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That's right, fellas and lady-fellas, it's time for CYBER-APES! 80001, Ape-X, is another mini I painted before I learned about Bones not playing nicely with aerosol primer. He was gooey and sticky for some years, so I simple-green stripped and repainted him when I learned that was an option. (He did make a guest appearance in this thread https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/83280-miskatonic-faculty-biology-department/ ) This repaint is very similar but much better, though the eye and mouth still gave me some trouble. 50214 I got many years ago. Repositioned his limbs to cover two targets at once. His snarl seemed perfect for chomping a cigar, so I glued on a toothpick end. Also gave him a top hat, because why not. In retrospect, a bowler would have been better, but hindsight is 20/20. And a group shot, including my own Professor Pongo. If these three ever team up with the Simian Separatists ( https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/84447-spacefuture-simian-separatists-eurekas-boiler-suit-apes-pic-heavy ) it will be a dark day for humanity indeed!

A while ago I came to the realization I needed an orangutan in academic robes and mortarboard, and would you believe this isn't something every mini company already does?! So I decided to take matters into my own hands, after reading through several sculpting threads and noting good advice from sculpting powerhouses. Professor Pongo here was intended to work as a circus performer, but he also works as a stand-in for Futurama's Dr. Banjo, or Pratchett's Librarian. Here's the WIP thread: http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/84661-doctor-banjo-or-even-further-hubris/ The guy isn't perfect--no plan survives contact with the enemy, in this case my own fumble-fingeredness--but I'm pretty satisfied! "Mmmyes, so we can see that while the OVERALL equation for combustion of carbohydrates is very simple--C6H12O6 and 6 O2 yielding 6 H2O and 6 CO2--the chemistry of Man's Red Fire is much more complex than had previously been believed!" "...but while daVinci is justly famed for his sketch of the Vitruvian Man, the original description of human proportions in the Golden Ratio (which can be approximated by dividing the n-th term of the Fibonacci sequence by the (n-1)th, for large values of n [OR if we subtract one from the square root of 5 and halve the result] ), comes from a treatise of the human Roman architect Vitruvius. Of course for the other apes, other irrational numbers must be substituted, as follows..." "...Naturally, the implications of Darwinian theory for the doctrine of the transcendent Platonic Forms are severe--a fact not lost on Nietszche, who was well-versed in Greek literature as well as philosophy." "...though it would be imprudent in the extreme to conflate the Chthonic with the Dionysiac, though both are opposed to the Apollonian. Perhaps no better example can be found than that of Orpheus, who faced both and was undone by both, but in remarkably different ways. The figure of Eurydice is key in understanding this..." "..and so to conclude, ladies and gentlemen, THAT is why the banana, while delectable, does not compare to the humble guava in terms of vitamin-richness. Thank you for your attention." He's hanging from one arm and can be made to depend from other branches... or from terrain pieces if need be. Here he is in the Miskatonic Faculty Lounge. Uplifted apes are pulp as heck and I love them.

The thought came to me, burning-hot in my mind, that while probably no one else would ever need one, *I* could really use a great ape in mortarboard and academic robes. An orangutan for preference, given their eccentric genius and their handlike feet. Reaper already does a Cyber-Ape, but that is a violent simian, and also I want three "hands" in use rather than two. Here's the rough sketch, and here's an armature I made late last night, compared to Orangutango. I've been reading the advice posts, so I'll take it slow-ish, work in layers, and be ready to murder my darlings... ...is there other stuff I should be warned about? Is this a fool's errand? (yes, obviously, but can I *do* it?) Love to hear from y'all!

Last one done for the weekend! Yes, that is a banana in his pocket. He's probably still happy to see you, though. I'm happy with how all the colours turned out on him, but he's leaning slightly forward on his base so it's a bit tricky to get a good photo angle.