Zombie of the Month August 2015- The Lovely Ladies of Malifaux, Part Two: Rotten Belles (metal edition)

Good evening everyone.  Ali is a bit busy making new friends this month, so I stepped in to try to raise up an article for her.  Our zombie of the Month this time around is a part two of an eventual four parter starring the Lovely Dead Ladies of Malifaux.  This one is the Rotten Belles edition.

Why is this a four parter, you ask?  Well, these happen to be a pair of the original white metal Rotten Belles, recently replaced with Malifaux's incredibly detailed (read: multi-pieced) plastic kits.  I still have these lovely ladies of the metal nights laying around needing some paint, and since my Red Chapel list intends to have a brothel full, it just makes sense to field both the plastic and metal ones for some variety.  Not that I'm scoring any 6MMRPC points with these, since I still never got around to the rest of the box, but it's a start, right? Ali already gave us a look at the Dead Doxies in their original metal form, and is very keen on the recently announced plastic kit.  So... there's your four part harmony of dead hookers.

Ali covered all the things that make dead hookers wonderful models back in February, so go look that up.  As for these two... well, even in metal there was something special about this box. I really liked the way the figured  could be painted to be coyly trying to hide their undead state if you wanted, and the dresses and parasols  had a ton of period detailing in them.

My brushwork isn't quite up to AA's standards, but I'm pretty pleased with how they came together.  At least, that was, until I couldn't find what I did with the parasol pieces.  Enjoy my lack of organization and I'll swap out the pictures later this week.  You will also notice these models are both standing at lamp posts.  For consideration of gameplay for my opponent, all my Rotten Belle models are "lamped", while my Dead Doxies are not.... there's very little to tell the models apart if you're unfamiliar with the faction, so it's a nice method of separation.

The Basics:

Scale- Scale is kind of an inside joke in Malifaux.... originally billed as 28mm, the models drift a bit even in the metals, and far worse in the new allegedly 32mm scale plastics. And these girls are not dinky even for that scale, measuring 35mm to top of the head.

Genre- Victorian- the best genre for that zombie hooker effect 

Material- White metal.  Not my favorite.... but my favorite for "previously owned" models as these were, because stripping them is easier.  

Parts ‘N’ Bits- Just what you need.  Although, I suggest replacing the parasol arms with rod to keep them straight.  

Assembly- Most of them were one pieced, with the parasols (and sometimes attached had) being a second piece. 

Bases- The 30mm lipped variety, so popular in skirmish gaming these days. 

Ratings:

Sculpt- 4 brains out of 5- These girls hold up well for their age.  Sure, there's some nicer models on the market these days (including their replacements), but there's some really good character involved in these, and the sculpting was really solid for it's time.  There's no shame in dropping these on your table, that's for sure. 

Affordability- 2 brains out of 5- If you can find them retail, they will run you around $10-$15. However, that's not terribly likely. So I'm leaving this affordability really low, under the assumption that you will need to spend at least that, if you can find someone willing to part with them, and that's if no one else bidding on Ebay wants them more than that.

Value- 3 brains out of 5- As far as a general zombie horde goes, they are not that terribly important, considering how hard they are to find at this point. They are, however, wonderful to look at, and have great personalities. If you are building a collection of great characters, or a themed horde that they match, this will, of                                                                 course, be higher.

Availability- 2 brains out of 5- And unless you're getting them in a job lot of metal Resurrectionist models, that's going to be child-sized brains at that.  Fortunately, any Red Chapel leftover metal box or second hand auction is going to include them, so you can generally find them so long as you don't mind picking up other models with them  (I personally really like the metal Seamus and Copycat killer models, so extras aren't a problem.  Besides, you should have four or five of the dapper gentleman in different suits.  The clothes make the man after all.) 

Pros: Dead. Hookers.  I really can't imagine they need more pros than that. 

Cons: Unless you're doing Victorian horror (which there's a fair amount of), the clothing and parasols aren't going to allow them to fit into your horde easily. 

Well, that's it for me folks! Stay tuned for your regularly scheduled necromancer next month!!!

Second Class Elitist.