPS NPC, Raphael was a major villain with a points cost of 600 and savings of $20 million.This put him in the superhero category, even though he has no super powers.
Next time I shall review a few of the prostitutes who work for these pimps.

Assorted 28mm Scale Vampirellas

This is a bit of a self-indulgent post, seeing as I seem to be the only fan of Vampirella. Mind you, I do know of one follower, who resides in Slovenia, who has been badgering me to post this and you'll see why later. Anyway, I thought I'd start 2014 off with a look at my collection of 28mm scale Vampirella figures.

At the far left of this photo above is my oldest Vampirella figure (or should that be non-Vampirella figure, seeing as none of them use her name for copyright reasons). She is also the smallest, given that she's actually a 25mm scale figure. I bought her in the 1980's from a German firm (now long defunct) called Metal Magic. She isn't as well sculpted as more recent figures but she still has a certain charm about her and I do like the bat she's holding. Her boots are too long but I can forgive that. For many years she was my only Vampirella figure and so I'll always view her with fondness.
Next in line is another non-Vampirella figure with thigh length boots. She comes from Black Orc Games and is called Paloma (no, I don't know why). She was sculpted by someone with the initials PF (Paloma Faith, perhaps, LoL!). She is nicely sculpted and rather slim but her costume isn't quite right. Apart from her boots being too long, her costume doesn't show enough stomach. Unforgivably, you can't see her tummy button. However, what I do like about her is her hair. She is ridiculously cheap, costing a mere $1.00.

Far and away, the sexiest of this figure collection is the third in line, produced by Blood Moon Miniatures (who appear to be no longer trading). She is the tallest of my Vampirella figures and unquestionably, the bustiest. Whoever sculpted her has overcompensated her in the boobs department. Contrary to many people's opinion, Vampirella is not a busty female. Her vital statistics are a nicely packaged 36C-24-36. She stands 5' 11" tall and weighs 115lbs. Hey, only someone called Vampifan would know that! Her hair isn't quite right but my God, she has curves in all the right places! She is one incredibly sexy figure. I'm not sure why there is a piece of red cloth between her feet. It seems to serve no purpose.
The fourth figure in line is by Ground Zero Games and can be found in their adult-rated Gentleman's Club range of figures as GC25 - Vampyrelle. Hmm, who are they trying to kid? Of course, she's Vampirella. She is in an almost identical pose to the figure by Blood Moon Miniatures but seems to be more in proportion to what Vampirella should look like. You can still buy her and she costs £2.40 from the GZG webstore. It is interesting to see that she is baring her fangs.

Moving on to the second batch of figures, I start with another Out Of Production figure. The female vampire in the red mini-dress was made for the Horrorclix game by Wizkids. She was one of the six unique figures who came with the original starter figure boxed set. You may well ask yourself, did Vampirella ever wear a dress like this? Well, yes, she did. I can remember her wearing this very dress in one of her adventures in New York in her short lived Vampirella magazine series produced by Harris Comics. Sometimes, Vampirella did go incognito by wearing normal clothing, although I think she'd attract just as much attention if walking down a street in that red mini-dress as in her skimpy costume.
Second in line is a figure produced by Armorcast - LL21610 Sexy Female Vampire. Well that certainly gets round any copyright problems! The main problem I have with this figure is that I think her head is too big for her body. From the neck down, she is perfect. It is such a shame. She is available for sale from the Armorcast webstore for $3.00.

