Cold Wars Zombie Swat Troopers

Below are some pictures of the Cold Wars Zombie SWAT Team (http://cold-war.co.uk/) DWW 12 Cop This pack. Nice miniatures, I've painted/purchased 11 of their zombies and have been pleased with them all.

Zoom ins on the guy that's hunched over on the left-side of the photo. The metal has a lot of good facial detail that is missed in the top photo. Other SWAT guy zoomed in below. Cloth was painted using Americana Deep Midnight Blue (from Michael's or Hobby Lobby for $0.99 a container) and armor was painted with a GW Citadel Foundation grey color (can't seem to find the paint pot atm).

I also managed to pick up 2 GW Tyranids that are coming up from the floor from the Space Hulk set on EBAY for < $5.00 including shipping. Very nice plastic minis. I hope GW releases these and others from the set seperately.

I purchased/watched "Distict 9" today, really a pretty cool movie. Some really good potential wargaming/painting ideas there.

What I Am Working On...

- Rebelminis Civilians (16/21 CMP)

- GZG 15mm Various (from sale purchase earlier this month)

- Khurasan Miniatures Kark Unit (0/8 complete)

Looking forward to finishing up some miniatures while I am off for a few days and catching up on some movies that I would like to rent/see.

Cold Wars Zombies

I finished some Cold Wars Zombies (http://cold-war.co.uk/) DWW 12 Cop This pack and Z8 from the DWW 8 Run For It pack, I need to take a picture of the SWAT members when it is sunnier out so they won't look all black. I tried to mimic the uniforms of the Texas State Patrol (so they'd fit in with the other TX zombies/civilians I have, no disrespect intended) and am pretty happy with how they turned out. I used a different skin technique on them, going for a more oxygen starved look:

- GW Adeptus Battlegrey for the base

- GW BAAL Red wash/ink

- Highlights using the GW Adeptus Battlegrey and Ral Partha Dragon Tongue Purple

It was pretty fun painting some zombies again, I need to work on the Star Gate that I also purchased.

I painted one of Khurasan Miniatures Pelagic Scout ships (http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/t1208.jpg <== not my work) that I entered in their painting competition; this is the first miniatures painting contest that I have ever entered, curious to see how many others entered and hopefully pick up some tips on how to improve my work. I went for a completely different color scheme than the one on their site.

What I am Working On...

- Rebelmini's Civilians (12/21 complete)

- GZG Kra'Vak (I bought a few things during their sale)

- GZG Complex (the 15mm buildings)

- Khurasan Miniatures Kark Unit (0/8 complete)

- Khurasan Miniatures Pulp Pack (o/3 complete)

- Khurasan Miniatures Felids (0/10 complete)

Peter Pig US Forces+

I purchased a few packs (a couple of US and French forces) of Peter Pig (http://www.peterpig.co.uk/) 15mm modern minis from their AK47 Republic line (http://www.peterpig.co.uk/range17.htm) from a US distributor (http://brookhursthobbies.com/). Reasonable shipping rates and arrived in TX from CA in a couple of days .

One of the packs I bought was called "Dictator" (http://www.peterpig.co.uk/AK%20character%20dictator.jpg) which had a large general in 3 poses (sitting, standing and dead/prone along with a guard). He is a bit portly and wears a general's uniform; I will let the pictures show how much character this mini has rather than try to inadequately describe it further.

As I started painting him, I realized he really needed some type of vehicle to ride in for the seated mini. While shopping at Target I happened on a $0.97 matchbox vehicle called the "Sahara Survivor" that looked the part (see picture to the upper-left). I removed some of the the roll bars in the back with an exacto knife and then gave it a new paint job, results with the Dictator in the picture to the upper-right above. More shots below:

Other vehicles in my collection (L to R)

GZG, 1:72 prepainted LAV (also a Target purchase, has more head room for the 15mm troops), and the matchbox.

I also finished my second pack of GZG Spacefarers which are some pretty cool minis too.

What I Am Working On...

• Rebelminis Civilians (11/21 complete)
• Rebelminis Contractors (0/21 complete)
• Coldwars Zombie Swat (0/5 complete)

Wish List (Cliff Notes version)...

