Resident Evil: Albert Wesker – S.T.A.R.S. / Undercover Operative

Albert Wesker

Wesker is the main recurring villain in the Resident Evil games.  When first encountered in the original game he appears to be part of the S.T.A.R.S. team.  As the story progresses it becomes apparent that he has his own agenda.  By the end of the game he has been exposed the T-virus.

Conveniently, the effect that the T-virus has on Wesker involves a whole lot less brutally ugly physical mutation than it tends to have on everything else that it comes into contact with.

The overall effect on Wesker after Resident Evil is the usual suite of enhanced senses, stamina and agility plus his eyes take on a glowing and reptillian look.  Also conveniently for Wesker, he always wears sunglasses, so even that mutation wasnt a big problem for him I suspect.

None of that matters in the context of this figure anyway as it depicts Wesker as a S.T.A.R.S. member during RE but before the viral exposure.

"The ultimate lifeform. Tyrant".

Wesker is a miniature from Recreational Conflict/Lead Bones, like all of the RE figures that I have posted recently, barring Ada Wong. Like all of the Resident Evil figures, Weskers paint job is basic and functional.  The figure is very recognisable as the character from the games, which is the most important thing.

Resident Evil: Jill Valentine – S.T.A.R.S.

Jill Valentine

“Jill is a member of S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team.  She is a highly intelligent agent who possesses both quick reflexes and common sense.  She has been decorated for her bravery in many dangerous situations where her cool judgement kept herself and others alive!”

So says the Resident Evil rulebook with regard to Jill Valentine.  Like Chris, Jill is one of the two main player characters in Resident Evil (players got to play RE1 using Rebecca for a short period when Chris was bitten by a “Yawn” (a huge mutant snake ), but Rebecca wasnt a fully fledged playable character until RE0, a prequel made about a decade later).

Jill also appeared in RE3: Nemesis but she was wearing a different outfit from that shown above.  That outfit is more or less the same as the outfit worn by Sienna Guillory when playing Jill in the pretty rubbish Resident Evil: Apocalypse movie.

Jill is probably best known in gaming circles for being the “Master of Unlocking”.  This is what her team mate Barry Burton calls her when handing her her signature lockpick early on in the original PS1 version of RE.  Although you probably had to be there, trust me: its unintentionally hilarious.

Check out a few of the worst PS1 RE dialogue clips here.  Of particular note is Barry and Jills light hearted discussion or her near fatal run-in with in a trap room with a descending ceiling.  Barry talks about his team-mate nearly becoming a “Jill sandwich!”.  Then they both laugh, the scamps.

Master of Unlocking

Like the rest of my recently painted RE figures, Jill got a pretty basic paint job.  Base coats, some washes, one or sometimes two highlights: nothing too fancy, plenty good enough for gaming with.

Like Chris and Wesker, I didnt have the patience to paint “S. T. A. R. S.” on her back (I barely have the patience even to type it).  I simply painted five lines where the letters should be and left it at that.

Like Leon, Jill is one of the better and more recognisable sculpts in the range IMO.  Its nice having such a recognisable rendition of such an iconic character of the genre for gaming with.  If you like toy soldiers and Resident Evil video games then you should definitely keep an eye out for Jill.

Resident Evil: Rebecca Chambers – S.T.A.R.S.

Rebecca Chambers

According to the Resident Evil 0, Rebecca Chambers is:

“The most recent member of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team.  An intelligent woman who graduated from university at the age of 18.  A highly organised agent who knows how to take control of any situation”.

Rebecca has a small playable role in Resident Evil but was one of the two main characters in RE0.

"The name is Rebecca Chambers, but that's *Officer* Chambers to you".

Rebecca is obviously a medic.  I rushed the cross on her back a little too much.  It could do with being a bit neater.

Resident Evil: Ada Wong – Covert Operative

Ada Wong

Ada first featured in Resident Evil 2 although I dont think that she was a playable character at any stage (I might be wrong though.  Its a long time since I played it).  She reappeared in RE4 where she had a pretty substantial unlockable minigame.

Ada conforms to a pretty standard femme-fatale-assassin-with-a-heart-of-gold archetype in the games.  In addition to always being shown to be a powerful adversary she has a “will they, wont they” relationship with Leon.

"You know what this is about... so just hand over the G-Virus..."

The figure that I used for Ada is from Hasslefree.  The other RE figures that I have been putting up recently are Recreational Conflict/Lead Bones, but those guys dont make a not-Ada.  Although the figure isnt perfect for representing Ada, it is a really nice figure.

Although the paint job was pretty simple (and I decided not to attempt Adas signature butterfly motif anywhere on her dress) it worked put pretty well.  Apart from her crossed right eye that I only spotted once I photographed the miniature.  I will get around to fixing that when I get a new prescription for my glasses Id say.

Resident Evil: Carlos Oliveira – U.B.C.S.

Carlos Oliveira

According to the Resident Evil 3: Nemesis rulebook:

“Though Carlos hails from South America, his exact origins are unknown except that he carries Indian blood”.

“He is a U.B.C.S. soldier, in charage of heavy firearms, security and mission back-up.  He is also responsible for weapons maintenance”.

“At first sight he may appear inexperienced and immature.  He is actually warm-hearted, with a strong sense of right and wrong”.

The Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (U.B.C.S.) that Carlos is part of when first encountered in RE3, is a different group to the Umbrella Security Service (which I posted about here, here and here).  According to the Resident Evil Wiki “the U.S.S. were specially taught mercenaries with experience in infiltration while U.B.C.S. were just criminals released to fight for Umbrella”.  Who knew?

"I know. You want to ask me out. All the foxy ladies love my accent. It drives them crazy".

