SWD – More Sturmzombies!

I painted 24 more Sturmzombies, taking my total up to 38! The Allies are about to be in a lot of trouble. These angry zeds took me 2 months to paint. I was pretty miserable by the end of it haha ... I'm never painting this many models at once again!

Here's the new ones:

And the whole horde:

And some close-ups:

I painted the original 14 Nazi zombie miniatures around 2011 and 2015. I used a completely different painting scheme for the new zombies. Thankfully they blend in well enough on the tabletop. I was worried I'd have to paint another 14 to replace them!

The scenic bases are detailed here. They are from Fenris Games, Dragon Forge Design, and Gadzooks Gaming.

Conversion Details

This was some of the most fun I've ever had doing conversions! I felt like a mad scientist – I was sawing off limbs and heads, drilling into skulls, attaching blades onto arm stumps ...

My goal was to make every zombie unique. On the extreme side I swapped torsos, cut off arms, and replaced heads. On the simpler side I bent arms and heads into new positions.

Ingredients:

• 2x Sturmzombies Pack A
• 2x Sturmzombies Pack B
• Zinge Industries Poseable Wrapped Wire
• Zinge Industries Cable Terminals
• Blades from Tiger Miniatures (WEP03, WEP04, and WEP18) purchased at Recreational Conflict in the US. This was the same store I got the Übertaucher and Zombie Monkeys from.
• Various blades from my Warhammer 40K bits box (likely from the Imperial Guard and Space Marines).
• SoTR Zombie Heads
• SoTR German Zombie Heads in Helmets
• SoTR British Weapons Upgrade Back
• Rubicon Models German Stowage Set 2

Tools:

• ProCreate Putty – For sculpting.
• Wowstick Electric Drill & 1mm Brass Rod  – For pinning body parts.
• Tamiya Handy Craft Saw II (#74111) & Fine Craft Saws (#74105) – For sawing off body parts.
• Soft Wire Cutter (similar to this one) – For cutting off body parts. I used this for most of the cuts. I only used the Tamiya Saw when I needed a perfectly flat cut, or when the metal was too thick for the wire cutters.

How to Bend Miniatures?

• The metal on these minis was soft enough to bend the arms, legs, heads, and hands into new positions very carefully. I did snap off a few arms and heads! Thankfully, zombies are quite forgiving of this...
• My technique was to wrap the body part in 4-6 layers of paper towel, then bend it slowly and steadily with a pair of pliers. The trick is to get it done in one or two steady attempts. The more times you stress the metal, the higher the chance it has of snapping. The paper towels help prevent the pliers' grooves from leaving marks on the mini.
• The hardest part was finding a good place to hold the mini with my other hand. It needs to be somewhere that (1) you won't kill your fingers from squeezing so hard, and (2) you won't accidentally bend that part instead of the desired part.
• If you're planning to remove the metal tab (slotta strip) from the miniatures (as I did), I recommend leaving them on until you're done bending the model. The slotta strip helps tremendously with finding a place to hold the mini while you bend it.

Gallery:

(Note: In every picture, the leftmost zombie is a "vanilla" unmodified version.)

Painting Guide

Here are the steps for how I painted my Sturmzombies.

The guide is quite long, mainly because there are three different uniforms to paint (German, American, and British). I put the uniforms at the end of the guide to help with reading.

Abbreviations:

• 70.XXX = Vallejo Model Color product number
• Citadel = Games Workshop Citadel Colour

Steps:

1. Assemble the models on their bases.
2. Prime Black – Use whatever brand of primer you prefer. I sprayed them with Citadel Chaos Black spray primer, then touched up the missed spots with Vallejo Black brush-on primer (70.602).
3. Paint the bases.
• I'm working on a guide for how to paint Incursion scenic bases. Check back for an update.
4. Skin (adapted from Dave Taylor's Tutorial):
1. Basecoat Rakarth Flesh (Citadel).
2. Wash with Reikland Fleshshade (Citadel).
3. Wash with Druchii Violet (Citadel).
4. Regular Skin:
1. Highlight with Ratskin Flesh (Citadel).
2. Highlight with 1:1 Ratskin Flesh / White (70.951).
5. Stitched On Hand:
1. Wash again with Druchii Violet.
2. Highlight with Brown Rose (70.803).
5. Paint the uniforms (see next sections).
6. Bones & Teeth:
1. Basecoat all exposed bones, the inside of the mouth, and the teeth with Burnt Red (70.814).
2. Basecoat the bones and teeth with Khaki (70.988).
3. Paint with 1:1 Khaki / Ivory (70.918). Leave some of the Khaki basecoat in the shadows.
4. Facial Bone:
1. Highlight with Ivory.
2. Wash lightly with Agrax Earthshade (Citadel). 
7. Brain:
1. Basecoat Burnt Red (70.814).
2. Paint with a thin coat of 1:1 Burnt Red / Pink (70.958).
3. Mix some White (70.951) into the Red/Pink mixture and use it to highlight the brain. 
8. Bandages:
1. Basecoat Burnt Umber (70.941).
2. Paint Khaki (70.988), leaving some basecoat in the shadows.
3. Highlight with a 1:1 mix of Khaki / Ivory (70.918).
9. Metal (blades, mind control pipes, mind control boxes):
1. Drybrush Gunmetal (70.836).
2. Wash with Nuln Oil (Citadel).
10. Hair:
1. Black:
1. Basecoat Black (70.950).
2. Highlight Black Grey (70.862)
3. Highlight Dark Grey (70.994).
2. Brown:
1. Basecoat German Camo Black Brown (70.822).
2. Paint Burnt Umber (70.941).
3. Highlight Flat Earth (70.983).
3. Blonde:
1. Basecoat Burnt Umber (70.941).
2. Paint Khaki (70.988).
3. Highlight heavily German Yellow (70.806).
11. Gasmask Lenses:
1. Paint 50/50 German Camo Black Brown (70.822) / Burnt Red (70.814).
2. Paint bottom right half Burnt Red.
3. Add a dot of 1:1 Red (70.926) / White (70.951) to the upper left corner and draw a half circle line on the bottom right.
12. Spilled Intestines:
1. Basecoat 1:1 Burnt Red (70.814) / German Camo Black Brown (70.822).
2. Paint Burnt Red.
3. Highlight Pink (70.958).
13. Varnish:
1. Apply 3 coats of matt varnish.
14. Apply blood effects with Citadel's Blood for the Blood God technical paint.

