Wednesday 30 May 2012

Vampifan's Views 24 - Monthly Musings 10

Vampirella by Julie Bell in a dynamic pose
It's the end of another month and once more it is time for me to reflect on the past four weeks and to let you know what I have planned for the near future. Currently on my painting desk are 16 Grekwood Minis 28mm scale hospital zombies and the second set of 4 Studio Minis 28mm scale Left4Dead mutant zombies. I should finish them in the next day or two. I have just finished making two WWG 28mm scale construction vehicles from their old Mayhem Junkyard set. One has the crane arm and the other has the digger arm. Incredibly, I initially only printed one set out and actually thought about which version to make. I was favouring the crane over the digger. Thankfully, I got hit with a dose of common sense and I printed out a second set so that I could make one of each. D'oh! What was I thinking of?
Next up, I'll paint my second set of 25 Victory Force zombies from their first horde collection. In case you missed my comment to Joe/Zabadak in my review of the West Wind Zombie Rock Fans, let me just repeat here that I have ordered VF's Zombie Horde II. That's another 100 figures to add to my collection of zeds. I am very confident of reaching my goal of 1,000 individual (i.e. no duplicates) zombies before the end of 2012. On the card modelling front I'm torn between making another Dave Graffam ruin (I quite fancy the Ruined Church) or making my first Stoelzel's Structure model (possibly the Cottage because it'll be such an easy project). Yes, I will end up making them both, but I'm not sure which one will get made first.
This month I finished reading two excellent novels - Assassin's Code by Jonathan Maberry and Siege by Rhiannon Frater. Assassin's Code is volume 4 of the Joe Ledger series and sees Joe going up against vampires in Iran. It's another fast paced and action packed rollercoaster ride. Siege was one of two novels that I was eagerly awaiting this year. The other one is Blackout by Mira Grant. Both are part three of a trilogy. Siege brings to a close the As the World Dies trilogy and was most enjoyable. The survivors have to face a zombie meta-horde! Nuff said, although expect a much longer review very soon.
I got to see three films at the cinema this month and I enjoyed all three immensely. First up was Avengers Assemble, easily the best superhero film I've seen. The Hulk just steals the film and had me laughing out loud at times. Next was The Cabin in the Woods, a horror film that looks familiar (five teengers stay in a cabin on a weekend break, far from civilisation and one by one meet a grisly end) but is full of surprises as all is not what it seems. Thankfully, it doen't cop out with the ending either. Finally I saw the Indonesian martial arts movie, The Raid. Extremely brutal and violent. A team of 20 SWAT troopers raid a multi-storey apartment block run by a vicious criminal element. What they don't know is that their mission has not been officially authorised, meaning they are on their own with no chance of back up.
Whilst I was in Newcastle city centre I called in at Wilkinson's supermarket and bought these -
This is a Wilko 1/43 scale car and caravan set priced at £4.39. Yes, I admit it is a tad too large, but I really wanted it for the caravan, which I think is excellent.
The cars come in a choice of three colours - blue, red and metallic grey. As you can see, I bought one of each. The cars are die-cast metal and feature opening doors and interior detail. The caravans have plastic bodies and are all the same colour - beige. They feature retractable tow-bars but sadly, not opening doors and the darkened windows means you can't see inside. With these three I have the start of a caravan park or more importantly, mobile accomodation for three groups of survivors in my ATZ campaign.
I had more good news regarding model vehicles when right out of the blue I received a parcel from my good friend and fellow blogger, Lucky Joe. Inside were these four superb vehicles -
These were a thank you present for me sending Joe a free copy of the Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? novel by Max Brallier. I told Joe there was no need to send me anything but he insisted and I must admit, I am absolutely ecstatic at receiving them.
Note that as per a request from one of my followers (that's you, Zabadak) I am now including a figure in all of my vehicle and scenery reviews from now on. Naturally, I chose my Vampifan mini-me figure to give you a sense of scale. I hope you all appreciate it.
The above photo shows Vampifan standing between a fast food van and a fire department SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle). I love the interior detail of the fast food van, and the SUV has opening doors, which I always like.
Here's a closer look at the camper van and the sheriff's department patrol car. The camper van, or RV (Recreational Vehicle) has a fully detailed interior that is beautifully sculpted. Vampifan has to get himself one of these! The patrol car comes with opening doors. Once again, many thanks, Joe. You are a true star!
Finally, I'd like to leave with an announcement. Fellow zombie gaming blogger, Morbious, is running a contest on his blog http://showcaseterrain.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/contest.html to create a zombie-themed diorama. You can find all the details on his blog-site. I'd urge you all to give it a try. As Morbious stresses, this is more about having fun than technical ability. There's plenty of time to enter, so don't let that put you off.

28 comments:

  1. Just ordered Assassin's Code myself yesterday for more Joe Ledger shenanigans, the last two were a bit weak but I hear this one is back to original of Patient Zero writing, good round up as always Bryan!

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    1. Patient Zero is still my favourite novel in this series, Fran, but Assassin's Code does live up to the original. hey, it has vampires in, so naturally, I'm going to like it.

