Thursday 28 April 2022

SO MANY PEOPLE TO THANK

 Recently Joe has been showing some of Bryan's vast collection  of models that with the permission of Bryan's brother he has been redistributing to other members of the community. For those that don't know Bryan passed away a few years ago, but was an avid gamer and painter, you can see some of what he did here vampifansworldoftheundead these days his blog is plagued by the spammers, which means a lot of the comments are hidden by these terrible people.

I put in a request with Joe, for two sections, The Judge Dredd Fatties, and some unbuilt zombies, these arrived on Monday very well packed. The only request that Joe made, was that if you got some of these models that you did something with them. I have plans for the fatties, just want to change the bases, to my normal for JD games, intend to keep the painting faithful to what Bryan did, just need to do a couple of repairs,

As for the zombies, I'd like to do a lot of them for Zomtober/ Apocalypse me, but in keeping with Joe's request I've painted up 5 this week, The models are all from Zombicide, now I have to thank Azazel's insane painting of his models from this set for inspiration, all the freehand and Tattoo's he's done really encouraged me to push these models. I also have to thank Matt Roger and Keith for their renditions and awesome backgrounds they add to each model. So here's my first go at these :


Bob was a simple man, he didn't like confrontation, and liked to take the easy path if possible. He liked working at the Gas Station, his boss had a don't cause trouble if you're being robbed policy, and just hand over the money, it was insured after all. Unfortunately Bob didn't know that Zombies prefer flesh to money, and ran as soon as the first one bit him, by the following day, he was part of the undead horde, but it was a simple life like he'd always wanted !


Brad got up early every day, to jog 5 miles before getting ready for his office job, he hated his boss, but was great at his job. Secretly he was a huge comic book fan, and his favourite character was Superman, hence his jogging outfit matched the characters colours. His girlfriend disagreed about him being Superman, and would often say he barely qualified as a man, let alone a super one ! The day of the infection, he noticed it was quieter than normal until he saw Bob from the Gas Station stumbling towards him, looking really sick, he ran to him to check he was all right, just in time for him to bite him.


Reece had always thought he was better than everyone else, coming from a privileged background, and had no time for the common people, he ran the family business, where he cut corners to save money, and even refused to pay for health insurance for the staff, even though his other cost cutting exercises had caused multiple injuries to the staff. The day of infection, he had got to the office early, to find it empty, while stomping around trying to work how the coffee machine worked, and cursing Susan for being late, Brad burst through the doors in jogging attire. " What the Hell are you wearing ? I don't pay you, to pursue your interests on my time !" Brad covered the room in record time and bit his arm. 


Susan decided she was taking the day off sick, Reece could make his own damn coffee, and keep his hands to himself today, and was going to enjoy the day by the pool. the walk there had been quiet, which was surprising for the time of day, until she saw Bob, he was always a quiet timid man, and kept himself to himself, but seemed distracted today, she walked over to him to check he was okay, when he spun round and bit her. She punched him hard to cause separation, and ran towards the hospital to seek medical attention.


Karen was stood outside the casino, giving the manager another piece of her mind ( many would say she didn't have enough to spare !) The manager was trying to explain that the staff had done everything right, and that she was no longer welcome in the casino, when Susan sprinted up and bit them both in quick time.

I've tried to push the painting on these models with bite marks and infection marks on all and a bit of freehand, I don't normally paint modern day models and these were a refreshing change of pace from the other projects I've been doing recently. That's all for this post, so until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

34 comments:

  1. Looking good Dave. I especially like the job you've done on Bob and Brad.

    What paints did you use for Susan's hair, if I may ask? I have a pot that I use for Blondes, but I've lost the label from it and it's nearly finished (also, it's missing the label and I can't remember the name).

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    1. Thank you Roy, something a bit different from my normal.
      Susan's hair was a basecoat of GW Steel Legion Drab, highlight of GW Ushabti Bone, and a fine highlight in places of Vallejo Ivory, hope this helps

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    2. Thanks Dave. Haven't checked out the Citadel colours in years, so just did and ended up on a painting tutorial by GW on Youtube that was really decent. Might have to look again at GW, as public transport to my local store is a possibility and an easy option for me going forward.

