WWG Urban Grind - Mayhem Skateboard Park

This is the latest project that I have been working on these past couple of months - the World Works Games Urban Grind set or as I call it - the Mayhem Skateboard Park. First, a little background info on this set. It was produced as a charity set to help fund the care of Chase Ripper, nephew of WWG's CEO Denny Unger, who sadly contracted cancer at the age of 8. All profits from the sale of this set goes towards helping funding the day to day care of Chase. It is a worthy cause that I was only too happy to support. Oddly enough, this set is one of the cheapest sets in the WWG catalogue at only $10.00. I'd have gladly paid twice that amount. Perhaps Denny thought a low price would attract more customers. I certainly hope so.

So, onto the review. The photo above shows my gaming board without any props on. The two spectator stands and the perimeter fences are glued in place, something I have never done before with regards my modular gaming boards. However, this time, I think the decision was warranted. I just have to be extra careful when I pack it away when it's not in use!

Here is the same view as before, but this time with all the props in place. This set-up utilises all of the props that come with the set, plus one other - a litterbin (seen to the right of the opening at the bottom of the photo) which came from the Bits of Mayhem set.  What I particularly like about this set is that it comes in two flavours - pristine clean or covered in graffiti. I opted for the graffiti covered version. It looks more characterful. Besides, even if a park was spotlessly clean, how long would it stay that way? Less than a day would be my guess.

Some props appear more than once. For example, I printed out four sets of picnic tables and eight benches to go with them. The design of the benches and tables are the same as those which appeared on the patio of the apartment building that appears in the Mayhem Armoury set, although the textures are very different.

I have placed two extremely large speakers in two corners of the park. These play a part in the game Skate! which comes as a free bonus with this set. I must admit that I have not played the game but I have read the rules. It looks like a simple and fun game. With only four pages of rules to learn it won't take you long to get the hang of it. WWG are to be commended for adding the game to this set. It comes with 8 sheets of counters and 2-D characters, which I'd probably replace with 28mm scale figures if I did get round to playing it.

The two props with the three ramps and back walls nearest to the spectator stands are called Fun Boxes. When it comes to skate-boarding terminology I am totally ignorant. Abutting the two Fun Boxes and appearing just in front of the entrance between the two fences are three rectangular boxes. These are called Grind Boxes.

In the photo above note the large ramp that can be seen in the centre of the picture in between the two Grind Boxes. That is called a Large Bank. It comes with a small fence atop of the upper platform.

The spectator stands are made up of a 4" corner section, two 3" long sections and a 4" long section that has been cut in half to form two 2" sections, giving a length of 9" and a width of 7". One thing that I am not too keen about these stands is that the width of the steps making up the stands is only 3/4". I'd have prefered them to be 1" wide. Why? Well that way would make it easier for placing figures on 25mm diameter bases on the steps. Figures with 20mm diameter bases will fit on without any problem but you have a slight problem when it comes to the more popular choice of 25mm diameter bases. The fences are called Grind Fences and, incredibly, are used by skateboarders to skate/slide down!

The two small ramps closest to the speakers are known as a Small Ramp (the one with the straight ramp) and a Small Quarter Pipe (the one with the curved ramp).  Say, who has noticed that the litterbin has been knocked over? It was fine when I started photographing the park, but it must have got knocked over once I started shooting and moving the board for each shot. How odd that I've just noticed it now!

The series of four large ramps running across the board are flanked by two Large Quarter pipes with a Spine Ramp in the middle. I read on the WWG forum that if you were to make such a set-up there should be flat sections in between the ramps. So, bowing to superior knowledge,  I made mine by sticking two off-cuts of the base of the spectator stands to two pieces of mounting board 2" by 2.5". Of all the props in the set, this group looks the most impressive.

Finally, here are four views of the park taken from a much lower angle. I made the stands first, without the added fencing. Next came all of the ramps, then the speakers, tables and benches. Finally I made all of the fences. Cutting out the pieces between the uprights of each fence was incredibly tedious work, which is why I left them until last. Having made such an impressive gaming board, I wanted it to feature in a zombie apocalypse battle report. I have two All Things Zombie battle reports coming up soon (in fact, the first of them should be my next posting) and you can see it features in both games. This was quite an easy project to work on and is ideally suited for beginners to the hobby. I highly recommend it and it certainly gave me a warm glow, knowing that my money was going to such a worthy charity.

