"Zombies: real-world colors?" Topic

I've seen a lot of Zombies over the last 40+ years, in movies, and miniature figures. I'm finally, after 25+ years, painting a set of GW Zombies. I decided to search the Internet for RW images to see what colors are most prevalent…

Red, pink, and darker browns, with some off-white bone colors. No purples, no greens. Pretty simple, pretty straightforward colors.

Kind of disappointing, really. Not very pleasant to view, either. I braced myself, expecting it to be far worse.

Now, I need to break out my reds, and my bone colors. A brown wash will bring it all together, realistically. This is much simpler than I imagined. Cheers!

I did some color experimentation when I painted mine, so I have different flesh tones that I attribute to the zombies freshness and the disease process.

One of my oldest friends is an undertaker. I asked him what does a "ripe" corpse look like, and he said pretty much what the OP said, especially about the browns. My friend would know of course; he's told me some stories…

Damon.

Please don't take this wrong, however, it reminds me of the old quote I once heard; "I'm doing historical research on my orc army".

Paint as you want and if the end result pleases you, that is all that matters.

I use very pale flesh with a sepia wash.

Col Durnford, no offense taken. Fantasy requires suspension of disbelief. However… That can be stretched to the breaking point.

Since Zombies are based on animated, rotting corpses, the most effective portrayal would be to use the RW coloration of a rotting corpse.

I continue to find that the RW is often more bizarre and interesting than what human writers can dream up on their own. I'll make stuff up, when necessary. But if there is a RW analogy that I can base my fantasy off of, I will use it to my full advantage.

Zombies that look like RW rotting corpses are more believable. Most gamers have already seen rotting animal corpses, so this will tie in with what they already know and understand. It will make it that much easier to suspend their disbelief. It will also likely enhance the, "Ick!", factor. If the players are loathe to touch the miniatures, I will know that I have succeeded. LOL! Cheers!