Apes Improvise Armaments

For some reason I had an easier time with this bunch than with the previous batch. I wanted to try some different colours on these guys, giving them darker fur and a slightly different leather colour, though I stuck with the same green for the armour. As I was working on them I realised one had a very bad miscast on his left arm. Rather than wait for a replacement, I decided to give him a hook, which would mark him as the leader. I had a really hard time deciding on a colour for the guns. I wanted a military colour, and was thinking about using a khaki/tan like I had on my GUARD's units as the weapons are clearly repurposed from human militaries. However a jungle green felt more fitting for some reason, though I was worried about the guns not standing out from the armour in that case. I tested several colours before deciding on a dark, almost brownish green.

Citadel Foundation Gretchen Green, Formula P3 Battledress Green, Citadel Foundation Knarloc Green, Citadel Base Castellan Green

Ape Gunners:
After priming with Vallejo 73.660 Surface Primer Gloss Black then P3 Menoth White Highlight, I basecoated in Vallejo 72.730 Game Air Goblin Green.

This time I used Green Stuff World 1832 Redwood Brown for the fur, which I drybrushed with Formula P3 Rucksack Tan. The skin was the same Vallejo 70.992 Model Color Neutral Grey, roughly highlighted with Vallejo 71.132 Model Air Aged White. After picking out the fingernails with Aged White (iirc), and painting the eyes with Menoth White Highlight (thinned with P3 Mixing Medium and water) and Redwood Brown (thinned with Mixing Medium), I glazed the skin and eyes with Citadel Shade Seraphim Sepia.

For the leather this time I wanted to try my new Formula P3 Bogrin Brown. I was worried it might be too rich, but I think it came out nicely. For the brass fittings I applied Citadel Layer Gehenna's Gold over the same brown. The goggle lenses were the same mix of Green Stuff World 1872 Metal Color Neptunus Blue and Scalecolor SC-66 Speed Metal that I used for previous apes. The spare ammo was simply Citadel Base Mephiston Red; I didn't want to go brighter as I didn't want to draw attention away from the rest of the model.

The colour I finally settled on for the field guns was Citadel Base Castellan Green. The metal bits were Citadel Base Leadbeltcher, and the tires were Vallejo 70.862 Model Color Black Grey.

After all that I dipped the models in The Army Painter Quickshade Dip Dark Tone, carefully mopping up the excess with a brush, then airbrushing on Vallejo 26.518 Acrylic Varnish Matt after the dip had dried. I was a bit heavy-handed with the superglue when glueing them to their base, and there's some frosting on the models' legs. I'm sure I could get rid of it if I could be bothered.


Overall I think they're fine, and I'm feeling motivated to knock out my last Ape unit just so I can say my Apes are done. Now I'm not saying I WILL be doing that anytime soon...