HEAD`S IN THE SHED. MORE WIP SCENERY.

What`s occurrin` then?

Due to some technical issues with my comm's device, I was unable to post last week. Sorry about that. Still, some quick field repairs and we're back in business.

The fences last time didn`t quite quell the voices. "What about ATZ?". Over and over. Until the itch must be scratched. Aaaahhhhh! Sweet relief. So, a bit more WIP scenery.

More culture, in the form of another splendid piece of art by the outstanding Bryan Baugh. This beauty is called Creeper Peeper. Enjoy!

I LOVE THE BLUE TONE IN THIS ONE.

The welcome wagon is being brought out of the storage shed again, although it's really a welcome back. So a big BZA welcome for my latest follower, or is it returning follower, Major Diz Aster. WELCOME BACK MAJOR! The Major is back in command at The Quick and the Zed. Death Warmed Over blog. Go check it out and welcome him back to the blogosphere. He's starting again from scratch. Some very nice vehicles so far, and he's just got his first zombies, again.

Right then, scratching the scenery itch. So I made some fences last time, as mentioned not quite enough. Trying to stick with a more rural theme, I thought that some rocky outcrops might make a nice change from all the fencing, more natural even.

We ventured outside the bunker again, to take advantage of the light. Again not sure if it was successful.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 1

The bases started life as table placemats. I buy them at my local charity shop, usually four for a pound. This entire set was cut from two of them. After they were cut out, I bevelled and sanded the edges to better blend with the tabletop.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 2 

The boulders and rocks are scavenged stones from the garden, hot glued to the bases. A little filler was applied to cover any gaps and blend the stone to the base.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 3.

A few smaller stones and sand were poured onto a liberal coat of PVA. Left to dry overnight.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 4

All the pieces were then given an undercoat of chocolate brown emulsion, from a 99p tester pot, to basecoat and further seal the sand.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 5

Just need to be drybrushed up with some lighter browns, at least two to three colours lightening upwards.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 6 

And finish off with some flock. I've got some somewhere, just have to dig it out.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 7

The tree is from a GW piece my son brought home from the local shop one day, when he used to go quite regularly to paint. I don't think they do that anymore.

ROCKY OUTCROP GROUP SHOT.

Now we come to the titular shed. This started as a free download building but after mounting onto foamcore, the scale of the doors and windows started to bother me. Just too small. Project shelved.

STORAGE SHED FRONTAGE.

After finishing the fences, I still had a big pile of coffee stirrers. Wanting a rural set of buildings, I thought that this gave me the oppurtunity to see what sort of result I could achieve with them.

DOOR CLOSE UP.

So the result is this storage shed, not quite a barn, but bigger than something at the bottom of your average garden. As you can see in the photo' below, the inside isn't quite finished yet. A little more clipping and sticking to go.

BACK SHOT AND A BIT OF UNFINISHED INTERIOR.

The doors are hung using the patented Vampifan Masking Tape Technique. VMTT for short. When the interior is finished, it'll be time to think about a base. I'm pretty sure it will fit nicely onto one of those placemats.

This my first building ever using stirrers as planking, it's pretty easy, looks cool and is very cheap. I think a barn could be on the cards.

Well, I guess that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next, follow the DUDE'S example and "take it easy".

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY MOTHERFUCKERS!

DON'T FENCE ME IN AGAIN. SCENERY WIP.

What's occurrin' then?

What did I say about plans surviving contact with the enemy (real life). My painting ground to a halt this week. In the back of my mind, there's this whispering "What about ATZ then?" over and over. So to try and halt this, I thought that maybe some scenery for ATZ would help, it seems to have worked for now.

We can't just go rattling off on a wild goose chase, not without the continuation of my cultural mission. This time I'd like to share another wonderful example of Bryan Baugh's work. This piece is entitled String Cheese. It's rather yummy. Do enjoy!

Before we get to the meat of the post, the welcome wagon must be pulled out of the storage shed to greet yet another follower on our delightful adventure. So please extend a big and warm welcome to Ariel El vikingo dark. WELCOME ARIEL. Ariel runs the Ricky el vikingo dark blog, check it out, it's different.

More scenery WIP, again in the form of fences. A little variety though this time. This first one is corrugated card simulating corrugated iron, hopefully. Well I'm sure it will once it's painted.

A SMALL METAL FENCE.

As you can see from the picture below, I made six of them. All based on lolly sticks. Made from cake packaging, a little filler, skewers, sand and PVA.

SIX SMALL METAL FENCES.

