Ninja Babushka and company! Wasteland A-Team

So today I am very, very excited to bring you what has been a true labour of love. Creating this little group of survivors was an exercise in character creation, conversion, sculpting and painting. With each element informing one another as I pieced together who exactly these little people were. Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to them. I hope that you get along well, because if not Ninja Babushka will be most displeased.

Our brave heroes stare down the horde. An unfair fight, the zombies don't stand a chance.

So in creating these characters I did more than just give them names, I also considered that abilities they would have. These I have designed to be suitably generic so that they an be adjusted to whatever rule set is in use. Some of these abilities are suitably ridiculous, and generally unbalanced. That being said I have generally styled the group so that while lethal and incredibly strong at close range and melee, they are vulnerable to long range fire. So keep your distance if you want to live.

Ninja Babushka: The Iconic leader.

Nina Babushka.

Role: Leader, melee specialist.

Traits/Abilities: Babushka Knows Best

"So you think you are smarter than Babushka? Stronger than Babushka? Faster than Babushka? Hmph, we'll see."

- (Passive) Babushka automatically gains better stats than any model within her proximity.

She had a lot of sculpting work done to convert a tracksuit Ninja into a Babushka, it was also quite a joy to paint the floral pattern on her jacket.

She is perhaps the most deadly of the group. Do not think she is merely some little old lady, it might be the last mistake you make.

Fire-Fighter: Because there are so many fire puns.

Fire-Fighter.

Role: Specialist, flamethrower

Abilities/Traits: Firestarter

"I spent my life putting out other people's fires, now I just want to watch the world burn."

- (Passive) immune to all fire damage, flame attacks and ambient fires (including anomalies).

So you may think that a firefighter with a flamethrower would be a totally fantasy figure. Yet despite being out there I put a lot of work in to make them look just right. The helmet is based on some Russian firefighter helmets and the flamethrower is based on Soviet designs used during WW2. A lot of research for one made up figure.

A rather complex figure to make but one that is sure to turn up the heat.

Bolshy Nurse: Sick of zombies eating her patients.

Bolshy Nurse.

Role: Support, medic, dual pistols

Traits/Abilities: Placebo effect.

"After years of budget cuts, she's learned how to make a little go a long way"

- (Passive) gets at least double usage out of healing items.

This figure was the simplest conversion, just added a bag and trimmed her ponytail. That being said I was nice to make a more useful figure than just woman with pistols.

In terms of range (flamethrower not withstanding) she's the best equipped of the team. Again reinforcing the notion that this is a close combat group.

Warrior Chef: Dishing out wasteland justice.

Warrior Chef.

Role: Heavy, melee specialist

Abilities/Traits: Only the finest cuts

"She's the finest butcher in the zone, saw her cut a mutants arm clean off."

- (Cost action point, timed cool-down re-use) Perform a devastating melee attack that bypasses all armour and deals double damage.

Another more simple conversion. You have seen the base figure in a previous post. This figure has had a gender swap, is wearing a mask for good health safety and is using rubber gloves.

With figures like these the fake shadow technique really pops, much nicer than the quick wash technique I have used recently. Clean and bright may not be the most realistic but hey we're talking about a chef fighting with rubber gloves on.

Angry Teacher: Gives opponents bad grades.

Angry Teacher.

Role: Support, technician

Abilities/Traits: Lecture

"Can't tell if he's teaching them something, or just pissing them off?"

- (Cost an action point) Grants temporary combat buff to nearby allies.

Another more interesting conversion. Replaced an arm (he had a machete, not a pose I particularly like) and gave him to text books. Again another pistol wielding figure. So there are no long range weapons (the flamethrower can't really go that far).

Now the fact I made the ability of Angry Teacher to maybe being annoying people into success is in now way a reference to those of my friends or family who are teachers. It is totally a coincidence.

All the figures are a mix of Alliance Stalkers and Survivors, overall I really like the lively poses and the opportunities for conversion (as evidenced by my insistence on converting half of those I am working on). These figures were some of the first with my attempts at varnishing and it shows in their glossy finish. Since then I have got better results which will hopefully show on figures I will show off soon.

Anyway that is all for today, I hope you have enjoyed these figures, if you have any ideas for other characters, I am loving making these crazy characters. I do have more characters to show off, so until next time I wish you all a very good day/night.