• 15mm seated soldiers to go with the dictator (I call him "The General")
• 2-3 15mm armored humvees with a 50 cal machine mounted in a cupola
• 2-3 French vehicles and a tank to go with the PeterPig French troops
• 28mm modern squad, maybe the Eureka French Foreign Legion that I saw the greens for

I've also done some more 28mm lately and hope to post pictures later in the week.

Painted Storage Container and Aliens

I finished painting the storage container, was going for an old rusted look (still need to find stencils to put shipping markings on, no luck looking at Hobby Lobby yesterday as all were bigger than I was looking for).

I also completed my Khursan Garn Command Pack, really nice figures shown below.

Also finished the pack of Hammerhead Space Demons (also from Khurasan). colors look much better in person. I painted them by:

1. Base coat of Krylon XMetals red Chrome

2. GW Badab Black wash

3. Very light dry brush of GW Red Gore

The Krylon XMetals really has a nice non-metalic wet look to it which I think works well for these guys.

Below is my first 15mm conversion. I took the lady (from the GZG civilians set) with the short coat and hat and filed her chest and hair down. I then lengthend the coat and added a scarf with GW green stuff. Next to him is another GZG figure that I tried to paint up to look like Jayne of the Firefly series.

What I am Working On...

- Rebelminis Civilians (8 of 21 CMP)

- Newbold Space Trolls (sculpted by Bob Olley, 4 of 6 CMP)

- GZG Spacefarers II ( 1 of 6 CMP)

It looks like Bob Olley is opening his own site up again (http://www.olleysarmies.co.uk/home.html),

right now it has a bunch of pictures of some really cool terrain and miniatures, he is a pretty good painter too. I still need to finish a couple of his western looking space scrunts and a guard with guard dog.

Storage Container

Being a lurker at TMP (theminiaturespage.com), I saw a link to an Spanish site for a guy that makes his own scenery:

http://www.toposolitario.es/workshop/container.html

He made a really cool shipping container that I decided to try and copy for 15mm. I try to save "bits-n-pieces" of things that might be viable for terrain and it looks like I had everything I needed to make a working prototype/proof of concept.

Contents Above:

• thick baseball/football card pack cardboard
• small nail/braid
• metal paper clip
• Starbucks cup insulation (also have the Seattle's Best ones)
• small piece of left-over plastic card from the DPM building kit

I guesstimated the dimensions and starting gluing things together with supper glue which took pretty well. Below is the assembled container, hope to post some picture this weekend of how it looks painted.

This took about 30-45 minutes to complete. I will take care to keep track of measurements better next time so the containers will be the same size. I also need to find some stencils to put information on the sides.

What I am Working On...
- Rebelminis Civilians (8 of 21 CMP)
- Newbold Olley Space Trolls (2 of 6 CMP)
- Khurasan Hammerhead Space Demons

Seymour Block (DPM HO Scale Building Kit)

I picked up a HO scale model building while at Hobby Lobby by a company called Design Preservation Models (DPM). This is the first time I have ever tried this, but it looked like it would be fun and I could get my 2 girls involved (9 and 7 yrs old). It really is a neat kit and came out pretty well; the girls liked doing the dry brushing of the bricks and adding some of the larger details. It cost about $17 USD and came with plastic for windows, but I may leave those off. I will probably pick up some other HO scale stuff.

The minis shown above are some GZG Sci Fi civilians and look in scale with the picture displayed on the model (the building has really long windows).

Below is a picture of the building with a matchbox size delivery van I picked up years ago when I worked in Toyko, I think they look pretty good together.

Below are some more pictures of Khurasan Minis 15mm Garn, I used GW Graveyard Earth for the skin. I am working on a command squad that I hope to have finished next week.

I would like to pick up some 15mm police figures (maybe Rebel Minis) and some more modern US forces (maybe Peter Pig Marines or QRF US) to add to the mix.

What I am Working On...

1. GZG Civilians (7 of 8 CMP)

2. Khurasan Garn Command (0 of 2 CMP)

3. Rebelminis Civilians (8 of 21 CMP)

4. Khurasan Space Demon King

Let me know if you have any other suggestions for buildings or your take on painting some of the miniatures that I've shown.

