Salute 2023 - Part 1

Fun in London

Much busier than 2021, and they had already run out of the Salute 2023 mini by the time I turned up at 11.15. Which is the first time that has happened to me. It would be interesting to find out the traders did with all those people. 

Some excellent entries to the painting competition that caught my eye and when I could squeeze to the front. 

My wild elves would fit right in with this Midgard game. 

From Gamers Glass but I really liked the effects. And I might need to invest in some more speciality grasses and plants. 

A great looking winter game on the bridge. 

Nearly 3000 figures as was explained to us and I believe it. 

Rob 

Banshee Queen

Fun & Games with Source Lighting

Very nearly finished off the special character for the zombie unit before a sudden of influx of miniatures tomorrow. I have tried to get several different sources of lighting on this model. The green glow from the ground around the banshee and the moonlight from above. I haven't quite finished her but that's as much as I can get done tonight. 

The once again the airbrush has really helped with the lighting effects and great way to finish off this project (ok, I know I still to finish off the banner).

Lady Clarissa as she summons more zombies to join the battle. 

Rob

Nearly the Full Horde

 Just One to Go

Just the banshee base to go then the horde is finished* at the full fifty.

*And the banner but I not really counting that!

On the banner front I have been looking at other people's efforts online. And one has caught my eye, is old one by Fraser Grey (from White Dwarf something or other). But I will have a go at creating my own version before making a final decision. 

Rob

Scrapping the Bottom of the Zombie Barrel

 The magnificent Seven?

Seven more zombies needed to take the unit up to fifty. And I wanted to have a couple of KoW zombies left for future projects. So most of these zombies have been raided from the bits box with spare heads from the zombie sprues. Which leaves me two and half zombies from the original box set still on the sprue. 

A bit of a pirate look on the first zombie. 

A very cool fonz collar which was a sculpting accident. I was pushing the excess green stuff around the neck to cut it off and realised it made a great looking collar. So, left it on. 

This musician got left from the last batch as I hadn't done the necessary green stuff work. But he completes the four command figures.

I was trying to go for an arm half-hanging off, which I will paint a gory red to help it stand out. 

A zombie of many parts and probably the most unusual part, the torso is from Combat Zone ganger. 

No zombie parts on this model but I reckon once painted he will fit right in. But a left over figure in the bits box from Sharkey's ruffians. 

Rob 

Zombie Standard Bearer

 The Zombie Horde

Haven't decided yet on how to finish the banner bearer, either an actual banner or rags & skulls. He was painted using light greys and off-whites to make him stand out. 

Fun & games with zenithal highlighting on Lady Clarissa the banshee. As she summons more zombies to join the horde. The airbrush has really is the tool of choice to do these lighting effects. 

Rob

Hang On a Minute

I Think I have an Idea

With only four zombies left to finish (maybe I will take them up to fifty?). I was thinking I was probably nearly done. But I decided this unit was missing something, which was a centre piece model. I quite liked the idea of an old Citadel Death Elemental but I decided to go a  different way. 

I have a Reaper miniatures Banshee miniature sculpted by Gene Van Horne. Which,  I bought a few years ago simply because I really liked the sculpt. However, I was never really happy with the paint job I did on her and thought this would be a great opportunity repaint using zenithal highlighting. And hopefully end up with a finished figure that I actually like. Given how much I dislike using paint stripper, you will appreciate how much I don't like the current paint scheme. While technically there isn't  much wrong with her (given my standard of painting at the time) the colour scheme just never worked. 

The figure would be a bit big for a 20mm base, so I will mount her on a 40mm base with a couple of zombies bursting through the ground around her. 

 

Rob 

I am Starting to Enjoy This Little Project

 Officially Now a Horde

Had to break out the larger photography base today, to get all of the zombies in one shot. I have decided to take this unit up to forty miniatures. With the addition of some tarted up old Cheapside zombies will still leave me with a couple of spare sprues. I am now working on a standard bearer and musician for this unit. 

These Cheapside zombies were a mix of some old skeletons (can't remember which suppler but they were bloody awful) and parts from Oathmark's cultist sprue. Plus a couple of scarecrows from Kings of War. These were made ages ago and all of them needed painting again so I am including in this month's tally. 

This Cheapside zombie got a bit of extra attention as I grafted him  onto the base of one of the Kings of War zombies. They have an option to do half zombies (either from the waist up or down). 

Rob 

Yet More Zombies

At the Bottom of the Bits Box

I am now beginning to see the benefits of zenithal highlighting and the zombies are the first time I have really attempted to do this on mass.  Obviously having an airbrush makes all the difference. 

My zombie captain a.k.a. Slicegut-ish.  I didn't try and copy the helmet from the Citadel miniature but did add some armour plates. Overall, I am quite pleased how he turned out and he is definitely a mixture of parts (Five different figures/manufacturers) from different miniatures and companies. 

After I took this picture, I decided that he looked to well armed, and so changed the sword for a slightly more worn version (now six different figures). 

After the success of the armour plates on the captain, I thought I would try some barded armour. It looks a bit like a life jacket but once in the with the rest of the horde. 

Really this miniature is a simple head/weapon swap and a minor bit of reposing. But I really like the final look of this miniature. The left arm which was sticking straight out which was cut and reposed. Giving a slightly awkward angle but fitting for a zombie.  Again we are back to having only three different bodies on the sprue, two of which have at least one arm attached. So, the first step with nearly all of these miniatures is to take off the arms and repose. 

Rob 

Zombies Stumble On

 Zombie 3rd batch Inc. Rotstagger

Work continues on the zombies  and the 3rd batch been finished. They have  grey / greenish hue by using some Citadel Gryph Charger Grey contrast paint. Still a bit darker than I was planning but they do match in with the first two batches. I still want to go lighter with the next group. So, will use a grey rather than black undercoat and see how that turns out. 

Horde like appearance

1st, 3rd and 2nd batch of zombies

Do Not Adjust Your Set

Spend a couple of days away and and ending up trying some rather good new beers including the Sign of Spring by Stonehenge brewery. This particular beer is naturally  has a greenish hue but has had some green dye added. Still tasted good. 

Rob