Tuesday 18 October 2016

“Born From Sickness And Despair…”

"As the Nurgling matures it feeds upon the filth of the Great Unclean One and pops out."
These two 28mm multi-part plastic swarms of Nurglings are made by “Games Workshop” and are two of the three such “stacks” that can be created using the “variety of characterful” components found within the “Gleeful Castoffs” "Age Of Sigmar" set. Indeed the company boasts that “you can actually make twenty-seven combinations of Nurgling towers” using their sprues should you purchase enough boxes of the “wriggling little horned beasts”, and that number doesn’t include the additional “individual Nurglings” the kit comes with “for using on bases for the rest of your army.”
"Sometimes Nurglings are gifted to Heralds or other powerful Chaos Champions to act as a living litter for him."
As a result of the complexity of these 'builds' I decided to paint the front, middle and back rows of each 40mm circular base separately and then later superglue the towers together after they had been varnished. This meant that, having placed each line of Khan’gurani’I on an individual stand, they were all initially undercoated with “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki and washed with “Citadel” Thrakka Green. The tiny toothed daemons were then dry-brushed with more “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki before having details such as their horns, “sores, cuts, lumps and opened orifices” coated with “Citadel” Abaddon Black.

With all the miniatures’ groundwork completed, I started painting the Nurglings’ internal organs with either “Vallejo” Heavy Red or Heavy Warmgrey, and washed the grisly sculpts with a combination of “Citadel” Thrakka Green, Agrax Earthshade and Carroburg Crimson. As a final touch their numerous zits were ‘picked out’ with a dollop of “Vallejo” Heavy Ochre and given a heavy covering of “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade.
"A unit of Nurglings has three or more models."
Wonderfully timed to coincide with Zomtober 2016, I have taken possession of my pledge from “Studio Miniatures” and their “Hollywood Havoc” Kickstarter. These “highly detailed” 28mm models are part of their zombie horror range “Z-Clipz” and supposedly depict “the unlucky staff dressed as Hollywood’s greatest stars” who were devoured whilst working at the Funland Theme Park during the zed apocalypse.

The first three brain-eating cadavers I plan to work on are Zombie Lee, Zombie Charlie and Zombie Norma Jean; undeniably characterful undead versions of Bruce Lee, Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe. My collection also contains the survivor versions of these silver screen personalities, alongside the company’s four “Monster Madness Haunted House” figures. However as I’m currently painting a number of other walking dead miniatures as part of my "Mongoose Publishing" Mega-City One Zombie Horde I thought I’d start with the infected versions first.
"Hollwood Havoc" WIPs - Bruce Lee, Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe
What is somewhat disappointing about these models though is their seemingly slender size when compared to other zombie models I own. The Kickstarter was keen to emphasise that “all of these new miniatures are fully compatible with our existing modern zombies and survivors” and highlighted you could “mix them together for some movie madness” if you wanted. I don’t actually own any other “Studio Miniatures” sculpts to compare them against, but have found these latest acquisitions to be slightly diminutive when placed alongside even my slender “Zombicide” plastic zeds…

30 comments:

  1. The nurglings look excellent Simon

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    1. Cheers Andy. They've taken a bit of effort to be sure, but I think they're worth it imho.

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  2. Excellent work on the Nurglings!

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    1. Thanks Roy. I've another six bases to do at some point. But will be taking a break for a sure while first :-)

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  3. You've knocked those nurglings out of the park! Fantastic work!

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    1. Cheers Bill. Much appreciated. Painting them as separate rows was definitely a good decision even if it does mean some of the work is eventually hidden.

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  4. Whilst I am not a fan of GW's ranges of Chaos figures I do admire the amount of work and effort you have put into your stands of Nurglings.

    I, too, received a small parcel of figures from Studio Miniatures and as the proud owner of every zombie they have produced and most of their Survivors I can confirm that the "Hollywood Havoc" range of figures ARE definitely compatible with their previous output. Personally, I'm glad to see Studio Minis are not succumbing to scale creep, as so many other companies appear to be doing. 32mm appears to be the new 28mm these days. Not so for Studio. Good for them!