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    3. Glad it helped Roy, some of the tutorials are very good, GW have expanded their range over the years, and the easy accessibility of a local store makes them useful, although I still prefer the Vallejo range for usability and coverage, I think it's all about balance and what works for the individual

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  2. Lovely finish on these zombies and great narrative thread!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you Iain, glad you liked the narrative, not something I do often ! LOL

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  3. That's brilliant Dave, not only a fab paint job on all but a cracking backsrory to go with it.
    I'm sure Bryan would approve 👍

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    1. Thank you Frank, thought I'd try and do a bit more than just show some pictures ! LOL
      I hope I did him proud.

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  4. Oh, these look great, and the stories behind are genius. I really like them, specially the skin tones, much better than my puny attempts on zombie flesh. Cool job!

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    1. Thank you Suber, I've been using Rakarth flesh as the base for glaze painting for years, so thought I would give it a go for it's intended purpose, the shade was normal flesh wash, and for a highlight colour, I mixed some bone into the Rakarth flesh.
      Thought it was about time I did a little more on back stories, and this seemed the perfect opportunity ! LOL

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  5. I had no idea about Bryan's passing. He had a good following on his blog and posted some fun stuff on a bunch of cool topics. Glad his hobby lives on through folks like yourself.

    Zeds look great mate, especially that animal print dress! Next time I paint some of my own up, I'm definately stealing that idea!

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    1. Thank you Dai, yes he did have a large following, Joe and his Brother have done an excellent job of redistributing his wealth of models.
      They were fun to do, and steal away mate, if you want to know any of the colours used just ask.

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  6. Great work on all these zed-heads, Dave! Love the backstories too, they always help add a bit of character to the poor sods who end up as the walking dead :-) And thanks for the shout-out!

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    1. Thank you Matt, thought it was about time I did a little more background and this seemed like the perfect project. You are welcome mate, as I always enjoy reading the stories you add.

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  7. I believe it was you who referred me to Bryan's blog after his passing and I really enjoyed seeing everything he worked on there. It is always sad to hear of someone's passing but I also think its heart-warming that people are getting a chance to use his minis and remember him with them at the same time. I love the idea to try and push your painting with these Zombie minis as I would imagine that would make him proud too. The zeds all look awesome to me and you nailed the levels of blood with each of them. If you go too far with it, they look bad, so moderation is always key!

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    1. Thank you Jeff, Bryan did have a wide variety of interests when it came to the hobby, and I shall certainly remember him every time some of his models get used on the gaming table. I actually managed to do the underwear on Karen's model showing through, but unfortunately the print covered it so you can't see ! LOL Adding blood to models is not something I've done a lot of in the past, but didn't want to go overboard so tried to be reserved as if they were fresh Zombies.

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  8. Thanksfully I have no more zeds to paint, just finding new colour combination of their clothes i found to be a pain. YOu've done a great job bringing these to life and poor old Karen is a gem. I staand in wonder at why people make backgrounds fro their zeds as they're not meant to last long on the table.=, so kudos to you for the effort.

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    1. Thank you Joe, the amount of Google searches this week on clothing and shoes was immense, which is something I never do for myself ! LOL Matt, Keith, and Roger have been doing backgrounds so much, so I thought I'd have a go as they inspired me, plus it was a bit of fun, linking them together ! LOL

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  9. The zombies look gross and disgusting so that means you painted them well! 😀

    Sorry for your loss.

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    1. Thank you Stewart, it's not a subject I've painted a lot of before, so glad they worked.

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  10. I love it! You can really trace the infection vector with these guys! I've never seen these models, but I like the look of them very much. I especially like Karen's leopard print. Well done!
    Although I didn't know Vampifan personally (only by Internet name), I took part in Roger's "A Vamp for Vampifan" tribute a couple of years ago. He sounded like a great guy and I was sad to read his last post. I'm sure he would be happy to know his collection is going to people who would appreciate it!
    I have managed to avoid the Judge Dredd game altogether, because I know I will never play it and it will only take my money (strange how I can't avoid other games that are exactly the same); but i was sorely tempted to pick up the Fatty Gang when I saw them at Gen Con in 2012. Great figures and a hilarious concept. Now you're making me want to read my Judge Dredds again...

