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No, not my semi-shelved Zombie game, but the start of a "bedside" project to help heal my shattered brainssss...

Greetings Dakka - I'm running this blog over at Carpe Noctem and thought it would be rude not to share with you all. I've been unable to focus on any given project for a long time now, so I thought I'd pace myself and start afresh with a subject close to my heart - one of the reasons why I became involved with Warhammer to begin with - Undead!

Sometime ago I got a big box full of random stuff. Included was Nagash, the old-school Vlad and Isabella and a few other Undead things. Also included was an entire copy (cards and all) of 4th Edition Warhammer...hmmm, I pondered for a year and a half...

So the other week, whilst collating my collection, deciding what to sell and what not to sell a plan began to form...

THE PLAN

I began with buying the original 4th Edition Armies Book from Ebay - £3.50 delivered The book brought back many memories and the background is still a cracking read! Anyway, I collected all the Undead minis I had, along with whatever movement trays I could find.

I bought Mantic's Mhorgoth's Revenge a while back, as well as a Soultaker detachment - for me Mantic's undead range has a good, old-school touch to them, with the Skeletons reminding me of "Army of Darkness". So I had 20 Skeletons with Spears, 20 Wights/Graveguard/Revenents/Armoured Skeleton Warriors, 18 Ghouls with a Ghast, 15 Zombies, a Screaming Skull Catapult and a Gamezone's "Leonara" Vampire - a great start! You can even see a portion of my beloved VHS collection in the background!



I also knew I wanted to use as little of GW's minis as possible - to save money as much as I realised I have painted little else from other manufacturers throughout my 18 year on/off relationship with Warhammer.

The army is to be a solid collection of varied minis, using Mantic as the core, with many characterful additions and personalities dotted throughout, in the form of characters, as well as unit fillers.

THE STYLE

I decided on an updated "old-school" Warhammer style - a more dirty looking version of the minis displayed in the 4th Edition Armies Book. I even decided (against my normal aesthetic sense) to give them Goblin Green bases

I haven't tried unit fillers before, so I wanted some to be simple, and others to be more extravagent - starting with the simple, saving the more complex ones for when I add to the core units in the future.

Aside from this I will be making it up as I go along...

THE FUNDS

I've been unemployed for a while (I'm too qualified for many jobs apparantly) so my only real income has been through my store, which has struggled of late, due to my ill health. So I began by selling all the 40k Codex's and Rulebooks I had which I knew were easy to shift. I also began selling (and am still in the process of selling) odds and ends I know could sell just as quickly.

So this is how I will fund this project, by selling painted and unpainted minis. I already have a Wight Lord and the Ghoul King from the Zombie Dragon boxed set painted (my first painted minis for months), with Heinrich Kemmler and the Zombie Dragon itself currently as WIP. This little lot, as well as some other additions, will be going into my store soon, along with whatever else takes my fancy over the coming months.

THE BEGINNING

I started with about £60, the rest of the money being taken from feebay's 10% and the cost of the store itself, as well as to keep my paypal topped for any 'emergency' bargains I come across. So I trawled the interwebs, looking for proxies and any non-GW miniatures that took my fancy. I decided that anything with an 80's aesthetic would be great, as well as the long list of Reaper Minis I gathered onto my mini checklist of impeccable taste

I assembled all the Mantic Minis and bought an extra 2 unit leaders from Ebay for a total of £12, including delivery. These were Reaper's skeletal "Lesser Devil" and Dark Sword's mean-looking "Spectre". The quality and detail on both is superb and, being metal and imported from America, they are less expensive than any finecast miniature to date (who'd have thunk it?)

Lesser Devil
Spectre

I also found a great Necromancer on Undead Pegasus on Ebay, an old Ral Partha model which I put on a 40mm base, along with an undead dog and detail from Mantic's skeleton sprue.



Here's the start of the army:

GHOULS


SKELETONS WITH SPEARS


A FILLER - The Skelatal Centaur came from Ebay, I got a bundle of 6 old Grenadier cavalry for about £9 including delivery...


ARMOURED SKELETONS WITH VAMPIRE


ZOMBIES WITH WRAITH


TIP: When assembling Mantic's plastic's do not glue them into their bases until you have them nicely ranked up! You can swivel the minis around until you feel they are in a good position and then seal them with some thin plastic glue afterwards.

