HORDE #5 BREAKING 200!

What's occurrin' then?

Zombtober felt a little short this year, with almost a full week left of the month after the final Sunday deadline. Although I've still been painting zombies and survivors, I thought that this was a prime opportunity to catch up with a horde progress report. I hope other participants also take full advantage of this "bonus" time.

The welcome wagon needs to be dragged out of the storage shed. It's been given a wash, oiling and has balloons and streamers added! Why? Well it's a special occasion, my 50th follower! So, as is usual, let's have a big BZA welcome for my latest follower Bullcher Feb. WELCOME BULLCHER! He runs the Waaagghhh! blog, go check it out, it's really good. Buckle up Bullcher this journey is going to take awhile yet!

Amongst all the excitement and stuff, we can't forget the cultural mission. You know the one by now! So with out further ado, I present another great piece by stayinwonderland. Again more of a landscape or panorama, I must say I'm enjoying the change. This picture is entitled Infected zombie RPG artwork #2. Enjoy!

INFECTED #2

My fifth horde update, yes it has been quite a while since the last one. That's down to me making and painting other things to try and get this game off and running. I think it's going to be a little while yet, I appreciate your patience.

I'd completely lost count of how many zombies I'd painted for this project. Well as the title says, I've broken the two hudred barrier. Two hundred and two to be exact. It's great to say that Zombtober helped immensely getting my over that milestone!

Anyway enough gabble, on with the pictures!

THE HORDE IN ALL IT'S GLORY. LOL.

So after taking the group shot, my official photographer then took a few close ups of different parts of the horde.

SOMEWHERE ON THE RIGHT.

Yes, that's an old Heroquest mummy. He was at a Fancy Dress Party on zed day!

SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE.

Below is a selection of crawlers, don't know how many I'll need but there's loads in Rue Morgue.

SOMEWHERE ALONG THE FRONT.

Although there's a lot of repeat sculpts, I hope for now that my different colour schemes are enough to provide diversity. My conversion skills are not the best so for now they will have to do.

SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE AGAIN.

So that's my close to Zombtober, the end of the month at least. It actually feels like I'm getting somewhere. I've so much more left to paint! Half the TCM Toxic zombies, all the Prison Outbreak zombies, Rue Morgue zombies, loads more VIP zombies and  over half the stuff that came as part of the Infected kickstarter box. That's not including the survivors and zombivors! Let's just say, I'll be painting zombies for a fair bit yet.

Wow man! Is TWD ramping it up or what, best season yet!?!

Well, I guess that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time, try taking a leaf out of the DUDE'S book and "take it easy".

FOUR MORE ZOMBIES.

What's occurrin' then?

Pretty shitty week this week at the bunker. I had to have my dog put down on Tuesday. Fucking gutted, I loved that dog. Loads of tears shed. Now I'm gonna have to buy a new guard dog, something big and mean. Like a chihuahua. Still managed a little painting through all the tears.

So let's kick off with the usual piece of zombie art. Still got quite a few of Bryan Baugh's to show you. This great example is a tribute to Return of the Living Dead, and is called Tarman. Enjoy!

TARMAN.

So I got some painting done. These four are again made from the last sprue in the Wargames Factory Survivors : The Men box with the addition of some Studio plastic arms and a head, and some Mantic heads and torsos. Kitbashing rules.

FOUR MORE FOR THE HORDE.

I suppose some introductions are in order. First up, made from WGF body, Studio arms and a Mantic head is Edryd. He looks a little confused about his current situation, must be all the blows to the head. Next in line a zombie child made from WGF body, Studio arms and head. (The head was the right size for a child but the arms are a little long, making him a little ape-ish) Never mind, we'll call him Fychan. Following along, made from WGF legs, Mantic torso, arms and head is Gerallt, who has brought along a nice snack in case he gets peckish. Finally bringing up the rear is an all Mantic crawling/dragging zombie. A prison inmate judging from his garb, know as Harri. Here I come to my first complaint about the Zombicide paints, now maybe it was that I didn't shake the bottle enough (I can't honestly remember), the coverage of the prison jumpsuit orange was piss poor. So I went back to my old OOP GW orange but I did use the jumpsuit shader and liked the effect it left.

OFF THEY GO TO JOIN THE HORDE.

Not much more to say this week. I miss my dog, she was a lovely old girl.

R.I.P. TIA.

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

FIRST ZOMBIES OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!

What's occurrin' then?

