Sunday 22 June 2014

Atomico Press Zombies 01

A few months ago, in March, I backed a Kickstarter project run by Atomico Press for a small range of 28mm scale zombie figures. I have been trying to avoid spending too much on figures this year as I just know I will splash out big time when Zombicide Season 3 kicks off soon. Anyway, as I said, this was a very small project that comprised of five zombies, one psycho zombie and one US Army infantryman. For about $30 you got all 7 figures, so I made a pledge for them. The project got funded and as a special thank you for being a backer I received an extra zombie figure, which was both unexpected and very cool!
At the far left is the only human figure in the range. He is a US Army soldier, although I suppose you could just as easily paint him up as a police SWAT Trooper. He is armed with a 5.56mm SG540 SIG Assault Rifle and some kind of 9mm Pistol in a holster on his right hip. I have painted him in the new US Army digital camouflage scheme, which is not the easiest camo scheme to get right. He is the first regular US Army infantryman I have shown on my blog, although I have a whole platoon of them painted up but never reviewed. Memo to self, I must rectify this soon!
Next in line is an ordinary MCPD police patrolman. He has been savagely attacked, no doubt caused by being in the front line once the apocalypse kicked off. His shirt has been ripped open and he suffers a big wound to his stomach. The right knee is bloodied but not bitten and he has a lot of blood around his mouth that has dribbled onto his neck and upper chest. He appears to have lost his pistol but his truncheon is still in place at the left side of his belt. Atomico Press described him as a zombie security guard but I preferred to paint him up as a cop.
Moving on, are a couple of police SWAT Troopers. Both have pistols in holsters on their right hips but no other weapons. They wear combat armour and helmets. The trooper second from the right has had a large bite taken out of his lower right arm, whilst his colleague at the far right has had half of his face bitten off. I was pleased at how well I was able to paint the word "SWAT" on their backs. The two figures do look very similar but the one at the far right was actually meant to be a zombie US Army soldier. When it came to painting them I completely forgot this but in the end, I doubt if it really matters..
This next group of figures consists of three zombie bikers and a zombie psycho killer. At the far left is the free figure I received for backing this project. He is almost identical to the figure standing next to him but I made a couple of simple conversions to him. First of all, I lengthened his hair. Secondly, I added a leather bracelet to his left wrist. But the main difference between the two figures came with their colour schemes. My freebie figure is dressed in black leather pants and waistcoat and his gang logo on his back identifies him as a member of the Flaming Skulls biker gang. He has a cut to his forehead, which has bled profusely.
The original biker figure was painted in faded denims and given a black T-shirt and white hair, indicating he is a veteran gang member. He is a member of the Wild Hogs bike gang. He also has suffered a cut to his forehead but he has also been bitten in the left shoulder and left lower arm.
Third in line is another zombie biker, who is also a member of the Wild Hogs. This is a very different sculpt to the previous two. He wears a faded denim waistcoat and ordinary blue denim jeans. His mouth is smeared with blood as a result of him feasting quite recently. He has suffered a cut to his upper left arm and has had a bite taken out of his lower right arm.
Finally, is the zombie psycho killer, who is armed with a huge sword. Covering his head is a mask made of skinned flesh in the style made famous (or should that be infamous?) by Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre films. Indeed he could almost be a zombified version of Leatherface. He is a big brute of a figure and is deliberately over-sized to make him look more menacing. In addition to his mask, he wears a ragged pair of trousers held up by a rope belt and nothing else, not even shoes! He has suffered cuts and bites to both legs, but his most serious wound is a massive chunk of flesh ripped from his left shoulder blade. In the ATZ game I would class him as a Smart Zombie as he clearly knows how to wield a weapon.
Let's be honest, these are not the best sculpted figures on the market. The sculpting is quite crude and they are all "heroically scaled" or larger than 28mm tall. But despite that, I still liked them enough to purchase them and they have helped to boost the size of my zombie horde as it creeps towards the 1,000 mark. As I said in the intro, these were part of a Kickstarter project launched in March of this year. They are not available for sale at this moment but they may go on general release later in the year, depending on how well Atomico Press's sales are.

26 comments:

  1. Very cool! Nice addition to the zombie horde.

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    1. They're all extra bodies for the horde, Johnny.

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  2. The two SWAT zombies seem very appropriate as does the "Security guard/cop" zombie. It seems that first responders would take a big hit in a zombie apocalypse so figure for them would be very useful but not that common. Nice work on all of them mate.

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    1. I totally agree with your comment about first responders, Clint. Cops, soldiers, hospital staff and patients will suffer the most at the start of the outbreak.

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  3. Wow - if the rest of the models are "heroic" size then the psycho zombie must be enormous! He looks even bigger than the rest of them.

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    1. Psycho zombie is bigger than the rest of them and stands at 36mm tall from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Note that none of these were stuck on slottabases but on thin plastic discs

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  4. I really don't particularly like these guys, but can't seem to put my fingure on why. I think though that without your description I'd be at a loss as to identify what they were meant to be (not unlike some figures I have). The redeedming feature though is the soldier with a nicely proportioned weapon (unlike like some really abominable weapons I've seen on some recently produced figures) -good camo in him too btw.

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    1. Your dislike may have something to do with the way they've been sculpted as they aren't a patch on the likes of Hasslefree or Studio Minis. I primarily bought them because a) they were cheap and b) they help to fill out my horde. The human soldier is the best of them and he fits in well with my other range of US Amy infantrymen, so that's a bonus.

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  5. Great job as usual, Bryan! I really like the first 4 as sculpts, soldiers, swat troopers and cops are always handy - zombies or not. It also reminds me I owe you something, I better get to work!

    As for the other 4, I was never a fan of bikers, no matter the kind. Not that they don't fit in the apocalypse though. As for that maniac, looks like a brute zombie!

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    1. You're spot on about the first four figures, Mathyoo. They are all very useful to have in a zombie apocalypse. However, I disagree with you about bikers. I very much like biker gangers and I was especially pleased to be able to boost my number of zombie bikers.

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  6. Great job Bryan they are all great especially the camo on the trooper. The psycho killers machete certainly looks the part he dressed up to play as .

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    1. Thanks, Simon. I'm very pleased with my paintwork on the infantryman and you're right about the psycho zombie - that huge sword/machete is mighty impressive. I bet he could cut a man in two with just one blow from it.

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  7. Great job, as always! I like the biker zombies and the cops/SWAT members. I would like to start getting some flavor to my zombie horde, and these have been inspiring. Now to find some figs... :)

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    1. You're right about these guys adding flavour to the horde. I know that there are other firms out there who make their own versions of police/SWAT zombies as well as zombie bikers.

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  8. These are lovely, Bryan. I need some SWAT zeds.

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    1. SWAT zombies are an essential part of any zombie horde, Simon. Go get some!

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  9. Undead ZZ Top, how cool is that !!!!

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    1. I must admit that your comment about ZZ Top made me chuckle, Phii.

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  10. They do have character Bryan, well backed!

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    1. Thanks, Fran. For the price I thought it was a project worth backing.

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  11. They look bad ass, the swat guys are fantastic

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  12. Great work Bryan.
    You've made average sculpts look a whole lot better. First four are my faves. Well done Dude.

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    1. Cheers, Bob. I think most people prefer the first four to the others.

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  13. I'm personally that keen on the scuplps, but love they way you've painted them as bikers. Nice way to use them Bryan

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    1. It's true these are not the best sculpts or even close to the best but they're passable and far from the worst, Adam.

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