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.

Miniature Factory Psycho Killers

It is not very often that I buy resin cast figures and it is even rarer that I buy figures from France. But when I saw these three figures from French company Miniature Factory I had to have them. These are just sublime sculpts!

 Miniature Factory is a small company run by Jacques-Alexandre Gillois. The figures vary in height, as you can see from the two photos above. I'll start with the female of the group, Daisy. Daisy is described on their website thus "among the rare visitors still sane enough to describe their visit to the locals, most mention meeting an attractive, promiscuous young woman. Shortly after this part the tone of the narrative slips without transition from bucolic to plain gross. The rest of the tale, vague and filled with gruesome violence, is of little documentary interest." Hmm, maybe to you, but not me! I want all the gory details! Daisy is clearly a deranged psychopathic murderer. Viewed from the front she is a picture of ravishing beauty with more than just a hint of naughtiness. Note how her cut off denim hot pants are partially unbuttoned. Note the sweet smile and seductive eyes. Note the big flower in her hair. How sweet! Then look behind her and note the short sword (it's far too big to call a knife) in her hand! This incredibly beautiful sculpt stands 33mm tall and comes in three parts - main body, ponytail and sword and right hand. I recommend gluing the ponytail in place first before the hand and sword.

 In the centre of the group is Ned. The MF website hilariously describes him thus "when he was little, Ned was already tall. His gifts for outdoor activities compensated for his feeble-mindedness, and under the attentive ferule of his elder siblings, Ned became a man, strong and sure of himself, proud of his values and quick to anger. In other words, a dickhead!" Ned is a lot taller than Daisy at 37mm from sole of feet to top of hat. He is a two-piece casting, with the hands and pitchfork a separate piece. They were glued in place very easily thanks to small pegs on the hands slotting into holes at the wrists. He is very muscular and I painted him with bronzed flesh to show he is an outdoors type. Note that he has a few sticks of dynamite tucked into his right hip pocket. That's all you need - a dickhead with dynamite!

Finally, we come to the main reason I bought these figures - an impressive looking brute with the most awesome chainsaw I have ever seen. Eat your heart out Games Workshop and your puny chainswords! This mechanical wonder is surely the king of chainsaws! He is called Uncle Meat and the website has this to say about him, "in the beginning Meat had another name. A real name, one his mom had given him. Then he lost his job at the slaughterhouse. Back home, he put to use his butcher craft to feed the family. The game in the Marsh, being not so co-operative, you had to be inventive to teach predators which species was the endangered one. The kids named him that way, because every time he came back home, there was always meat for dinner." His background sounds remarkably similar to that of Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre films. Meat stands an impressive 45mm tall, which some may well criticise for being far too tall. Not me. I think his size works in his favour. He is clearly meant to be larger than life, so why not take that phrase literally? He comes in four parts - body, legs and arms along with his head, the bottle sticking out of his apron pocket and of course, the chainsaw with hands attached. Oddly, he came with no base . The other two had slottatabs under their feet and I fitted them to 25mm diameter slottabases rather than the 30mm diameter slottabases with the horrible curved sides that came with them and which I dislike intensely. Meat comes with no slottatab and stands very well without one. I glued him to a straight sided 30mm diameter slottabase. The severed head on his base is a spare one from the Wargames Factory plastic zombies set. However, I didn't just want a head neatly severed at the neck. That was too boring and too neat. So I added part of the victim's shoulder out of modelling putty to show he had been decapitated at an angle. The last thing I did to Meat was to paint on the gore. Naturally I used Tamiya Clear Red, but I used a really old brush, whose bristles had hardened and stipled the TCR on. It has worked a treat! Meat is among my all time favourite miniatures!

I absolutely love these figures. I can now see why some collectors prefer resin to metal. Resin holds detail a lot better than metal and these three are incredibly detailed and just so beautifully sculpted. Sadly, such perfection comes at a price and these beauties are not cheap. Daisy costs 9 Euros, Ned costs 12 Euros and Meat costs 15 Euros. I've included the web address of Miniature Factory in the sidebar to the left under My Favourite Websites. The size of these figures and their high prices may put a lot of you off from buying them, which is fair enough. I have no regrets at all in buying them and adding them to my collection of psychopathic killers. Just imagine a battle between these and Wargames Foundry's the Viscera Family! Now imagine being caught in the middle of such a battle!

Paul Hicks' Midnight Riders aka the Devil's Rejects

Paul Hicks is a freelance sculptor, who last year sculpted five 28mm scale figures of the main characters of the film The Devil's Rejects. For those of you who know the film, you'll know it is a gory and sadistic sequel to House of 1,000 Corpses, both of which were directed by Rob Zombie. I'm a big fan of both films, but especially of The Devil's Rejects, which plumbs the depths of depravity with some shocking scenes of torture and violence. Both films feature the psychotic Firefly family, three of whom are pictured to the left. From left to right they are "Baby" Firefly (played by Sheri Moon Zombie), Captain Spaulding (played by Sid Haig) and Otis B. Driftwood (played by Bill Moseley). I show this picture for those of you who have never heard of the film and also for those who have, to show what a great likeness Paul has created with his fine sculpts.