Another week has shot by, they seem to be getting faster and faster, or is that just me? Lost more painting time this weekend as the 6 nations invaded once again. Still it was worth it, we beat the Irish putting us back in the hunt for the championship. A magnificent display from our boys.

Right, let's crack on. We shall start  with what has become a regular feature, a piece of zombie art. This week brings another wonderful and weird masterpiece from the superbly talented Bryan Baugh. It's called The Mud People. Enjoy!

THE MUD PEOPLE.

Considering the name of this blog, there hasn't been many zombies painted this year. Well that's about to change, as I present you with the first zombies of the year. These are made from the last sprue in the Wargames Factory survivors box, with the addition of some Studio plastic arms and some Mantic zombie heads.

This is my first proper run with the new Zombicide paints. They seem very good I particularly like the zombie shader and the two blood effects paint. All in all, not a bad result.

FOUR MORE FOR THE HORDE.

So from left to right we have Amlodd, he was a steel worker and member of the National Guard. Next is Baglen, bit of a tearaway and former member of the Cwmbran Massive (local gang). Following Baglen is Cadog a former mechcanic who also loved disco dancing. Last in line is Derwyn a formerly successful buisnessman.

MORE INTEREST THAN NORMAL, CHECK OUT THOSE BRAINS.

There you go then, this years first zombies. Don't worry there's more to come.

So I haven't been just painting, I've done a little shopping too. I picked  this beauty up at a local charity shop for the princely sum of £1. Take off some of the dumb toy stickers, give it a dirty wash and it should be good to go.

EVERYBODY NEEDS A CONCRETE TRUCK IN THE APOCALYPSE.

Just to prove Joe doesn't have the monopoly on tractors, I also got this for the same price. Same deal,  dirty it up and it should look fine. Great for ploughing through zeds.

SOON THESE ZEDS WON'T KNOW WHAT HIT 'EM.

My copy of '68 Scars came this morning, totally making my day, so I have a little bedtime reading for after The Walking Dead. On first glance the art and story still looks excellent.

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

A SLIGHTLY BETTER WEEK. ONLY SLIGHTLY.

A better week in terms of production, well slightly. Any how let's start with what has become  a regular feature, another piece of zombie art. I have actually recieved a couple of comments about it, so it can not be falling on deaf ears.

SHE'S STILL HOT! EVEN WITH ALL THE CRAP STICKING OUT OF HER. (OR BECAUSE OF? NOT SURE.)

I'm sure that nearly all of you will recognise Julie Walker (played by Melinda "Mindy" Clarke) from Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993, directed by Bryan Yuzna). Not the best of the franchise but this is a beautiful piece of art.

As many of you will have realised, Christmas is on it's way. This really isn't my favourite time of year (Bah Humbug!). I find it far too stressfull and it gets more expensive every year. (Shut up Ebeneezer!) I find this impacting my mood and my hobby, I just don't want to do anything. This year has been no different, but to have something to post has made me push on with firmly gritted teeth. The results are the zombies from Zombtober are finished. Yay me!

Right let's get on with the introductions. From Left to Right. Just for Mathyoo, a ginger zombie. She's made up from a Deadzone torso, Mantic arms, legs and head, with my last two Space Wolf ponytails to give the male head some girly hair. She'll be called fugly Unig. Next in line is another female zombie, my least favourite sculpt of all the Deadzone zombies. I don't think my paint job helps, she looks like She-Hulk but not as pretty. Her name is Anarawd. Last but not least is another Deadzone soldier painted as a S.W.A.T. officer, who goes by the name of Ynawg.

ZOMBTOBER ZOMBIES FINALLY FINISHED.

I guess that's one thing less on the WIP list, time to crack on with the other things.

THREE MORE ZOMBIES SHUFFLE OFF TO JOIN THE HORDE.

Well I guess that's it for now. So until next time dudes and dudettes, try and follow the DUDE'S teachings and "take it easy".7

VERY SLOWLY BUT SURELY.

Motivation is lacking at the moment people, what to do, what to do.
Well, I have managed a tiny bit of painting, let's get on.

As has become regular, I first would like to present some more zombie art.

BACK IN THE SHED ED.

Yes, it's another fine piece by GRIMBRO. I'm sure all of you will recognise Ed (played by Nick Frost), Shaun's best mate from Shaun of the Dead(2004, directed by Edgar Wright). Wow, ten years already, that's just flown by.

