Dawn of the Lead

Welcome to the second part of the Frothers Unite! UK 2009 sculpting competion review. If you missed the first part dealing with the winning entries, read it here.

Just because the competition had its high quality winners, it doesn’t mean that the runners-up weren’t great as well. Let’s have a look at the minis that didn’t reach the highest podium, but were considered good enough to cast up.

Model #1 – Cosplay Zombie is a young cosplayer. To those not familiar with the term, cosplaying is where you dress up in a pop culture character costume and play him or her. As any hobby, it has its good and its bad sides. Anyway, this cosplayer’s excellently cosplaying a zombie now, with a brutally injured knee, classic pigeon toe posture and a vacant stare. And to satisfy the gaming crowd, her petticoat has ripped, revealing her panties. The model comes on a metal oval slotted base, and is sculpted by fellow Finn Vesa Mäkelä, mostly known for his amazing painting skills. Multi-talented, isn’t he?

Model #2 – Rising Zombie is in a fairly large scale (30-32 mm). This doesn’t matter too much, though, since he’s only visible to about chest level as he climbs out from his grave. He looks like a fairly chunky fellow, with a torn burial suit. I love the expression on this miniature’s face, with one of his eyes bulging and his tongue lolling out. The model has no separate base, but I’ve mounted him on 25mm plastic slottabase as usual. The Rising Zombie is sculpted by Sjoerd Trouwee.

Model #3 – A Shambler with a Snack is one happy zombie. Why? Because he’s got a nice, juicy leg to chew. He’s barefoot and his clothes have some rips and tears, but other than that he’s doing pretty well for a zombie. This model wasn’t really one of my favourites, but mainly just because he’s a pretty basic, simple miniature. He’s not bad by any means, I’m just not very into him. As is the norm with the FU-UK sets, this model comes with a oval metal slottabase. He is sculpted by Snuurg, who also did the next two.

Model #4 – Tank Zombie 1 is immediately familiar to anyone who has played either of the two Left 4 Dead games. What he basically is, is a zombified version of the Hulk, with huge bulging muscles all over his body. This particular tank is wearing lovely tighty whities and looks like he’s about to bring down a world of hurt upon some poor survivor-until-now. The tank’s jaw is distended and his slavering tongue is hanging out.  There’s huge damage to its abdomen, with entrails coming out and ribs showing. I absolutely love this model, as it captures the L4D tank image perfectly. Basing as above.

Click for a larger view

Model #5 – Tank Zombie 2 is another rendition of the same theme. This one’s wearing shorts or ripped jeans. The model’s hunched over a bit, and looks like it’s charging. The arms are two separate castings. Tank #2’s face makes it perfectly clear that he’s one of the undead, as it’s emaciated with one of the eyes hanging on his cheek by the optic nerve. This tank’s just as nice as the first one, and a worthy addition to any zombie horde. There is, however, one tiny detail. Namely, this model is a terrible, terrible example of how to do a multipart metal miniature. The fit of the arms is more than a bit dubious, and once you have them glued on, you will notice some glaring gaps which need loving greenstuff treatment. I really would’ve settled for a different pose and a single part casting, like the first tank zombie.

Model #6 – Zombie Raven looks just like a regular raven, actually. It’s still very raveny, in a raven kind of way. If ravens are your thing, you’re on to a winner. No base included, and sculpted by Ben Parker.

Model #7 – Reporter is a young female. She’s holding a large news mic in a dynamic pose suggesting that she’s talking into it. She’s apparently reporting direct from a hot zone, as she wears a bulletproof vest. Biteproof clothing and covered arms might be a better alternative here. Since there’s nothing here to make this model specifically zombie related, she’s a fine civilian reporter to be used in any modern game. A beautiful sculpt from Andrew Rae, one of my favourite artists. Standard slot tab on the mini.

Model #8 – Cameraman is the reporter’s trusty companion, keeping that camera on rec even in quarantine (groan). Like the reporter, the cameraman is wearing a bulletproof vest. He carries a camera on his right shoulder, and I assume it’s running and capturing whatever happy situation these two find themselves in. This is a very smooth, clean, no-nonsense sculpt that complements the reporter perfectly. What I said about the reporter holds true here as well.

Click for a larger view

Unlike the first batch, this set was riddled with heavy mould lines and plenty of flash. The models took a lot of filing, and I know that I didn’t get all the trash off.

That’s it, folks. Let’s start crossing those fingers and hoping that these minis come out through one company or another. Anything else’d be a crying shame.