I have just recently painted the first four Survivor figures from the Studio Miniatures Z-Clips Outbreak Kickstarter parcel I received late last year. Any zombie fan should instantly recognise them as the four heroes from George A. Romero's classic 1978 film, Dawn of the Dead.
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First in line are the two WGON television staff members, Francine and Stephen. What is immediately apparent about the figure of Francine Parker (as played by Gaylen Ross) is just how small she is. This is not meant as a criticism, just an observation. Francine works in administration and is the girlfriend of Stephen, from whom she learns how to pilot a helicopter just in case anything untoward happens to him. Note, it does! She is a strong-willed character and is armed with a Bolt Action Rifle.
Stephen Andrews (played by David Emge) is a helicopter pilot, who earns the nickname "Flyboy" in the film. He is often rash and prone to acting first before thinking of the consequences. When the zombie apocalypse kicks off he plans to fly Francine, himself and their friend, Roger, away from Philadelphia to somewhere safer. Haven turns out to be a huge shopping mall located in Monroeville. He is armed with a six-shot revolver.
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Next up are the two SWAT Troopers, Peter and Roger. Roger DeMarco (played by Scott Reiniger) is a close friend of Stephen and Francine. For the most part, Roger acts very professionally but when on a zombie clearing mission outside the Monroeville Mall, he gets overconfident and suffers a zombie bite, which inevitably, proves fatal. He is armed with a 9mm Pistol (held in a two-handed grip) and a 5.56mm Colt AR-15 Assault Carbine.
Peter Washington (played by Ken Foree) teamed up with Roger when they were part of a SWAT team tasked to clearing out an apartment block whose residents were defying martial law by refusing to hand over their dead to the National Guard. Afterwards, Roger invited Peter to join his trio to flee in Stephen's helicopter. Peter more than proved himself capable and was the most level-headed of the group. He is armed exactly the same as Roger.
Of all the survivor figures made for a zombie apocalypse game these are the four I have been waiting for the longest. I was just 21 when I first saw Dawn of the Dead in the cinema way back in early 1979. No other film since has made such a lasting impression on me as that one! It totally blew me away and so began my lifelong love affair with all things zombie-related. Even today, Dawn of the Dead remains my all-time favourite zombie movie. Studio Miniatures are renowned for making arguably the best sculpted zombie miniatures on the market and these four survivors are just first rate. The likenesses to their on screen characters are amazing. I am dying to use them in a game of Zombicide set in a shopping mall, of course!
I leave you with a couple of photos taken from the film, showing all four survivors together.
Stephen Andrews (played by David Emge) is a helicopter pilot, who earns the nickname "Flyboy" in the film. He is often rash and prone to acting first before thinking of the consequences. When the zombie apocalypse kicks off he plans to fly Francine, himself and their friend, Roger, away from Philadelphia to somewhere safer. Haven turns out to be a huge shopping mall located in Monroeville. He is armed with a six-shot revolver.
Peter Washington (played by Ken Foree) teamed up with Roger when they were part of a SWAT team tasked to clearing out an apartment block whose residents were defying martial law by refusing to hand over their dead to the National Guard. Afterwards, Roger invited Peter to join his trio to flee in Stephen's helicopter. Peter more than proved himself capable and was the most level-headed of the group. He is armed exactly the same as Roger.
Of all the survivor figures made for a zombie apocalypse game these are the four I have been waiting for the longest. I was just 21 when I first saw Dawn of the Dead in the cinema way back in early 1979. No other film since has made such a lasting impression on me as that one! It totally blew me away and so began my lifelong love affair with all things zombie-related. Even today, Dawn of the Dead remains my all-time favourite zombie movie. Studio Miniatures are renowned for making arguably the best sculpted zombie miniatures on the market and these four survivors are just first rate. The likenesses to their on screen characters are amazing. I am dying to use them in a game of Zombicide set in a shopping mall, of course!
I leave you with a couple of photos taken from the film, showing all four survivors together.
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| Fran, Stephen, Peter and Roger take a well earned break from killing zombies in the Monroeville shopping mall. |
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| Ready for action. Roger may be down but he's not out of the fight just yet. Now let's kill some zombies! |