Another job before we get on. It's been brought to my attention that this whimsy of a blog has amassed more than eleven thousand page views. I'm completely flabbergasted by this response and would like to thank you all for taking the time to drop by and check in on the drivel I put out every week. THANKS EVERYONE.

As I mention my motivation seems to be at a low point, so I've really been dragging my arse, painting these two was like pulling teeth. Still now the Autumn Internationals have finished I might get some time on a weekend to paint.

So to the introductions, first we have another guy in scrubs an ODP (Operating Department Practitioner) going by the name of Gwern. Next is someone who was probably a patient of Gwern, he's known as Morddwyd.

Ferrying my official photographer back and for to his placement in Swansea is also taking up a fair chunk of hobby time. For the time being he's sacked and my second official photographer is filling in, at least she crops and enhances her work before uploading it to my blog. Which I think is a vast improvement.

Sorry dudes and dudettes but that's all I've got for this week. So until next time try and do as the DUDE does and "take it easy".

ZOMBTOBER 2014 WEEK4

What an awful week! The flu outbreak warning, on my hazard tape decorations, has not been heeded and I find myself a victim. I'm pretty sure the adorable Mrs. K brought this strain of vicious superflu back with her from her last family visit to deepest, darkest Devon. Obviously, in my case it has mutated in to Welsh Man Flu, considered the most virulent and toxic strain of all Man Flu's.

As a result of my incapacitation production has taken a hit. I did manage something, just not as much as I had planned, prepped and almost completed for a Zombtober finale. That being said, every month is zombie month here at BZA so I'm sure you'll see them soon enough.

Right then, enough feeble excuses and on with the show. As has become regular we'll start with the introduction of an example of zombie art.

Another great piece by the outstanding GRIMBRO. I'm pretty sure most of you will recognise Tarman (played by actor and puppeteer Allan Trautman) from the 1985 movie The Return of the Living Dead, directed by Dan O'Bannon.  Allan Trautman made his name as a puppeteer working with Jim Henson and The Muppets.

Next order of business is to welcome some new followers. Time to drag the welcome wagon back out of the storage shed, dust it off and oil the squeaks, to welcome BZA's latest followers. We have three to welcome, so let's get on with it. First in line is Sean, WELCOME SEAN, he runs the Sean's Wargames Corner blog. Go check it out!
Next in line is Hunterpest, WELCOME HUNTERPEST, he runs Project Zeke Miniatures. Nice blog and he sells some cool mini's too.
Lastly, but not least is Roy Williamson. WELCOME ROY, he runs R W Hobby Blog. I think this is Roy aka gingerbhoy, he's had to set up a new blog having run in to technical trouble with his previous one.
Thanks for joining guys, get comfortable because this is going to take a long time.

Now, none of us like to admit to mistakes but it has been brought to my attention that I made a howler last post. It appears that I didn't tell you the zombies names, what an idiot. I would like to address this now.

THE NAMELESS ARE NAMED.

So the zombie in the prison overalls is Govannon and the zombie in the bloodied jeans is called Iwan. Thank you all for not pointing this out and making me feel like a bigger clown than I already do.

Now let's get to this week's feeble offering. Yet again another conversion involving a set of Studio plastic legs and a Mantic torso and arms, the head came from the Mantic Deadzone zombie sprue just to change things up a little.

So without further ado I present my final 2014 Zombtober entry, Pebin.

Hey, at least he's in focus this time.

A LONE STRAGGLER SHAMBLES IN FOR ZOMBTOBER ROLLCALL.

THE FINAL 2014 ZOMBTOBER ZOMBIE SHUFFLES OFF INTO THE SUNSET.

Well it ended with a whimper rather a bang, but it did get me back to painting again. It also introduced me to some like minded bloggers, who I never knew existed till Zombtober, which was great.

Here's hoping to see you all again next year, to see if my love of deadlines has improved (I seriously doubt it!) and my painting's got any better.(I doubt that too).

At BZA a zombie is not just for Zombtober, it's more of a lifestyle choice, so whenever you call in I'm sure there'll be zombies or something related to zombie wargames.

Well, all this excitement has left me exhausted so until next time dudes and dudettes, follow the DUDE'S example and "take it easy".

ZOMBTOBER 2014 WEEK 3 FASHIONABLY LATE.

Late for my own funeral, that's what the adorable Mrs. K always says I'll be. Bless her, she's bloody right though. I'm sure I mentioned last post that time management was not one of my strong points. I just like to pootle too much.
Anyway let's not make too much fuss I'm here now.

