A couple of the more interesting (in some ways) Zombicide survivors today – certainly both are on the rarer side.
First up we have the Cardboard Tube Samurai – a licenced model that was a KS exclusive from the very first Zombicide campaign (that I missed by a few days – in the early days of KS before $1 pledges, late pledges and pledge managers) I have managed to get hold of a few of those original exclusives over the years, though I still lack quite a few more of them. CTS was pretty easy to paint overall – my new favourite Contrast colour, Ironjawz Yellow did most of the heavy lifting.
As one of the very first ZC models, the CTS is a very simple sculpt relative to later models. I did see his conical hat as an opportunity to practise freehanding details and shading into an otherwise pretty …straightforward model. I’m pretty happy with how it worked out.
Apparently, the Cardboard Tube Samurai is the only model from the 1st edition not to have gotten a card in the second edition, due to the licencing issues with Penny-Arcade. Guess I’ll convert him myself (or find a card online) when we get to second edition. Marouda managed to get him killed in his very first outing the other day, so maybe it was fate?
The next survivor is one of two Promo survivors that were released with the Wrath of Kings game’s Kickstarter years ago. Basically, even then, CMoN knew which side of the bread that their butter was money’d on (did I mangle that metaphor badly enough?) So this Porky-Pig-Mask-Wearing-Cosplay-Motherfucker was released, alongside another – “Alyana Heska” – their backstory being that they’re a pair of gamers who love WoK so much that they were wearing their cosplay gear at a con when the Zombie Outbreak… broke out.
Anyway, while I’d hoped to have finished the pair of them, they both have a lot of fuck-about details that become more painful when attempting to replicate them across two almost-identical models – so in the end I was able to force myself to complete the simpler of the two – Untion Worker #42 here – while his partner Alyana, in her much more sophisticated cosplay outfit- still waits, part-painted, on a painting handle on the painting desk…
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
Great work on both characters mate, and replicating the detail to both versions, must have taken a while to find the Kickstarter exclusives you missed on the early campaigns
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Cheers Dave – I only got hold of CTS (and a few others) in August of last year – so you’re not wrong there!
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They’re both unusual minis, and we love how you’ve enriched them with detail – the samurai’s straw hat looks particularly successful to us.
Just one doubt about the transition from a living character to his zombie equivalent: even the expression of the mask has changed for the pig cosplayer (but that depends on the sculptor, not the painter)!
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Thank you once again – the changes in mask expression I only noticed when painting, but they’re there on the original line art and so the sculptor replicated them and then as the painter I followed suit. Not exactly realistic (unless the cosplayer had multiple masks, I guess) but given the silliness of the genre, it still works for me.
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Excellent – I especially like those porcine dudes!!
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Thank you, Alex! 😀
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Both very nice! 🙂 The masks have come out really well!
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Thanks John! A bit tricky getting those details filled in, but it worked out in the end! 🙂
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Been wanting to try zombicide out, but cant find a clear indication as to what box set is your starter set… Ive seen a few net gally books pass by set in the genre that also look interesting, but my reading pile is just too clogged at the moment/.
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It really depends on which version (genre/theme) you’re interested in since there are a *lot* of entry points. They really designed it so most of the boxes can be used as expansions or pick up, open and play standalone games.
1st Edition Modern
Fantasy
Sci-Fi
2nd Edition Modern
Western
Marvel
There’s also a couple of standalone side games that still have a lot of compatability with others
– Night of the Living Dead
– Marvel Zombies Heroes Resistance (cheaper entry point)
– Army of the Dead (movie Tie-In, coming soon)
1st Edition Modern stuff can also be brought into second edition with an upgrade card pack. The rules are very similar, but with a few changes (we’re using some of them in our ongoing 1st edition games, actually)
I could offer you a couple of suggestions – LMK know which flavour(s) interests you the most 🙂
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Its probably the first edition id be looking at as an entry point, but if they can all be played as stand alone, then the fantacy and sci/fi ones sound interesting too. Ive only been able to see the Green Horde box set but it says on the box that that is an expansion.
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Green Horde is the standalone expansion to the Fantasy genre – meaning it’s an entire self-contained game that you can also combine with Black Plague or any of the other fantasy versions. Green Horde has Orc & Goblin zombies rather than the human ones in Black Plague.
For fantasy – start with Black Plague or Green Horde – you can then add ANY of the fantasy-themed boxes at your leisure if you want to expand the game with more characters/missions/opponents. The fantasy versions can be played separately or mixed together in whatever combo you enjoy.
https://www.zombicide.com/en/fantasy-zombicide-products/
The main sci-fi one is called Invader and the standalone expansion is called Darkside. Again, you can start with either of these. The game is a bit different in the details with Aliens being the enemies rather than zombies and some rules tweaks to represent the space setting – but overall pretty similar in rules structure.