At the far left of the two photos above is Otis B. Driftwood, named after the Groucho Marx character from the film A Night at the Opera. Otis is not a natural member of the Firefly family. He was adopted by Gloria "Mama" Firefly. He is by far, the most sadistic member and he often battles Captain Spaulding for control of the family. In The Devil's Rejects, he skins the flesh from the face of one his victims and wears it as a mask, emulating a nasty habit of "Leatherface" from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre films. Paul has sculpted him striding purposefully with a revolver in his right hand and a knife in his left hand. Note the sheath for his knife strapped to his lower left leg.
Next in line is Vera-Ellen "Baby" Firefly, the youngest member of the family. She is a foul-mouthed, sadistic bitch. In House of 1,000 Corpses, she scalped a male victim for failing to correctly answer who her favourite actor was! Note the remarkable similarity between the movie still and the figure.  She is armed with a revolver. Note that both films were set in the 1970's, which explains why revolvers are more common than pistols.
In the centre of the group is Tiny Firefly, who is far taller than his name would suggest. He was horribly disfigured after being badly burnt as a child. He rarely speaks and he is not very bright but he is immensely strong and fiercely loyal to his family. Paul has depicted him carrying a length of metal piping. He is not as psychotic as the others and has a soft spot for women. However, if ordered to take part in a ritual killing he shows no mercy to any victim.
Figures four and five in line are two versions of the same character, Captain Spaulding. He, too, is named after a Groucho Marx character, this time from the film Animal Crackers. His real name is actually Johnny Lee Jones and he is the father of "Baby" Firefly. Captain Spaulding is a homicidal maniac who owns a gas station/tourist attraction with a freakshow horror theme. He becomes extremely violent if a person disrespects clowns. The figure of Spaulding holding the pump-action shotgun is based on his character in The Devil's Rejects. Check out that photo at the top of this post to see how close Paul has captured his likeness. The second figure of Captain Spaulding, dressed in the clown's garb and armed with a revolver, is based on his appearance in the film House of 1,000 Corpses. If you're wondering what I've painted on his T-shirt, it's a hot dog, based on what he actually wore in the film.
I'm not sure why Paul has sculpted two versions of this character. Gloria "Mama" Firefly, the matriarch of the family and Tiny's older brother, Rufus T. Firefly were more worthy candidates in my opinion. Even so, this is just a minor quibble. All of the figures are superbly sculpted and I was only too glad to add them to my collection of psycho killers. You don't have to use these as the Devil's Rejects - you could just use them as ordinary Gangers in an ATZ setting. Actually, it would be kind of difficult to use them as the Devil's Rejects in anything but a 1970's setting unless your game involves time travel!
It has to be said that these figures are not easy to get hold of. I ordered my set of five figures from Raven Painting run by Carl Robson, who lives in Shotley Bridge, County Durham, not far from where I live. He sold them on e-Bay for £10.00 , where they were called the Midnight Riders, presumably to avoid copyright problems. You can visit Raven Painting at http://www.ravenpainting.co.uk/ and drop him an e-mail if you're interested in purchasing them. I ordered mine late last year, but I have no idea if they are still available for sale. It would be a shame if they weren't. By the way, if you'd like a second opinion on these fine figures check out The Angry Lurker's review at http://theangrylurker.blogspot.com/2010/10/28mm-painted-not-devils-rejects-figures.html (Fran, you have no idea how long it took me to find that post!)

Hasslefree Psycho Killers 01

This is the first of many reviews of Hasslefree Miniatures' excellent range of 28mm scale adventurers that I have planned. I'm starting of with their psycho killers, simply because it ties in with my last figure review of Foundry's The Family.

Starting at the left of the two photos is HFA013 Mad Dog, armed with a fireman's axe and dressed in fireman's helmet, short cape, stout boots and a pair of Y-fronts. The HF website describes him as a "suave and sophisticated zombie hunter who unfortunately got caught 'with his trousers down'." I doubt if I'd agree with that statement. I think he's more likely someone who's escaped from a lunatic asylum. Anyway, you can have fun making up your own back story for who he is. He is, as always, beautifully sculpted by Kevin White. Just check out the expression on his face.

