28mm Modern/Post-Apocalypse

This week I took photos of two batches of miniatures I painted in late 2022 for my modern/post-apocalypse games.  They are all from Hasslefree and were purchased in 2021/2022.  These are the last miniatures that I have from them, so I can move on to some other sections of the lead pile.  One thing I really like about Hasslefree is that they portray different body types (male/female, height, weight) while also making them suitable for handling in games.  I have bought female miniatures in the past from other manufacturers that were so thin and fragile that they were unusable.

Photos were taken on a warm March morning.  During the first attempt, there was a lot of pollen in the air and it got everywhere.  After a thorough brushing-off I tried again the next day.  The descriptions are from left to right and the names are from the Hasslefree website.  Paints used were a mix of craft paints, Vallejo, P3, Ral Partha, Army Painter, and GW.

Every post-apocalypse movie needs a kid.  Or three.  Peter, Katie, and Young Amoy are doing quite well even though civilization has collapsed.  The younger two have fashioned weapons out of everyday objects, while Amoy wields the family sword.

Punks Joanne and Joe are ready for some mayhem.  They would fit well in a game of my friend Mike's rules Mean Streets, which cover gang warfare.  

Jim is an army veteran/urban revolutionary.  I really like the pose of Taylor mini and when I saw it on sale I bought it right away.

Foxtrot comes with an alternate head and arms.  The other head is a Imperator Furiosa look-alike from Mad Max:Fury Road.  I already have one of those from another company so I used the gas mask head.  Pulse is one of my favorite Hasslefree sculpts and is usable in various modern settings.  These are both taller figures.

Shotgun-wielding Madge and office worker Earl are ready for any trouble that comes their way.  Looters beware!

Police officer Ken comes with alternate arms holding a shotgun.  Firefighter Levon appears to have learned that an ax is an effective anti-zombie weapon.  These two are also taller figures.

Il Capello bears a strong resemblance to Walter White from the tv show Breaking Bad.  Police officer Nick clearly means business.  He comes with several arm options.

Jess is a former hockey player.  The last time I was painting zombies I missed Zombie Ray so I  painted him with this batch.  I like the half flesh/half skull look.  HF also make a living version.

Is this illegal toxic waste dump where the zombie outbreak started?  I do not know the manufacturer of this resin terrain piece as I took it out of the package several years ago, primed it, and promptly set it aside and forgot about it until recently.

All 17 miniatures together.

Four of our chickens.  They surrounded me while I was taking the photos because they were hungry.  I promised them food and internet fame.

28mm Modern Buildings from 4Ground

During the Black Friday sales in early December, I was browsing Noble Knight's website looking for things I could add to an order I was making.  I happened across buildings from 4Ground that looked interesting.  I went to the 4Ground website to check if they had more pictures and learned that they had more buildings in the range and were also having a sale.  I bought the Construction Site Tower Block Bundle (all 4 buildings in the range at a discount plus a pack of extra wall panels) directly from 4Ground and soon had packages from both 4Ground and Noble Knight.

4Ground MDF kits come prepainted.  My previous experience with 4Ground buildings was limited to one building I bought at a flea market and assembled years ago.  When I assembled it I did not have a good experience, mainly due to some very fiddly parts for the windows and the plastic meant to represent window glass.  I was willing to give them another try and thought that any issues I might have during assembly would be mitigated by the fact that they were buildings still under construction.  In addition to the construction set I also bought a French butcher shop, two billboards and two vending machines.  None of them appeared to have any of the components that had caused me problems previously.

The appeal of these kits was that I could use them in both a modern cityscape and in a post-apocalypse setting.  As my storage space for buildings becomes scarcer I am having to choose new items carefully and am only trying to buy those that that can serve in multiple settings.  Also, I don't have anything else like them.

 I assembled the first of the Construction Site buildings on the evening of January 1st while watching Ohio State play (American) football and did one per evening for the next three days.  I am very happy with the results.  I think these handle stairs better than any other MDF kits I have, both for ease of assembly and the final look.  The one minor issue I had was with some of the internal walls; I had to cut some of them down a bit in order for the next floor to sit properly on top of the internal walls and outer beams.  I didn't use any of the extra wall panels in order keep more access to the interior.

The bases are all 14x14 cm or 5.5 inches.  There were several ladders included but I did not use them in the photos.  The miniatures included to show the scale are some 28mm military contractors from Eureka Minatures and a Hasslefree Miniatures 28mm Kat (HFA004, inspired by Selene from the Underworld movies).  As always, click on the photos for larger versions.