Cold War Miniatures Zombies 02

Continuing on from last week's review of sets 1 and 2 of Cold War Miniatures' 28mm scale zombies I'm going to take a look at sets 3 and 4, Street Walkers and Horror Hospital respectively. I'll begin with set 3 - Street Walkers. At the far left of the group above is a limp-wristed gentleman, whose clothes have been badly torn. His left elbow has been gnawed through to the bone and he has been bitten in both lower legs. From the way his head has been sculpted, he looks to be advancing in years. Despite the torn state of his clothes he is still smartly dressed.

However, the next gentleman in line will beat most people when it comes to smart dressing. He is very clearly a city gent with the essential accoutrements of bowler hat, black suit and tie and brolly and a rolled up newspaper. If he was a Brit the newspaper would be the Financial Times. I have no idea what the American equivalent is. Perhaps someone can enlighten me? There are three holes in the front of his jacket which look more like bullet holes than bite wounds. There is also a hole in his bowler hat. If that was made by a bullet it must have missed his brain, otherwise he would not have reanimated as a zombie!

When I see the phrase "street walker" I immediately think of prostitutes, and I'm sure most other people will as well. This lady was obviously from the world's oldest profession. I've painted her up almost exactly as she appears on the Cold War website (as I have for most of these figures as it is far easier to copy someone else's colour scheme than devise one of your own!) but I had to give her blonde hair not black. However, look closely and you can see she isn't a natural blonde as her roots are showing. From behind and/or from the neck down she is still quite a looker. But her face... is a mess! Her right eye dangles down her cheek from an empty socket. Her mouth is fixed in a rictus grin. I can't see her getting many takers. I was going to say "any takers" but there are some sick people out there who would take up her offer of "having a good time!"

There is something about the young lad standing next to her that I find disturbing. He just looks evil. It is his facial expression that I find creepy. This is an outstanding sculpt! Zombie kids are exceptionally rare but there is nothing cute about this boy or indeed anything to illicit pity for his plight. His stance is that of the surly youth - hands in pockets, shoulders slouched and head down. To make matters worse, he wears a hoodie, although thankfully with the hood kept down. He has been shot once in the torso and his right leg has been badly chewed up.

The final figure in this group is a vagrant, a tramp, one of the homeless. I was not too happy with the way his coat clung to his legs, particularly his left leg, so I took a small piece of modelling putty and bulked it out on his left side. It was a simple conversion but one that in my eyes, makes the figure look right. His long coat is full of holes. I have blood showing through the holes in his elbows and centre of his back. That last one could be the entry wound for a bullet as there is a large exit (?) wound in his stomach. I put a question mark there as it could just as easily be a bite wound and the hole in his back may not be a wound at all. You decide.

The sculptor has had quite a bit of fun with set 4 - Horror Hospital and I think this is a great set of figures. When you think about it, a hospital will be a fertile breeding ground for zombies once the apocalypse kicks off. Starting with the figure at the far left he is one of three figures in this set who came with separate arms. I glued his in place with a two-part epoxy resin. Then I smoothed and strengthened the joints further with a dab of modelling putty. This guy's left leg is covered in bandages, which explains why he has the crutch. I think that that is such a neat touch and something you rarely ever see. It looks like someone has shot him in the stomach. I could quite easily see a cop or a soldier mistaking him for a zombie and shooting him... just to make sure!
Next up is someone who looks like he has just risen from the operating table. Dressed in his hospital gown (why do they never close properly at the back?) he has brought his blood bag on wheeled stand with him. It is this feature alone that makes this such an outstanding figure! He has no obvious wounds but I have painted him as if he has just fed on a victim, so his mouth has blood dribbling down his front and his right hand is smeared in blood.
I have read some criticisms of Cold War Miniatures being too thin. It is not a view that I share. This figure of a doctor is quite chunky. His arms are joined together and fit into a slot that runs across his shoulders. There are a few figures in this range that employ this mechanism and I think it is an innovative way of fitting arms to a body. Once in place, I used a small strip of modelling putty to hide the joint. No doubt, when he was human, this handsome chap was lusted after by most of the female staff and patients. But, as he has found out the hard way, good looks are no defence against flesh-eating zombies. The wounds in his chest and back line up, suggesting a bullet might have killed him. I've smeared blood all over his right hand.
To his left is one of his colleagues - a middle-aged nurse. Her pose is slightly off-centre as she shuffles forward in search of fresh blood. Her right foot is bent inward and she keeps her right arm close to her body. She reaches out with a blood smeared left hand. I have splattered blood in patches across the front of her tunic. Having a white uniform really does show up blood stains extremely well!
If the second figure in this group came from the operating table then this chap has clearly come from the morgue. He is totally naked and the autopsy cut from neck to groin is clearly visible. Like the doctor that I mentioned above, his arms are separate but fit to his body via a slot across his shoulders. I have hidden the joint by applying a small amount of modelling putty to his shoulder blades. Other than his autopsy cut, he has an extremely large bite wound to the back of his left thigh.
As usual, prices for these two sets are £7.00 each or you can purchase the figures individually for £1.75. I do think the name for set 3 - Street Walkers is a bit misleading, although technically they are all folk you could find walking on a street. Still, you know what I mean. Only one of them is a prostitute, not all of them. I think a set of three or four whores, their pimp and possibly a client would have been a good set to make. However, despite my misgivings over the name, this is still a very good set and well worth buying. The hooker and the kid are quite outstanding. As for set 4 - Horror Hospital, this is one of the best sets in the whole range. Highly recommended.

WWG Mayhem Billboard

This week's World Works Games review is a space filler in two senses. First up, I don't have much time to devote to my blog this week as I am playing and photographing not one but two ATZ battle reports. They are time-consuming affairs. Secondly, the billboard is a space filler for a gaming board. It is not as useful as a building, for example, but built the way that I've done it, it adds a splash of colour to an otherwise drab grey cityscape... more so than the Mayhem small park that I reviewed recently.

Here is an overhead shot of the billboard, which comes from the Streets of Mayhem set. The ground tile comes from the Bits of Mayhem set and the trees are from the Citadel Trees and Hedges scenery set for Warhammer.

Streets of Mayhem comes with three different advertising boards to choose from. A further eight can be found in the Bits of Mayhem set and, of course, there is nothing stopping you from designing your own. A blank template is provided if you want to take that option.

I chose the Scary Pete's Jam poster because it is so odd and also because I like the fact that the image bursts out of its rectangular perimeter with Pete's head and jar.

If you want to stick with just WWG products you could replace the trees with those found in the Hinterlands set. That set had not been produced when I made this model, but even if it had, I would still have used "proper" 3-D trees. To be honest, I am not a big fan of papercraft foliage. It just looks too flat for me.

I painted the trunks of my trees with Citadel Khemri Brown from their Foundation Paints set then gave it a wash of Citadel Devlan Mud. It was one of the easiest paintjobs that I've ever done but I hope you agree that the result looks good. I added a billboard advertising the Mayhem Armoury to the roof of my Mayhem Armoury but this is the way I would expect to see a billboard - on the ground. As I said at the start, it's a good space filler.

Cold War Miniatures Zombies 01

Not too long I reviewed the Cold War Miniatures 28mm scale survivors and victims sets (see http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.com/2009/09/cold-war-miniatures-survivors-victims.html ). I had a session yesterday photographing minis to be reviewed on my blog and I have enough material on file for the next couple of months. (Yippee!) So it's time to take a look at Cold War's range of zombies. It's possibly the biggest range of zombies by any manufacturer in this scale - 70 figures in total made up of 63 zombies, 6 survivors and 1 corpse. That is far too many to review in one go so I'm going to review these  figures ten at a time. I mentioned in my last review about how the majority of figures have been converted by the sculptor to have slotta-tabs instead of pins on their feet. It's a sensible decision as most figure companies nowadays produce figures with slotta-tabs to fit into plastic slottabases. Only the 10 figures I reviewed last time still had the pins attached. Before I begin my review I just want to mention the slottabases that come with these figures. The majority of 25mm diameter plastic slottabases have the hole in the base slightly off centre. For most figures this is actually a "good thing." With these figures, the slot is in the centre of the base, dividing it into two equal halves. This is worth noting, as I only used these bases on about 25% of the figures as it made the figure feel unbalanced. Fortunately I had loads of "ordinary" 25mm diameter slottabases spare, so that wasn't a problem for me. The unused bases went in my bag of spares to be used on that rare occasion when I need to pose a figure dead centre on the base. You have been warned!

So, let's take a look at the figures. The two photos above show the five figures from set 1 Deserted Diner. At the far left is the chef, who is clearly of oriental origin. He holds a meat cleaver in his right hand. His right eye has been gouged out and he has been shot in the chest and right thigh. I like his casual clothing of T-shirt, shorts and trainers. It's just the sort of attire you'd expect to see on a chef from a "greasy spoon" restaurant of a fast food diner.

Next up is the waitress, who still keeps hold of a plate of food. Her only injury appears to be a bite to her left thigh. What I particularly like about her is that the sculptor has given her a wedding ring on her left hand. It's a little detail that is so easy to overlook but one that makes her entry into the ranks of the undead all the more poignant.

Standing in the centre of the group is a zombie sheriff, still retaining his service pistol, although it does appear to be too heavy for him, given the way it is pointing downward. Note how his tongue is sticking out of his mouth. A cup of coffee and a doughnut is no good for him now - he wants blood to drink and flesh to eat! He looks to have been shot twice - once in the right side of his chest and once in the right side of his stomach. There are no exit wounds.

A diner will get a fair bit of trade from truckers, so it's no surprise to see a zombie trucker in this group. The way his head sags to one side would suggest his neck has been broken. He has also been shot in the stomach and the knees of his jeans are holed and scuffed.

Where truckers go bikers are sure to follow. This guy may have been a tough hombre when he was alive but he's just another shambling corpse now. I like that he still holds a short length of chain in his right hand. There are numerous holes in his clothes, which could be the result of bullet wounds or zombie bites. Looking at him closely, I feel that his left arm is a bit too long, especially from elbow to wrist, so for that reason I think he is the weakest figure in this group.

The second group to be featured in this review is called Happy Shoppers. An odd title, methinks, as I don't see any of them holding a shopping bag! First up, in the bright yellow T-shirt is that rarity amongst zombies - someone wearing glasses. I wear glasses all the time because I'm short sighted. So do lots of other people. But of all the zombie figures available how many are wearing glasses? Far too few is the answer! I applaud the sculptor for giving this guy glasses. The only noticable injury to him is a small hole in his trousers over his right knee.

The oddly posed gentleman to the right of him is bare-footed. The way his feet are both pointing inwards draws attention to them. The pigeon toed stance has become synonomous with zombies so I have no problem with the way he stands. Again he does not appear to have any serious injuries. There are a few holes and tears in his clothes but nothing suggesting major trauma.
Next up is my favourite figure out of this group - granny with walking stick. She came in three parts - main body and legs, left arm and right arm with integral walking stick. I stuck her limbs on with superglue then reinforced the joints with a thin smear of modelling putty.To be honest, with her lack of wounds, she would make a perfectly acceptable old age pensioner if you want a human victim. I think she's a great figure and it just goes to show that zombies are not ageist!
Fourth in line is another zombie standing in the pigeon toed stance. This time it's a female, a young mum from the looks of her. At first, I thought she was another figure from this set without any wounds but a closer look revealed a small bite to her lower left leg. It's hard to see on my photos as it appears on the side of her leg. Still, I assure you, it is there. I do like the way her hoodie has been sculpted.
Last of all, is yet another very lightly wounded zombie. His face is full of character and is very well sculpted. Their are holes in both elbows of his shirt and just above his groin. Both knees of his trousers are also holed. I've bloodied both elbows and his right knee. It is unlikely that any of these "scrapes" killed him but that does not really matter - something killed him and now he has returned as a zombie.
Of the two sets reviewed here, I'd have to say that set 1 Deserted Diner is way better than set 2 Happy Shoppers. However, they are both well sculpted sets and they will fit in very well with other ranges like Hasslefree, Studio Miniatures or Zombiesmith. I've said before that I like this range and there are some truly unique figures amongst them. Amongst these ten, the oriental chef, waitress and granny with walking stick are outstanding and well worth owning. They cost £7.00 per set or you can buy the figures individually for £1.75.

