Grabby Gorillas

I finally finished the last of my Apes, at least for the time being.
Assault Apes:
As with my previous ape units, I had made the mistake of priming these guys in black (specifically Vallejo 73.660 Surface Primer Gloss Black), airbrushing over it with Formula P3 Menoth White Highlight to try to get a better undercoat for the colours. In this case I followed up with an airbrushed basecoat of Vallejo 72.707 Game Air Gold Yellow.

The fur was GreenStuffWorld 1832 Redwood Brown drybrushed with Formula P3 Rucksack Tan. The leather was Formula P3 Bogrin Brown. Brass was Citadel Layer Gehenna's Gold over brown, usually Bogrin Brown. Steel was Vallejo 72.054 Game Color Gunmetal. The lenses were my usual mix of Green Stuff World 1872 Metal Color Neptunus Blue and Scalecolor SC-66 Speed Metal. I applied Vallejo 72.730 Game Air Goblin Green over the shoulder armour to tie them to the rest of my Apes.

The skin was basecoated Vallejo 70.992 Model Color Neutral Grey, then roughly highlighted with Vallejo 71.132 Model Air Aged White. The teeth, nails, and eyes were picked out with Menoth White Highlight, then the eyes were given dots of Redwood Brown. Finally the skin, eyes, and mouth were glazed with Citadel Shade Seraphim Sepia.

For the blue lamps I tried to create a transition by blending from Vallejo 72.021 Game Color Magic Blue, through Citadel Edge Baharroth Blue, up to a mix of Baharroth Blue and Vallejo 70.853 Model Color White Glaze. For the purple lamp I transition from Vallejo 70.960 Model Color Violet, through Vallejo 72.776 Game Air Alien Purple, up to a mix of Alien Purple and White Glaze. In all cases I tried to thin the mixes with lots of water and medium to try to build up the transitions with glazes, though the results were not as smooth as I had hoped.

I tried to create OSL effects using drybrushes of Magic Blue and Baharroth Blue. For the purple lamp I drybrushed Violet, Alien Purple, and then a mix of Alien Purple and Formula P3 Morrow White.

After cleaning up the yellow armour with Vallejo 72.007 Game Color Gold Yellow, I dipped the models in The Army Painter Quickshade Dip Dark Tone, carefully mopping up the excess dip with a brush to prevent unwanted pooling. This was followed with an airbrushed coat of Vallejo 26.518 Acrylic Varnish Matt.


These guys were more work than I like to put into my Monpoc units, especially with the yellow and the glows. I had a hard time painting the details; my eyesight is not what it used to be. I screwed up the skin highlights, especially around the face; their faces just look messy and overdone. The mouths don't look great either. Overall I can't say I'm completely satisfied with them; I'm not sure the yellow works that well with the brown fur and green armour. Although they do add a nice pop of colour in the family photo: