Col. Anotyisa and his Army

Seeing Eureka’s Boiler Suit Apes made me immediately think back to the eternal Planet of the Apes (any of them really). However as I was looking at them I found that they had less of a sci-fi vibe and more of a Arnie in Predator, Centroamerican vibe. The mixture of American, Russian, and Swedish arms adds to the New World, rag-tag nature of the theme.

Therefore I decided to paint them up like classic 1980s action villains, although this time the militias are theoretically the good guys. A simple contrast of Guilleman’s Flesh for all the apes and gibbons, a thinned out white for the for Col. Anotysia, and a base of thin Caliban Green makes out the core blocked colours of the two squads. Next up: guns, boots, and straps.

Day 2 of Col. Anotysia and his army was mostly down to details. Game Colour leather, very watered down black for the weapons, Wyldwood wash for the wood, and an initial pink for the dynamite. I started to see the character and details of the faces come through, which I’m pretty happy about. Eureka did a pretty great job on this range.

Day 3 continued the details, where I really saw these little simians come to life. Red eyes, yellow demarcations of rank, Tamiya wood, and a mixture of Game Colour bone and GW wadzag yellow for the teeth.

But what I really tried to work on were the faces. The initial wash was ok but I knew I could do better. I gave the fur an additional wash, but then I tried to mix some of the contrast with Game Colour dwarf flesh to make lighter and lighter areas. Trying to highlight the brows, lips, and cheek bones. I am thinking I’ve done an ok job, after all, who can say no to this face?

Up next, trying to find a sponge to use for jungle camo, more clean up for Col. Anotysia’s fur, and basing.

I managed to finally complete my ape army. After a shocking find of another based gibbon loose and rattling around in my “to do” drawer, the team’s completion was drawing near. I gave the new recruit a paint job up to where everyone else was, then prepared myself for the camo.

Given I had no sponge, I used a very old and flared out paint brush to dab on Tamiya NATO Green and NATO brown over the base colour. That, combined a reapplication of leather and other minor details finished off the main painting part.

Having recently picked up some AK dry rock diorama base paint, I decided to play with it a little and applied it to the bases. Unfortunately it was a bit to watered down and didn’t look great, forcing me to cover it up with green static grass. It’s a little strange, but so are apes in NATO camo so I’m giving myself a pass.

I’m going to call this project done, although I might return to paint the rims of the bases black. I’m pleased as punch with how these dudes turned out. I’m particularly happy with the camo (although the brown looks more dirty than camo-y), the black wash on the guns, and the face paint mixing.

Thanks everyone!