Khurasan Miniatures: SF Aliens

The pictures I've seen at TMP looked pretty nice, so I bought:

• 5 packs (all different) of Space Demons
• 3 packs (2 different) of Garn (space lizardmen)
• 1 pack of Vampires

The Space Demons had some pretty cool poses and were very nice sculpts. The only problem was that some had some heavy/thick metal by the elbow joint but this removed easily with a file. Other than that most did not require much clean up.

Shown above are an infiltrator (foreground) and assault warrior (background) with a queen behind a Rebelmini special trooper.

I will try to get some more pictures up soon as I've finished 3 of the 5 packs I purchased.

As cool as these guys were, the Garn are my favs. These guys just look brutal and I am really happy with how my color scheme worked out:

1. GW Dessert Yellow
2. GW Devlan Wash
3. GW Dessert Yellow highlight
4. GW Rotting Yellow highlight (used sparingly on eye ridge and raised scales near the spine)

I finished one pack this weekend, some pictures below:

Really pleased with this purchase, link to their site:

http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/

What I am Working On...

• GZG Space Civilians (4 of 8 cmp)
• Khurasan Garn (0 of 5)
• Rebelminis Civilians ( 8 of 21 cmp)

I am always interested in hearing (and seeing) pictures of how others paint their minis, so let me know if you've done any of the above and what you did.

Armed Rebelminis Greys

I finished the pack of Rebeleminis Armed Aliens. I used GW tin bits(?) for the base of my leaders (greys w/ cloaks) and then did some washes with GW Baal Red. I was trying to mimic a technique that a guy on TMP used for some of his aliens.

I now have a 40+ greys (all Rebelminis) and a couple of flying saucers that I created from milk carton lids. I need to create a few war machines and the force should be good-to-go.

I've also been working on some GZG space civilians. These come in a pack of 8 (4 poses) and make pretty nice generic humans. They are more hefty than the Rebelminis civilians I have, but they are also wearing heavier clothing so this does not bug me.

I want to pick up some of the other GZG unarmed civilians and techs at a later date also.

My cheap vehicle find came via my 9yr daughter who went to a birthday party and go it as a party favor and then gave it to me. This is really pretty cool and matches the 15mm scale IMO. I will need to weather it, but it looks nice as-is too.

What I am Working On...

• GZG Space Civilians (3 of 8 cmp)
• Rebelminis Civilians (6 of 21 cmp)
• Coldwars zombie in overalls (tried a new color scheme but failed, re-priming ATM)
• Buildings - I want to try to make some basic buildings, inspired by some 15mm habitats shown recently on the TMP.

Thanks for reading.

Rebelminis Greys (15mm)

Here are some Rebelminis Greys (aliens). I want to use these with the Spriggan Miniatures SPUGS (space bugs) so I tried to paint mine to look ant-like. The picture to the left has a 28mm nuclear reactor I picked up from The War Store (thewarstore.com) that looks spot on for 15mm imo.

I painted them using Ral Partha Dragon Tongue Purple and then did washes of GW Ogron Flesh and Baal Red. Next I did some highlights with the Dragon Tongue purple again. I think they have a cool look to them. I have the Greys with weapons to also paint and am looking forward to doing so.

Here are some side-by-sides showing the relative heights of some of the 15mm miniatures that I have. L-R:

• Rebelminis Grey
• Rebelminis Special Forces
• Spriggan Games SPUG
• Mech Warrior Clix Infantry
• GZG Trooper (SG1 pack iirc)
• GZG Space Traveler

Currently working on:

• Rebelminis Civilians (5/21 complete)
• GZG Civilians
• Coldwars Zombie in overalls

Thanks for looking.

15mm Zombies!

Finally painted up the 15mm zombies I ordered from Rebelminis (http://www.rebelminis.com/). I have been really impressed by their stuff in both its value and quality. I also have some of their modern civilians that are WIP. Below are some pictures with a postcard background (I need to get some scenery done...

Group Shot (22 minis iirc):

Close Ups and Action Shot:

Zombie Hunters/Survivors

I also picked up a pack of their zombie hunters/survivors; the blonde in the one-piece suit just needed to be painted as a member of the Blackhawk team imo...(DC Comics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackhawk_(comics)).

UFO's On-The-Cheap

I came upon a cheap way to make some small UFO's, they would work as "un-manned" drones.

To Make...

1. Drink Milk: not any type, but the cartons that have the plastic screw-off top on the side. We drink a lot of organic, but other seem to have them also.

