Work continues with the Undead team I am painting for Apojar. More players have been completed and I have purchased nearly everything I need to build the outstanding players.

I only have limited experience with painting non-GW models. In many cases the sculpts are not of the best quality or just 3D images which is not the same as seeing the model itself. Another problem can be issues with casting, I’ve seen some models that I really liked the initial green of, but the finished product was badly cast. On top of that they often cost as much as the stuff from GW.

Willy Miniatures produces the best non-GW Blood Bowl models I have painted so far. By and large I like their sculpts and the casting is of good quality, though the metal can be a little soft for my tastes at times. All the zombies I have done up till now are from them as are the Mummies and wights.


These 2 models took way longer to paint than 4 zombies. This was in part due to their larger size, but also down to the bandages covering their body. These are very time consuming as the gap between every bandage needs to be shaded to avoid them merging together. They also all need to be highlighted individually and with care to look pale but also ancient and dirty.
I painted the skin first, mixing dark grey with flesh to differentiate mummified skin from that of the rotten zombies. After that and the bandages were done it with pretty easy to paint the few bits of armour and clothing.



The next 2 models were the first from Meiko Miniatures I had ever painted. I had not been a fan of their range in the past, finding many of the sculpts a little basic. But these 2 zombies were actually pretty decent and being undead suited a rougher look.



They were painted in a similar method to the other zombies, the only real changes being to mix a bit of dwarf flesh into the zombie chaos dwarf’s flesh and pale flesh for the elf.



Next to be done were the Wights, these were also from Willy Miniatures and didn’t need any conversion work. I like these models but think they have gone a little overboard on the armour, making them look too much like soldiers. Wights are MA6 and AG3 which is pretty good for undead and the heavy plate covering their legs looks like they would struggle to run and dodge as well as a human linemen.


This made the colour scheme a little trickier as I’d been going for blue tops and armour with light grey trousers for the zombies. I didn’t think leg armour would suit being light grey so just stuck to their loin cloths and undershirts being grey with all the armour ending up blue. I painted the wings on their helms and one of their belts gold to add some colour as they do fulfil the flashy blitzer role of the team.


The ghouls have just arrived and I am starting work on them soon. That just leaves 6 zombies outstanding; a skaven, elf, lizardman, hobgoblin, slann and ape. I have the bits I need for the elf, saurus, hobgoblin and skaven have ordered the slann. The last model is proving to be tricky as there is a distinct lack of ape like models, I may have to end up making my own version. Possibly combining parts from a dire wolf, beastman and savage orc with undead bits along with a lot of green stuff.

I’ve also signed up for the Waterbowl 2017 legacy team, sadly I won’t be able to make it to the tournament but did fancy painting something different. The team chosen this year is skaven and I’ll be painting up Skitter. Team colours are orange and brown so I will have to come up with a way to make that look good, though stars get a bit more leeway than normal team members.
I had originally planned to use the skaven assassin special character deathmaster snikch as Skitter, but didn’t like the huge black cloak. Ironically this would make him stand out more on the pitch, not really appropriate for a sneaky assassin.
Instead I got my hands on a skaven deathrunner from Warhammer Quest. I’ve swapped his sword for a more discreet knife and added a shoulder pad along with a head swap. This gives him more of a blood bowl feel and makes him look less like a WHFB warrior.



Finally the NAF have asked me to do another team for them for the GT at the end of April 2017. I am hoping to have Skitter and the undead completed by the end of the year so that would give me 4 months. However I will be moving cities and starting a new job in early 2017 so that will impact my painting time.

My first thought would be Norse, they were one of the first teams I did on commission, using the chaos marauder figures. At the time I was pretty happy with both the conversions and paint job, but over the last 8 years I have improved a lot and think I can do top them.
I have bought some chaos bloodreavers including characters as i think they would work well for the human figures. I’ve got a yhette with river troll face as the snow troll and have plastic Wulfen for the ulfwerners. I just need to find a good way to make the runners stand out.
There are 3 stars in my outstanding list that can play for Norse, I have already done Wilhelm and like the colour scheme I used for him. Icepelt and Boomer are ready to paint as well.
This team would be 19 strong and I had been planning a display base so that might be a bit much for 4 months.

The other consideration would be one of the team of 12 from the new boxed set. They will be up for pre-order on the 12th so I could paint up either the humans or Orcs.