Carlos is a a playable character in RE3: Nemesis and he also appeared in two of the movies.  In the game he was unaware of how eeevil the Umbrella Corp was, despite being on their military payroll.  Hence the Umbrella logo on his jacket.

Resident Evil: Leon S. Kennedy – Government Agent

Leon S. Kennedy

“Agent for the U.S. Government.  He has been sent to Europe on a solo mission to rescue the Presidents kidnapped daughter, Ashley.  Leon is one of the few people who survived the destruction of Raccoon City six years ago.”

Leons blurb according to the Resident Evil 4 rulebook.  Leon also appeared in Resident Evil 2, but the figure is based on his Resident Evil 4 look.  Like pretty much all of the Resident Evil game franchise, RE2 was great, as good as RE4 I think.

"Used to be a cop myself, only for a day though".

The figure is immediately recognisable as the character from the games.  His floppy fringe is exaggerated a bit which gives him a bit of a Morten Harket look, which is mildly amusing

The figures mouth is broad, quite Martin Landau like.  I am not sure if I managed to unintentionally make that happen with paint or if it is part of the sculpt.  Also, Leons left arm looks to be a tiny bit on the short side but as far as I am concerned these are minor issues.  I like the figure, the character and the way that the paint job turned out.

Resident Evil: Chris Redfield – S.T.A.R.S.

Chris Redfield

“Chris is a member of the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team.  He is a seasoned veteran who possesses both intelligence and immense strength.  He has completed numerous missions by overcoming critical situations and great danger.”

Thats what the Gamecube version of the Resident Evil rulebook says about Chris, in predictably stilted terms (although the Gamecube version was a hell of a lot less awkward in terms of language that the PS1 version was. “Master of unlocking” indeed.).

I loved that game on the PS1.  It was probably my creepiest video gaming experience (and corresponding Xmas) ever.  It was also the beginning of my ongoing interest in zombie related media and so I have been on the look out for miniatures to represent the RE characters ever since.

S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team Member

When I found that the Recreational Conflict modern horror range (“Lead Bones”) has eight figures that bear a lot of similarities to the characters from the game franchise I kinda had to get them, a bit like when I found out that Studio Miniatures made a not-Alice.  The first figure for show is Chris.

It was, as usual a pretty quick paint job: base coat, wash, one or maybe two highlights, a small bit of detailing.  I didnt have the patience to paint “S. T. A. R. S.” on his back and settled for a vague approximation instead.  On a gaming table it wont be noticed I am certain.  The sculpts face is a litle bit simian and I am not terribly keen on the legs akimbo look but I still get a kick out having Chris from Resident Evil in with my zombie figures.

More Resident Evil protagonists to follow.

Last Night on Earth: Growing Hunger

After painting up the survivors and zombies from Last Night on Earth I started on the figures in the first supplement, Growing Hunger.  I was a little dissatisfied with the effect generated by dipping the figures from the original game after only a base coat.  From there on I started to shade and highlight some of the figures a little more before painting them and that continues right up to the figures that I am currently painting. 

Although I still painted the Growing Hunger figures very quickly I spent a fraction more time on them than I did on the base game guys.

Kenny: Bag-boy

 

Sam: Diner cook and Vietnam vet'.

 

Detective Rachelle Winters

 

Amanda: Prom Queen

 

The zombie miniatures that are supplied with Growing Hunger are called “Grave Dead” and are intended to be easily distinguishable from the guys from the original box.  In game terms they are used to represent ragers or fast zombies or highly contagious guys.  With that in mind I decided to stray a little from regular zed colour schemes.

The figures are supplied made of red plastic.  This plus the fact that when a regular zombie becomes a fast zombie in the Resident Evil games it turns reddish, grows claws and becomes known as a Crimsonhead.

Crimsonhead (image courtesy of residentevil.wikia.com)

With that in mind I decided to paint the GH zombies with a very easily distinguishable scheme for ease of ID. 

 

Grave Dead

 

In Resident Evil if these guys stick around long enough then apparently they then turn into Lickers.

Last Night on Earth: Zombies

The same learning process that was used when painting the LNoE survivors is apparent in the paint jobs on these guys.  Like the survivors I regret not spending a little more time on these figures but they still look plenty good enough to game with.

The skinny zombie with his arm by his sides (first and third in the first photo) comes from the Mall of Horror boardgame.  I swapped out half of the LNoE guys for MoH guys for game identification purposes (if there are two zombie players they split the available zombies up.  Using a different zombie figure makes it easier to tell them apart).

Zombies

 

Reanimated Corpses

 

The dead rise...

 

... and feed upon the living.

Last Night on Earth: Survivors

 

Last Night on Earth is a fun, modern horror boardgame with a zombie theme.  While it isnt a huge brain burner it isnt completely random either and it generates the “feel” of the movies that it is based on extremely well.  When the game was released some whiners gave out about the game balance making it too hard for the heroes.  That was garbage.  The game balance, although subject to the occasional blowout one way or another is actually pretty finely balanced.

A big draw of the game for me was the 14 zombie and 8 survivor miniatures that came supplied with the game.  They are roughly 28mm scale and therefore they fit in well with the rest of my figures, which was a big bonus.  They are made of a flexible plastic but they took and retained paint just fine.

Like the Descent figures, the LNoE figures are an early experiment with the dipping technique.  At the time I was experimenting to see how much of a shading effect I could get with dipping over a flat base coat.  As a result these paintjobs are pretty rudimentary.  For the purposes of playing a boardgame with however, they are fine.  If I were to paint them again now I would put a little more effort into them though.

Nurse Becky

 

Jenny: Farmers Daughter

 

Sheriff Anderson

 

Jack Anderson

 

Sally: High School Sweetheart

 

Johnny: Jock

 

Father Joseph

 

Jake: Drifter