I’ve only played a couple of times with friends – mostly because of having so many games and now wanting to play through all the ZC 1st ed stuff before moving to the next version of the game.
https://www.zombicide.com/en/scifi-zombicide-products/
For modern games, 1st editon might be pretty hard to get hold of these days, but the three entry points are “Zombicide” (aka 1st edition core set), Prison Outbreak and Rue Morgue. Tons of expansions that can be added in or combined in any order (as you’ve seen in my painted output).
https://www.zombicide.com/en/classic-zombicide-products/
Otherwise, the 2nd edition core set should be pretty readily available these days for the moden urban setting – it’s pretty similar to 1st edition, but is set up as a bit faster and more streamlined while still “feeling” very similar. I’ve played a bit of it so far, and we’ve been using a bunch of the quality of life improvements in our 1st ed games.
There’s only the one core/starter set at the moment.
https://www.zombicide.com/en/modern-zombicide-products/
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Wow! Really like that yellow, very striking, and put to good use on some unusual minis – Bruce Lee inspired?
I have used the Iyanden Yellow contrast and hated it, very ‘tea stainy’ and the orange shade it gave was way too strong. This new Ironclaw looks great though.
I’m waiting to get my hands on Vallejo’s new Xpress range, but if their yellow is lacking I’ll have to invest in this one.
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He’s based on a character from the Penny-Arcade webcomics.
https://pennyarcade.fandom.com/wiki/Cardboard_Tube_Samurai
Not sure if the Yellow is a nod to Bruce, or just how the artist happened to draw/colour him, I’d go with the latter, based on the comics.
I would say just get the Ironjawz paint. It’s very different to Iyanden Yellow (which I use for almost nothing at this point – Ironjawz is leagues better and not “orangey” as you can see.) It’s a relatively small investment for just the one pot, and I guarantee it’ll be quite different to the Vallejo one from everyting I’ve read about that range. Not saying the vallejo will be bad, but they will be quite different – and this one is ace.
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In my cart, just wondering what other colours to add to it!
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Why not a Imperial Knights Chainbreaker Lance Battleforce or two? 😀
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Lol! You’re trying to bankrupt me!
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For Contrasts, I find Snakebite Leather is a pretty oft-used colour for me. I’ve got a regular pot opened as well as a half-pot combined 1:1 with Contrast Medium since I found I was making a thinned version to use so often.
Blood Angels Red and Flesh Tearers red Get decent use, as does Volpus Pink. Apothecary White is a common go-to and the medium is (for me) indispensable. Dreadful Visage is good for creating stained and dirty whites.
A couple that I don’t really use or like personally – but many others do – are Black Templar and Wyldwood.
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Choices, choices. I should get the set of Vallejo Express the start of next month, so I’ll wait and see what’s lacking there first.
Thanks for the recommendations mate.
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Just grab the Ironjawz along with the vallejo set and skip the other Contrasts in that case.
You can thank me later. 🙂
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Again not seen these ones either. Great models excellently painted.
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Thank you! One was super early and hard to get, and the other was a KS promo sold with an entirely different game… 😀
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I like that cardboard samurai guy. The yellow turned out great and the pac-man freehand on the back is comical. I also like how you did the skin tone. Very nice!
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Thanks Faust! I love that Ironjawz Contrast (you should pick up a single pot of it, too!) Can’t take credit for the Pac-man beyond the freehanding – it’s part of the character design. 🙂
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I’ve got a bottle of Ironjawz and have used it on occasion. Not sure that it’s my favorite way to do yellow yet. My favorite way of doing yellow is avoid doing it, haha! But I imagine if I use it as a base and tinker with it more like you did, I’d probably be more ok with the results.
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I’m thinking of giving the pink>white>yellow contrast method a go sometime, though I really don’t have anying I’m planning to paint yellow in the amount that would justify that process and cost of a pink spray can. Unless I start painting Imperial Fists or something…
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These sculpts are very specific and have interesting back stories. You can see how much CMON and Zombicide has changed after seeing these too. I love the Pac-Man freehand and you did well to finish these off as it sounds like they weren’t the most fun minis you’ve painted. Hopefully they fare a bit better in future games as well!
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Thanks! They and their sculpt quality and styles have changed a lot over the years. The ZC core set artwork in particular has become a bit more stylised but the models have become a closer match to it, so have changed all the more – but the Night of the Living Dead models show how much their ability to turn out great sculpts – realistic as well as stylised have improved.
CTS was a breeze to paint at least – not like the Union Worker – but done is done and #42 actually got selected for a game last week and survived – so a good start for him so far. 🙂
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Great stuff.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Thank you Pete! 🙂
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Brilliant work on the Porky pig masked guys, great work on those masks !!
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