1/72 Zombies

I've been saving figures from various sets with poses that I thought might make fairly passable zombies for a series of games we plan on doing in the near future and have some photos of the progress up to date.

There's a fair few figures that are easily converted, plenty of surrendering guys do it for me, others have vague zombie poses that with a head bent to one side and a bit of  blood ... hey presto !

Like these two repurposed Revell German Kreigsmarine figures - once you bend their  heads to one side, not much else needed doing.

Then some zombified office workers, courtesy of Caesar Resistance fighters and a Revell cowboy

An old goofy 1st version commando, Caesar zombie footballer and a HaT Ancient figure from some set who's become a lady zombie in a skirt.

This Revell Modern German Fallschirmjaeger's zombie brain must still be working well enough for him to be still hanging onto his G36.

And of course a typical day in zombified London. 

To pad out the zombie hordes, I had to resort to using a bunch of featureless civilian figures I got off ebay, a Made-in-China knock-off of Noch figures. 

When we do eventually get around to gaming these zombie scenarios, I'll post some pictures of the games on the website.

In the meantime, on the next post something different, some scenery accessories or perhaps an update on a few WW2 vehicles that were recently finished.

Until then, hope you enjoyed the update and feel free to leave any comments or suggestions.

Repurposed Diecast Matchbox Superkings Scammell Contractor

A repurposed old diecast matchbox Scammell Contractor as a postwar British tank transporter.

I'd planned on doing this for some time after a wargame buddy of mine Iván gave me lovely old diecast model from the Matchbox Superking's range a couple of years ago. He knows I'm a sucker for these old toys, whatever condition they're in.

Made in England in 1971 .... and by the look of it, in that 52 year period the toy's obviously been through a lot ! 

Paint scratched, grille's disappeared, busted up at the bottom, and God only knows what happened to the wheels, looks like someone's been at it with pliers, or even the dog's had it. 

Definitely what some e-bay descriptions would class as "played with" condition.

This Superkings version originally had a trailer and carried two long construction pipes, and also there were some other versions, such as one without a trailer that was a wrecker too if I'm not mistaken.

I had a trailer in mind using a Chinese 4D Models KrAZ-260B Russian tractor / tank transporter that also donated replacement wheels.

Stripping off the 52 year old pink metallic paint before I gave it a new paintjob didn't go as well as I planned, the paint was pretty resistant and was certainly made to last.

Even though I left the paint remover on for 24 hours, it wasn't 100% successful. It did get quite a bit off but there was still a lot of paint left so I had to resort to using a little fine wet sandpaper to get most of the paint off the leading edges where the model will get the most handling. 

The remaining pink paint lost all its shine and went completely matt, so I did in the end have a decent base for the undercoat.

I used a matt black enamel spray undercoat. Nothing fancy, I've found that the cheapo enamel spray paint I can get from a local tat shop is pretty good strong resistant stuff, albeit very strong smelling - not something you can use in the house though.

I added the replacement wheels and an engine grille was made from a cut-down plastic window shutter I found in the spares box

Once undercoated, it was painted in an olive drab base colour and finished off with an amber beacon on the cabin roof made from a repainted diode.

I realise it won't get much use on the wargame table, but we can use it as clutter scenery for some kind of future game scenario.

Besides, it was an enjoyable process getting to grips with an old toy like this and trying to give it a new lease of life

1/72 Scale Resin Printed WW1 Rolls-Royce Armoured Car.

A great little 1/72 scale printed resin model, given to me by a wargaming buddy, Carlos. 

The turret is fixed unfortunately, but not a big problem.  It looks the part and now we need to get around to getting it onto the wargame table.  

Painted with Vallejo Khaki Grey, added a British roundel off some old aircraft kit I had in the spares box, weathered with a wash, and finally dusted with some crushed pastels.

Not too sure about the scratches to be honest. I think I went a bit over the top - but it's done now, but maybe I'll try and soften them a little with some more dusted pastels.

Grey Panzers On the workbench

Pictures of some work-in-progress WW2 German panzers, nearly finished. 

A mixed bag of brands, an Altaya Panzer IV top left, two Trumpeter StuG IVs, an Armourfast StuIG33, PSC Panzer IV top left, two Altaya die-cast Panzer IIIs and a very old repaired and repainted veteran Panzer IV middle right.

All painted with Vallejo Model Color Dark Grey Blue followed by a dark wash and some weathering.  I've run out of Balkenkreuz decals now, so I'll have to try doing them by hand.