As has become the done thing, we'll kick off with an attempt to bring culture to the proceedings. So without further ado, I give you some zombie art.

THE BIG YIN HIMSELF.

Another piece by the excellent zombie artist GRIMBRO. I'm sure some of you dedicated zombiphiles will recognise the titular character Fido. From the 2006 horror-comedy, directed by Andrew Currie. Fido is played by none other than Billy Connolly. I'm now sure we have had enough culture for one post, on to the show and tell.

TWO MORE SHAMBLE IN FOR ZOMBTOBER ROLLCALL.

These two are simple little conversions. The first is a result of having seven torsos and five sets of legs on the Deadzone zombie sprue. I took one of the left over torsos and married it with Mantic fantasy zombie legs. Again to get around the problem of the ragged clothing, I painted it orange to look like a prison overall.

THESE LOOK ANNOYINGLY OUT OF FOCUS.

The second is a Mantic fantasy zombie torso, head and arms together with a Studio plastic set of legs. Cutting the Studio mini in half and cutting the torso to fit after. I have to thank Vampifan for the inspiration for this idea, following one of his recent posts, where he did it to a couple of Zombicide runners. Cheers Dude!

I really don't have anything else this time, dudes and dudettes. So until next time try and be like the DUDE and "take it easy".

ZOMBTOBER 2014 WEEK 2

WOW! Doesn't a week fly by when you've got a deadline to stick to. Time management was never one of my strong points, I'd just rather pootle along at my own pace, having breaks when I want. Having a deadline almost takes the fun out of painting, almost. Lot's to do so let's get on with it.

First order of business, to bring culture to the world of zombies. This shall be accomplished by the strategic use of zombie art. That's art with zombies in it for you at the back. This is another fine piece from my current favourite zombie artist GRIMBRO.

GIVE US A KISS!

Some of you may recognise the zombie nicknamed "Dr. Tongue" by Tom Savini from the opening scenes of the 1985 movie Day of the Dead. Despite a fair bit of research, I've been unable to find out who played him. If anybody knows the answer, let me know. Completeness is the watch word.

Second order of business, welcomes. So let's drag the welcome wagon back out of storage, we have a few to get through. This seems to be a direct result of participating in this years Zombtober. Which is a great reason to join in, finding like minded bloggers is always a bonus.
So let's welcome aboard my latest followers. First is cedric mauvielle, he runs the Lost Wargamer in HK blog where amongst other things you'll find the excellent "Reich of a thousand dead" , a Weird World War 2 campaign. WELCOME CEDRIC!
Second is Finch, who runs the Minis by Finch blog. WELCOME FINCH!
Thirdly is Blaxkleric who runs the Fantorical blog. WELCOME BLAXKLERIC!
I haven't yet had much of a chance to check out these two blogs in any detail yet, but what I have seen looks pretty good to me. You should all pop along to these and check them out, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
Two more followers who seemed to have slipped in under the radar are Mike Collard and David Churchill. I can't find blogs for these guys, so if you have one let me know. WELCOME MIKE! WELCOME DAVID!

Official duties taken care of, on to the fun bit.
Zombie painting. Two more Deadzone zombies for you this time. (I'm still not back up to full production speed, that may take some time.)

TWO MORE SHOW UP FOR ZOMBTOBER ROLLCALL

THE OBLIGATORY BACK SHOT

So we have another hazmat zombie again this week, pretty similar to the other one TBH. We'll call him Dr. Teirnon. The other zombie is dressed in some kind of future military uniform, akin to that worn by the Colonial Marines in Aliens, this didn't really fit with my contemporary setting so I painted him as a SWAT team member instead. I present Officer Ifor Jones.
( I think I got away with it.)

SWAT guy was a simple conversion. Using an arm with no hand (for another pose), I added a piece of bone to wrist area. He was also given a holster from a german WW2 figure, to complete his "cop-ness".

Well that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time, take a leaf out of the DUDE'S book and "take it easy".

REAL CRATES AND ZOMBTOBER PREVIEW.

As has become usual we'll be kicking off with a piece of zombie art. This weeks piece is again by the fabulous GRIMBRO.

THE LOVABLE BUB.

I'm sure you'll all recognise the zombie as Bub (played by Howard Sherman) from the 1985 movie Day of the Dead. Again directed by the maestro himself George A. Romero.

