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…

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.