Coffee stirrers are great for making fences. These are a variation of the ones I made last time around (the idea was stolen from Joe of Zabadaks Zombieworld). These were more rural fences, something from a ranch perhaps.

A SMALL RANCH STYLE FENCE.

As can be seen in the picture below, I made eight of this type. Twelve sets were cut out but I only managed to put together eight of them. Some of them have been stained with ink. A lovely Chestnut colour.

EIGHT SMALL RANCH STYLE FENCES.

More coffee stirrers were harmed making these picket type fences. Again based on lolly sticks, filler added and sand PVA'd on. I probably stain these as well, or they might look good painted white.

SMALL PICKET OR GARDEN FENCE.

As can be seen in the photo below, I made six of this type for now. I'm sure there will be more of these in the future, I quite like this style.

SIX OF 'EM. GREAT FOR SURROUNDING A VEG PLOT OR LAWN.

These are much taller, more of a pallisade style fence. Made from coffee stirrers and "craft" sticks (shaped lolly sticks). Hot glued on to some seriously thick card, the type that Space Hulk floor tiles are punched from. A little filler, sand and PVA completes the section. The craft sticks were pre-coloured so these will have to get a lick of paint.

HOPEFULLY, THE BIGGER FENCES WILL KEEP THE ZOMBIES OUT.

Only managed to make four of this type so far but I've got a few more craft sticks to knock a couple more up. These should look OK in a more rural setting. I'm working on a set of gates for these ones too.

SOME OF THOSE GAPS WILL NEED COVERING OVER.

The plan is to get back to the mini's this week but we all know how long plans last. I hope you all enjoyed my little diversion as much as I did making them, I found it quite relaxing. Must be something to do with cutting up all those coffee stirrers.

Well, that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time try and emulate the DUDE and "take it easy".

TOXIC WALKERS # 2

What's occurrin' then?

Half term here at the bunker, so we're a little under siege from pesky kids. No, I love them really. It has interferred with the painting a smidge, but we have played some games. Zombicide of course, nothing brings the family together quite like survivng the zombie apocalypse.

Once again, I'm going to force more art on you all, it's in the name of culture so you can all feel enlightened by your visit. This time we have another wonderful work from Bryan Baugh. No, haven't run out of them yet. This piece is a tribute to the movie C.H.U.D. Remember that one, great memories of cannibals running around New York's sewers. Colours back too. Enjoy!

C.H.U.D. WAS AWESOME BACK IN THE DAY. 1984 TO BE PRECISE.

So, managed to finish my second walker sculpt from TCM. I really liked this sculpt, I think it's the puffa jacket, making a nice change from a t-shirt or collar and tie.

You might ask what the difference is between toxic zombies and regular zombies. Well, the main difference is, if you kill one of the toxics in melee or at point blank range, you suffer a toxic spray attack, similar to the acid blood spray made famous by the Alien franchise. This toxic spray wounds the person inflicting the damage on the toxic zombie. Remembering you only have two wounds per character in Zombicide, it makes it rather important to take them down at range, thus changing the tactics and strategies for success. The skill "Toxic Immunity" helps in this regard, as does the "Gasmask" equipment card. Both essential for toxic adventurers.

FOUR MORE TOXICS JOIN THE HORDE.

I guess some introductions are in order. First in the line-up this time is Trefor, he's a big Cincinnati Bengals fan (American football team). Shuffling in next is Erbin, a once proud groundsman at the local golf course. Moving on, we come to Madoc, shoe repairer and key cutter. Finally Vaughn makes up our quartet, also a gridiron fan, he's wearing the Greenbay Packers colours. Strangely before reanimating, Vaughn never took his coat off, even on blazing hot days. Nobody ever saw him out of it, he was rumoured to sleep in it. He certainly died in it!

I'VE EVEN PAINTED THE BACKS OF THEM.

In other news I caught a decent zombie movie this week. Upon recommendation via Simon of Brummies Wargaming Blog fame, I spent a very enjoyable 98 mins watching Wyrmwood : Road of the Dead.  Very simply, after losing everything at the start of the apocalypse, a brother tries to rescue his kidnapped sister. Great fun, with just the right amount of pitch black humour and some pretty good ideas. Like, everybody wearing armour, take note Walking Dead. Well worth a viewing. Thanks for the heads up Simon.

MAD AS FUCK AND VERY FUNNY.

Well, I guess that's all I got for now dudes and dudettes. Until next time, do as the DUDE does and "take it easy".

TOXIC WALKERS # 1.

What's occurrin' then?

Another fairly quiet week here at the bunker, so I managed a little painting. As I mentioned last post, I've started the toxic zombies from the Zombicide season 1 expansion Toxic City Mall(TCM).

