Zombicide Invader - Mercedes

Mercedes was a fun character to paint.  I think the game could have benefited from something other than another female mechanic (Rea), but their skills are different enough to give them different gameplay.  Mercedes has some nice flexibility as far as focusing on ranged or melee.  The Remote Control Bot as a blue skill is particularly nice in some scenarios where it is not easy to acquire the remote.

Pre-glaze Terra Rosa & Panye's Gray

Paints used on this model:

Next up on the workbench:

Zombicide Invader - Eightball

Finally an 'easy' homage!  Eightball was designed after the CMON employee Thiago Aranha.  He is famous for shaking his 'magic 8-ball' to give hints on what may be coming during various Kickstarter campaigns.  

Given the white armor similar to previous models with white armor, I went back to acrylics for this one.  Things went pretty smoothly on him and I was fairly motivated to get this one so I could get back to using more oils. ;) 

I'm not knocking acrylics as there are people who can make them look way better than some of the softer results that can be common with oils.  The oils just happen to be a lot easier for me to use that result in what I believe to me are equal or better than what I can do with acrylics.

Paints used on this model:

Next up on the workbench:

Zombicide Invader - Norton

Oddly, the Kickstarter character card pictured here has "Norton" listed as "Morton".  Not sure if it got misspelled somewhere along the line or if it was an intentional change.  

Norton's painting went very smoothly - except for the darn eyes.  I ended up just waiting for the oils to cure and just painted them with acrylics...  Feels like a small defeat, but probably not so terrible.  

Paints used on this model:

Next up on the workbench:

Zombicide Invader - Nura Satar

Well, there was some learning on this one.  For some reason, I had a lot of trouble with the 'fur' areas and especially the face.  In hindsight, I believe I stacked way too many layers of paint up and fiddled with it way too much.  I wiped the face clean and started over on it three times.  It still didn't turn out great, but it is certainly better than earlier iterations.  The fur texture retained too much of the pre-glaze which led to trouble down the road trying to blend thick layers.  In the wise words of James Wappel - "Less is more, more is way too much."  

There are parts that I think turned out quite well and were very easy to accomplish.  I didn't have any silver oil at the time so made due with a Payne's Gray pre-glaze and dry-brushing white to achieve what I think is a pretty decent-looking metallic hand-claw device.  I also like how the leather clothing turned out.

Pre-glaze Vandyke Brown and Payne's Gray

Paints used on this model:

Next up on the workbench:

Zombicide Invader - Feydra

 

Feydra is one of the few characters with the potential to have the Camouflage ability, but must wait until red to be able to use it.  The free move action is nice to have with the option to be able to move more freely or beef up the combat at yellow.  Free move + unstoppable + camouflage could lead to 'breaking' some scenarios, but is definitely an interesting combination.

Feydra has some physical similarities to Abe Sapien from Hellboy II - except for the tail and arm webbing...

As you can see by the paints uses, I opted for the oils again.  After gaining more confidence on Butcher Carl, I may be a convert...  There are still things I find easier to do with acrylics, but in general, any model that has larger areas (cloaks, skin, bags, etc) are so much more of a pleasure to paint with oils.  Even edge-highlighting of small details is a lot easier to do with the oils.  I'll stick with acrylics for any characters that I've painted other characters with similar details (white armor for example), but the next 4/5 characters in the pipeline are all planned to do in oil.

Went a little more towards purple with the back of the jacket which more accurately matches the character card.  Not sure that was on purpose, but it is what it is.  There are plenty of other characters with red jackets/coats/etc so going with something different for this alien is probably ok. 

I've been having quite a bit of trouble with the eyes.  It seemed much easier with acrylics - I'm just not sure what the trick is with the oils.  

The blog posting queue has turned a bit more complicated as this character was done about a week ago.  Since testing to see if the oils are 'dry' is somewhat of a destructive process, I've been giving them what I hope is 'plenty' of time to cure and waiting a week before sealing them.  It should all even out, but I've now got to keep track of what day they were completed to know when it should be safe to seal.  Mixing in acrylic-painted minis along with the oils makes it even more wonky.  For now, I guess I'll just keep publishing them in numbered order rather than sending out the acrylic models early.

Paints used on this model:

Next up on the workbench:

Zombicide Invader - Butcher Carl

Combat reflexes can be a surprisingly helpful skill - especially when having to end movement on or near a mold or spawn zone.  Combined with Enhanced Senses, Carl becomes an excellent spawn-defender.

There apparently are quite a few 'pig-man' characters roaming around in video games, tv shows, and comics so I'm not sure there was a specific homage in mind when creating Carl.  Certainly an interesting character concept - if not a bit unsettling if pork is on the menu.  I do, however, know that pigs on the farm don't hesitate to eat one other if one happens to die so I doubt ol' Carl would limit his menu just due to his Porcine 'enhancements'.

I said I wasn't planning on switching over to painting the Invader characters in oils, but the temptation to try them out on a character with a lot of exposed skin won out.  Getting some more practice with the oils before tackling another abomination also played into the decision to go with oils on this one.  

Carl at the pre-glaze stage already looks pretty interesting.

My concerns about painting 'small' miniatures with oils were somewhat alleviated as it turned out that it was quite easy. I really like how this guy turned out and plan to move forward with a mix of oils and acrylics depending on how they fit in.  For example, keep using acrylics for the white armor so they are consistent.

I do still have some reservations about painting any patterns in oils such as on the upcoming Kabuki Gang, but will try to learn what I can before I get to them.

Paints used on this mini:

Next up on the workbench:

(Got too excited and painted Feydra before getting a photo of the primed stage...)

Zombicide Invader - Ook Ook

 

Ook Ook looks like a fun character to play and starts off with Ambidextrous.  Combined with the various combat-oriented skills at higher levels as well as a pair of decent weapons, this guy is a real powerhouse.  

Homage references are kind of all over for Ook Ook.  From the Librarian from Disc World to Drax the Destroyer, there are several theories.  The 'ook' word from the Librarian probably provides the most evidence for going with that conclusion.  I'm not familiar with Disc World, but seems reasonable to me based on the 'ook ook' name...except other than the similar color to an orangutan, I don't know that he has a lot of other physical similarities.

Paints used on this mini:

Next up on the workbench: