There's still a blog here!

Merry Christmas everybody! Yes, I'm a bit late. And yes, this is all I've posted for several weeks. And yes, this is a very short post. And yes, you should avoid starting sentences with "and". 

My excuse is that for the last few weeks my hobby time has been spent working on some rules writing. Not a particularly exciting excuse but there it is. But look! I've done some painting, and here's a picture to prove it. 

A few more partisans/volkssturm for Bolt Action there. These models have been sat in the paint station for months, so it's good to finally have them finished. Not sure what to tackle next, although I certainly have plenty of options available! 

I'm sure you'll be thrilled to see whatever I come up with, so I'll leave you waiting for that with bated breath...

Zomtober 2014 - Calling car 6

Just time to sneak in a final post for this year's Zomtober! I've stuck with the survivors once more - and in fact I've stuck with the police too, this time with a couple of patrolmen and their squad car. 

The car in question is a Hummer - having been called to a "disturbance", the cops arrived to find mutilated corpses attacking people and wisely beat a retreat. The big, chunky, military-style car finally made sense, and they were able to make good their escape. 

The car is in fact a poundland "army force" model with a new paint job, and a set of lights courtesy of Kieron. The freehand on the lettering could use some tidying, so I might do that before I move onto something else. 

The cops themselves are more Wargames Factory plastic survivors, with one dark ages arm and a piece of spare baton used to give one of them a torch. 

The plastic survivors are a bit limited in their poses, but still hoping to get more variety out of them before I'm done.

So there you go, a quick post, but I'm pretty pleased with the results I've got here. When I get chance, I think a Zomtober round up post is in order. 

Not sure what comes next - it was going to be napoleonics but I don't think I'm in the mood for that now. Watch this space to see what I come up with! 

Zomtober 2014 - This ain't no riot...

The third week of Zomtober comes to an end, and once more I've added to my heap of survivors, this time with a squad of riot cops.

As the outbreak started, the authorities were slow to realise what was actually happening, and many early reports were confused or misunderstood. 

For these unlucky officers, this led to their being deployed to deal with a "civil disturbance" - quite a euphemism for "the dead have risen and are eating people!"

The rest of the police contingent was wiped out - these four had been tasked with guarding a side street and managed to get away when they saw what was happening. Now they use their riot gear to good effect, as armour, helmets, shields and batons can be very effective against zombies when you know what you're doing!

These models are from Offensive Miniatures. I've had them for over three years, so it's good to finally get some of them painted (although I do have a lot more and a project in mind for them that I'd like to finally get to).

I actually used one of my mountain reduction challenge jokers to add some more mounted police to this bunch at Derby Worlds recently, so assuming I actually get to them, watch this space for more riot police in future!

Zomtober 2014 - Lieutenant Ba

Week two of Zomtober is drawing to a close, so here I am again with another painted survivor. 

This is Lieutenant Ba. You might notice he's a member of the Chinese PLA. 

Ba was part of the guard at the embassy at the beginning of the outbreak. As the building was overrun, he used all the ammo for his QBZ-95, but wasn't able to save anyone else and was the only one to make it out alive. 

Now reduced to just his handgun, and unable to speak English, Ba is on the lookout for two things - a safe place to stay and some more bullets!

This is another of my Empress PLA models. I suppose he's a bit of a stretch for Zomtober, but he was just sat there on my paint station, so what was I to do? More survivors to come next week, I hope....

Zomtober 2014 - Suzie

The first week of Zomtober draws to a close, and so I present my first painted survivor!

This is Suzie. 

She's toting a shotgun, and as her ex-boyfriend was an extra on the remake of Red Dawn, she's wearing the Chinese camo shirt he have her. Also boots. 

This is one of the Wargames Factory plastic survivors. Not the most detailed models, and the poses are a bit limited, but still like them and have plenty more to  go at. 

Next week - something else!

Finally finished a second PLA fireteam

Well, it's taken me long enough, but I've managed to finish the four modern minis I started painting at the beginning of the month. 

Now that they're done I don't have much to say about them, other than that I'm slightly annoyed i didn't build up the bases a bit more. 

With these done I think I'm one model away from finally trying out Force on Force. Not quite sure what happens if I turn out not to like it...

Anyway, Zomtober starts up again soon, and once again I'm joining in, so watch this space for updates on that!

Baby steps...

As the title may have revealed, I haven't done a huge amount recently - some international travel for work (oooh, get me), my daughter's birthday, and other real life nonsense kept me away from the paintbrushes, and even the superglue, for about a week. I've managed to move my Chinese PLA fireteam just two steps along the painting process, and that's not very interesting so I haven't even got a picture of it.

However! I've had a few models sitting in my paint station part done for a while, and in bits and pieces I've managed to get one of these finished. So, without further fanfare, here is... a second officer for my Bolt Action partisans!

I think this model looks a little bit like Stalin.

I decided that this guy, with his spectacular facial hair and middle age spread, should be a veteran of the Great War that couldn't stand idly by when the Germans turned up for another go. 

Once again, I show my ability to light two
almost identical photos completely differently

For that reason I gave him an approximation of a French WW1 uniform - red trousers and a blue greatcoat. He's only armed with a pistol, so I think I might end up using him as an inexperienced 2nd lieutenant - just enough support to maybe keep a unit in the fight, but hardly any points.

Right then, back to the moderns...