Sunday 24 November 2013

The Crossing Patrol Man (28mm)

Introduction

As many of my regular readers will know, I tend to prefer regular civilians over heavily-armed rednecks for my games of All Thing Zombie.  I also draw a certain amount of inspiration from the scenes I see when just walking about my local town (though I will stress that any resemblance between my models and anyone I know is entirely accidental and unintentional).

Part-painted model in greatcoat (?), built entirely "out of the box"
When I examined the sprues from Wargames Factory's "Apocalypse Survivors: The Men" set, I discovered that there were 3 identical bodies in long trench-coats or greatcoats.  These are great for making models of tough guys from popular TV shows or movies, but aren't the sort of thing that ordinary people wear much.

Same model from rear, showing high collar and short cape
I'd already built one of these figures straight from the parts in the kit, so what could I do with the next one to make it a bit different?  Let's think...

The Crossing Patrol

At around 9am and again at 3pm near any primary school in the UK, crossing patrols are a common sight.  These are volunteers, often middle-aged, who halt the traffic and thus assist the children to cross roads.  They are often referred to as "lollipop men", though near us they are mostly women.

Right, then: this model uses the basic "greatcoat" body and legs from the "Men" kit.  Some modifications were necessary to the upper torso: I've removed the high collar and carved away the cape.  To replace this, I've added a hood made from green stuff.

For this figure, I've used the head with the peaked hat, straight from the box.  The left arm is from the "Men" kit as well, though I've rotated the hand by 90 degrees.

The right arm is from Gripping Beast's "Dark Age Warriors" kit (!); it originally held a spear.  I cut the spear away, drilled the hand out and added a sign made from brass rod tipped with a circle of plasticard.

Painted Up

Lollipop men and women wear a reflective coat and a hat or cap over regular (civilian) clothes.  I've given my guy dark trousers, a sweater with a patterned band around the chest and green wellies (very common in Helensburgh at this time of year).

The dayglo coat was painted in my normal mixture of yellow and silver (1:1); the darker reflective strips are steel.  A thin, dark-coloured wash brings out some of the detail.

To finish, I printed off a couple of images for the "stop" sign and fixed these onto the model.  Once the glue was dry, I touched up the edge with some red paint, gave him a name ("Sid") and sealed the model.  Done!

22 comments:

  1. Awesome job! I love seeing 'unusual' civilian types in ATZ. Will this guy be a new addition to the 'B' Team?

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    1. Thanks, Jon. Yes, it had occurred to me that "Sid" is very much B-team material :-) .

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  2. He really is a great conversion, I think you've surpassed yourself. he's an obvious contender for the 'B' team too, even if I always think of your setting as being in the USA.

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    1. Thanks, Zabadak. I've never really been clear about where my ATZ games are set. Obviously, guns are more widely available than in the UK; perhaps it's a parallel universe? Or maybe just the USA after all? I'm not sure...

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  3. That's a great idea! Came out wonderful, too!

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    1. Thanks, Mathyoo. I wasn't sure how he would turn out until I painted the coat. Once the dayglo yellow was on, he started to look good!

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  4. Excellent conversion. I could see that STOP sign being wielded to deadly effect against zombies.

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    1. The STOP sign is *definitely* something that could count as an improvised, 2-handed weapon, isn't it :-) ?

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  5. That is one mighty cool conversion, Hugh.

    Yes, you would have to class the STOP sign as an improvised two-handed melee weapon.

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    1. Thanks, Bryan. I seem to be collecting quite a range of superlatives with this one!

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  6. That is a very clever idea and well executed as well. I wish I had thought of it!

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  7. +1 Stop sign of doom! Beware all zombies though shall meet thy death! Cracking conversion mate he looks great and the yellow is spot on.

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    1. I'm wondering if the STOP sign would be wielded edge-first or flat-side-first? Probably doesn't make much difference, really :-) ...

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  8. That is absolutely superb! I love seeing all things zombie related to everyday Britain, brilliant!

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    1. My zombie-related collection is somewhat schizophrenic, as some items (like this one) are better suited to the U.K. and others fit in better with the U.S.A. Oh, well...

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  9. Great looking figure...inspired work!

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  10. The modern stop sign is collapsible and can quickly break down onto 3 pieces.
    The disk might serve as an oversized thrown weapon (similar to the record collection in Sean of the Dead).
    The pole unscrews in the middle, so might serve as the classic staff (Robin Hood Vs Little John), or a pair of shorter sticks (Various Martial arts movies - badly synched dubbing is optional).

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    1. Hmm, if it were me then I think I'd want as much reach (and leverage!) as possible when fending off the undead hordes. So I'd leave the STOP sign fully assembled. Even if the pole broke apart fairly quickly, it's very important to win those first few encounters!

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  11. That is an absolutely splendid conversion Colgar! I wish I could do that ...

    Colour me both jealous and in awe ....

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    1. Thanks. And why exactly can't you do this :-) ?

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