Thursday 7 January 2016

And I would have got away with it, if it wasn't for that pesky apocalypse!

hi all

Still working my way through the Xmas and birthday haul. This posts band of plucky survivors are an inquisitive bunch, always poking their noses where they are not wanted! Want to know how the apocalypse started? Just ask the post apocalypse gang - NOT Mystery Inc

This series of minis sculpted by the talented hands of  Kevin White of Hasslefree Miniatures fame, are just about my favourite sculpts he has done (just trumps Violet/Jade). Based on the Scooby-Doo gang of plucky teens, the miniatures have been tooled up to face the rigours of the zombie contagion. Is there a supernatural cause or is it bio-engineering gone haywire? These guys will investigate, while blowing away the dead-heads!!

 This won't be a miniature review, I leave that to the likes of the master himself Vampifan. His review will tell you all about the sculpts themselves. I've attached a link here (hope you don't mind Bryan)

 http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Scooby%20Doo

This will just be a bit about how I painted them and I just wanted to show them off!  We'll start with my least favourite and work my way forward, to be honest though I love all of them! I tried to stay true to the original cartoon colours, but the tones varied in all the source material so I did my best interpretation.

Firstly we have (not) Shaggy, owner/compatriot of the Great Dane himself. I built his base up from the supplied slotter with polyfilla.  waiting for about ten minutes for it to semi dry, I used a toothpick to detail the cobbles, this is something I'm trying out for my newly acquired miniatures and I'm quite enjoying the results. For this group of survivors I've used a white undercoat, normally I use a black primer, but I've liked the vibrant colours that I used as I think it tips a nod to the cartoon history of the Scooby gang.  For Shaggy I used citadel Loren Forest green for his shirt, washed with Biel-tan green ink, highlighted back. The combat trousers were a mix of Vallejo Saddle Brown and citadel Mechrite Red, washed with Corroburg Crimson and highlighted with the original mix, and again with a little white added. The only flesh colour I use is Tallarn Flesh and washed with Reikland Flesh and highlighted back.  I decided to leave his combat harness matt black and paint the axe up as a fire axe, the boots were black despite some source material showing brown shoes and others as red and yet others as black....grr frustrating much!


Secondly we have the main man...err dog himself! (not) Scooby-Doo.  Although i like the combat harness for Scoob, i'm not blown away by the head gear.  I used a mix of Vallejo Orange Brown/Saddle Brown for his fur and washed it with citadel Agrax Earthshade, highlighting it back with the original mix. His combat harness edging and headgear is citadel Hawk turquoise as a nod to the colour of his dog collar in the cartoon.  I picked out his claws in White Scar in order to emphasize his natural weaponery and painted the goggles red to depict IR. Finally trying to get two pictures to agree on the positioning of the black spots in his fur was impossible so I added some to his shoulders, which seem to be most consistent!

Thirdly we have (not) Fred, the well meaning but slightly dim "jock". I love the pose that Kev has sculpted for Fred, that grip on the pistol is awesome.  Fred was fairly simple to paint up with a pure white shirt with mordian blue collar and pants, all washed with Drakenhoff Nightshade and highlighted back with the original colours.  Pure white like pure black is a bugger to get right but i find the blue wash helps to make the white crisp if used sparingly. Unlike the cartoon, post apoc Fred doesn't have an orange cravat, so i painted the katana strap and shoulder bag using Vallejo Orange Brown and washing it with Carroburg Crimson.  The katana sheath was painted Xeres Purple and washed with Leviathan Purple.

next up is (not) Daphne, she was the first of these minis I painted as I love the sculpt. Her colours were made up of Xeres Purple and Loren Forest Green, with the correct washes.  the next part may be contentious because in some of the pics of her she is bare legged and in others she has tights! Argh! this was most annoying, in the end i plumped for white tights washed in the Xeres purple with a little white in it and heavily watered down.  I hope that is alright with the purists......

Last and by absolutely no means least is the awesome sculpt of Velma.  Again read Vampifan's review of the Velma/Louise because it is spot-on. Like Bryan I think she has sexed up for the apocalypse! I'm not a massive fan of chainsaws in the zombie universe and so far have not employed them, although i have several survivors armed with them (they are just so iconic) this may change now miss Dinkley has come to grace us with her company here in da Grotto.  Velma was painted using Vallejo Orange Brown for her string T and socks with Mechrite Red for her skirt and shoes all washed in Carroburg Crimson.

Hope you enjoy

18 comments:

  1. I more than enjoyed these as they're superb and I've certainly taken note of some of the colours (and combinations) you've used on them. I own the non-apocalypse versions of these minis and keep meaning to paint them but so many other genres etc keep getting in the way. However I may be tempted to pick these versions up too as your paint-jobs have made them look very appealing indeed :-)

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  2. Very kind of you to say so Simon, I thought about getting the non-apoc versions as well, as ever limited budgets meant I could chose one or the other and I went with the tooled up versions :-) but Kev's sculpts are so tempting that they may make their way back in when I do my next HF order. I look forward to seeing you interpretations.

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  3. I love these, great job. Such a fun group to work on and brilliant sculpts to boot.

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    1. Thank you sir and may I say your Great Escape entry for the Analogue was superb sir.

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  4. These are amongst my all-time favourite Hasslefree miniatures. Many thanks for the link to my own blog, Andy. It was much appreciated.
    You clearly love these figures as much as I do but I'm afraid your photography does them no favours with all the detail being obscured by shadows. Such a shame!

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    1. I know Bryan, I'm hampered by a lack of equipment and weak winter lighting :( I might have to borrow my daughters camera and reshoot the photos.

      These figures are awesome though!

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    2. It'll be worth it to show them off in the best light.

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    3. Bryan, have a look at them now as i have managed to get some decent sunlight amongst the pouring rain clouds!

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    4. Definitely a big improvement, Andy! Nice one, mate!

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    5. Thanks dude, having to wait for a bright sunny period is the key, hard though at the moment.....lol

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  5. The group look great, and thank you for including your paint recipes. Very nicely done! My first comment on your blog but have been enjoying all your posts. Perhaps a one off batrep using this team? ;)

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    1. Welcome Ragsta and thank you, I hope you feel comfortable in commenting again in the future :) I think it's going to be necessary! I've got some time off coming so I think a couple of games are on the cards

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  6. These are extremely nice sculpts and you've done them proud with your painting. Congratulations!

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    1. thanks Hugh, i'm going to try and get a decent version of the Mystery Machine to accompany them

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  7. Veru nicely done; whilst I like these, I think I prefer the 'before' versions (zombie fodder ?) and I really sdon't like this version of daphne (not you painting btw - that's great).

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    1. Thanks Joe :) I hear what your saying about the pre apoc models, they are v characterful and will probably end up on my next Hasslefree order. I need some more non combatants anyway. I prefer the bat version to the mini gun version of Daphne as she is a bit more useable in games but I spose its horses for courses isn't it?

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  8. Oh Gobbo these miniatures are simply to die for. I want them all in my collection. I like how you`ve really got the colour thing happening, its subtle, tasteful and like, totally accurate and authentic for the Scoobies, but same time extremely well painted.

    I`m positively jealous and wish I owned these figures.

    Thank you for sharing, they look great. You should be very proud.

    Tarot

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    1. Thank you Tarot, that's very kind of you to say so :-)

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