"A Call For A Line Of 15mm POTA Inspired 'Apes'!!!" Topic

I must have been out of the country when this was playing on tv:

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If I had grown up watching something like that on Saturday mornings, even as cheesy as it looks today, my ape-mania today would know no bounds!!!

Either way, that little clip just rekindled my passion . . .

Here's another:

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Of course, the Romanesque/Renaissance buildings and emblems in the Ape City look way out of place in that last clip.

Anyway . . .

We REALLY need someone to make a range of 15mm apemen in non-human military outfits, mounted and foot, and with firearms.

The uniforms don't have to ape (get it?) those in the films. They just have to be something that could have been developed after 2000 years of ape domination, with little or no influence from humans.

So, how about it guys?

Which 15mm manufacturer do you think will finally give us what has been lacking for so long? Which one do you think will do the spirit of the films justice and produce a high quality range?

Or, am I the only one wishing for this?

CC
PS. And it reminded me somehow of good ol' Thundarr The Barbarian too.

IMBD/Hulu have better quality full-length episodes here of those cheesy shows:

imdb.com/title/tt0207267

CC

I would also like to see some of these.

I never watched the animated series, but really liked the live action series from 1974. Never got to see the last episodes as it was pre-empted by our local station ( a combined CBS/ABC affiliate at the time)and was shown.

imdb.com/title/tt0071033

I might see if I can locate DVDs and see just how bad the series was.

Look at how the feet were drawn here:

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Wow. These real-life guys show a lot of character:

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This one looks like it's pouting:

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Lots more here:

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Plan B (Last resort though)

I guess I wouldn't mind if they had medieval-like technology instead, as long as it was entirely unique and non-human in style:

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If I went that "medieval" route, and no one produced or planned to produce appropriate apes for it, the only option possible would be going with something like this (which is also film-inspired):

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Unfortunately, though they are uniformly armored, they have no horse cavalry.

CC

Uh…
Eureka did Planet of the Apes type Apes in 28mm and got a cease and desist.

Sorry I don't see a miniature line comming out anytime soon.

Correct me if I'm wrong . . .

POTA movie makers cannot prevent someone from making gorilla men, even armed gorilla men. What they can do is prevent gorilla men dressed exactly as in their films.

Is that right?

I'm just calling for a range of mounted and dismounted gorilla men with firearms and in distinctly non-human uniforms. The films are just for added inspiration, to get the right "spirit".

CC

I wonder then how monolithdesigns gets away with it. Their figures are the very close to looking like planet of the apes. I am glad they do though. Maybe its all in how you name them.

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There is already some interest to makes these from wargamesfactory.

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Monolith only gets away with it because somebody hasn't written to the owners and ratted them out, as was the case with Eureka. There was a while here on TMP when several members took it on themselves to report a number of manufacturers for IP infringement. Personally I believe it was all out of self interest, but that's just the impression I got at the time.

So, are there any others out there who would like 15mm gorilla men, mounted and dismounted, with firearms and wearing distinctly non-human garb?

I would buy an entire army of them!

CC

I would buy them. Not many, couple of packs would be enough for me.
I have an Ape faction planned in the next Mutants and Death Ray Guns supplement.

ganeshagames.blogspot.com

You wouldn't be able to claim any copyright on a gorilla, or even an armed gorilla. It wouldn't take a huge amount of creation to make an IP free range

Geoff,

Does that mean that we shouldn't give up hope then? :)

CC

Apes dressed in modern or future clothes, armed with weapons. What could be problematic with that CC… :D

Future clothes, please, please, please!!! :)

But something that does NOT look like it came from the sales rack at an army surplus store or a discount general store (like a Walmart).

They would have to be dressed in something that only an Ape would want to wear, specially since it is something like 2000 years into the future. Must be distinctly non-human in style.

CC

CC, I think you are on to something here. It would be totally possible to make future apes both gun and melee armed. You could go for a middle of the road approach someplace between the various interpretations.

I would love to have miniatures to represent the White Apes of Mars as depicted in the D20/Savage Worlds "MARS" books.

-Eli

Having taken a look at the Monolith link provided above, I'm quite suprised they haven't been challenged, not only over the look but also the use of names like Flash Gordon and Barbarella…

I'll keep hoping . . . :)

CC

There's a request for 15mm armed apemen in jumpsuits on Wargames Factory's Liberty and Union Leugue:

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and I'll pimp my female zombie suggestion while I'm at it:
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Grrr..the 15mm armed ape men in jumpsuits is a direct snipe of one of Eureka's existing 28mm products.

-Eli

No, no, nooooooooo! Not the jumpsuit ones!

THIS is what I'm hoping to encourage:

Non-human style attire. Mounted and foot. Futuristic firearms and some with blades as secondary weapons.