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  2. Great update Vampifan, as always. Sounds like you've got a lot on your plate, er painting desk for the next little bit.
    This was also a good month for you in the vehicle category. All the vehicles look really good. (Thanks for including a figure for scale, that really helps too). I was looking at some 1:38 scale vehicles on the weekend, but didn't have a figure for scale. Alas, they were probably too big, though they looked the right size while I had not figure to compare.

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    1. Hey, Adam, I'm always busy. I always carry a spare 28mm scale figure in my pocket when I go out shopping, just so I can check if a vehicle is too big, too small or hopefully, just right. The Wilko cars were too big but I was prepared to overlook that just so I could get the caravans, which oddly enough, don't look overscale. i suspect the 1/38 vehicles you saw will be overscale for all but the most heroically scaled 28mm scale figures.

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  3. I will have to try and get some of those caravans they really look the part. It seems you are rapidly approaching your goal of 1000 Zeds. It will be a great site to see. Nice vehicles you got from Joe you are lucky they are superb

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    1. For once I got lucky when I was out shopping, Simon. It's amazing the amount of times I've read about other bloggers finding a good bargain when shopping but when I get there the store has sold out.

      Once I paint my 1000th zombie I promise I will photograph the complete horde.

      Lucky Joe's vehicles are much better in real life than mty photos show. Yes, they are superb!

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    2. That always tends to be the case with me I hear about it online somewhere and can't get it anywhere I try.

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  4. Sounds like a good month, Bryan. Your Zombie Horde just keeps growing. I hope you'll give us another big Horde shot when you get the new VFM zeds painted. I like those caravans you found. I'm glad the vehicles got to you, okay, too. I wanted to get you the Ice Cream Truck to go with your Killer Clowns, but they were out.

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    1. Thanks, Joe. Yes, I can see the ice cream van would have gone well with my Killer Klowns, but I'm not complaining. I love the fast food van anyway. I'd like to use it in a survivor camp as a fully working mobile canteen.

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  5. You have had a busy month and another to come by the sound of it with several hundred (?) zeds to paint in the future.
    I love all the vehicles you show, though the caravan cars do look a tad big. My favourite vehicle though has to be the police cruiser from Lucky Joe. I'm continually on the look-out for US police vehicles.

    Having the figure in the photos is really appreciated, thanks for that.

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    1. Hey, I like to give my followers what they want, Joe. Actually, including a figure for scale purposes in my photos seems like such an obvious thing to do, I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. I guess we can get so involved that we overlook the obvious and it takes an outsider to point out what is missing.

      I'm probably going to use the caravans without the cars that they come with as the cars are overscaled. Lucky Joe's police cruiser is a real gem and I'm priviliged to own one.

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  6. This was a great monthly musing Bryan, thank you. Once again, I have more books to find, though, admittedly, I don't read as much as I should. I think school kind of takes it out of me.

    What's the count on your zombie horde to date?

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    1. The zombie horde numbers about 750, Varangian. The 20 zombies I'm currently painting are almost completed. Add in 175 unpainted Victory Force zombies and you can see I'm close to the 1000 mark. If I ever get round to making my Mantic plastic zombies and ghouls I'll easily make it. Plus, we're not even half way through the year, so plenty of time to buy more metal zombies.

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    2. Awesome! I kind of think you should do a running count for us. Every time you do a post leave a section to mention it or something.

      Did you ever get the Red Box Games guys? I really hope that wasn't a problem.

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    3. Do you have a breakdown by manufacturer of your zombies? Thanks, Ernie

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    4. @Varangian. I guess I could add a gadget to the side bar with a running total of my painted zombies. It shouldn't be too hard to do. I did indeed get the Red Box games zombies. They are awesome but sadly are stuck on my lead mountain waiting to get painted.

      @Ernie. Yes, I do have a breakdown of my zombies' manufacturers. Sadly, quite a few companies are no longer trading. But on the other hand, new ones keep cropping up. And so life, or rather unlife, goes on.

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    5. I have now added a Gadget to my sidebar, showing how many zombies I have painted and how many are unpainted. It seems I have underestimated how many I had painted. Ah well, I'd better get some more painting done!

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    6. That's great Bryan! I find that it always helps me to know exactly where I'm at when I do projects like that.

      I'm really excited to see what you do with the RBG zombie miniatures. I know it'll be a while, that's okay. I'll still be reading!

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  7. A good month and support from the community that you are part of mate!!

    Pretty cool caravans at a decent price!

    Must applaud the use of a mini to show the scale. Soooo much easier!!!

    Thank you Bryan

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    1. Thanks, Johnny. I love our gaming community.

      Using a figure for scale purposes in my photos is something I really should have done from the beginning. Still, better late than never.

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  8. Lovely trailer park set-up Vampyfan. Now, a quick question. I'm selling some painted zombie miniatures on Ebay that I did for a demonstration game some months ago that never kicked off. Would you mind terribly if I plugged them with a link on a comment on your blog?

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    1. I have no objections whatsoever, LL. And best of luck.

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  9. Thanks Vampifan, very gracious of you. If you don't mind, 'll stick it up again when you do your next post on Sunday, but for now here is the link:

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130704901186?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

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  10. Any manufacturer on those trailers, uh, i mean caravans?


    SGR

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    1. They're Wilkinson's own brand, made under the trade name of Wilko.

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    ReplyDelete