German Uniform:

Inspiration: Flames of War Guide, Official Paintjobs, image search of historical uniforms.

• Jacket, Pants, & Gasmask:
• Basecoat 1:1 Black (70.950) / German Fieldgrey WWII (70.830).
• Paint German Fieldgrey WWII, leaving the basecoat in the shadows.
• Highlight 5:2 German Fieldgrey WWII / White (70.951).
• Gasmask - Highlight the black parts with Basalt Grey.
• Boots:
• Basecoat Black (70.950).
• Paint Black Grey (70.862), leaving the basecoat in the shadows.
• Highlight Dark Grey (70.994).
• Highlight Basalt Grey (70.869).
• Belt Strap:
• Basecoat Black (70.950).
• Highlight Black Grey (70.862).
• Highlight Dark Grey (70.994).

American Uniform:

Inspiration: Flames of War Guide, Official Paintjobs, image search of historical uniforms.

• Pants, Helmet, & Gasmask:
• Basecoat 3:1 US Dark Green (70.893) / Black (70.950).
• Paint US Dark Green, leaving some basecoat in the shadows.
• Highlight 5:2 US Dark Green / White (70.951).
• Gasmask: 
• Highlight the black parts with Basalt Grey (70.869).
• Paint the strap Black.
• Undershirt:
• Basecoat Khaki (70.988).
• Paint Ivory (70.918), leaving some basecoat in the shadows.
• Jacket:
• Basecoat 1:1 Khaki (70.988) / German Camo Black Brown (70.822).
• Paint Khaki (70.988), leaving some basecoat in the shadows.
• Highlight 3:1 Khaki / Ivory.
• Shoes:
• Basecoat German Camo Black Brown (70.822).
• Paint Flat Brown (70.984), leaving some basecoat in the shadows.
• Highlight 4:1 Flat Brown / White (70.951).
• Anklets:
• Basecoat Burnt Umber (70.941).
• Paint Khaki (70.988), leaving some basecoat in the shadows.
• Highlight 3:1 Khaki / Ivory (70.918).
• Canvas Head Straps:
• Basecoat German Camo Black Brown (70.822).

British Uniform:

Inspiration: Flames of War Guide, Official Paintjobs, image search of historical uniforms.

• Jacket & Pants:
• Basecoat German Camo Black Brown (70.822).
• Paint English Uniform (70.921), leaving some basecoat in the shadows.
• Highlight 5:2 English Uniform / White (70.951).
• Anklets:
• Basecoat Burnt Umber (70.941).
• Paint Khaki (70.988), leaving some basecoat in the shadows.
• Highlight 3:1 Khaki / Ivory (70.918).
• Boots:
• Basecoat Black (70.950).
• Paint Black Grey (70.862), leaving some basecoat in the shadows.
• Highlight Dark Grey (70.994).
• Highlight Basalt Grey (70.869).
• Helmet:
• Basecoat 1:3 Black (70.950) / Camouflage Olive Green (70.894).
• Paint 1:6 Black / Camouflage Olive Green, leaving some basecoat in the shadows.
• Paint Camouflage Olive Green, leaving some of the previous layer in the shadows.
• Highlight 1:2 White (70.951) / Camouflage Olive Green.
• Gasmask (reference):
• Basecoat Black (70.950).
• Highlight Black Grey (70.862). Leave the center the of eye lenses black.
• Highlight Dark Grey (70.994).
• Highlight Basalt Grey (70.869).
• Paint the eye-rings and the tip of the filter Gunmetal (70.863).
• Assault Bren (reference) (reference):
• Wood (buttstock, pistol grip, foregrip):
• Basecoat Flat Brown (70.984).
• Highlight Mahogany Brown (70.846).
• Metal (all else):
• Basecoat Neutral Grey (70.992).
• Wash with Nuln Oil (Citadel). Let it gather in the recesses. The Neutral Grey should still be visible on the exposed areas.
• Highlight with Gunmetal (70.863). Try spreading it out a bit rather than having sharp lines.

Alternate Skin Recipes:

I tried out 3 different skin recipes – Dave's scheme and 2 variations of it:

All recipes used Dave's scheme. The only difference was in the 2 flesh tones I painted after the washes:

• Left
• Highlight with a 1:1 mix of Rakarth Flesh (Citadel) and Light Flesh (70.928).
• Middle
• Highlight with Beige Red (70.804).
• Highlight with Basic Skin Tone (70.815). 
• Right (Dave's recipe)
• Highlight with Ratskin Flesh (Citadel).
• Highlight with 1:1 Ratskin Flesh / White (70.951).

In the end I liked Dave's recipe the best.

Actual Skin Recipe:

The skin recipe I provided in this guide is not the exact one I used. I actually washed twice with Druchii Violet and once with a green color in random spots (to look like rotting flesh). I ended up not liking this scheme and wishing I had stuck with Dave's scheme since it looked the best.