CC

Pole Bitwy PL,

Here you go . . .

Excellent example of physique and hair:

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This outfit, with Asian-like armor, is almost perfect (from a customized action figure):

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I would suggest boots like these, from another customized action figure:

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A helmet with the right ape skull "dome" in the back, and with a neck guard, would finish the look:

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This would be almost spot on, if the "dome" were placed a little further to the back:

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Much like this one, to make up for skull anatomy:

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So . . . what do you think?

Dan

These would be a bit too recognizably human in style:

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Dan

However, IF someone is really thinking of making gorilla men in body suits, PLEASE make them something like this:

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Or these:

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Preferably a combination of those two, but mounted and foot, sculpted to Gorilla physique, and with a helmet appropriate for a Gorilla head.

CC

Maybe we can get Black Hat to do them as a new empire for their Martian Empires game?

I must have been out of the country when this was playing on tv:

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Overweight spidermonkey, lol!

Fear not CC, the sculptor accepted the challenge. Actually, he quite likes the idea. Expect updates soon… ;)

I like the idea of apemen, but what I'd really like to see would be some early hominids rather than apes in spaceman costumes.

I think it would be really cool to have some figures of intelligent apes that really looked like apes. I liked the original POTA movies, but they did seem too humanlike to me.

First of all, why would they wear clothes at all, unless it was cold? They're already covered with hair. I would imagine that putting on a layer of clothes on top of that would be uncomfortably hot and itchy. I could see them wearing belts, shoes, and maybe a few small articles of clothing. Maybe their accelerated evolution would inspire a newfound sense of modesty. I could also see the military types wearing some type of body armor and helmets. But that's about it, really.

And second, most of them didn't look very simian below the neck. A couple of the principle actors managed to adopt apelike postures. I particularly remember Roddy McDowell's hunched over chimp shuffle, and I thought the guy playing General Urko gave a good impression of a gorilla's way of moving. But most had a very upright, man-like way of moving. Ape bodies just cannot move that way, or stand completely upright for long periods like we can. Their legs are shorter and their arms much longer. Even if they did manage to one day speak, they'd still physically look the same. Maybe they'd walk upright more, but they'd still revert to using their knuckles now and then. In that more recent POTA movie, I thought they did a better job showing these kind of differences from the humans, such as that charge of the gorilla soldiers on all fours.

But apperently, they do recognize the intrinsic characteristics of weapons: link

@MeroMeroz: Remember this is far future – perhaps the humans "uplifted" the simian species – altered their DNA to make them more human – perhaps a direct mixture of ape/human DNA. Certainly not out of the question for humans of the future – a direct extrapolation of current research and a little bit of sci-fi thrown in.

So go ahead and give me apes with some human characteristics. They work for me, although ymmv.

Just an acknowledgement of the 1/72 grand daddies. Sorry they're not 15mm CC!

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Pole Bitwy PL: "Fear not CC, the sculptor accepted the challenge. Actually, he quite likes the idea. Expect updates soon… ;)"

Fantastic!!!!

Can't wait to see how this develops.

CC

My pleasure CC. Below is a preliminary sketch of an ape, drawn by the sculptor. What do you say ?

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Hmmmm, to be honest, I'm not keen on it.

Too much jumpsuit, not enough armor. Also, the equipment is a bit too steampunk for my tastes. I would like to see weapons that are not quite so giant. Also would avoid arm-mounted weapons and go with weapons that are actually wielded.

-Eli

Pole Bitwy PL,

Ooo, very nice! And so quick, too!

I love the arms to legs length ratio. I think it certainly captures the ape physique very well in that sense.

The shape of the head is definitely gorilla. Very, very nice. Any plans for a helmet, or did you plan to leave the head as is?

I tend to agree with Eli in a couple of respects. Add something to protect the chest (from those pesky primitive humans who have learned to use bows and arrows) and reduce the bulk of the firing weapon a bit. This will increase the sales potential from those who like more "conventional" or realistic-looking SF.

If this is potentially a horse trooper, then arm-mounted weapons would not seem practical. The bladed weapon at the waist would suffice nicely.

Just a thought. A set of "brass knuckles" (or knuckle guard) would fit in well with gorilla fighting tendencies of semi-open fists in downward strikes. I think that the 2001 POTA film captured that fighting style very well in the scene where the two ape witnesses get murdered. Plus, if they decide to charge on all fours, the knuckle guards would help a little with traction and protection (as if they were additional sandals):

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wallstreet.typepad.com/raptureready/images/gorilla_style.jpg"picture
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As for the outfit itself, I think it is very appropriate, as it would provide versatility for use in warm and cold weather gaming boards. Love the coat-like collar. If anything, the sleeves could be shortened just a little, to mid forearm and remove the wrist bands. That would expose more of the fur on those awesome arms and make them unmistakably ape in look.