The penultimate non-Vampirella figure is produced by Black Cat Bases. You can find her in their webstore under the heading of "Vampires" and she is listed as Vampire Girl, priced at £2.00. Her hair is good, her costume is good, her pose is different but her boots are wrong. They're too long and not tight-fitting. I should make mention of Vampirella's skin tone. Vampirella is not a traditional vampire. Garlic, religious icons and sunlight do not affect her. Apart from when she grows her fangs, long talons or wings, she can easily pass for a human. She does not have the anaemic pallor found in most vampires. So I tend to paint her as a healthy looking human female. This is consistent with how she appears in the colour comics.
The final figure in line is unique and holds a special place in my heart. She is a conversion based on HFL503 Hasslefree Female Armature (price £2.50) and was a present for me from Mathyoo (aka Matevz). He wanted to get me something special as a thank you for letting him stay with me last year. Those of you who have seen Mathyoo's blog will know that he's not a bad sculptor. So he added the hair, costume and boots to the Hasslefree armature figure to create something unique. He covered the base in static grass but I added a few pieces of rubble so that she fits in with my other figures. Mathyoo painted her for me, which explains why she is so pale looking. I don't mind that at all.
So, out of these eight figures which one do you think is my favourite? It's that oh so sexy Blood Moon Miniature. Pure sex on legs! Mathyoo's version comes a very close second.

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.

Black Scorpion and Black Orc Games Bikers

I posted a bunch of reviews of West Wind bikers just prior to my last two ATZ batreps, so I thought I'd stick with the theme. This time, I'm going to look at some human Gangers on motorbikes. At the left of the two photos above is one of my favourite biker models. It is the Black Scorpion 30mm scale Biker with Babe from their Desolation Row range of figures. This is a multi-part kit and it is not recommended for beginners. Instructions on how to put it together are not provided but if you refer to the photo on their website you'll get a good idea of where all the parts should go. Just a word of warning, I recommend painting the two riders and the bike separately, before glueing them together. The driver and his very attractive passenger are both armed with machine pistols, which closely resemble the Mini-Uzi. It is handy (no pun intended)  that the girl is left-handed, so that they can cover both sides. Note that the male has a Big Ass Pistol holstered at his right hip. The two figures and the bike are exquisitely sculpted. I decided to paint the bike and the driver's helmet metallic purple - a colour I very rarely use.

The next bike model features another Black Scorpion bike but the biker and his babe are by Black Orc Games. They are sculpted by Mario Zecca and I bought them when I ordered a load of zombies from their website. Seeing as the Black Scorpion bike comes with a rider and passenger, it seemed like an obvious choice to mount these two figures on this model. If you want to follow my lead, let me give you a word of warning. The male biker was a lousy fit for the bike. I had to cut his hands and feet off and remodel them in order to get him to fit perfectly. The joins on his hands were covered up with a leather bracelet and a chunky wristwatch. However, the female biker fit like a charm. Again, I painted both figures and the bike before I glued them in place. It has to be said that the sculpting of these two bikers is a lot cruder than that of the Black Scorpion pair but once they were painted I didn't think that they looked too bad. Also, neither of them are armed, but I didn't mind that. I normally base my bike models on the 25mm by 50mm rectangular plastic slottabases but these bikes are so long they wouldn't fit. So I've used a couple of the Games Workshop long biker bases which measure 25mm by 75mm. They fit perfectly on them.

The Black Scorpion Biker with Babe costs £10.00 from their website. The Black Orc Games Male Biker costs $1.30, whilst the Female Biker is cheaper at $1.05. The Black Scorpion biker with babe would be a worthy addition to any human biker gang. The Black Orc Games pair, less so. It all depends how much work you want to bestow upon them, because if you do buy them, you're going to have to find a bike to put them on. That may put a lot of people off buying them.

Black Orc Games Zombies 02

Here's part two of my review of the Black Orc Games' range of 28mm scale zombies. In part one, the figures were sculpted by four different sculptors. However, these 11 that I'm showcasing here, were all sculpted by the same guy - Darren Greenaway. I think he is exceptionally gifted as a sculptor. Let's take a closer look at his work, starting with the five figures in the two photos above.

