Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak – Berserker Zombie Abominations (Squaddie September ’19, Contrast Paint Experiment #10)

Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak - Berserker Zombie Abominations

Lobster, anyone?

I decided some time ago that I should paint up some of the zombies from my Zombicide games, and given just how bloody many of them there are, the best place to start would be with the “hero” zombies – which pretty much means the Abominations. So I selected them from my box o’ zombies, washed them down (well, Marouda did that), and then put them in a container awaiting paint.

Then quite a few months went by. Then the Contrast Paints came out. Then at some point, I decided that these boardgame zombie models would be another good place to experiment with the Contrast paints in order to get the models done that much faster while still making an effort to make them look decent. They’re a bit crazy looking, but they’re still better than a lot of the Shadows of Brimstone models…

Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak - Berserker Zombie Abominations

This time I decided to make use of them predominantly as the main method, and then use regular paints and methods for finishing and finer details. With that in mind, and the reddish plastic of the Berserkers (which also serves as an easy differentiator in the game) I went for a (cooked) crustacean kind of look to their armoured plates, using a mix of Blood Angels Red and Flesh Tearers Red, finished with gloss – with patches of pale skin mostly to add some visual interest and break up the large areas of red, even though I could have easily justified the whole of their bodies as shell/carapace. I also did their prison jumpsuits with contrast Gryph-Hound Orange mixed with Iyanden Yellow for that nice, bright look to them. I decided on three colours of hair to make identification in-game a little easier “move the blond one”, etc. The hair strands on top of their head had to be painted in, since the minis were perfectly smooth, and it looked pretty crappy. I also highlighted their spikes and claws with regular paint, as well as painting in their eyes and teeth.

They still have a “painted with washes” look to them, and the left hands are a bit rough, but overall the higher level of detail on these models works much more effectively than the recent Brimstone models I’ve used the Contrast Paints with, giving a much more effective and nicer result. I see more Contrast Paint Zombicide Zombies in my future…

Oh yeah. Three models makes for a squad by the rules of this month’s painting challenge. It also serves to illustrate a strong part of why the minimum for a squad of for 3 rather than 5 or 10. It allows people (not just me) to get boardgame models or larger wargame models that typically come in smaller unit sizes painted up and have them count.

Grenadier Miniatures Future Warriors: Biker with Flamethrower (Mark Copplestone)

A second model from Mark Copplestone’s Grenadier Miniatures’ Future Warriors range from the 1990’s today, and as with the previous model, he fits into Necromunda as well as whatever other modern, post-apoc, whatever kind of game I end up playing. This one was started in the 1990s as well, though the only part of the model that was completed back then was the Confederate Flag Bandana, while everything else was left at basecoated level or less, so basically all of the highlighting, shading and freehand has happened over the past few days. Kind of amusing how much of a potential trigger that bandana is today compared to when it was painted, though context is everything – just as my WWII German forces feature a few Swastikas and my Soviets forces bear Red Stars (ask my friend’s mum from the former Yugoslavia what the Red Star means to her – Hi Anna!) – so this figure absolutely looks the type that would wear this particular bit of clothing, and anyone offended by it being there should probably get a fucking helmet because life’s going to treat you much more harshly than this particular toy soldier’s paintwork.

I know that pre-emptive fuck-off might seem a bit odd to the usual readers here, but the WordPress is set to auto-post stuff to the Twitters, and we all know that there are a lot of people there who’s primary hobby is being recreationally offended, so.. y’know. 😉

In terms of painting, as I said – I kept to the base colours painted on 20 years ago (aside from the new base – painted to fit into modern, post-apoc or Necro) and so the main areas of interest to me was emulating the writing on his cutte from the previous guy (painted 20 years ago) adding that diamond patch to the front, and then trying something a little new with the tattoos. I’ve been wanting to skill myself up to the point of being able to paint full sleeves that don’t simply look like blue-green arms or a completely indistinct mess, but get to the point of having visible designs, even if you cant quite make out what all of it actually is. Kinda like seeing real people’s tattooed arms from a distance. Only on a 28mm model. I’m not there yet, but I feel like this guy’s arms are my best effort yet, so it’s something I’ll definately continue to practice.

Here he is alongside his brother. I’d like to get a few more of these guys going sooner rather than later, but they’ll probably have to wait until I’ve been through the rest of the stuff from the Necromunda case before I get stuck into any more of these. Still, there’s at least one more from the Future Warriors range to be completed from my Necro case…