Category Archives: Sci-Fi Gaming

Reaper Bones 80001: Ape-X (Monster March ’18)

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Reaper Bones 80001: Ape-X

Here’s a figure that at first seems to be an odd entry. It’s a model that came with one of the Bones Kickstarters that I’ve backed, and is now available at retail as Ape-X over on Reaper’s webstore. As with many of the models released in Bones, Ape-X is a reworking of one of their previous models, in this case, Ape-X: Supervillan from their Chronoscope line. Original, metal Ape-X also has a drill attachment for his right arm as well as the gatling gun. I think I may actually have the metal version around somewhere in a tub filled with Reaper models.

Reaper Bones 80001: Ape-X

In any case, this model has been part-painted for a couple of years now – and when I started trying to get some other, similar figures completed for Squad: March, I decided to work on him at the same time in the hopes of also getting him painted to completion. He’s far from my most awesome paintwork, but Bones isn’t the world’s best material to work with (look at the “straight” lines on the power pack on his back!) and so it’s certainly good enough for tabletop – and I’m happy to leave it at that!

Reaper Bones 80001: Ape-X, Necromunda Escher.

He’s not gigantic, but at least Troll or Ogre-sized. That counts, right?

Since he’s a big guy, I thought I’d throw him in here as a small, extra entry for Monster March as well. I’m still fully intending to try and get the proper big guys done (though this weekend was wiped out since I’ve had a throat infection that just killed my painting off) – but think of this guy as something like a Stretch Goal. Just upfront rather than later.

Analysis paralysis: A Mantic BattleZones Bunker

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Awhile ago, last year, and inspired by some terrain that Dakka user “Nerdfest” had built, I decided to dig out a bunch of my Mantic BattleZone sprues from their various Kickstarters that had been sitting untouched in storage tubs for years at this point, and make something. So over a rather enjoyable winter afternoon, I put together this bunker-thing. Being winter, there was little point even thinking about spraying it, so I let it sit, though the bare, grey plastic version did get used for a few 40k games.

Once summer rolled around, I gave it a spray. Dark Metallic Charcoal for the outside, and a sort-of undercoat of white for the interior. Now, I’m not sure where to go next with this thing. Broadly speaking, I can see three main options:

  1. Drybrush it various shades of metallic, for a rather generic finish.
  2. Paint it in military/generic “boring” tones that fit into quite a few different games. Military greens, or the more generic Greys or Tans. With or without things like signage or stancilled numbers and letters and so on and so forth.
  3. Paint it in “industrial/hive world” tones. Like the blue-grey from much of the original Necromunda card terrain. Or shades of green, or rusty reds, or…? Kinda like the above, but with more “pop” and of course, things like heavy rust and hazard stripes.

Even within those, there’s plenty of choice, though. So again: Analysis paralysis. Whatever the final verdict, I’ll probably put together a smaller building (4 squares) to go alongside this one and paint it in much the same scheme.

Anyone have any good ideas?