At the far left is very spectacular, near naked zombie that the website describes as a Zombie Cheerleader. I dare say she could be, but I see her as a stripper/pole-dancer. I like the way that her mini-skirt has blown up to reveal her bare bum, although she's probably wearing a g-string. You can't fail to notice what an impressive pair of shoulder boulders she has! Her wounds are very interesting. Two fingers have been bitten off her left hand. Much more noticable and far more gruesome is the fact that the flesh has been stripped from her face to reveal her skull. Ouch, nasty! She is quite tall; 33mm from sole of feet to top of head. She costs a mere $1.25. Great value for money for such a beautifully sculpted figure.

Next to her is a zombie nurse whose costume appears to have come straight out of an Anne Summers catalogue. For non-UK readers, Anne Summers is a chain of high street stores specialising in sex aids and sexy lingerie. This is another exquisite sculpt that really shows just how talented Darren is. She only has the one wound but it's a nasty one as her neck has been so savagely bitten thet her head is lolling to one side. She is a perfect 28mm in height and she costs just $1.15.

The last of Darren's female zombies is listed as Female Zombie Teen. My first thought when I saw her was "trailer trash!" followed closely by "my God, she is incredibly skinny!" I added a small amount of modelling putty to her left hip and backside to make her more curvy. The flesh has been almost completely stripped from her left leg and foot. She'd make a great addition to anyone's zombie horde. I like her a lot. She retails for $1.25.

I've lumped the next two males together as they both appear to have shared a similar fate - death in the bathroom. The slightly overweight zombie in the dressing gown and boxer shorts is holding a rolled up towel in his right hand. Most of his intestines are now hanging on the outside instead of inside his stomach. His pose is very static but I really like him. He is listed as Male Zombie 002 and he costs $1.25.

The fifth figure out of this group shown at the far right of the two photos above is listed as Male Zombie 001. It looks the zombies caught him when he was taking a shower or a bath. He is completely naked and only the large towel he grabbed hold of before he died covers his private parts. Just like the previous zed, he has been bitten in the stomach. There aren't enough naked zombies on the market, in my opinion, so I welcome his inclusion in the range. You can buy him for just a dollar, making him exceptional value for money.

This next batch of six zombies, shown in the two photos above are all male and apart from one, perfectly scaled at 28mm. At the far left is someone who probably worked in an IT department. He is well dressed in his suit and tie and he still holds on to his laptop computer. Whether he can still operate it is highly unlikely! His upper left arm has been so badly chewed that all that remains is bone. Awesome! He is listed as Male Zombie 003 and is seriously underpriced at $1.00.

To his left is Dr. Z (Zombie Doctor) still dressed in his surgical scrubs. He is holding what could be a medical chart in his left hand but I painted it up as an x-ray photograph. The blood on his smock could be from a patient or his own. as his lower right arm has been bitten. He'd fit in well with the Studio Miniatures zombie doctors' set. He costs a very reasonable $1.25.

Next up is "Slim" who is perfectly named. He is very thin. This figure did not grab me as much as the rest of the figures that Darren sculpted and I have two criticisms to make of him. First up, his head is far too small. It looks like a child's head on an adult's body. Secondly, his feet are so small you can barely see them. What went wrong, Darren? I have countered both problems by the addition of modelling putty. I bulked his hair out and gave him a pair of training shoes. those two "fixes" improved the figure no end. From the front he looks unharmed but just look at him from behind and you'll see a huge chunk of flesh has been stripped from his back to reveal his spine and ribs. Despite my criticisms, I would still recommend this figure to you. After all, he only costs $1.00.

The fourth figure in line is listed as Male Zombie 004. There is a large wound to his chest and a smaller bite wound to his right lower leg. Once again, his is a static pose, but I can find no faults with him. He's well sculpted and he's ideal as an extra in a zombie horde. He, too, costs no more than a dollar.

The white haired African-American zombie is curiously described as a Lazy Zombie. Huh?! How can a zombie be lazy? Does he refuse to attack anyone because he can't be arsed? You could describe all zombies as lazy, because none of them does a scrap of work! I wonder why Black Orc Games singled this guy out as being lazy? I can think of many adjectives for him but lazy would not be amongst them. Anyway, that aside, he is another great sculpt from Darren. There is a deep wound to his left upper chest and shoulder and his T-shirt hangs in threads. He also costs $1.00.

