Wednesday 26 February 2014

Vampifan's Views 46 - Monthly Musings 27

Vampirella by Michael Bair. Nice water colours.
This month I want to give a big thank you to four  heroes of mine - friends and followers who have gone the extra mile for me these past few weeks. First up is one of my all-time favourite heroes, Carl Stoelzel. I mentioned to Carl that I wanted to make a small version of St. Trinian's School based upon his Haunted House model and I sent him a  photo of what the school looked like. Carl agreed that it would be ideal for what I wanted but there was just one problem. The Haunted House is a wooden structure, whereas St. Trinian's School should be a stone structure. Can you imagine my delight when a few weeks later Carl informed me that he added an upgrade to the Haunted House with stone exterior walls? Carl, I salute you! Now, the only problem I have is that I want to make both versions of the model - the one with wooden exterior walls for my own Scott Mansion haunted house and the one with the stone walls for my St. Trinian's School. Still, it's a nice problem to have. Believe me, no one does customer service better than Carl!

Not Yet Dead Schoolgirl Survivor.
I became friendly with a very talented sculptor called Toni Morey, who posts on the Board of the Living Lead forum under the name NotYetDead. Toni is unusual amongst zombie gamers, and possibly unique in that all of the figures he uses in his campaign are 1/35th scale.  He comes from Germany and his figures will be available for sale later this year. He posted a picture of this schoolgirl survivor you can see to the right and as soon as I saw her I knew I wanted her. I got in touch with Toni and he told me that he had produced miniature versions (i.e. 28mm scale versions) of her and five other survivors. They comprised three males and three females. He asked if I'd like free copies of them? Would I? I'll say! A few days later they arrived and I was just blown away by the quality of the sculpts. They are true 28mm scale figures and they are on my painting table right now. As soon as I paint them I shall review them on my blog. You can tell from the schoolgirl survivor just how talented Toni is. Toni, I'd like to thank you for the figures. I truly appreciate them and you are my second hero of the month. In case you're wondering, yes, this schoolgirl will be enrolling with St. Trinian's School.

My third hero is noted horror writer Craig DiLouie, who wrote the excellent zombie novel, Tooth and Nail. See here for my review of it - http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/tooth-and-nail-by-craig-dilouie.html
I gave it an 8 out of 10 rating. Anyway, Craig got in touch with me and asked me if I'd like to review his new vampire novel - Suffer the Children? Oh yes, I was up for that. I like vampire novels even more than I like zombie novels. Suffer the Children is different to any other vampire novel in that here children start dying then coming back to life with an unquenchable thirst for blood. Without a regular supply of blood they will die again, only this time, for good. The question that Craig poses is this - as a parent, how far would you go to feed your child with the blood he or she so desperately needs? An interesting dilemma that raises some fascinating moral questions. From what I have read of other reviews of this book it is a rather harrowing tale. I have a PDF copy of it, which I only received yesterday, so I've only just started reading it. A full review will appear later

Private Security Force
My fourth and final hero of the month is Simon Hunter, who has  been writing to me for a few months now about the new figure company he has just launched this month - Project Zeke Miniatures. He has sculpted five figures - all humans for his initial release. More survivors and zombies will follow, including Zeke, the intelligent zombie and company mascot.
William
I should point out that Simon is not a professional sculptor and he is setting up his company more as a sideline than as a full-time job. The first batch of 28mm scale figures he has sculpted are human types that he wanted to see. The three Private Security guards would work well as security personnel in THW's scenario Highrise to Hell. 
Next up is William, a survivor with a hunting rifle with scope-sight. He has taped a carving knife to the barrel to use as a makeshift bayonet. He is my favourite figure out of the group.
Finally is Young Eddie. He is a limited edition figure. Once he sells out he will be replaced with Older Eddie, who will have a moustache. He appears to be armed with a multi-shot grenade launcher.
The set of three Private Security guards cost £7.00, whilst William and Young Eddie cost £3.00 each. However if you click onto the Project Zeke webstore at http://projectzekeminiatures.com/
Young Eddie
you will find a discount coupon offering you 10% discount on your first order. Just type in launch10 when you place your order.
I have some good news for all zombie bloggers. Simon has also offered a lifetime 10% discount to all of you who run a zombie gaming blog. Rather than reveal it here where anyone could access it I'll give you that code if you send me a personal e-mail message at vampifan at talktalk dot net. I'm sure you can work that out. Alternatively, you can contact Simon personally at hunterpest at hotmail dot co dot uk. It is an incredibly generous offer.
Simon is going to send me these five figures free of charge so that I can paint them, review them and promote his company, all of which I am very happy to do. I wish Simon all the best with his new venture.

And that's it for another month, folks. Thanks for reading and take care.

28 comments:

  1. I do like the "notDeadyet" school girl, it's almost enough to make me change scales.

    We are blessed in our hobby to have both generous and talented people.

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    1. She is even nicer in the flesh, Clint, and she IS 28mm scale.

      You are right, we seem to have an abundance of generous and talented people in our community. No wonder I love this hobby so much!

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    2. 28mm you say..... gosh... me want me want!

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    3. I'm sure that Toni will be offering her for sale later this year, Clint. I'll keep you notified as and when it happens.

