Thursday, November 14, 2024

Into the Wasteland: Commie Ghouls

While raiders tend to be the primary adversaries in post-apocalyptic settings, I like the idea of encountering remnants of the enemy communist army, even if they weren't major players in the later Fallout world. Fallout history has Red China as America's WW3 opponent, with the Russian Soviets being on the sideline.  However, Vermillion Miniatures has a great set of Soviets (Red Menace pack) that I couldn't resist. So they are going to be the bulk of my Commies, along with a few PLA navy ghouls by Marco R. Sassi from Fallout 4.

Painted 32mm 3D Print Fallout Red Menace Russian and Chinese Ghoul Communist Miniatures from Vermillion and Marco R. Sassi

The Red Menace pack can either be made with the troops as ghouls equipped with old weapons, or normal humans with high-tech weapons. I liked the ghoul idea, so went with that route.

Soviet Commander and Scientist. Though I took some liberties, I  based the officer's coat on ones used in the 1980s. Though it looks fairly blue in the photo, it's actually a cool grey in real life. The officer also has a cybernetic arm behind his back. Both versions of the scientist are only available in human form, so I'm having to assume he's been in some sort of statis if he arrived before the bombs. I tried to make his clothing look vinyl/rubber with more pronounced highlights and a satin finish, but I'm not 100% sold on the final effect.

Painted 32mm Fallout Red Menace Russian  Ghoul Communist Miniatures from Vermillion Miniatures

Soviet Science Officers. I thought the metal grating on the bases looked a bit plain, so I've added scraps of old propaganda posters to try and give them more visual pop.

Painted 32mm Fallout Red Menace Russian  Ghoul Communist Miniatures from Vermillion Miniatures

Soviet Troopers. As the center trooper is wearing a gasmask (something ghouls shouldn't need) I assumed he was another regular human from statis. Again, clothing colors are inspired by the 1980s.

Painted 32mm Fallout Red Menace Russian  Ghoul Communist Miniatures from Vermillion Miniatures

Soviet Power Armor. I used 1980's tank colors for reference.

Painted 32mm Fallout Red Menace Russian Communist Power Armor Miniatures from Vermillion Miniatures

Finally, there is Captain Zao and some crew from the Yangtze-31 submarine, as seen in Fallout 4. Though probably not appropriate for the deserts of New Vegas, they were an order freebie so I'm not going to complain. The pack usually has two different feral ghouls, but my free set had two duplicates.

Painted 32mm Fallout Chinese Ghoul Communist Miniatures from  Marco R. Sassi

Overall I'm really happy with this faction and I think they should be able to bring a bit of firepower again the New California Republic and the Brotherhood of Steel.

5 comments:

  1. Nicely done! For a movie in which a remnant commie army is roaming the wastelands of post-apocalyptic America, the very surreal "Six-String Samurai" has a Soviet nuclear strike followed by an invasion in its backstory. Among the various weird gangs the hero encounters during the movie is the remnants of the Soviet army, unaware that MAD meant the end of the USSR and awaiting resupply since 1957.

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  2. Major Thomas FooleryNovember 15, 2024 at 6:09 PM

    Thanks! I forgot about that movie; will have to give it a rewatch!

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  3. Love you paint scheme for these , you’ve given me a lot of inspiration for my set that I’m going to paint.

    I did have one question , where did you get Captain Zhao and the other sailor ghouls from? Did you contact the artist directly or is there a shop selling printed models ?

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    1. Thanks for the feedback! The Chinese were purchased from a 3D printer on Etsy, but I just checked and they closed up shop. Sorry, but maybe others might stock them.

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    2. No worries, I found the original artists contact details and got the files to print off , thankyou for looking though

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