Zombies (4) #3

 The final installment of human zombies in my current series; whew! Not the best picture, but I'll stick with it for now. They are rotting, after all. These are metal models from Reaper Miniatures and are a nice collection of zombies in different poses. The color palate in this batch is a little too narrow - in retrospect I should've mixed the sets up more for presentation purposes. I still have more zombies to show (and make) - the low level adventures are undead heavy - but I look forward to some different varieties moving forward.

Zombies (4) #2

 

The second installment in my series of human zombies. This time, the models come from a Heresy Miniatures; they have some excellent lines and I particularly enjoy their undead. The sculpting and poses of these zombies have a little more sinister in feel to me relative to others I have done. The weapons are an interesting touch - sometimes zombies are shown as completely thoughtless, and others they retain some spark of their former knowledge - enough to wield tools. Weapons definitely make zombies a more threatening prospect to face!

Of the various batches of zombies I have painted, I think these are near the best - the shading and colors have more contrast and saturation, giving them more un-life.

Zombies (4) #1

 

 Every adventure needs undead, and zombies are endlessly useful.

 Zombies are pretty sloppy monsters, so it was more important that I linked their color palates while giving each some unique elements rather than making each one a masterpiece - The herd is where they make their impact. They were painted at different times over a relatively long interval, so they aren't perfectly consistent, but I think that actually benefits them.  It is much easier to photograph them a few at a time, so I've decided to post small groups over a few weeks. Despite the simple paint jobs, I really appreciate that each is totally unique stylistically.

This first pack of zombies were made by Reaper Miniatures (two of them are plastic bones material, and two are metal). 

As can always be expected with zombies, more to come!

Wight, Monk / Dreadmere Wight

 

My painting has been sluggish with a slew of spring projects to tackle, so while I work on something new here is a piece from the display cabinet that I have never previously shared. This rotten fellow is from the Reaper Bones 4 Kickstarter, and was the first piece I painted when the loot came in. I was feeling inspired and knocked him out as fast as I could as a speed-paint. 

It is a nice standalone piece, and I really appreciate that it is an undead with some character! The living dead are often stripped down to rags, or just bones, so an undead with some personality, or at least personal history, is much appreciated. It is also one of the few robed undead I own - the old manuals are stacked with robed corpses and the concept is nostalgic for me, but they are surprising hard to find as miniatures.

This wight remained unshared for so long mostly owing to how difficult it was to photograph - it has a forward lean which throws much of the model into shadow under natural light. I'm happy with these shots, after a few prior failed attempts, which I achieved by using a vertical light source.

I really enjoy painting the dead; they are one of the few times I allow myself really let loose with a gritty style and "ugly" models, with lots of haphazard washes. Of course, that is a self imposed concept. At one point I remember finding a miniature artist who did everything like that, in a limited unusual color palate to really great effect. I envied the stylistic commitment which I could never fully push myself to adopt.

Corpse Mound

 

Oof! I may have bitten off more than I could chew with this one! I decided to all-in on Halloween painting and participate in MZ4250's monthly competition - there is a printer up as a prize, and it was worth a shot. Unlikely to nab it, but I am more than happy for the extra motivation to work on spooky topics befitting the season. MZ has been making a bunch of creepy monsters on his end, so I wanted to work on something new to the catalog. This piece immediately struck me as being ambitions and audacious - perfect! I tried a few other prints as well, but my print game was weak and this fairly complex and delicate piece was the only one I was satisfied with. Ambitious was right!  

After printing I had only a precious few weeks left, and my initial look at basing was unimpressive. I spend some solid time building up a base worthy of the title "corpse mound". It is partially clay with some woodfiller and a good dose of chopped up chunks of bad prints. I even made a few skeletons from MZs catalog to bulk it up. I followed that up with a few rounds of late-night speed-painting. I pretty quickly realized I was in over my head - so many bits and bobs here and there. I mostly just went sloppy with it with the hopes that the decayed nature of the undead would mask my mistakes. The photography leaves a lot to be desired - I was forced to use my old phone in a pinch and it struggled with focus on all the protruding bits. Next time ill do better with my painting contest goals.

The end result is decent, but suffers from some balance and detail issues. I think it gets the point across though. Maybe. My kids have differing opinions on what it is - green magical fire, ooze blob or ectoplasm. Not sure what I had in mind, actually - necromantic magic? 

Not sure how I will use it - it is almost more of a terrain piece. Maybe is is a mobile portal to the realm of the dead?  Or perhaps just mundane rotting zombie stench? Time will tell.

Happy Halloween!