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  2. Happy Days! Can't wait to see the St Trinian's Schoolhouse Bryan. Toni NOtYetDead's stuff looks amazing, looking forward to your review and can't wait to get my hands on Simon's Zeke Miniatures myself and will be painting and reviewing them as soon as I do.

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  3. Thanks very much for the plug, Bryan. Just to clarify for everyone that the 10% discount applies to all orders placed before the end of march so the code should work multiple times. If for any reason it doesn't, don't hesitate to contact me via the website (address under the About Us tab) and I'll sort it out asap.

    And for all you gun-mental maniacs out there, Eddie's armed with a shotgun. Specifically the much maligned and illegal Armsel Striker (or "Streetsweeper" as it's known on the...er...street). Here's one in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uoy14h6K5TY

    Simon

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    1. Thanks for clarifying that boo-boo I made about Eddie's weapon. I must admit that I had never seen this shotgun before but I can see why you like it, Simon.
      Best wishes from Bryan.

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  4. Rather nice schoolgirl survivor, although all the others look good too. Nice to hear the St Trinians girls are getting a base. Let's hope it sees action ASAP.

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    1. It'll be much later in the tear before I can get the St. Trinian's School finished. There's a LOT of work involved! In the meantime I am preparing a short and silly scenario involving some of the St. Trinian's schoolgirls. Look out for it coming soon.

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  5. Did you got your own personal mailman for all that traffic, Bryan? :D

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    1. Hey. I'm doing my best to keep Royal Mail in business, Mathyoo!

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  6. Theres a lot of love in this weeks post! Both versions of the school house sound great and shall look forward to seeing them made up by you.

    Wow 28mm you say why aren't these on sale they are bloody fab!

    Shall look forward to hearing your thoughts on his Craig DiLouie's next book.

    The Project Zeke miniatures look great the survivors look really interesting will have to add to the shopping list.

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    1. Many thanks, Simon. I can't wait to get started on both Haunted House versions.

      Toni's figures will go on general sale later this year. Hopefully in both scales.

      Craig's book is certainly NOT your average run-of-the-mill vampire tale.

      I'm sure Simon will appreciate your business and don't forget that discount offer.

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  7. Bryan you are, as always, far too kind. It was a pleasure, and don't hesitate task if need a little something extra for this project. I wouldn't be surprised if you found a solution to your other problem of wanting to do both, heck I wouldn't be surprised to see a magnetized structure with exterior-wall options printed on special magnetic card.;)

    As others mentioned, I am also looking forward to seeing Toni's figures, the 1/35 has both charm and talent in it.

    Lastly, a quick wish of good luck to Simon in starting out his company. Remember to keep it fun.

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    1. Thanks, Carl. You're still THE MAN, as far as I'm concerned! Ha, I had to smile at your suggestion of making a magnetised structure so that both types of walls can be used. Well, that's not going to happen. I'm thinking of making the Haunted House with the sliding doors and secret entrances but leaving them out for St. Trinian's School. That should make things a bit easier for making St. T's. I imagine the furniture will be very different in both buildings, and that alone will keep me busy for a couple of months. If I come across any problems, I will, of course let you know.

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    2. Thanks so much, Carl. I'm a huge fan of your work so this is like praise from Caesar!

      Simon

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    3. There great looking figs Simon, and I know you will do well. :)

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  8. Very update here mate, the castings are great as for the 1/35 th figure, WOW! We are so lucky to have access and see the results of such talent. I must pick up the book.

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    1. Cheers, Bob. The book is available for pre-order from Amazon. Agreed, we do have some very talented hobbyists. Lucky us, eh?

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  9. It's posts like this that make me proud to be part of the hobby!
    Looking forward to the reviews on all of these Bryan

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    1. Dave, it's people like these four who make me proud to be part of this hobby. Heroes all, I tell you.

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  10. Love it!

    Was about time that karma gave more back in your direction mate!

    Simon has contacted me as well, it does look promising indeed!

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    1. I hope you didn't mind me giving Simon your e-mail address, Johnny. yes, it is nice to have some good karma. I always believe that if you are nice to others they will be nice to you.

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    2. Not at all mate. He seems like a good guy.

      Like you are! You have helped me several times too! Karma owes you!

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    3. Aw, shucks! Now I'm blushing.

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  11. Good to know your back into doing some card modelling, maybe the St.Trinians' obsession is just what you needed, good to know the "schoolhouse" will have brick walls - very British.
    A 28mm model of the schoolgirl will be a very welcome addition to ST. T's, I just love that pose.
    I've read Craig DiLouie's novel, "Tooth and Nail" and can at least attest that he is a good writer but Vampires are to me a dead loss (ha)
    The chivilian with with the .knife attacked to his firearm reminded me of "The Carving Knife Brigade", a force of civilians in the siege of the Legation in Peking 1900, for which I've got a similarly armed force. The other civilian I immediately thought of as being armed with a drum magazine shotgun (street-sweeper) and was pleased reading through the comments that I was right. Can't say I'm a fan of the Security forces guys though, but they'll probably look OK painted up and would more than likely fit well in a PA setting.

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    1. Joe, I think you're right about my St. Trinian's project spurring me on to get back into card modelling. I REALLY want to make both of those Haunted House models.

      I can always rely on you to put my knowledge of history to shame. I'd never heard of "The Carving Knife Brigade!" And your knowledge of guns beat mine in this case.

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