"Perhaps Mankind’s Closest Relatives In The Animal Kingdom..."

"...These Great Apes are capable of incredible feats of agility and strength."

These two 30mm tall Gorilla models are produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought from their Heroes and Allies range as part of a set of three Great Apes. Designed to be used with the manufacturer's "fun, cinematic style skirmish" game 7TV - Second Edition, these huge primates' rules can be found in the 7TV: Pulp expansion Menagerie of Terror.

The figures were originally treated to a double layer of "Citadel" Abaddon Black and thoroughly dry-brushed with “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal so as to highlight all of the wonderful fur sculpted onto each model. I then applied some (additional) "Vallejo "Heavy Charcoal to all the Great Apes' chests, hands, faces and feet, before shading these parts with "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

"Kitbash Games" WIPs - Mayhem, Alpha Male and Kayo the Bouncer

Finally, I 'picked out' the miniatures' eyes with a couple of dabs of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, and applied a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "Citadel" Nuln Oil to their foreheads to indicate that they Western gorillas. Some additional "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna was subsequently dry-brushed over this area to help better blend it in.

With the first couple of "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" figures finished for the month, I have taken the plunge to paint up at least one miniature for the Fembruary event being lead over on the "Leadballoony" blog. This will be my already partially-pigmented Kayo the Bouncer "Supers Unlimited" model by "Kitbash Games"; albeit I fully intend to continue applying a brush-tip to both Alpha Male and Mayhem at the same time just so I can get all three of the super-powered hero/villains completed in reasonably quick time.

"Warlord Games" WIP - The Confederates are slowly getting their final details 'picked out'

I've also been slowly chipping away at the front line of my first 15mm "Epic Battles: American Civil War" infantry unit by "Warlord Games". I was hoping to have finished at least a couple of ten-man strips of Confederate soldiers by now, but the fiddly nature of their diminutive detail means that I'm finding them a bit of a hard project to pick up when I have much more straightforward projects sat in front of me on my painting table.

Happily however, I have managed to dedicate at least one full hobby-session to my Alabama volunteers, and even gone so far as to pick out a few beards, horseshoe rolls and water bottles in "Vallejo" White and Heavy Sienna. The soldiers now just need their rifles finishing, and a little tidying up where I missed the odd spot before they're varnished ready for their second line to be fully-painted and glued into place directly behind them.