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    1. Thanks Bryan. That's very kind of you to say so :-)

      I'm not at all surprised that the Czar of Zeds has all "Studio Miniatures" zombies. I'd have been surprised if the case had been otherwise. Thanks for confirming they fit in with the rest of their range - I guess it means I'll have to start up another zombie collection based upon just "Studio Miniatures" ;-)

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  5. THe nurlging continues unabated, but mu how goss (read great) they look en masse!
    I'm not convinced by these zombie sculps, they look 'stunted' to me me somehow, surprisingly as I've always considered Studio Minis to be the best zombies about.

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    1. Cheers Joe. The Nurglings do look formidable en masse and I think a mass horde of nine bases on the tabletop will look terrifying. Sadly these minis take so long to paint though that it'll be a fair while until I can face the next three bases...

      I too am a little underwhelmed by some of the "Studio Miniatures" sculpts I've received. But somewhat assured by Bryan that they are in scale with the rest of the range. I'm sure as I paint my way through the KS pledge they'll be a few to catch your eye :-)

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  6. Those Nurglings good look great en-mass as for your new zom's, I have to say that I wasn't that impressed with my own studio miniatures (that I've been painting for Zomtober) at the start of the month, but they have grown on me as I've worked my way through them, and I do like the look of Charlie and Norma (not so keen on Bruce). I'm sure you'll whip em' into shape though.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. Knowing that you've recently just painted some of the "Studio Miniatures" zombies I was hoping you'd comment on how you found them to paint. I certainly think I need to add some colour to these sculpts first to see how they 'whip up', and fear this could be the start of a whole new range for me to buy into :-)

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    2. they are quite nice figures, though they are a little slight and the detail can be a little angular and stylised. My main issue with them though is that its not always easy to see what is what on them, "is that a beard of a load of goop coming out of his mouth etc.."

      but over all they are good zom figs.

      Cheers Roger.

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    3. Yes, I think I'll be going with my post-priming wash over the minis in order to help me see the detail before I start painting them properly Roger. Although a few goop beards will certainly make a worthy contribution to next month's Mo'Vember ;-)

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  7. The Nurglings look great...and not a little terrifying...all together!

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    1. Cheers Gordon. The Nurglings certainly seem to be popular judging by everyone's comments. If only I found them a little easier to paint - and a bit quicker!!

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  8. It has been wonderful seeing the Nurglings come together and they really are superb. I am somewhat envious of the Studio Miniatures as mine haven't arrived yet. Apparently they are waiting on the rule set that I also added before they send them out.

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    1. Most kind Sir Awdry :-) I must confess to being done with zombie rule-sets myself, as "ZombieTV" and "Zombicide" arguably suit all my zed-needs. Hopefully though you'll be doing a review of "Studio Miniatures" rules once you have them in your mitts?

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    2. I seem to be amassing quite a collection of skirmish rules and one day I'm sure I'll actually get around to playing some of them, one day. ;)

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    3. I can see the attraction of "Studio Miniatures" rule-set, as a zed apocalypse taking place inside a fun fair sounds very interesting imho, plus with "Congo", "The Men Who Would Be Kings" etc all coming out, there is definitely plenty to draw the eye ;-)

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    4. Absolutely and then was Conan that arrived the other day and of course the Walking Dead - I'm doomed!

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    5. Ha Ha!! I'll be hugely into Conan next year when the "Modiphius" KS arrives. Desperately trying to stay strong regarding "The Walking Dead"; so don't tempt me you rotter!! :-)

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  9. Those piles of nurglings look SO Cute and very nicely done - smashing additions to the slimy horde.

    New Zeds are interesting sculpts. Studio Miniatures make some cool looking sculpts if going by their website pics, but those are painted to such a high standard... Not sure if the minis themselves are "that good" or the paintjobs make them look that way?

    Regardless, I look forward to seeing these come to life in your own indomitable style!

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    1. Cheers Dai. Very much appreciated praise from a fellow lover of all things Nurgle :-) I've still got a few "Mongoose Publishing" Mega-City Undead to paint first (with two more Zomtober postings), and then I'm hoping to give the "Studio Miniatures" some much needed attention.

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  10. Nice work on the Nurglings - the whole force has progressed very well mate. I hope we get to see an army picture eventually. :)

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    1. Thanks Leon. Once the first of my Heralds of Nurgle is finished then I'll do another group shot, as my Host will consist of a General and Five Units by then :-)

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  11. Now *that's* a swarm! Horrible little critters, but a very effective model.

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    1. Cheers Hugh. I was a little intimidated by the models tbh, but think they've come together very nicely.

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