Here's a list of sites where I plan on getting minis from as the project progresses - there's a ton of great looking minis out there for you to do some "window shopping" if you haven't come across them before, although I'm aware many may be an acquired taste...

Black Tree Designs UK

Mirliton IT

Wargames Foundry UK

THE GENERAL METHOD: I decided, due to a combination of weather, health and laziness, that I'd probably brush undercoat things, using a big tube of Payne's Grey. I mixed it with water in a polystyrene cup until it was the 'right' consistancy to cover the minis, without obscuring their detail. It was more important to get it in the recesses as the next step was to overbrush them all with Scorched Brown. This gives a great, dark, grimey foundation that accepts the majority of paints well and saves time when coming to paint leather straps etc. The rest of the painting would be with dry brushing, washes and more overbrushing, with details such as skeletal limbs and eyes being highlighted up for contrast. The bases would be coated in fine sand and layered with several drybrushes, before their edges would be painted Goblin Green



As an example here we have the basecoated Zombie. I prefer to base my minis before I begin painting them, as the undercoat/scorched brown basecoat helps seal the sand on, I always leave a good few hours for the PVA to set, if not I leave them overnight.

The second Zombie is overbrushed with Gretchin Green, followed by Vallejo Dead Flesh (GW Rotting Flesh). The exposed muscle, eyes and mouth etc are painted with Mechrite Red and the bones with Dheneb Stone. Finally the rags are painted with Vallejo Grey Black (GW Charodin Granite).

The final Zombie has been washed with a mix of Leviathan Purple, a touch of Baal Red, and Gryphonne Sepia, with a little water. After the wash is completely dry Leviathan purple is then focused around the deepest recesses. The bone is highlighted with Dheneb Stone, followed by Vallejo Ivory (GW Skull White) whilst the recesses are deepened with carefully applied Devlan Mud. Finally the hair is highlighted with Codex Grey, some of the flesh areas with Dead Flesh and the eyes with Blood Red and then Blazing Orange. The teeth are touched in with Ivory.

The base is drybrushed with Orkhide Shade, Vallejo Sick Green (GW Snot Green), Goblin Green and then Dead Flesh before the edges are painted with Goblin Green.

This is the minimum level for me, for this army, and I'm pretty happy with it. I like it as I can always come back and add highlights/detail later.

I'll give each method as I focus on each unit. The plan is to paint the unit, complete with movement tray, and then finish by painting the character, or two, to lead it.

Finally I ordered some characters etc from Reaper, which arrived only yesterday! I wasn't expecting them until late next week, and I had hoped to get the Skeleton regiments and Zombies painted by then They were a nicely packaged surprise though and I felt a tinge on excitement across my heart as I took them off the postman's hand - a feeling I haven't had for a long time, so it's all good. Thank you Reaper!



More on the content's exact detail later...

Finally, I hope I can keep this log going. I've struggled to stay focused on anything for quite a long time now. I thank you all for looking and hope this project provides some inspiration and useful tips - I'm hoping to learn a few things myself




Automatically Appended Next Post:
I have progressed with the Zombies and this morning/afternoon, finished painting the main bulk (just 6 need basing). I also put together the first Unit Filler for the Zombies thanks to the delivery of the Reaper minis yesterday.

Here's what I did this morning:

ZOMBIE WEREWOLF FILLER
I'm impressed with this model - so much detail. If only he were bigger he'd make a good Varghulf proxy. Still he'll be handy as either the intended filler or some random Monstrous Infantry.




A SELECTION OF ZOMBIES


I've nearly finished the regiment now, I'll likely finish the Wraith tonight and basecoat the Zombie Werewolf to finish later.

Meanwhile here are some proxies from my box of joy...

KRELL/WIGHT KING
I saw this mini in Reaper's catalogue and thought he looked great, he has a two-handed axe, a bestial look - a more macabre Krell I thought



WRAITH 2
I loved the dynamism of this Wraith, full of movement and detail, like all the Reaper minis. He'll probably join the Skeletons I'll be doing next.



Finally here's one I made earlier

WIGHT KING
I'll be putting him in my store soon, at a modest price, along with whatever else I decide to sell. This was the first model I had finished painting in months - quite simple and a great sculpt.


The Zombies should be finished by tomorrow, so I'll attempt to take some 'proper' pictures then. Until then, happy painting and death-dealing all