Right that's enough culture for now, we have a post to get on with. So crates, real crates this time, you know wooden boxes. Anyway my lovely Stoelzel's disused warehouse needs some contents, bing (lightbulb moment). What would fit a warehouse better than crates, well nothing. Nothing I could think of, anyway.

So with the goal of covering the table for free in mind, search the internet and ye shall find. And find I did. Firstly I found Stones Edge's free samples. Result !

A FINE EXAMPLE OF FREE CRATES.

I had the square wooden crates I was looking for, but they were all the same. At this point some of you might think, Bob you have crates whats the problem, well you lovely people I'm a little more demanding than that. I want variety, so after a little more interwebbery, I came across Daemonfae's Printable Terrain Emporium in a thread on Warseer. Guess what, yes different kinds of crates. Square ones, rectangular ones and even flat crates. More importantly free. Result!

MORE VARIETY BUT STILL FREE.

As you can see I now have my crate issue covered. Stoelzel's warehouse will no longer remain empty.

ALL TOGETHER NOW!

Enough with the terrain already! Let's move on to the second part of this post's title, a Zombtober preview. To be honest, I wasn't even considering joining in, I mean every month here is Zombwhatever. That and I had pretty much run out of zombies to paint. That's when fate threw some in my lap so to speak.

You see, Sheldon had backed Deadzone (by Mantic) on Kickstarter. Well wave 2 has just been dispatched, in wave 2 was zombies, lots of zombies. Sheldon brought a sprue along to show us, the WNI, on Wednesday. What could I do? Well for one I couldn't let him leave with it, so I managed to purloin said sprue.

The zombies you see below are what I made out of that sprue, there were seven bodies but only five sets of legs (I feel conversions coming on),all ready for Zombtober. So it looks like I'm taking part.!?!

FIVE MANTIC DEADZONE ZOMBIES.

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

MORE ZOMBIE MASHUPS.

FIVE MORE DRAG THEMSELVES IN TO FOLLOW THE HORDE.

THE UBIQUITOUS BACK SHOT.

A few more mash-ups for your viewing pleasure. Put these guys together from various plastic kits, namely WGF, Mantic and Studio. No cutting or putty just a kitbash really. Super simple to do, an idiot could do it. Oh I did!

Ok then on with the identity parade from Left to Right: Kicking us off is Selwyn an enthusiastic beachcomber. He comprises of WGF legs,Mantic torso, arms and head. Next is Taliesin (famous old Welsh poet) a dune crawler. He's made from a Mantic set of legs?, a WGF torso and arms, topped of with a Mantic head. In the middle of the group, on the last of the "beach" bases is Aled. Looks like too much lovely Welsh sunshine has had an effect on his skin, that or his face has been eaten. He's put together using Mantic legs?, WGF torso, Studio right arm and head. Following Aled is another dragger/crawler called Bedwyr put together from Mantic legs?, WGF torso and arms, completed by a GW demon head. Bedwyr has brought along a snack in case he gets peckish. Finally we have another hospital type zombie, a doctor in a white coat this time, it's Dr Caradog sporting an impressive exit wound.

Apart from more conversions and kitbashes this pretty much brings an end to my multi-part plastic zombies. Looks like I'll be putting in an application for pocket money from the wonderful Mrs.K, in the meantime I'll have to face my fears and crack on with my Zombicide figures. Ooh survivors!!

Until the next time, listen to the DUDE and "take it easy".

THE HORDE SO FAR. IN HD.

YOU CAN HEAR THEM SHUFFLING OUT OF THE DARKNESS.

THE MOANS ATTRACT MORE AND MORE.

THE SMELL IS OVERPOWERING.

WHERE'S WALLY?

MORE AND MORE STUMBLE AFTER THE LEADERS

MAYBE IT'S TIME TO RUN!

HERE COME THE STRAGGLERS

THE SITUATION SEEMS HOPELESS.

THIS APPEARS TO BE THE LAST OF THEM FOR NOW.

EVERYBODY'S SHUFFLING.

ALTOGETHER IN ONE SHOT.

Somebody suggested that some "horde" photos would be a good subject for a post. It will also act as a record for my progress. So here they are in glorious HD.
The current status is 63 zombies painted, not too bad for a couple of months work I suppose. Still not a proper horde yet.

Nearly all the vixens are painted, only a few more to go, they felt like they were everlasting. I'm glad that I stuck at them now though.
I've got some Studio plastics to pile into now, hope to show some progress with them in a few posts time.

Well that's all I've got for now.You know how this goes by now, the DUDE says "take it easy".