Last in line at the far right is a zed described as Male Zombie Waving. Yeah, I suppose he could be waving but I think he's more likely to be reaching out to grab hold of a victim. On his T-shirt I painted "I heart MC." The MC stands for Mayhem City, scene of my ongoing ATZ campaign. He is slightly taller than the other figures in this range but not by much. His only wound is a deep and nasty looking bite to his lower right arm. He's another zombie retailing for just $1.00.

I should point out that of the 12 zombies that Darren has sculpted for Black Orc Games that there is one missing from my collection. He is listed as Male Zombie Tough Guy (price $1.00) but he has been sold out for months and months now. Every time that I check on the Black Orc Games' website he is always listed as being sold out. I 'd like to get hold of him just to complete my collection.

Darren Greenaway is undoubtedly a superb sculptor and I have no hesitation in recommending this complete set of figures. I can overlook his one slip-up with Slim the Zombie simply because the rest of his zeds are so good. On top of that, just check out those prices. Ranging from $1.00 to $1.25 where else are you going to find such fine quality white metal zombies? If these sold at four to five dollars each, I'd have still bought them and liked them just as much. But as most of them cost a mere dollar apiece how can you not want to add them to your own horde? They are fantastic value for money in a world of so many overpriced figures.

Black Orc Games Zombies 01

Black Orc Games are a miniatures company that offers amateur sculptors a chance to sell their wares, a policy that I fully applaud. Their figures tend to be very cheaply priced but do not confuse cheapness with poor quality. Far from it. Whilst it is true that their range of figures is a mixed bag, there are some gems to be had. Naturally enough, I am going to concentrate on their zombie figures, so let's get on with the review.

The five figures shown in the two photos above were all sculpted by Mario Zecca. At the far left is a zombie asylum orderly. It has to be said about Mario's figures that they could all be used as humans or zombies. There is not a bite or scratch on any of them. If you wanted to, you could buy two of each for the before and after versions. Not surprising, I have painted all of mine as zombies and I went over the top with the blood on this figure. I figured he'd be at the frontline of the action once the outbreak began and having to deal with so many wounded and infected patients he was bound to get covered with their blood. Be aware that this figure is about 32mm tall. He's not the best of sculpts but for what he is, he isn't too bad and I can live with him being taller than most 28mm scale figures. He is priced at $1.25
Next up is the hunchback nurse, who probably works at the same asylum as the orderly. It is unusual to see a hunchback figure, nevermind a hunchback nurse. She is a perfect size for any 28mm scale range of figures you may be using. A white costume just cries out to splattered with blood, so I assumed she'd been recently feeding and blood had spilt down her chin onto her pristine uniform. I also smeared blood over right hand where she'd been holding her "food.". This nicely sculpted figure costs just $1.00.

In the centre of the group is a figure described as a zombie WW2 war veteran. I'm sorry, but when I looked at him I didn't see war veteran - I saw either an ice cream salesman or a fast food server. In the end, I went with the fast food server and made him an employee of the Southern Fried Chicken (SFC) chain of outlets. He must have been a good worker as he has four gold stars on his jacket! I drilled a small hole in the right side of his belly, indicating a bullet or knife wound. His hands and face were smeared with blood. As a war veteran I don't like him at all. As a fast food salesman, I like him a lot. He is quite small, roughly 25mm in scale, but he is very fat and his hat adds about 3mm to his height. He costs $1.50.

Next up is the zombie skinman. His coat has been fashioned from the skins of human victims. The website picture of him shows him wearing a flesh mask in a style reminiscent of Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre films. I decided to leave his head bare to better show off that he is a zombie. He is a most unusual figure and he retails at just $1.00.

