Beak and Brawn

Greetings, fellow monster hunters! We’ve got another fun animal combo miniature for you to consider 3D printing and adding to your growing monster library. Let’s go!

We love seeing two different monster types merged into a new, menacing beast. This mad science is just a good time and shakes us out of all the continuous, everyday monster-type doldrums. Don’t get us wrong, we appreciate the classics and lore, but a dozen high-profile creators all doing kobolds in a month gets a bit old at times. Well, no worries here because today’s baddie is probably something you haven’t seen before.

We’re shining the light on our favorite new DnD 3D print creator of 2026. Good ol wif1973. He (or she) has a huge library of free TTRPG STLs you’ll certainly want to explore for your campaign. Say hello to this burly Eagle Ape Guardian. He prints like a champ and is included in a four-mini Animal Party set.

Novice painter DM Ben loves painting wif1973 STLs because they’re nice and meaty. We certainly appreciate finer, mega-detailed miniatures, but they often have a high risk of snapping during the color process, so we prefer these “thicker” minis (especially with older eyeballs).

Here’s the paint process he used:

• Prime Flat Black | Slapchop Base.
• Head: White + Soft Wash + FAN Fiendish Yellow.
• Beak: ASP Fiendish Yellow.
• Eyes: FAN Fiendish Yellow + Black.
• Body: Layer WAR Monster Brown + Strong Tone Wash.
• Body Shadows: Drybrush FAN Brigadine Brown.
• Body Chest: Light Sporadic White Drybrush.
• Random Feathers/Tail Edging: FAN Ruddy Umber.

We only 3D printed three of these to start, but they turned out so well that we’re going to spin up at least 2-3 more. DM Ben will try an eagle head with a traditional ape body paint scheme, but we’re not convinced stark white/brown top mixed with the black-shaded bottom will look very good. So it’s better to do a single experiment there and then compare.

Besides varying your monster by different paint schemes, you can also try taking the same miniature and 3D-printing it at different scales. This dungeon master trickery is that momma and poppa bear and its kiddos scenario.

We’ll probably circle back and give the larger momma some additional feather colors, like adding more black and grays to the head, chest, or tail. Dark green or deeper blues could work too. We’ll probably test out this idea with that follow-up ape-colors miniature. We want to make it clearer through colors that she’s the elder and queen of the nest.

These big ol’ birds certainly can join our Wilderness Trek Wandering Monster Table, but we’ll do so when we finish a full set of five.

In terms of DnD 5e stats:

• AC: 15 (natural armor) | HP: 85 | Spd: 30 ft., Fly 60 ft.
• STR: 19 | DEX: 15 | CON: 16 | INT: 6 | WIS: 13 | CHA: 8
• CR 5 | 3 attacks.
• Dive: min 30 ft straight; extra 2d6; DC 15 Str or knocked prone.
• Flyby: No opportunity attacks when flying out of reach.
• Bite Attack: +7/1d10+4 piercing.
• Fist Attack: +7/2d6+4 bludgeoning.
• Talons Attack: +7/2d4+4 slashing.
• Aerial Drop (requires grapple): normal falling damage.

DM Ben is planning to insert these hammertime birds into a steep, mountainous climb scenario after his adventurers inadvertently get a bit too close to momma’s nest. If you do a parental Guardian Ape, use the stats above and then drop the HP to the 40s, with lower +5 attacks/50% less damage for the babies.

Until next time (and have a great weekend of gaming)!