Construction Site 2-Story Tower Block

Construction Site L-Shaped Tower Block

Construction Site 3-Story Tower Block

The Construction Site Tower Block Booster can be used on its own or to give one of the other buildings additional height.

Laying out all 4 buildings in a row gives me 56 cm / 22 inches of terrain, which is a great addition to my game layouts.

                                 

A more vertical setup with the booster on the right under the L-Shaped Block. 

I also got two billboards for my cityscape: (l) Large Billboard with Platform, (r) Billboard.  The smaller one will fit nicely on top of a building.  They come with a selection of premade signs.  I made my own signs to continue my practice of using business names from my hometown of Columbus, Ohio.  Most of the time I pick places around the Ohio State University campus during the 1980s-1990s.  In this case the Newport Music Hall, where I went many times for concerts and is still around.  The Taj Mahal restaurant now exists under the name New Taj Mahal for reasons unknown to me.  Both of these were very easy to assemble.

The Butchers Shop kit was very inexpensive.  The reason is that it does not have a detailed interior or a base.  The instructions also have the roof glued on.  I like to be able to use the interiors of my buildings, so I added a base made of black styrene and gave the inside a quick coat of off-white craft paint and added a floor using scrapbook paper.  It was easy to glue some of the triangle-shaped scrap MDF pieces to the underside of the roof to give it more stability.  The kit includes a 'Boucherie' sign, but as noted above, I like to have building signs from my hometown of Columbus, Ohio.  So after some consultation with my Columbus gaming friends , I decided to make a Carfagna's sign in honor of an Italian market that I used to visit with my parents and is still open.  This kit also included a red and white awning that I did not use.

Even mercenaries get hungry!  These Grey Vending Machines come as a set of two.  Included with the kit are detailed paper covers with a variety of drinks and snacks.  Very easy to put together.

28mm Private Military Contractors

I bought these 28mm miniatures at Cold Wars 2015, after surviving the drive from South Carolina to Pennsylvania through a raging snowstorm.  They are made by Eureka Miniatures and come in a set of 8.  They are listed on their website as 'Private Military Contractors', though the set I bought was labeled as 'Blackwater Contractors'.  They are good castings, with little to no flash and lots of small details.

They are a useful set, and while I originally painted them for use in the post-apocalypse game Across the Dead Earth, they have also seen action in games of 7TV and Doctor Who.  I plan on using them for This is Not a Test as I start learning those rules.

Some of the poses are similar, but they are all different, with varied weapons and heads.  All have body armor.  I used a lot of khaki, olive and gray, adding some blue and red for a bit of color.

Fun fact: for games which require individual stats, I've given them names 'borrowed' from my old gaming group in Ohio.

First Squad: I really like the running pose (second from left).  It is the only one with facial hair.

Second squad: I gave the kneeling one on the left a Hawaiian shirt.  I use the second from the left (with raised hand) as a leader.

Objective in sight.  Move out!

Items For Sale

Note:  I am marking items SOLD as they go.

Trying to dispose of some things I no longer want/need.  Postage at cost.  Email me at miros@sc.rr.com if you want to buy something.

SOLD
1. 12 x 28mm US Army (Old Glory).  I think these are 82nd Airborne: $12

2. 28mm British mortar and 3 crew (The Assault Group BRT018): $6

SOLD 
3. Harold Godwinson and his Brothers (Gripping Beast) for SAGA: $11

SOLD 
4. 6 x 28mm Norman archers (Old Glory): $6

SOLD 
5. 4 x 28mm Norman Cavalry (Old Glory): $8

6. 10 x 28mm Dark Age Cavalry (Old Glory).  Can use for Scots, Welsh, Strathclyde, etc: $20

SOLD
7. Assorted 25mm Doctor Who figures: 2 x UNIT soldiers, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (baton is broken off), Davros and the Master (FASA): $2 each

SOLD
8. More 28mm Doctor Who.  The new series John Simms Master (Heresy, comes with a blaster and a 2nd hand holding a pistol) and K-9 (Black Tree): $2.50 each

SOLD 
9. Regimental Fire and Fury ACW Rules.  Brand new, never read: $25

SOLD

10.  Doctor Who Region 1 DVDs: The Ribos Operation (Special Edition, new); The Androids of Tara (like new) and The Armageddon Factor (new): $7 each