Experimental Apes

I finally got some Empire of the Apes units done. I started with the specialists so I could try some tests and see what I liked. I tried to use similar colours to my King Kondo, with the addition of a military green as a sort of "faction colour". However, Kondo himself was a little labour-intensive and didn't exactly turn out perfectly, so I tried to streamline the process somewhat.

All the ape units were primed in Vallejo 73.660 Surface Primer Gloss Black. I intially tried to airbrush some basecoats over that, but found it was too dark and the colour was too hard to build up. So instead I gave all the ape units a basecoat of P3 Menoth White Highlight that I could layer the actual colours on top of. I then airbrushed some rough basecoats of Vallejo 72.730 Game Air Goblin Green where needed. With the airbrushing done, I started on the Command Ape first. I found him surprisingly enjoyable to paint, so I ended up taking my time, using specific washes for every colour, that sort of thing.

Command Ape
The fur was basecoated with Citadel Layer Skrag Brown, then drybrushed Formula P3 Rucksack Tan to bring out the texture. I then drybrushed the upwards-facing surfaces with a mix of Rucksack Tan and Vallejo 71.132 Model Air Aged White. I followed this with a wash of Citadel Shade Nuln Oil, then Citadel Wash Ogryn Flesh.

The skin was basecoated in Vallejo 70.992 Model Color Neutral Grey, then I applied some rough highlights with the Aged White. I then washed with Nuln Oil to darken and shade, then with Citadel Shade Seraphim Sepia to introduce more of the warm tones (as I had found neccessary with Kondo).

I filled in the eyes with Menoth White Highlight before painting a dot of Green Stuff World 1832 Acrylic Color Redwood Brown. After cleaning it all up I lined the outside of the eyes with Citadel Shade Agrax Earthshade.

I painted both the teeth and fingernails with Menoth White Highlight, but then I applied a light glaze of Citadel Shade Seraphim Sepia.

For the leather I chose Citadel Colour Snakebite Leather, which I hoped would stand out from the fur. For the brass bits I just added a couple of layers of Citadel Layer Gehenna's Gold over the Snakebite Leather. I shaded with Agrax Earthshade, which also made the leather darker and more saturated.

The dark grey areas were just Vallejo 70.862 Model Color Black Grey shaded with Nuln Oil. For the steel I wanted to stick to slightly darker tones, so I used Vallejo 71.072 Model Air Metallic Gunmetal shaded with Nuln Oil again.

For the details on the back, I used Formula P3 Morrow White and GW Scab Red. The screen was basecoated in Green Stuff World 1796 Acrylic Color Kraken Green, text painted on in Scalecolor SFG-22 Fantasy & Games Surfer Orc Flesh, then it was glazed with Citadel Glaze Waywatcher Green.

Finally the green armour was washed with Citadel Shade Athonian Camoshade, then I airbrushed on Vallejo 25.517 Acrylic Varnish Gloss followed by Vallejo 26.518 Acrylic Varnish Matt.

While I was very happy with the results, I wanted to cut the painting time per-model. So for the Ape Infiltrator and Rocket Ape, I tried to limit myself where possible to just basecoats and a dip.

Ape Infiltrator & Rocket Ape
I used the same basecoat of Citadel Layer Skrag Brown for the fur, followed again by a drybrush of Formula P3 Rucksack Tan. For the second drybrush however I just used Vallejo 71.132 Model Air Aged White.

The skin was also basecoated with Vallejo 70.992 Model Color Neutral Grey, and roughly highlighted with Aged White. I followed this with a wash of Citadel Shade Seraphim Sepia.

The fingernails were again painted in Formula P3 Menoth White Highlight with a glaze of Seraphim Sepia. I accidentally used Aged White for the eyes instead of Menoth White Highlight. The dots in the eyes were Green Stuff World 1832 Acrylic Color Redwood Brown again, but I didn't outline the eyes this time.
The leather was just Snakebite Leather again, with the brass details again picked out in Gehenna's Gold. The grey hardware was just Vallejo 70.862 Model Color Black Grey, the steel was Citadel Base Leadbeltcher this time (which is very close to the Vallejo Model Air Gunmetal, but in theory should have better coverage).

I painted the rope and canvas with Rucksack Tan, and then highlighted with Formula P3 Menoth White Base. Wood was simply Citadel Layer Doombull Brown. Any red details were painted in Vallejo 72.711 Game Air Gory Red (I didn't want them to be too bright and eye-catching, but perhaps this was too dark?).

I picked out the holes in the rocket launcher in Vallejo 70.950 Model Color Black. The Rocket Ape's beret was basecoated in Vallejo 72.729 Game Air Sick Green and highlighted with Vallejo 72.732 Game Air Escorpena Green. The lenses on the Infiltrator's goggles used the same Escorpena Green, and the concrete under his fist was the same Vallejo Black Grey but drybrushed with Vallejo 70.989 Model Color Sky Grey.

Once that was all done, I gave the two models a dip in The Army Painter Quickshade Dip Dark Tone, making sure not to let it pool too heavily anywhere. After letting it dry, I airbrushed on a coat of Vallejo 26.518 Acrylic Varnish Matt.

Although the results were not identical to the Command Ape, the quickshade worked quite well over most of the surfaces. It might not have done all that much over some of the darker colours; with these two models that didn't seem to be a problem, but it's something I might need to watch out for on others. The main issue I had was that the fur ended up much lighter than I would have liked, and is also too close to the colour of the leather. I could go back to washing the fur with Nuln Oil (as well as the dip of course), but I think I might get better results if I just paint the fur in darker browns to begin with. I think I'll try that next time.


Overall I think all three models look good, and they were more fun to paint than some of the larger or fiddlier models I've worked on recently. They took a lot longer to paint than my Terrasaur units, for obvious reasons, but they're still not too bad. I have another 12 apes to go, but sadly I have no idea when I'm going to have time for them. Nevermind more UCI...