Paint Bench: Zombie Buildings #1 (Comic book shop and Car Detail Shop)

I finally decided to take the Zombie plunge. And did I. I am getting a bunch of zombies for Christmas, the Wargames Factory zombies. I decided to collect a lot of O scale Rail Road buildings to make a zombie city out of. I started out buying the cheap ugly Plasticville buildings, and did not have a clue how crappy they were. So I have about 20 buildings to paint and redo. After that I decided to go with mostly pre-painted Rail King buildings, which are really nice. I just have to weather all the buildings. I found some nice weathering powder and I am learning now how to weather buildings and brick.

This is my first building, I am a totally rookie. I had it nice looking and thin I sprayed the dull coat on the windows, because this makes them look dusty, which is what I want, but I did not realize it would block most of the view inside, oh well. Live and learn. I still think the building looks ok for my first one, it took me a day to build. 

I actually went back and used rubbing alcohol to remove some of the dull coat, looks much better now.

I also went back and cleaned up the windows on the Car Detail shop.

Here is a figure comparison with Rail King O-Scale Buildings. First a AT-43 and then a Battle Field Evolution Marine. These are the only Modern troops I have, beside Halo 40mm which work well also.  So my Planet of the Apes will work well too..if I ever go that route. 

 

Wargods of Olympus Demigod Scale

Here is an idea of the scale of the Wargods Of Olympus Demigod scale size. They are pretty large. I do not have a millimeter scale, but I used a 1/20 inch scale and a 1/8 inch scale (that is all I have on hand, a engineering scale). I also converted them to millimeters to the best that I could. 1/20 inch scale equals 1.27mm per click. 1/8 inch scale equals 2.54mm per click. Keep in mind the scale is slightly off, leaning, etc. But I re-measured them by hand. They range from 42mm to 45mm tall. 

42mm foot to top of plume.  33mm foot to eye. Apollo is slightly bending down.

42mm foot to top of plume. 33mm foot to eye.

44mm foot to top of plume. 34mm foot to eye. Phobos is standing.

44mm foot to top of plume. 34mm foot to eye.

45mm foot to top of plume. 34mm foot to eye. Zeus is standing.

 45mm foot to top of plume. 34mm foot to eye.

Paint Bench: Goblins from Hasslefree Miniatures Finished!!

Paint Time: 6 days



I had asked Hasslefree to send me a sample of their goblins, so I could decide if I wanted to buy a large batch of them or not. I was afraid they were going to be too small. Well they were nice and threw in a 4 pack of Goblins because my order was a little late. Very nice. I have to say these goblins are really small. They almost could be used as 15mm orcs, or even 20mm (1/72) orcs. I would call them more like Hob-Goblins in 28mm. And I know Goblins are smaller than orcs, but I prefer Goblins to be in the 30mm range at least. But again as normal the detail is outstanding. I just wish they were 30mm or higher. I think they are about 20mm to 21mm high tops once you attach the head. Anyways, I plan on using them for my scouts and special mission troops.

Here is a figure comparison with Thunderbolt Mountain Heavy Goblins, Hasslefree Goblins and a Hasslefree Orc

Finished! I don't think these turned out so well, but they were something new to paint.

Harlequin Fantasy Armies Orc Crossbows (FA0229) from Black Tree Design Review

I have been looking for some Orc Crossbow for awhile, and I just in got another sample from Black Tree Design today. I got the FA0229 28mm Orc Crossbows pack. They are the same scale almost with my Harlequin LOTR Orcs,  but just a just a bit bulkier, but the sculpts are good. At first glance I did not like them because of their faces and heads, but I decided to go with them because after I painted them up they looked a lot better. So I finally found my Orc Crossbow and at a bargain price at 3 for $5.60 roughly on sale at BTD. I will have 60 of these guys coming in soon to add to the ranks of my Orc Army. They all come with separate crossbow.

 BTD FA0229 Orc Crossbow comparison to a old Harlequin LOTR Isengard Half-Orc (on left).

Black Tree Design Orc Crossbows FA0229

I am really pleased how they turn out when they are painted up.