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    1. Thank you Keith, I have only seen the models previously on other bloggers sites, as I didn't follow the Kickstarter or it's release, but have been tempted since to do some Zombie gaming so might need some Zombies ! LOL Was inspired by others to do something a little different with them and the leopard print turned out better than expected.
      I like to think he lives on through people enjoying his models and gaming with them, also his blog is still there for people to read through.
      Have been slowly collecting up models for JD, most of mine are the Foundry ones, but they never did any fatties, so these were perfect for me to get that element into the realm, and could even have a league of fatties protest march with the amount I've got.

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  11. Fantastic to see some of Bryans stuff again, he was a true titan of the "bloggo'sphere" and really is missed. Love the backgrounds and the shout out (though I would never put my efforts in the same breath as the likes of Keith and Matt).

    Also good to see some of Bryan's stuff going to his many fans, I'm sure he'd be pleased to see it in your safe hands.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thank you Roger, I think he would enjoy people enjoying his models and continuing on with their use in gaming, your are most welcome on the shout out, as your linked zombies from last year helped inspire this batch, and don't sell yourself short mate.
      Joe did a great job on helping redistribute some of Bryan's models, of which I am very grateful to be one of the recipients.

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  12. Great stuff Dave! Amazing detail on that dress, wow! It's really great you and others are getting Bryan's figures out of boxes and onto tables again 😀

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    1. Thank you Ivor, not something I ever thought I'd paint, but just felt right ! LOL Indeed it's nice to see some of Bryan's models going to good homes, unfortunately a lot of his Judge Dredd models seemed to have fallen into one particular Ebay seller, who has been a bit overpriced with his price tags.

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  13. John@justneedsvarnish1 May 2022 at 14:46

    I thought I'd gone to Roger's blog by accident when I started reading the character stories! :-) Nicely done, Dave, both the minis and the narrative!

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    1. Thank you John, I take that as high praise indeed, as Roger was one of the strong influences when doing these

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  14. These are great Dave. Karen's dress is impressive, I like what you've done there🙂
    I've been thinking about Zombie skin, as you do, and wondering how I'm going to paint up my Walking Dead bunch. I think I'm going to do batches, each batch a bit different, and I like the colouring you've used here so I might try and replicate that for one batch, thanks😁

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    1. Thank you Justin, I thought these were great models to experiment on, as it would be easy enough to cover mistakes.
      Have you tried mixing a small bit of green into your usual flesh colours, this can also give a great result. The hardest Zombie Skin to do is Dark Skin tones, as when the body dies, it loses it's colour, may have to try the Rakarth Flesh with a darker wash as an experiment.

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  15. Great stuff, Dave! I never "knew" Bryan, though I had looked at his blog a fair few times over the years and it was sad to see when he passed. I love the animal-print on (perfectly-named) Karen (that would have been something great to do on mine - missed opportunity, though there's way more fatties to paint in the future), and I have a couple of the "Brad" model on the painting desk right now, so I think I'll also do one in a similar Superman Stan outfit as well after seeing yours! A nice nod to Roger with the linked narrative between the models as well - and thank you for the shout-out! :D

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    1. Thank you Azazel, I actually went up to see Bryan, early on when we started talking on the blogs, and had a great game of Judge Dredd which was part of his long running campaign, and we also played Death Match, as he had just bought my gaming set as well.
      You are most welcome on the shout out mate, as your Zombicide painting inspired these models greatly, my daughter named Karen, and look forward to seeing you do a fattie in leopard print, I have another Brad, and thinking of doing him in " Run Fat Boy Run " colours. Roger's, Keith's and Matt's narratives were a huge influence on doing these.

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    2. Cheers Dave - I might do a Fatboy myself now that you mention it. :)

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    3. Look forward to seeing it.

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