My cultural mission is not stopping. This time we have a part two to last weeks fine example by Bryan Baugh. So, no surprise it's called Afternoon at Zombie Beach Part 2. Again no colour. Enjoy!

AFTERNOON AT ZOMBIE BEACH PART 2.

Even though there is a colour guide for these guys, infact all the toxic zombies, in the TCM rulebook, I find that I can't stick to them. I've never liked being told what to do. What can I say?

I wanted my toxic's green, so green they are. I just feel these colours make them more ....... icky? The bases have been edge painted bright green to denote them as toxic zombies.

Luckily, they come in fours in the box, almost made for me to paint.

BIT BORING, ALL THE SAME POSE.

Some introductions are in order. From left to right as usual. Firstly we have Bedo a former steel worker. Next in line is Eurion a milkman before reanimating. Following him is Maelon a former member of the Cwmbran Massive. Finally we come to Tringad, unemployed before Z-day, now gainfully feasting on flesh.

ALL THE SAME FROM THE BACK.

I feel back in some kind of groove, so hopefully this painting thing continues longer than the last time. The plan is to finish the TCM zombies before moving on to anything else. We all know how long plans survive when they come into contact with the enemy, the enemy being real life in this case.

 I guess that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time try and follow the DUDE and "take it easy".

LAST OF THE RUE MORGUE ZOMBIES FOR NOW.

What's occurrin' then?

Nothing special happening at the bunker this week. It's nice that life has eased to a more sedate pace to be honest. So a little painting was achieved. I've just finished the couple of Rue Morgue zombies that I had started, I'm going to leave them alone for a while as I paint my toxic zombies from TCM.

The cultural mission continues with another fine work from Bryan Baugh. A little different this time, no colour. This piece is called Afternoon at Zombie Beach. Enjoy!

AFTERNOON AT ZOMBIE BEACH.

The welcome wagon has to be pulled out of the shed, to welcome my latest follower Jonathon Hutson. So a big BZA welcome for him. WELCOME JONATHON! Can't find a blog for you, let me know if you have one.

So I mentioned a little painting had been done. I decided to finish these couple of skinner zombies in order to make way for the toxic zombies from TCM. Being a little anal, I thought I'd paint them all in order. I'm painting the base edges with yellow to denote them as skinner zombies, not too pleased with the results though so this may change.

These are all the rest of the new sculpts that come with Rue Morgue, a runner, a fattie and a crawler. I think that's all the zombie sculpts fom this season.

THREE MORE SKINNERS FOR THE HORDE.

So some introductions are in order. From left to right as usual. First in line is Caron, he used to be a bricklayer. Second is Guto he was a plumber before reanimating, perhaps that explains the pipes. Finaĺly we have Llew a council clerk before he turned to eating flesh for a living.

LAST OF THE SKINNERS FOR NOW.

Next time out will see a little change of pace as I am painting the toxic zombies from TCM. I see a lot of green in the future few weeks, along with some hideous boils. Lovely!

Well, I guess that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time y'all try to follow the DUDE'S teachings and "take it easy".

MORE RUE MORGUE ZOMBIES.

What's occurrin' then?

A pretty quiet and mundane week here at the bunker. I have managed to finish a few mini's. Which is much better than the past several weeks performance.

Before we go any further, let's try and introduce a little culture to the world of zombies. Sticking with the immensely talented Bryan Baugh, here's another of his fine works of art. This piece is called Something To Tide You Over. Enjoy!

SOMETHING TO TIDE YOU OVER.

So this week I've tried to concentrate on getting some painting done. I haven't been entirely successful in this but I did enough to finish off these four. Again all these zombies come from Zombicide Season 3 : Rue Morgue. They are all skinner zombies.

These four sculpts from left to right are a walker, a crawler, a runner and another crawler. This is the first time Zombicide has introduced crawlers, they operate much the same as walkers having 1 action per turn. The significant difference is how they are spawned and created. Firstly, they have special spawning cards which only allow them to be spawned on beds in occupied hospital tiles, similar to the sewer cards with the original game. Secondly, they are created by certain conditions when you kill regular zombies. Namely any weapon that uses more than one to hit dice, as long as one of your dice kills, any ones thrown generate a crawler. Although you can not generate more crawlers than there are kills.

A chainsaw for example uses five dice to hit, it also needs five plus to wound. So throwing these dice we end up with 4, 5, 3, 1, 1. The 5 kills a zombie but the first 1 generates a crawler. So you remove one zombie but replace it with a crawler The second 1 does not generate a crawler as there was only one kill in the first place. Simples!