Next in line is HFW103 Bob. There is no doubt at all that Bob is a psycho killer. That's an evil grin he has if ever I saw one! Please note that this figure was sculpted by Michael Brand and not Kev, who sculpts the vast majority of Hasslefree figures. By a strange coincidence, Michael has decided to dress him in Y-fronts as well. He is armed with a large butcher's knife, which won't help him at all if he goes up against anyone armed with a firearm. Still, I expect he prefers sneaking up on his victims and catching them unawares.
Moving on, here is the first of the two female psycho killers and this one is HFA028 Bunny Boiler Alice. She really doesn't like bunnies! The toy bunny she's carrying has been shot between the eyes and its stuffing is spilling out of the huge exit wound in the back of its head. I certainly wouldn't want to mess with a crazy lady armed with a .44 Magnum! When I came to painting her dress, I wanted to paint it so that it appeared transparent, as if the dress had been soaked in water. Having seen a similar paintjob on the Forum of Doom, I'm happy with the result. Note that there is a second version of this figure available - HFA029 FU-UK Alice. The only difference between them is that the second version is wearing Doc Marten boots. I preferred the more feminine footwear worn by the figure shown above.
The last figure of this particular group is HFA027 Problem Child Alice. Given that she is also called Alice, I think it's a fair bet that this a younger version of Bunny Boiler Alice. Again, my paint scheme for her was inspired by a version I saw on the Forum of Doom. I wanted her to look as different as possible to Bunny Boiler Alice as I'd like to use both figures together in a game, so I didn't want them to appear to be related. This Alice is a sulky, young teenager holding a bloody kitchen knife. Her apron is spattered with blood, although I'm not too happy with how it's come out. She is very similar in looks to HFA030 Alyx, probably because both figures are based on the same armature.
The prices for these figures are £3.50 each for Mad Dog, Bunny Boiler Alice (and FU-UK Alice) and Problem Child Alice. Bob costs just £2.50. These are all very nicely sculpted figures, who'd fit in well as Gangers or Survivors in ATZ. As psycho killers, they are nowhere near as scary looking as the evil quintet of Foundry's Viscera Family. Nevertheless, if any one of them approached your party in a post apocalypse game, how far would you trust them?

Foundry Figures' Viscera Family

I have had to come up with a new label for this set of figures I'll be reviewing here - Psycho Killers. In ATZ terms they could be Survivors although I think Gangers describes them better. What is beyond doubt is that these are amongst the scariest figures on the market. They are Wargames Foundry 28mm scale set SV025 The Family.

 

These five scary-looking reprobates are the Viscera family. At far left is Ma Viscera, who, to me, is far scarier than a psycho with a power tool! A baby-doll nightie, nipple tassels, tight black panties, stockings and suspender belt ought to be a sexy combo, but when they are worn by a wizened old hag like Ma Viscera it is downright creepy and just plain wrong! With her blue rinse hair-do and Dame Edna Everage glasses she probably thinks she is a beautiful woman. Uh-huh! No way, Jose! What makes her worse (if that is possible!) is the fact she is armed with a taser. This means she doesn't want to kill her victims - she wants to stun them first. It's probably the only way she'll ever attract a man dressed as she is. Being caught by Ma must be the very definition of the phrase, "a fate worse than death!"

The big brute standing next to Ma is amusingly called Junior. He is built like the proverbial brick shit-house! That he wears a muzzle hints at cannibalistic tendencies. I love the fact that the sculptor has given him a power drill as his primary weapon. That is so cool! He backs that up with a blood-stained meat-cleaver and a selection of tools and implements stashed away in his apron. A set of pliers, a screwdriver and a pair of handcuffs are visible. Of all of the family, he is the most muscular. He just oozes menace.

Coming a close second in the muscle stakes is the first of the twins. Foundry didn't give him a name but I have called him "Big Ben" Viscera. The psycho killer wearing a hockey mask and wielding a chainsaw may be something of a cliche but Foundry have done something clever here - they've given him a twin brother!

The fourth figure in line is his diminutive twin brother. Echoes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito from the comedy film Twins, I reckon. I named the little guy "Lil Bill" Viscera. Hence, Bill and Ben the Chainsaw Killers. Coming soon to CeeBeebies, LOL! Like Junior, the twins are bare-chested to better show off their muscles. They wear matching leather trousers, boots and a leather harness (not sure what the harnesses are for).

Last, but by no means least, is Cletus Viscera, who has a penchant for gimp clothing. Well, given what the rest of his family is like, you could hardly expect him to wear sensible clothing! He wears a zippered leather gimp mask, studded leather underpants and thigh-high leather boots. What makes him potentially the most dangerous of all is the fact that he is the only one armed with a ranged weapon - and a downright nasty one at that - a flamethrower.

I must admit to liking these figures enormously. Ever since I bought All Things Zombie, I have wanted to run a scenario with them in. I think they would positively thrive in such an environment with the collapse of law and order. Imagine a group of survivors arriving at their isolated farmhouse being pursued by a horde of Ragers. Caught between a rock and a hard place! Would I want Team Vampifan to meet the Viscera Family? No way! I like my heroes too much and at present I just couldn't see them surviving an encounter with this bunch of psycopaths. Give me zombies any day!

Wargames Foundry have a reputation for being expensive, too expensive in many buyers' minds. This set, from their Street Violence range, costs £10.00 (when I checked this morning), which works out at £2.00 per figure. That's not bad in my book. If you like your horror films, (and if you don't, what are you doing reading this blog?) you really should consider adding this set to your collection. Typing this review has but me in the mood for some gratuitous violence so I'm off to watch a few Texas Chainsaw Massacre DVDs! Rev it up, Leatherface!