Harlequin Great 28mm Orc Crossbow and Great Orc Fighters by Black Tree Design Review

I went on a quest to find some 28mm Orc Crossbow for my ever growing Orc Army. I searched and searched for figure comparisons of the Harlequin Great Orc Crossbow (HM1050) with no luck. So I thought I would share my findings. All of my Orc army are from the old Lord of the Rings range by Icon or Harlequin miniatures, now Black Tree Design, but the molds were sold to Scotia Grendel. I was trying to find a Orc crossbow figure that would match the scale of the Greater Orcs of the Old Harlequin Lord of the Ring Range which are now owned by Scotia Grendel and sold under the generic fantasy figures. I thought these orcs were huge until I got these Black Tree Design Orc crossbow in the mail. I also asked for a sample of the Great Orc Fighters (HM1044).

First off, I want to say these Orcs are amazing with very nice detail. But they were way to large for my current Orc army....they were Troll size compared to Orcs I have. But totally happy with the figures, I just can not use them. But I may paint them up one day for some fun. 

As you can see they are very large. I did not measure them in millimeters, but they are in the upper high end of Heroic size 28mm figures. The Crossbow are very large, the fighters are just as large, but hunched over a little, so they do not look as big, but they have large bulky bodies.

Here is the crossbow that comes with the Orcs, very nice detail, and large.

A comparison to the LOTR Harlequin range Orcs and half orcs. From left to right, Harlequin LOTR Orc from the early 90's, BTD Orc, BTD Orc, and a Harlequin LOTR Half-Orc.

A size comparison to a LOTR Harlequin Orc beside a (BTD) Harlequin Great Orc figher (HM1044) And btw, that LOTR Orc is not finished being painted.

Close up of the (BTD) Harlequin Orc Crossbow (HM1050)

I hate that I can not use these in my current Orc army because they are very nice figures, but I have another sample coming from Black Tree Design. I am getting a sample of the BTD Fantasy Army range Orcs with Crossbow (FA0229).

I am getting a sample of these in the mail any day now. Hopefully they will be more to scale and blend well with my LOTR Harlequin Orcs. I have read that they blend well with any early 90's Orcs from various manufactures. I am not really too excited about the cartoonist faces they have, but I will give them a chance. That will be my next review. 

Paint Bench: Wolf Riders by Thunderbolt Mountain Miniatures by Tom Meier Finished!!!!

Paint Time: 5 days



I decided to paint up some Goblin Wolf Riders. Took me awhile to decide which ones to buy, I do not like the Warhammer Goblin riders. I like Games Workshops wolves and dire wolves, but do not care for their orcs and goblins, too cartoonist in my opinion. I decided on Thunderbolt Mountain miniatures done by none other than the great Tom Meier. These match my current orc and goblin army figures. I have some small goblins in my army from Thunderbolt Mountain. I wanted to buy some more infantry, but I am low on Mordor shields, I only have 16 left out of 300 supply I had.

http://www.thunderboltmountain.com/

I got 36 wolf riders, which converts to 2 units of 18. Half of them will be hand weapons, mostly spears, and the other half archers. I decided I need some for my up coming battle in Gondolin as well as other Middle Earth battles. Especially the Battle of Five Armies coming down the road soon. 

I really like the wolves they are big and detailed. Bigger than I thought.

The Goblins are 30mm tall, on the smaller side, but I like my goblins small, being how most of my orcs are large orcs.

I will give them some wire spears. I was going to use some Harlequin shields, but they are much too big. So I am going to use the shields provided, maybe. I have so many sets of shields I may use something else.

These are some very nice miniatures, well worth the money, about $300 worth...for 36. They are not cheap but worth it.

 

I will follow up soon, first I have to start the dirty work of cleaning them up and then priming up.

Here is a comparison to a Games Workshop Warhammer wolf

 I finally finished the wolf riders. They painted up nicely. I do not think I did a bad job, they turned out okay for my first time to paint wolves. They were a lot of fun. I almost bought another 36 more, but decided to buy more Orc Heavy Infantry instead. 

If I had to choose figures again, I would have got all missile troops or hob-goblin archers. But they look good, and I am pleased with the purchase. 

Next up some more old Harlequin Orcs aka Black Tree Design Legions of The Realm, aka Scotia Grendel Generic Fantasy figures (now).  I think they are some of the best old school minis out there.