No gloves would be necessary, since they already have very rugged skin on the arms, though they would not look out of place either. I would leave them without gloves.

In general, I think it is an amazing job. I love the fact that you are so committed to making this a reality. It will fill a much-needed niche and, I'm sure, will be a great success.

The question is, Piotr, how do YOU like it?

Thanks.

Dan

I will second that the physique of the ape under the garb is good. The knuckle duster idea is a good one and really might be all the melee weapon that an ape would need if he has guns. Apes have a lot of power behind them so don't have as much of a margin to make up for when it comes to kill power.

Humans have knives and spears for a lot of reasons but one of the big ones is that we have no effective killing weapons of our own.

-Eli

What do you think of the look of the breastplate here?

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What if it was replicated, but in the same quilted form as the other bits of padded armor on Pole Bitwy's drawing?

My reason for the half-forearm sleeves would be to expose some of the distinctly gorilla-like forearm hair, as seen here:

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CC

WallStreetBleep!?? wow :)

Thanks for the comments guys. I am forwarding them to the artist.

You would definitely like a more hard SF look, with cool far future weapons. Energy or kinetic [Gatling anyone ?]. What about some tribal secondary weapons like a throwing knife ? picture

Regarding armor something vaguely similar to the soviet assault engineers en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN-42 or rather more modern and lighter.

Helmets are not a problem. Grunts will have helmets while some leaders might not. Depends on your opinions.

Let's try another link with that same picture:

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Not too far into the future, but not bulky or "steam punk" (I think that's what Eli called it). Rifles would be perfect, just not something from our time and culture. Think as though it was 2000 years after their Messiah re-starts their culture, along their own unique timeline.

I actually like that assault engineer armor, minus the "collar" portion.

Thanks so much!

Dan

I think the Soviet Engineer armor is on the right track, maybe with shoulder plates.

PLEASE do not give into the HELMETLESS LEADER trend. If you feel the need, to differentiate by head, then please go with alternate headgear. Leaders are not dumb and would not give up head protection but I would be okay with them wearing recognizable headgear.

Tribal melee weapons could be a definite cool factor. Perhaps even decorative clubs if not blades. Do not make the guns too high tech. The best thing would be to have them look modern bu not so much that we are dealing with "not-Karman" clones of the At-43 space apes.

-Eli

Now that Eli brought up more on helmets . . .

I'm curious. What percentage of the figures should be sculpted bare-headed, if any?

There must be situations when wearing a helmet must be unbearable and, when officers are not around to enforce, well . . . the monkeys will play.

Eli: "Do not make the guns too high tech. The best thing would be to have them look modern"

Eli, are you suggesting something along the lines of a rifle with different contours on the stock (to make them more non-human) yet with a barrel much like those of today?

Dan

Dan,

I am not denying that people (not very smart people) take their helmets off in battle zones, but what I do not like is the tendency to do this to denote officers and NCOs. There is something that is just really hokey and "last century" about commanders not wearing helmets.

As for guns, what I'd like to see is something that fits the overall theme of the figure but not something that is so blatantly ONE thing that it really can't stand in as another weapon.

-Eli

OK a tiny update, mostly the weapon and helmet.
You might notice that some of the items are still to be removed, like the arm punch weapon and sleeves ;)

A new addition would be some kind of a shield,carried on the back for protection and used in assaults as a shooting weapon stabilizer when removed. Of course can be wielded during blade weapon combat too..

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That is definitely moving in the right direction. I like the weapon holstered across the chest. It's different and keeps the weapons someplace where it won't get snagged on foliage when the ape man is moving about through the jungle.

-Eli

WOW. I love it!!!!

Leaving the forearms bare would definitely complete the look.

Great job.

Dan

Yes, bared hairy forearms would make it look more ape like.

What do you guys think of the shoulder armor?

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I'm more inclined to move a little away from the 40k space marine type, and more attracted by a segmented lamellar look:

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But how do you guys feel about that idea?

CC

I like your style better. Big cupped shoulder plates is a bit 40K

Pole Bitwy PL,

What do you think of the shoulder protection?

Solid plate, as in the current sketch?
Lamellar as I suggest and Eli agrees?
Or something else entirely?

Dan
PS. Here's another option I had not considered before (shoulders and upper chest as a single plate), though I don't know what that would really do to mobility:
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Lamellar is good. Apes would make good elements for quite a few SF games: fighting alongside benevolent humans, rebelling against their human (or alien) masters, or just a simian ape race. David Brin's Uplift Wars novels could be gamed with these!