Welcome to my blog, the story of my continuing journey into the World of Zombie Wargames.

Monday 11 April 2016

...Chicken Dinner

As some of you may already know I recently won a competition by Michael Awdry of the blog 28mm Victorian Wargames  to celebrate his blog's fifth anniversary. (If you aren't already a member or haven't visited his blog site yet, please do as it is not just about Victorian Warfare and inspirational in many aspects of our hobby. The prize was two packets of Empress Miniatures and an additional pack of Zulu War British from Michael's own collection. As a had no immediate use for the latter pack I declined taking the Brits and I'm sure they will be put to better use at Awdry Towers.
US7
The two pack I chose were SAS2 and US7 (a special forces pack)
the order was placed on the 5th and I'd received them by the 7th (- what Service!).
I'd gone for these two packs as I'll most likely be using them as survivors and they seem to fit the bill nicely,  looking the least like they're wearing uniforms.

A word of caution if buying these figures, in pack 'US7' two of the figures are multipart figures, meaning you have to stick their limbs and some equipment on - no big deal unless you're as ham-fisted as I am! (The photographs btw are from the Empress Miniatures' site - I've not become David bailey overnight as my later photographs will testify to)

In other news I've been very busy working on my large Sarissa factory, which although not assembled has had quite a bit of paint slapped on it.
These two particular  walls have had both their external walls painted in what will be the final colour  (save for some highlighting and shading -  maybe)
The red door frames I went for mainly to contrast with the blue of the small office building. Whilst the large door frames will be a bluish-steel effect, a little lighter than shown.
The internal view of the above two walls shows the complete window frames (as opposed to just the sills and lintels of their outside aspect and the yellow girders used to support the gantry crane. The parts for said gantry have yet to be punched from their original sheet - it looks to be yet another daunting task imo.
 Of the remaining two large walls, neither have had any of the lighter sand colour applied yet, ( though there is hardly any noticeable difference in these photos), although the small outer wall has.
The photograph below (and the only one that doesn't appear to have been shot by a five-year old) shows the state of play on the internal walls of the three walls shown to the right.
Progress has been pretty slow, but despite being away at the weekend I think I've been making good progress,
I do think though that for those buying this particular model and not being as picky as I've been wanting some extra detail it could have easily been finished in a week. I'd also forgotten how long it takes to paint even a single one of the large wall, it seems to take me forever (about an hour).
There's still plenty left do on the model, before its final assembly (which will no doubt be a fitting nightmare). I haven't yet looked  at assembling the outside stairs, though I am now happy with how I will assemble them as there is quite a few different arrangements that can be made.
The roof is also assembled and being painted (as well as being cursed, sworn at, altered and cut about) and is yet another long job (who said 'glass' is a good idea ?). The usual real-life distractions hinder progress, as do the more enjoyable hobby-related ones as once more my enthusiasm for all things piratical reared its ugly head in the form of series two of "Black Flags" on TV as a reminder of my  enthusiasm of the genre.






I'd like to welcome Damon Carlton who has his own new  blog "Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse" which is well worth a look along with another new zombie orientated blog "The Deadlands"  .

So, that's all then for this week, pretty thin fare I know but with these longer daylight hours I do feel a lot more productive.

20 comments:

  1. Those figures look great and I'm sure will be a fine addition to your apocalypse. Progress is being made with your buildings, I must admit I find painting the sarissa buildings the most time consuming a tedious part as the MDF sucks up so much paint, as nice as they are when they are done mine are still mostly unpainted which is shameful...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The figures will be great, if I ever get around to painting them and you'respot on about the paint soaking-up ability of mdf, but as you say they do look good when finished.

      Delete
  2. I've had the Empress figures, lovely sculpts but having to put 28mm heads on bodies is a bit of a hassle!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thik that Empress are the leaders in the market for their beautifully proportioned figures (no slightly larger than necessary heads) but I really don't like figures that aren't single pieces.

      Delete
  3. What a lovely prize, Well done.

    The factory looks great I could easily see something similar in Chatham Dockyard in real life!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Clint, I'm quite pleased with the colours I've gone for and your comments really reassures me too.

      Delete
  4. Great prize and good work on the factory too. Excellent posting Joe. I'm looking forward to seeing those Empress minis battling it out in and around your building. It looks terrific.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Baxx, on all count, but don't hold your breath waiting for those figures to be painted.

      Delete
  5. You certainly chose well there Joe, cracking looking miniatures, although I was surprised to hear that some were multi-part models. I've fancied one of those factories for a while now and might have to have a closer look when at Salute - you've certainly done a great job on yours so far.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IThanks again Michael, for the prizes and comment. I too was very surprised to find that two of them were multi-part and the factory is a great model.

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. Thanks Jay, just looking forward now to the time when I can call it finished - or at least table ready.

      Delete
  7. Nice modeling its Always hard to get a blog going a long time ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks HW, I think we all reach a stage (after about three years) when we wonder whether to continue blogging so Michael's blog hitting five years is a great acheivement imho.

      Delete
  8. Congrats on the win! Building is progressing nicely. I am yet to pickup any Empress stuff but they do look superb sculpts!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Brummie; I'm sure you would appreciate anythng 'Empress' produces, they're beautiful figures.

      Delete
  9. Congratulations on the win Joe! They are some lovely looking figures. I was wondering if you were tempted by the Project Genesis stuff, Empress's new zombie line.
    The building is coming along nicely too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks Bob, I do like most of the Empress Minis ranges, but the Genesis ranges leave me cold, besides I have more than enough Zombies and civilians - if they did some US firemen though....

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great choice on the packets if you were after some civilian look!

    ReplyDelete