From the “Weird” Workbench of Zebraoutrider
Gloom Trench 1926 Inspiration
With all the pain and suffering in the world at the moment, you can’t avoid an emotional impact. One way I’ve found to distract myself (not ignore) is to seek inspiration for a creative activity. By chance I came across a project on Gloom Trench 1926 from @fickledicegames. I’d not heard of this game but it intrigued me and I was taken with the pulp-like genre and the post WW1 Cthulhu-like narrative. On the downside, although the miniatures look great, I don’t have a 3D printer and it seemed a big leap and financial investment to take just for a few downloadable files. So, I looked for some proxies, and this gave me the opportunity to support Anvil Industries - an indie I’d been wanting to try out potentially as Astra Militarum proxies. Instead, I opted for a specialist x5 woman sniper squad with the instantly recognisable British Tommy helmet and a full x10 unit of dastardly villains with zombiefied helmeted heads and advanced tech weapons (and a couple of flamers). This customised lot all came to around £60. I added an extra pair of female legs and so the x5 woman Squad would have an officer - so 16 miniatures. 
The Anvil Industry Miniatures arrived within h 24 hours of purchase (UK). Super fast and the quality of the miniatures is really good. I’d say the Tommy heads are more finely printed/made than the zombie heads, but we’ll see how they come together when painted. I mixed the zombie heads with masked heads and it gives me a few spares for other projects. Originally I thought I might just use 30mm blank, lipped bases, but I still want to clear my pile of shame, so it seemed apt to look for a set of alternatives. 
I created the sniper unit first and used Micro Arts Studio Ancient 30mm lipped round base. Using superglue, the parts fitted pretty seemlessly. I added a GW Astra Militarum tank commander pistol to the officer’s belt, but apart from that I was pleased with the two hour preparation session.
Inspiration is a great thing and my creative storytelling made me think about having a ‘French Resistance’ contact for these British heroines. So turning to my pile of shame again, I pulled out a shotgun wielding pirate lady from Black Scorpion Miniatures that I picked up from Salute 2018. With a bit of rejigging of bases, I think she will add an extra dimension to the team… Magnificent Squad 7?
The villains in this story came together in an equally easy fashion as to the heroines. In fact, I was spoilt for choice in which heads to use. I’d have liked the officer to have been a little more dynamic, but as they are all undead, I guess a more static look would not be out of place. I used a bit of GW liquid green stuff to just fill wee gaps at the shoulders and hips and mounted then on a set of Fenris Dungeon bases from the pile of shame. 
In a similar fashion to the heroines, I wanted to give the villains an extra character, perhaps a modern necromancer. In the pile of shame for many years has been Lilith (Limited Edition) from Dark Age and examining her carefully, she seemed apt to fit that role.
Next up… painting schemes.
@fickledicegames thanks for the inspiration! ??Good luck with your own project…?
@zebraoutrider outstanding! They look great, brilliant work. I look forward to seeing your paint scheme.
By the way, our miniatures WILL be available in resin in the near future – just in case you wanted some. 😉