Vampifan's Views 03 What I'm Doing, What I'm Going To Do

More ramblings from ye olde editor. Since my last editorial I have seen my blog go from strength to strength. My number of followers has increased to 21. A big hello and an even bigger thank you for joining the ranks of my readers. What has really amazed me is the number of hits the site has received. I did not expect to crack the 10,000 mark in just six months. If I'd received 10,000 hits in a year I'd have been delighted but to top that in less than half a year is such a wonderful feeling. Again, heartfelt thanks to everyone who has clicked onto my site.
So, what am I up to and what can you expect to see in the near future? My painting table is still dominated by zombies. I'm currently working on the last 20 Cold War Miniatures 28mm scale zombies out of the 70 I bought. I have just finished painting my converted Hasslefree 28mm scale Vampirella figure and Black Scorpion 28mm scale Echo the Demoness. These will be the central focus of my Diorama of Doom. I'll also be including eight Heresy 28mm scale zombies. All of the figures are painted, I just have the base to finish making and painting. Fortunately it is nothing too elaborate - just a small part of a cemetary with about three gravestones on it. The rules of the competition state that the base should be no bigger than a CD, which limits what you can fit on it. Closing date for the competition is 31st of October and I'm confident of getting my diorama completed in time. Expect to see lots of pictures here after the closing date.
My enthusiasm for making World Works Games models remains undiminished. I recently completed my Mayhem Skateboard Park. That will be the focus of an upcoming review and should play a prominent role in my next zombie battle report. At the moment I am making more WWG vehicles. Whenever I complete a building I like to  have a break and make more vehicles. This way my vehicle collection grows at a steady pace and I don't suffer from burn-out making buildings. Although I must admit making my four-storey Mayhem lawyers' offices came close to sapping my enthusiasm. Still, the joy of completing it was that much sweeter! I'm not too sure what my next building that I make will be. I've narrowed it down to two choices - a small chapel or a general store. The chapel would be the easier model to make.
WWG have recently introduced a new way of making card scenery called Terrainlinx. Two sets are currently available - Himmelveil Streets and Himmelveil Sewers. These are primarily aimed at fantasy gamers. Nonetheless, I've bought them and I'd like to see how they work as they represent the future for how all WWG buildings and scenery will be produced. Exciting times if you're a fan, which I most certainly am.
Speaking of WWG, I was recently honoured by Denny Unger, the CEO of the company, who made all of my reviews of their buildings Sticky posts in the user's gallery section of their forum. The praise I have received from the good folk on the WWG forum has been exceptionally gratifying. I thank everyone for their kind comments.
I've just started reading Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist, having just finished his vampire novel, Let the Right One In. I bought the DVD of the book at the same time and thoroughly enjoyed them both. The book is better than the film, simply because it goes into a lot more detail than a film can. I may do a full review of them both shortly. On the comics front, Vampirella is back after a far too long absence (well, it was for me!) in a story called the Second Coming. I'm a very happy bunny getting my monthly fix of Vampirella again.
Next week sees the general release of Zombieland at the cinema here in the UK. Suffice to say, I am looking forward to watching it immensely. The scene I saw in the trailer of the little old lady dropping a piano on a zombie had my laughing out loud. I've seen quite a few trailers of zombie films that I definitely want to see. George Romero is shooting his sixth zombie film - oh joy! Rec 2 looks just as scary as the original and apparently picks up about one minute after the first one ended. There are others I want to see but my memory has suddenly gone blank. Ah, the effects of old age!
Next week I will be playing and photographing another big zombie game, which will feature in my third battle report very soon, hopefully in the week after next. This time I'll playing a scenario using the All Things Zombie rules. I've been itching to try out the new ATZ rules after they got a complete overhaul earlier this year. I was a fan of the first edition rules but they were not without numerous flaws. It'll be interesting to see how the version 2.0 rules play.
Finally, the picture that prefaces this editorial was one I found whilst Googling images of zombies. It is an unknown artist's take on Da Vinci's masterpiece of The Last Supper. I like it a lot and I'll gladly credit the artist if anyone knows who he is.