Great Primates

We’ve got some hot and heavy jungle fever making the rounds here at 3DRPG Studios in sunny Chandler, AZ. Let’s see what new mighty primates caught our eye this time!

We’ve done plenty of different DnD environments, including townsfolk villages, dirty dungeons, spooky caverns, Egyptian tombs, and even revolutionary Hovertrains! So, it’s only natural that we’ve started to lean into steamy hot jungles next, right?!

What really got our juices flowing was learning a solid paint scheme from Miniature Hobbyist for our 3D-printed gorilla group. We recently grabbed a full set of Green Stuff World’s Dipping Inks, and their Deep Black bottle covers really well.

• Flat Plack Primer.
• Slapchop Base.
• Feet/Hands/Body: ASP Gravelord Grey.
• Tonenails/Fingernails/Edging: ASP Holy White.
• Highlight Spot Drybrushing: grey.
• Face P1: Citadel Contrast Flesh Tearers Red.
• Face P2: soft drybrush white.

Nothing to it. And you don’t necessarily have to do that reddish white face like Planet of the Apes, but that color combo makes for an intimidating warband.

Our previous 3D-printed gorillas included slick STLs by mz4250 and Brite Minis, but we really like our monster mobs to have subtle variations in some of their sculpts. Different DnD miniature designs evoke a lot of Oohh’s & Aahh’s from everyone huddled around your vibrant gameboard. Besides, mini variations make it a bit easier to call them out on the table during combat.

We turned to another staple creator in our MyMiniFactory library with some Simeon 3D prints by EC3D Designs. They had an irresistible primate from their wicked Depths of Savage Atoll Kickstarter. This set also features some other angry apes that we’re really excited to showcase in future posts.

This time we’re featuring paint jobs by both Resident Painter Kimmy Utah and average-joe colorist DM Ben. Our main ape in the middle is the marvelous work of Miss Utah, while his muscle bodyguards are by Mr. Ben. Even funnier, we actually forgot about Kim’s completed miniature and only realized after the fact that we already had one in the tank. So, it was darn fun to see how they compared. DM Ben leaned into the jungle vibe a little bit more, but his final two primates really complemented the masterful main boss.

DM Ben also loves the slapchop coverage technique since it can hide a lot of a paint job’s inadvertent mistakes. He prefers dipping his traditional brushes into Speedpaints and Contrast Paints. On the other hand, Kimmy Utah is multiple skill levels higher and has no qualms utilizing an Airbrush. Her final results are typically brighter and much more polished, while his older eyes rely on the Arm’s Length Rule and a good-enough mentality to bail him out.

Longtime readers are used to DM Ben painting bigger terrain and shying away from tiny, mega-detailed models. He likes to stay in his lane and work on more forgiving STLs and squad-style monsters. This philosophy fits our painting pipeline well and gives us a nice mix of TTRPG content to share every week. Still, a hobbyist should always push oneself and keep trying different 3D prints and techniques, right?!

There’s nothing wrong with a mountaineous 3D-printed pile of shame. However, being afraid to ever pull some tougher miniatures and scatter terrain from it means you have some models just taking up coveted hobby storage space.

We’ll often prime about a dozen models each Wednesday and put down their slapchop base. Then, when we get to the weekend, there’s less hesitation to try a new 3D print because it’s “ready for its color-up, Mr. Deville.” 😉

Until next time!