Finger Food

Hmmm, all commercial tv channels have filled the entire evening with tacky horror movies, the old cat lady across the street is pouring lines of salt across all windowsills and doorsteps while chanting and I occasionally catch myself muttering "Iä, Iä, fthaghn" under my breath...
It must be Halloween...
I'd better start my preparations!


I made zombie fingers again this year:

They're a basic shortbread recipe*, with green food colouring added and shaved and split almonds for the nails.
*: Take butter, sugar and flour in a 4-3-8 ratio. First mix the sugar and the butter and mix until creamy (at this point I added the food colouring), then gradually add in the flour. Knead into a supple ball. Form whatever cookies you want. Preheat oven to 150 degree Celcius and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Here they are, post bake:

I tend to serve them with a red sauce over the "cut" ends, usually thick cranberry sauce or a red jam.

Now, Halloween isn't really a major event around here, except for shop and pub owners. But if any kids do show up looking for free candy, I can properly give them the finger... :-D

Have fun tonight!

Zombtober, the fourth

That's it then, final deadline* for the Zombtober challenge.

*: Hehe, deadline..zombies..he. Hmm.Right.

This time, a final survivor, I present to you:
Old Lady Johanssen:

She seems a tough old bat, with her wellies and shotgun and all. Like all of Kev White's sculptures, she was a joy to paint and has great character. During painting I found myself already having ideas for a bit of backstory for her. I've decided that, prior to the zombie outbreak, she grew up in WWII, buried both her sons, and hospitalised two muggers... The zombies are a minor inconvenience to her. At least she can do something constructive about all the brain-dead assholes running around now...

The sun was unnaturally bright today, so her (normally already somewhat muted) tones have been washed out a bit.
Once again, a miniature from the lovely people at Hasslefree Miniatures, this one is Madge.
This brings my total current pool of survivors to 10 (plus a weird purple cat...).
I really should do a group shot of them one time.

In the end, this brings my total Zombtober-related painting tally to:
-3 Survivors
-2 "Personality" Zombies (Waldo and Mime)
-12 Lampposts
-1 Section of pavement
-9 Gas canisters
-4 Fire extinguishers
-1 "Soylent Green" vending machine
-9 Zombies*
And 1 Portolet....

Not bad at all. (Anything with an asterisk was already paint in progress before Zombtober, all the others are items started and finished in Zombtober itself.)


I've still got one item on the Zombtober calendar: On Halloween night, I'll be hosting a Zombie survival game for a couple of friends.
I'm looking forward to it. I just need to quickly finish a rule set for it....

Thank you to all who participated! And the Eclectic Gentleman, especially, for organising the inspiration behind this bout of productivity. Please saunter over to his blog to see what all the other folks have been up to!

Zombtober, three and a half.

Not really a zombie or survivor, as stated in the zombtober challenge, but still related to my greater Zombtober effort.
I've decided to cap off Zombtober with a Zombie survival game on Halloween. This means I need to prep some more stuff that has been long lingering in WIP-limbo.

So I present to you:
The most well-lit street this side of the Zombpocalypse!

Oh, and a portolet....

The streetlights are from Fenris Games (the portolet too, I think, it's been a while since I bought it). They require some bending and assembly, but give a rather nice finish.
I've painted them with a mix of grey (Vallejo London Grey, I think) and Vallejo Metallic medium, followed by a GW Badab Black wash. This gives them a nice dull, corroded aluminium sheen. The lights themselves are painted with a similar mix of an off-white and Vallejo Metallic medium. Gives a good enough effect.

Naturally they aren't fixed permanently onto that single sidewalk. That'd be silly!
The thicker rim you see at the bottom of the lamppost is in fact a rare earth magnet. The sidewalk (like all sidewalks for my one-day modular city) are painted with ferrous (so called "magnetic") paint. This way, I can attach lampposts, street signs, etc. without them having big, conspicuous bases. Plus if someone nudges them during the game, they simply detach, with a minimal risk of damage or breakage!
This particular sidewalk is a quick paint test, for the greater mass of sidewalks. Just black primer, with a few blasts of white primer misted over it. The seams between the tiles and curbstones are simply painted on with dark grey paint.