FOUR MORE JOIN THE HORDE.

So, some introductions are needed, from left to right. First up is Tanwen a stay at home mum. Secondly is Macsen, ex-factory worker. Next in line is Teilo a photographer. Last, but not least is Mai, a checkout girl.

So no records broken but I am back to painting, which is a start. Here's hoping the progress continues and I can keep a paintbrush in my hand for more than 5 minutes at a time.

MORE BACKS PAINTED.

 In other news, Ray Rousell over at the Dont't Throw a 1 blog is having a mega blog giveaway to celebrate 500 posts. Get on over there to check it out and give it some support.

Well I guess that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time try and do as the DUDE and "take it easy".

I'M BACK. MORE NEW STUFF AT THE BUNKER.

What's occurrin' then?

Well, April turned into an unmitigated disaster hobbywise, no that should be painting production wise. I think my mojo's broken, I just can't seem to sit down and paint anything. Having my son home for an extra week of Easter seems to have disturbed something in the force. That and I've been feeling really down. Although gaming wise the new Zombicide has had a serious workout, I must say that I'm really impressed with the new tweaks. The skinner zombies and new spawning rules make things a little more entertaining and less certain. Making everything more replayable.

So, let's try and act like I've never been away, to continue with my relentless attempt to bring some culture into the world of zombies. Once again I present you with another amazing example by Bryan Baugh. This one is called We Caught One! Enjoy!

I'm pretty sure this one is called We Caught One!

Before charging off into the rest of the post, I must first go to the storage shed and wheel out the welcome wagon. It needs a little dusting off and a couple of squeaks oiled. So the welcome wagon is out for my latest couple of followers, first can we have a big BZA welcome for Ken Reilly. WELCOME KEN! Ken runs the Yarkshire Gamer blog, go check it out, everything from musketry to X-wing. No zombies though.
The second BZA welcome goes out to Carvin' Joe. WELCOME JOE! Can't find a blog for you Joe, if or when you have one let me know.

April turned into a painting wasteland. Motivation was at an all time low, the mojo tank was drained. Even amongst such desolation, there was a silver lining to some very dark clouds. My son, in an effort to cheer me up, did something that left me stunned. He bought me some Zombicide stuff. I say "some" stuff, he bought me loads.

Firstly, he woke me up on Friday morning, telling me that I had some mail. It was Toxic City Mall, the season 1 expansion for Zombicide. I thanked him profusely, much hugging ensued.

FRIDAY'S SUPRISE. TCM.

I thought, WOW, what a great kid. Trying to cheer up his miserable old man. Little did I know just how great a kid he was being. So Friday was spent oohhing and aarrhhing over TCM.

Saturday morning, same routine. This time it was Zombicide season 2:Prison Outbreak. I was speechless, I told him to stop spending his money on me. More hugging and a few tears shed this time.

SATURDAY'S SUPRISE!

As I was still going through the Prison Outbreak box, marvelling at all the plastic goodness, there was a knock at the door. My son ran to answer it, very unusual behaviour, returning with a beaming grin and another box.

In that box was Uncle Honk and Mitch. Again struck dumb by such generosity, I hugged him fiercely and more tears were shed. I asked him why he had done it, he said he just wanted to cheer me up. What could I say? Well thanks for one. See, I told you he was a great kid.

TWO MORE SURVIVORS TO TAKE BACK THE STREETS.

As I mentioned at the top of the post, I think my mojo's broken. I just can't seem to sit and paint, the following W.I.P. pictures have taken me weeks to get to this far.

And I now have a plastic mountain to climb. To that end, I'm going to challenge myself to paint all my Zombicide figures by years end, I just hope it's do-able. Does anyone know if you can buy bottled or canned mojo?

ZOMBICIDE SEASON 3 WIP.

I hate posting WIP pictures, but it was that or nothing. Still better than nothing eh?!? It's why I haven't posted, I've had nothing to post.

A FEW SURVIVORS AND A COUPLE MORE SEASON 3 ZOMBIES.

It's great to have all these new figures and games, now this may seem churlish, but it's kind of delaying my ATZ journey. I know that nearly all these mini's will be pulling double duty and appearing in my ATZ games, so maybe it's not going off on too much of a tangent, but it feels like I'm not making any progress on the original plan. Anyway, enough whining, I'll just have to "nut up or shut up".

Don't forget Star Wars day tomorrow. May the 4th and all that..................

I guess that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes. So, until next time try and follow in the footsteps of the DUDE and "take it easy".