The Simian Slave Revolt of 1991

[Westfalia Chris]

"Ape Management... is in the hands of the Apes!"*

Hi all,

a couple of weeks ago I rewatched the original Planet of the Apes films and, in a bit of a fit, ordered some stuff from Crooked Dice. A couple of days later, I was able to start out converting the "Minions" deal (sans the technician) to serve as Gorilla guerillas (sorry, had to get that out of the system) in a slightly retro postapocalyptic setting - their main opponents, for starters, will be my existing Street Violence collection.

The conversion was rather straightforward, a bit tricky for the fact that the Simian heads don't have the peg joints the Minion bodies were designed for, but apart from that, matched well and could be attached with little problem. Also, the casting quality was excellent, so if you are considering ordering from Crooked Dice, I can recommend them on these grounds alone (apart from the fine and speedy service).

I had actually finished them almost two weeks ago, but had to wait for decent daylight to take the photos. Strangely, the red highlights were washed out in the pics, which is a bit of a pity.

Pics!

Gorilla Leaders, with melee weapons and a flamethrower (that is one brave Gorilla, or the conditioning really took hold in his case):



Gorilla Specialists/bazooka team:



Gorillas with melee weapons:



Gorillas with submachineguns:



And some Gorillas with assault rifles:



'Twas great fun painting those (and coincidentally the first 28mm figures I painted this year). I'll have to see whether to make a proper project of it, but I'd at least like to paint some opponents; at them moment, they would pretty much be a "gang" of sorts.

On this related note, is there a company that makes "dismounted" retro Bike Cops (comprising those open-face spherical helmets and leather jackets), apart from the two-figure set by West Wind (preferably of roughly comparable size and/or heft to the Crooked Dice figures)?

Failing that, any company making heads that fit the bill or look similar? I've got my eyes on Offensive Miniatures' SWAT figures as body donors (bonus in that they include mounted officers and riot gear, but the existing helmets just look too modern for my taste.

Any help and comments would be much appreciated.

Thanks for looking!

*: With apologies to Dian Fossey, who must be rolling over in her grave any time the PotA movies are shown on TV.

[fastolfrus]

em-4 have cops in peaked caps if that might help:

http://www.em4miniatures.com/

[shadowking1957]

Brilliant love it all, great colors

[AKULA]

Nice work Chris

 

[uti long smile]

Excellent stuff! And thanks for the kind comments. As the Simian heads are a bit oversized they don't have the peg, apologies for that!

[Westfalia Chris]

Excellent stuff! And thanks for the kind comments. As the Simian heads are a bit oversized they don't have the peg, apologies for that!

Apologize me no apologies, it doesn't detract from the fact that both the Minions and the Simian heads are quite excellent, and work pretty much without a problem - pinning for some joints (and I sculpted some hair on the bazooka ape as the head wouldn't line up without chopping, expectably) sorted it out.

Something that would be really nice would be another sprue of heads for some more variety, possbily comprising of another gorilla head, a chimpanzee and an orangutan - the technician from the flamethrower minion pack would work nicely as a chimp (working at ape management when the revolution comes).

Thanks for the comments, all. I just found a pack of baboons in one of my figure cases, and should have some "feral" guerillas somewhere else - maybe get some "nonconditioned" apes into the mix.

[Prof.Witchheimer]

This ia a lovely project, Chris! Hope we will be able to playing it

[Daeothar]

Great work!  

Why not use the baboons as guard/tracker/attack dogs?

And as for your question regarding those cops; I only today stumbled onto the Mad Robot site and their heads sprue with aviator sunglasses might be useful for a dismounted and helmetless Chips lookalike...

[Westfalia Chris]

Great work!  

Why not use the baboons as guard/tracker/attack dogs?

And as for your question regarding those cops; I only today stumbled onto the Mad Robot site and their heads sprue with aviator sunglasses might be useful for a dismounted and helmetless Chips lookalike...

Those aren't half bad - I'm afraid they are a bit on the large side, probably (I think they are designed to fit a certain company's plastic figures), and the helmets are pretty much required, sunglasses being optional.

I'm thinking the guys from the fifth still on this page:

http://horrornews.net/40012/film-review-conquest-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-1972/

As they are wearing riot helmets with visors in this scene, the Offensive Miniatures riot cops would work if pressed, but if I can get some "older" or more retro uniform styles, helmets in particular as they are a defining feature, I'd possibly prefer those.

[Mason]

Stunning painting and a very clever idea.
Like it!
 

[albert hall]

Great concept; super conversions and excellent painting.  Love 'em.

[Melnibonean]

Great stuff. You have some nice conversions going on there.
 

[Sterling Moose]

Damn dirty apes!!!!!!!!!!

[area23]

Urban gorillas!