In the background is my current collection of survivors. Here they are from a little closer up:

Mostly Hassslefree mini's, with a couple of old Grenadier miniatures in for variety.

Now to select which survivor or zombie to paint for zombtober's final week....

Zombtober, the third

Whew! It's been a productive week so far!
What I got done:
-2 batches of semi-finished zombies (from the last aborted zombie-painting push some time ago).
-2 themed undead (no special rules, just distinctive for fun and flavour)
-Again some scatter scenery to fill time otherwise spent watching paint dry: 4 fire extinguishers.

Here's the pics, first the two batches I finished off:

Two kids and 2 senior citizens, from Zombiesmith I believe.

Mantic plastic zombies, painted up in orange convict overalls.

And this is the new stuff,  started and finished this week, as part of Zombtober:

Silent but deadly.... The zombie Mime, from Hasslefree Miniatures.

When there is no more room in hell, Waldo finds you! Waldo is converted from a Wargames Factory plastic zombie.

Nothing too fancy or elaborate, just basic workman-like paintjobs on these models. After all, they're only part of the hordes of nameless dead.  That being said, I rather enjoyed painting these up. Especially the mime and Waldo gave me a certain glee to work on. I'll just quietly slip them into the larger mob, and wait if someone spots Waldo during a game....

Oh, and the fire extinquishers, from Black Cat:

That's it for now, I'll see you again for the next installment of Zomtober!

Zombtober, the second

Well, it's an early Sunday this week, but here is my second "entry" for the Zomtober challenge...
I present to you all, Ruby, second of the duo of professional mayhem causers:

(once again with the flaw-enhancing magnification....)
And her lovely aft side (Mr. White certainly knows how to shape his ladies!):

And a little extra, I worked on these while the washes were drying as I worked on Ruby and Blaze:

Useful for when you need to cook, but also when stuff needs to be blowed the heck up... ;-P
I know at least two players in my little group who won't be able to resist shooting at these.

 Edit: Oops, it seems I left some things out...
The lovely lady is, ofcourse, Dionne from the ever wonderful people at Hasslefree miniatures.
I got the butane/propane tanks from Fenris Games in their street furniture line.

Zomtober, the first

I just put down the brushes on my first survivor painted in the name of Zomtober.
Here she is (in all her flaw-enhancing magnification...):

 

 And the rear of her coat:

The figure is, ofcourse, Hasslefree's excellent Dionne (b) figure.
I've got the version without the trenchcoat as well, she is next in line on the painting table.
I'll be painting her  differently from this "Dionne", so I may be able to use them together on the table. I'm imagining them as (twin?) sisters or lookalikes, perhaps operating as a team of professional hitmen/zombie Hunters?

Week one: done, three more weeks left...

Looking through my various survivors and zombies as a result of Zomtober, I'm getting a hankering to play some games again. Maybe a Halloween game to properly finish Zomtober may be in order?
I would first need to find a ruleset I like though...

Night(s) of the Living Lead

So, there I was, cheerfully minding my own business, gearing myself up to do some =I=Munda stuff again (see the Priest in the previous post)... The great Purge of the Garage is also progressing steadily, I am gathering the nerve, and time, plus sorting room to straighten out my cubic yard (at least) of materials and miniatures I've gathered for the Space Hulk 3D project.
Then this post comes along on the Lead Adventure forum.
I couldn't resist... I mean, come on, we're talking zombies here!

I think this is rather timely, some way. I found the last two weeks I couldn't get myself started or keep going on hobby stuff (besides reading the new Space Marine Codex).
I was wondering why, and this dare made it clear to me; the last few things I've been doing were for projects with a big picture, something I felt I needed to "get right" (WHQ for the misses, Howling Griffons army, =I=Munda, which I more or less think of as doing "art", plus prepping to take on Space Hulk 3D again. All long term projects too...). 
I guess I just need to do some one-offs. Just do stuff, without the weight and distractions of a greater project hanging over them. Stuff I can dive into, enjoy the "doing" of it, without considering if it will fit and match with any other stuff or needing to race to the finished product because there is so much more in the project, and once done, put it in the cabinet and not need to think about until the next game I need it for. Cleanse the palate as it were.

I think I'll have go have a root around in the box marked "zombies and survivors" tomorrow... :-)