2. Plastic Pop-Top/Safety-Top in side: Picture shows what it looks like


3. Glue Saucer Halves together, sand edges and paint: totally easy, but if you use super glue on clear plastic then it may frost over like it did in my picture up top. I probably need to get some modelers' cement as I don't remember it doing that to the clear canopies of the model planes I did as a kid...

Cool/Cheap Vehicles

The two trucks/vans are from Hotwheels and cost me $0.97 US each at Target. The porsche cost ~ $3.00 from Walmart, but it is a porsche... I will probably not do much or anything to it, but I will weather the trucks/vans.

What I am Working On...

• 15mm Civilians (Rebelminis)
• 15mm Contractors/Mercs (Rebelminis)
• 15mm GZG Civilians/Colonists (SG15-V2)
• 15mm GZG Free Trader Crew (SG15-X04 A & B)
• http://www.gtns.co.uk/store1/commerce.cgi?product=SG15&exact_match=on&cart_id=9981502.13403
• 28mm Games Workshop Necromunda Orlock w/ Shotgun

What I Want to Buy Next...

I am trying not to think about it as I have a -23 BTP ratio

BTP = Figures Bought - Figures Painted

on the year (15mm packs count as one figure) and want to be below -20 before I purchase anything.

A Couple Zombies and Some Civilians

Zombies need something to chase/eat so I picked up a few civilian miniatures; to the left is a pack from Reaper called something like "Modern Children". The girl in the front looks a lot like my youngest daughter who thought I had the miniature "made" for her. I need to find one to do for my oldest dayghter now...

Below is one of the EM4 Troopers that I painted. It is hard (for me) to try to get the dark colors to photo well and it seems my hand lent itself as an adequate backdrop.

I need to try to take a few pictures during the day and see how that turns out...

I've only done 2 zombies lately, the left is a skeletal trooper, to the right is a modified Heroclix; I think he'd work well as a "Left For Dead" mini.

On The Work Bench...

I recently purchased some 15mm miniatures from RebelMinis that I am working on, I really like the quality of their miniatures. I purchased:

• Zombies
• Aliens
• Aliens with weapons
• Civilian Contractors
• Civilians
• 2 Modern US Soldiers (freebees - much appreciated)
• Zombie Hunters (I finished painting this weekend)

I've found a cool use for some of the plastic safety lids on milk that I hope to write up here next.

On my quest for painting more miniatures than I bought, I am a -25 for the year (I count packs of 15mm as 1 for the bought/painted calc's).

GZG 15mm "Moderns"

I picked up a few packs of GZG (Ground Zero Games) moderish miniatures and spacefarers and they are pretty nice but much larger than the Rebelminis and Mechwariors that I have (see pic below). I need to find some suitable 15mm decals to put on should pads...

GZG, SPUG, Rebelminis, GZG, Mechwarrior CMG

I also picked up a couple of vehicles that I am really impressed with. I had to use a small bit of putty to fix a problem on the command vehicle, but other than that there weren't any issues. Note that both models required pinning to keep the pieces together.

Command vehicle looks a little large with the GZG troopers, but looks spot on to me with the Rebelminis.

My first foray into 15mm...

I am a lurker at the TMP (theminiaturespage.com) and have been really impressed with how detailed some of the new 15mm moderns/sci fi figures are looking these days. Ones made by Ground Zero Games, Rebel Minis and even the clicky Mech Warrior looked cool to me so I purchased some which are shown below.

15mm is not just a smaller 28mm and it has taken me some work to try to find how much detail to add and such. For example, I based my minis on some 1" washers which looks totally out of place. I found some 1/4" which look a lot better, which you can probably tell from the pictures.

Cool Find: Burger King Star Trek Shuttle - I gave it a new paint job (it had some nice detail that came out well with a black ink wash) and I think it looks pretty cool as a troop transport. Shown below with some clicky Mech Warrior Shock Troopers I repainted (5 to a base for about $0.25 per mini with shipping).

With some Spriggan Miniatures SPUGS (space bugs):

15mm Mech: shown with the clicky Mech Warrior troopers is a 28mm armor from the AT 43 game that looks good as a mech for 15mm (was small for 28mm imho)

Rebel Minis Special Forces: I really like these guys, incredible amount of detail