Better dead than Zed...

Inspired by a bout of The Walking Dead, and of course the Zombicide Season 2 Kickstarter, I painted up my first 20 Walkers for Guillotine Games' Zombicide. The bases are still drying, and will see a treatment of drybrushes and washes to bring out some variance, and some scattered litter and newspapers will be added for effect.

I have everything for the base game primed minus my Abominations and Survivors, and will move into churn and burn for the remaining Zombie hordes of Walkers, Runners, and Fatties this weekend.

To paint these guys, I started with a white primer undercoat, and painted the flesh areas with Reaper Ghoul Skin. Next, I gave the clothes a basecoat, mixing various browns, reds, yellows, blues, grays, and black on my pallet, and where necessary leaving some parts plain white primer. Thinned paints helped achieve some subtle shading. Hair was painted a mix of browns, yellows and blacks, and given a quick highlight drybrush of Vallejo Pale Greyblue.

Once everything was dry, the models received a coat of gloss varnish, followed by a wash of Lamp Black oil paint thinned enough to allow the paint to flow and not stain the high points of the model. This was then set to dry for 24 hours, after which the models received a dull coat.

After the dull coat had set, I highlighted the skin with Reaper Moldy Skin, focusing on the tops of the models. I then made a 1:1 mix of Vallejo Chocolate Brown and Flat Red, and painted blood spatters and stains randomly across the clothing, and then focused on the mouths, chests, and hands. I then whipped up a concoction of 3:3:1 parts Citadel  Devlan Mud, Baal Red, and Leviathan Purple, and then thinned this with water at a 1:1 ratio. Using a medium sized brush, I applied this mixture randomly across the models, making sure to also get wherever I had painted the blood spatters previously. Finally, before the wash had a chance to dry on the models, I took thinned black paint and mixed it with the still-wet wash on the model, moving it around to form streaks, stains, and splatters, and to redefine key features like eye sockets, mouths, fingers, and deep recesses. Once this all dried, I went back and toned down any places that were too bright red with some Devlan Mud and thinned black, as needed.

Last of all, the eyes were painted with small dots of Vallejo Pale Greyblue. The bases were painted black, and the model was sprayed with a few coats of gloss and then dull coats. The basing material is a black table sand I picked up at Michaels in the kids' arts and crafts section, and is great because the grains are quite small and uniform, creating an asphalt look.

I need to find some Zombie themed newspapers, flyers, and warning signs, and print them out for the bases. I'm also thinking litter like food wrappers, cans, and bottles would look good as well.