Spinespur Zombies 02

A few months ago I reviewed the Torn, a set of three 28mm scale naked zombies by Comfy Chair Games for their Spinespur game. See here for my review if you want a reminder -

http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.com/2009/08/spinespur-zombies.html

Shortly after I had reviewed them Rogzombie reviewed them on his blog site. See here for his review -

http://rogzombie.blogspot.com/2009/08/torn-by-spinespur.html  At first I thought he'd reviewed the same three figures as I had but a close look revealed that his three figures were very different to my three. It was Roger himself who solved the mystery. The three figures he had bought were pre-production castings and were withdrawn from sale when the powers that be at Spinspur deemed them to be too thin. So the ones that I reviewed are the official Torn figures and the ones that appear on Spinespur's website. I was rather disappointed that the figures that Roger reviewed were no longer available as I would have dearly loved to have added them to my collection.

So, you can imagine my surprise and delight when Roger recently e-mailed me with news that he had a spare set for sale and he wondered if I'd be interested in buying them. Naturally I was very interested and the sale went ahead. My first reaction upon seeing them in the flesh was that they don't look that thin. They are just as good as the new figures.

Looking at the figures in the two photos above, you'll immediately see that I've painted them with a greenish tinge, which is how I paint my toxic zombies. At the far left is a partially bald male with a huge gaping hole in his stomach revealing his intestines. He is staring up to space as if to curse the gods for his predicament. Note that these three figures are heavily pock-marked, unlike the other three Torn figures. This is especially noticable when you look at the back of the figures.

The figure in the centre of the group epitomises the name of the Torn, as he tears the flesh from his chest to reveal his rib-cage. He is also partially bald but I've painted his hair grey rather than brown.

The last figure in line is totally bald. He is also in the process of tearing the skin from his body, only this time he is mutilating his face. In the original set there was another zombie pulling the skin off his face but this guy is in a far worse state as he also has a massive stomach wound, similar to zombie at the left of the group.

As someone who loves painting gore effects on zombies, these were an absolute joy to paint. Also because they are all naked they got painted very quickly. No worries about what colour to paint their clothes! I like these three as much as the first three that I reviewed and in my opinion they are definitely not too thin. I wish that Spinespur would sell both sets.

It is usually at this point when I tell you how much the figures are but as these are now out of production that is rather a moot point. Obviously there are still some available and Evil-Bay might be your best bet if you really want a set. I'd like to offer a huge thank you to Roger for thinking of me when he had a spare set for sale. Roger, you made my day, mate!

Spinespur Zombies 01

This is just a short review - well, not all of them will be as long or as picture heavy as my WWG semi-detached houses review! Today I'm looking at three Spinespur 28mm scale naked zombies. Spinespur is a near future horror game by Comfy Chair Games, who can be found at this website here -

http://www.comfychairgames.com/home.php

This is set CFC0126 - The Torn, who are, according to the Spinespur website - "Enemies of the Dark Faith who fall in battle often find themselves brought back from the dead to serve that which they once fought against. This thought often drives the individual to attempt freeing themselves by ripping apart the prison cell they once called a body." So they're zombies with serious mental problems then!

It was a no-brainer what colour to paint them as they so closely resemble my Eureka Miniatures Toxic Zombies, so that meant green skin. The figure at the far left of the trio has had the flesh of the front of his torso completely removed. Given the description above, can we assume that he has pulled his own flesh off? I don't know the answer to that, but he looks far from healthy. As if that horrendous wound wasn't bad enough, his left arm has been ripped off at the elbow and he has bites to both lower legs, his lower right arm and the side of his head.

In the centre of the group is a female, who has not fared much better. Her legs and arms are covered in cuts and bites. However, her major wound is only revealed when you look at her from behind, as the flesh has been stripped from her back. Surely that couldn't be self-inflicted? I love the way her face has been sculpted. She looks incredibly gaunt and malnourished.

The final figure of the group certainly complies with Spinespur's description of the Torn as he is in the process of ripping the skin away from his face. His arms and his legs especially, are covered in cuts and bite wounds.

These figures were a joy to paint as you can really go to town with the gore effects. I did wonder about how much skull to leave uncovered on the third figure. If I'd completely covered it in TCR (Tamiya Clear Red - possibly the best paint to use for blood) would it still look like a skull and would you be able to tell what he is doing? In the end, I erred on the side of showing more white skull, but only because that was how it was done on the Spinespur website. These three figures are exceptionally well sculpted and, to be honest, put the similar looking Eureka Miniatures to shame! They are quite delicate looking and a lot smaller than I was imagining they'd be. For some reason I thought that the Spinespur range was a lot taller. Maybe the others are, maybe they aren't, as these are the only Spinespur figures I own, but these zombies are perfectly sized 28mm scale figures so you'll have no problem fitting them in with like-sized figure ranges, like Studio Miniatures or Hasslefree, for example. The set of three figures cost $9.99. Just because the Spinespur background has them as mentally unstable undead, there's no reason why they should be in whatever game you play. For me, they're just another group of toxic zombies.