The fifth and final figure in this group is listed as Cool Zombie, supposedly because of his slight resemblance to the Fonz. To me, however, he will always be known as Rogzombie, simply because my friend Roger O'Dell uses a portrait of him for his online avatar. He is roughly the same height as the asylum orderly but once again, that didn't bother me. I like to see diversity in the heights of my figures. I painted a small patch of blood on his T-shirt, hinting at a much larger wound that is hidden by his leather jacket. He costs $1.25.

These six zombies shown in the two photos were sculpted by three more amateur sculptors, with each one sculpting two figures. First up, at far left is Jerry the Jogging Zombie as sculpted by Mikko Merlainen. Those of you who follow the Dawn of the Lead blog-site will certainly know who Mikko is and I was thrilled to receive both his sculpts for free when he made a generous offer on his blog last year. Jerry was an overweight slob who clearly needed to exercise. Given his absence of bite wounds perhaps he died of a heart attack whilst running from a zombie horde. Columbus in Zombieland was right - Rule One: Cardio! I like this dude, simply because there aren't enough fat or overweight zombies available. He is 28mm in scale and costs $1.25.

Mikko's second sculpted zombie is Zeek the One-Armed Zombie. It does what it says on the tin - it's a zombie who has had his left arm ripped off at the shoulder. He is much more badly injured than Jerry. Part of his face has been bitten and his rib cage shows through a huge gaping wound to his left side. Before being zombified he looked like he was a surfer dude from his clothing and long ponytail. I think he deserved his fate just for having such a ridiculous ponytail! I like him but not as much as I like Jerry. He too, is 28mm in scale and only costs $1.00.

The two figures in the centre of the group were sculpted by Gerald Evans and first up is what has to be the most comical zombie I have ever seen - Toilet Seat Ned. With his trousers at half mast and a toilet seat wrapped around his neck, this guy had never heard of Columbus's third rule - Beware of Bathrooms! There are no wounds visible on the figure so, perhaps, he died of a heart attack as well... or maybe he got bashed over the head with a toilet seat! The figure is absolutely beautifully sculpted and he just brings a smile to my face every time I see him. He is worth far more than the $1.00 Black Orc Games are asking for him!

Next to him is a figure called Zombie Bob From Accounts. Clearly he is an office worker who succumbed to the zombie plague. A large chunk has been taken out of his lower left leg, which may explain the way he is dragging his left foot. I painted him as an African-American as I have far too few ethnic zombies. He is slightly smaller than 28mm and he too, costs a mere $1.00. I think he is underpriced as well but why complain when there are so many figures that are vastly overpriced?

Juan Montano is the sculptor of the last two figures in the photos above. The lady in the crimson dress is Zombie Lizzy. I see her as being a former psychopath whose lust for slaying men has not diminished despite her joining the ranks of the undead. She holds a long, blood-stained knife in her left hand, which she is trying to hide behind her. A large bite has been taken out her lower left arm and right knee. Her right hand is smeared with blood as it reaches out for her next victim. The sculpting of her is a bit on the crude side, making her possibly the weakest figure I've reviewed today. She costs $1.25.

For the last figure of this review let me quote from the Black Orc Games' website - "Fred, the Colonel´s favorite employee, was working on a popular restaurant of chicken when the holocaust happened, unable to flee in his costume, Fred was an easy prey of the first zombies. Now he has discovered the Fan-tasty flavor of the human meat and … it taste like chicken!" This amusing zombie figure is called Kentucky Fred Zombie and I think he's great! From the soles of his feet to his eyeline he is 28mm, but his costume makes him look a lot taller. The zombies did quite a number on him when they caught him. His most obvious wound is that to his belly as his intestines spill out. There is a large wound to his lower right arm and a much smaller one further up the arm. There is a deep cut to his upper left arm as well. For the amount of metal you are getting with this figure I feel he is underpriced at $1.50.

This range may not appeal to everyone as some of the figures may appear too crude and/or lacking in detail and quality but I disagree. They have considerable merit for me and what must not be forgotten is that these were sculpted by amateurs. Show them your support. It's the least they deserve. And you certainly can't complain about the price of them.