Episode 598: Never Mind the Curtains

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Dave

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Zombie Cliche Lookout: Nailing In

Longtime readers of the comic will know that we are finally arriving at one of my all time favorite zombie tropes: boarding up the house. I’m honestly not sure what it is I like so much about it, probably it’s a lot of little things. Most immediately I’m reminded of cartoons I watched when I was a child where characters would board up a door with comical speed. The end result was always a chaotic mess of boards nailed up at every conceivable angle. Invariably, that same character would then need to get back out the door they had just nailed shut, and so the entire process would run in reverse.

Of course, it’s not just the allusions to cartoons that makes me like this trope. There’s also a sense of seeing myself in the characters that are hurriedly nailing up barricades. It’s one of those tasks that most people can do, even if you’re not terribly mechanically inclined. Of course, those who are completely clueless around tools will likely do a pretty poor job of it. I’m actually surprised that hasn’t popped up as a plot thread in zombie stores. Granted, it’s much harder to miss studs around windows and doors, but I’ll bet we all know a few people who could manage it.

About this Episode:

I really like using capes as curtains in builds. They really look the part, although there are occasional issues where the colors are slightly different. Regardless, ever since I put these up in this set, I’ve been waiting for a character to tear them back down. At last, that dream is realized.

Discussion Question: Screwing up the Zombie Barricade

I want to roll with the idea of messing up zombie barricades a bit, and see what sort of ideas you guys had on the subject. I think there are two ways to approach this: how people might actually mess it up (missing studs, using crappy wood, etc), and how that might impact the story. Let’s hear your ideas!

34 thoughts on “Episode 598: Never Mind the Curtains”

  1. Typo alert, Zombie Cliche Lookout, second pragraph, last sentence: “Granted, it’s much harder to miss studs around windows and doors, but I’ll bet we all know a few people would could manage it.” Replace bolded word either with “who” or “that”. 😀 Dave’s choice, as always! 😉

    About This Episode, second sentence: “They really look the part, although there are occasional issues where the colors are slight different.” slight–>slightly 😀

    • Fixed both; thanks!

      • Ooh, I also put the wrong episode number in; better fix that too.

  2. The Almighty Barricade: One of my favorite times as well.
    How about where did all those nails come from or converting screws to nails

    • I assume Barb works like me, with pockets full of nails. The real question is, where was she hiding the hammer?

  3. I’d say missing studs would probably be the #1 way to make it ineffective, but there’s also hurting yourself with the hammer.

    I’ve got several scenes coming up where people fortify the buildings they’re in. In most cases they are either barricading doors/windows/stairs with furniture or boarding up doors, but one building gets its three points of ingress fortified with sandbag barricades. This allows the characters with firearms to go outside and do a little proactive defense.

    The problem with boarding up the doors and windows is that you can’t see what’s going on, and you can’t defend yourself until the barricade is being breached (for the most part…I’ve seen this done better in cowboy movies, but it tends not to be the case in zombie movies).

    • Excellent points. What are you using for sandbags?

      • Third-party Lego-ish accessories: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Custom-Army-Sandbags-Bunker-Military-TAN-and-DARK-compatible-with-LEGO-minifigs-/251543496538?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a9129275a

        • Nice!

  4. Honestly, who uses nails anymore??? I have tons of screws lying around but the only nails I have are small finishing nails. Screws have more “bite” and can be driven in with less noise anyway. Assuming you have a cordless drill or impact driver. Missing the studs would be a huge problem, not to mention trying to work around the window molding. It would be a lot easier to take the extra minute or two needed to pry off the window molding so the board would fit flush to the wall. Plus that would expose the extra framing around the window and you could be sure you drove your fastener into the studs.

    • Excellent points here; I hadn’t thought about how trim would effect things. You’re absolutely right, the molding would need to go, otherwise you’re losing a lot of the strength of the barricade.

  5. Let’s start with the studs. Amazing everyone thinks there are still wood studs to find with all the alternative frames for houses to be made of these days. Think about boarding up a steel frame house.

    • I hadn’t considered that either; I’ve never worked on a non-wood stud framed home, but I know there are a lot out there.

  6. Oh Murphy’s laws of Combat state: Make it to hard for the enemy to get in and you can’t get out.

    • Hah. Indeed!

      • And the cartoons totally destroy this by having some character or characters running away right through a door, barricaded or not! 😀

        • Dammit, man. You’d spoiled the upcoming moment where Clark makes a big Clark-shaped hole in the wall while escaping zombies.

        • That would be a good April 1st joke, now you need something different for Wednesday! 😀 Or you could still pull it off, just change things up a bit! 😀

        • That would be a good April Fool’s comic. I don’t know if I’ve got the time to pull something like that off (busy weekend), but I’m going to file it away, because it’s a damn good idea.

        • In any case, I’d like to see Dave make a perfect Clark-shaped hole in LEGO! So bring it! 😉

        • That’s definitely the challenge. We do need more cartoon physics around here.

        • Hah! Live commentary FTW! You ever considered a chat box on this site? That could be neat! 😀

        • It would be cool, but I wouldn’t have the time to dedicate to it on a regular basis; I’m just lucky to have caught you while you were commenting.

        • It mostly just needs to be some chat box with a reasonably effective spambot deterrent, do let us know if you ever find something good enough for a test run! 😀

        • It definitely something to think about for the upgrade I’m working on.

        • Changing the subject to zombies for a second, I’m finding the ones over at Harry Potter comics I reported to you to be remarkably resilient when it comes to trying to shoot them dead! 😀

        • Man, I still need to circle around to that and get it checked out.

        • Yeah, it’s kind of tough having to follow a non-zombie comic when you have a lot of zombie related stuff to look into! Although, I do assume Dave has other zombies, unless his wife thinks his obsession is something she’s okay with, and just lets him have at it! 😀

        • *zombie-related stuff I mean, sorry about that. 😀

        • Oh yeah, I’m awash in zombie related stuff. Books, games, comics. All good stuff.

  7. Anyway, I gtg, take care now! 😀

    • Have a good one!

  8. I think that the wood should hold, but they don’t put enough nails on one of the barricades, perhaps sticking to the 2 on each side that seem to be default in most lego sets. If it was like a bedroom or bathroom window (you could add some comedy with the bathroom one)

  9. Hmm, not seeing a comic for today yet, did something stuff up in the publishing again? 😀