Several months ago I followed a link from the Lead Adventures Forum to the website for a new UK company called Studio Miniatures. The site was pretty basic, but it had several promo pics of some breathtaking zombie miniatures and the promise that they would be available “soon.” I’ve been around the hobby for too long to put much faith in such promises, so I resolved to keep an occasional eye on them and hope they managed to get the minis out someday.

Lo and behold some weeks later I saw a post on TGN that the Studio minis were actually available. I immediately clicked over and ordered mine, and in short order they arrived, resplendent in full-color packages that started life as plastic videotape cases. I’ve seen this idea a couple of times before, and I still think it’s brilliant/ Why pay the money for an expensive custom box when the VCR tape clamshells are cheap, durable, readily available, and are designed to take a wraparound cover insert already?

The line consists (so far) of two “mobs” of zombie minis, available in both metal and resin. This review will cover the first, the second will be up a bit later after I finish painting it. Each set consists of eight figs, spread across an impressive range of gender, age, and background.

I’ll just come right out and say it. These are easily the best zombie miniatures I’ve seen so far. Everything about them is terrific. Go buy some now. What’s that, not convinced? You want some more details? Fine…

The detail in these figs is simply extraordinary. The anatomy is spot on, avoiding the bulging heads and huge hands that seem to plague many lines of 28mm minis. Clothes wrinkle convincingly and the fabric “hangs” on the figures very well. Even the tiniest details are well-rendered. The hilt of the katana sticking through the old mountain man sports a properly-wrapped hilt. The coffee cup carried by the old man in the bathrobe has a chip out of the rim, and his bunny slippers have discernable fur and tiny button eyes.

All of the minis have impressive amounts of character that makes them stand out from the crowd. I’ve written in other review how highly I value this in zombie figs. I have dozens of guys in chinos and a t-shirt shambling around in the classic “sleepwalker” pose. What makes these minis stand out is the care that has obviously been taken with their wardrobe and props. The old guy in his robe was perhaps jumped while going out to get his morning paper. The man toting the shotgun obviously did his best to fight off the horde but came up a little short. Who knows how that katana got stuck through the old bearded guy?

I find the varying damage sustained by individual zombie miniatures is a big part of what makes them unique and interesting. This is one more area where the Studio Zeds excel. They offer a fascinating spectrum of injuries from the comparatively minor like the blonde’s bitten hand through the serious gunshot wounds and dangling eyeball of the blue-shirted man and ending with the devastating “half zombie” that has had its entire lower trunk amputated. It would have been a lot less interesting if every fig had the worst possible injuries, or even similar cliché injuries like missing limbs. The level of creativity shown with the injuries is just one more element that really helps each zombie stand apart from the crowd (or horde as the case may be).

The sculptor even took care to give several of the fresher victims bandaged wounds, meaning that they sustained a bite in an earlier skirmish and became infected, but survived long enough to get medical attention before succumbing to the infection and Rising as zombies. That’s an impressive level of storytelling for a lump of inanimate metal, and it shows real thought and craftsmanship.

These are easily the favorite zombie minis of my entire horde of a hundred plus zeds so far. Characterful, detailed, and damaged in interesting ways, they excel is just about every way a zombie mini can, and I look forward eagerly to more releases from Studio Miniatures.

Pros: Incredible detail, Great personality, Excellent range of damage

Cons: Don’t paint themselves, Make many of my other zeds look sad

Final Verdict: 5/5

MSRP ₤16.99 metal, ₤24.99 resin

Source: Studio Miniatures

Popularity: 39% [?]

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