The Ogrons are a race of ape-like humanoids who hail from the planet Ograviss in the far reaches of Mutter's Spiral. They are unintelligent, and highly obedient servants, which makes them ideal for the purposes of the Daleks...
The Ogrons appeared in a pair of serials with the Third Doctor- Day of the Daleks and Frontier in Space. In both they were agents of the Daleks- in the latter serial also working with the Master- providing brute force to supplement the Daleks' cunning.
Classic Doctor Who creatures are often tough to paint, and the Ogrons proved no exception. There is a dearth of good reference material for them, even in their original episodes the often patchy studio lighting and deteriorated tapes make an accurate color assessment difficult.
Also, the original costumes for many of the creatures used mixed, low-quality pigments- so even when the colors can be identified, matching the tones proves tricky. For example, the flesh tones on the original Ogrons appear, under different lighting, black, brown or even a dark blue. I wound up painting it with my standard black/dark grey tones, but adding a slate blue between the base color and highlights.
I'm fairly happy with how the colors on these Ogrons turned out, they're recognizable, and as close as I could get to the on-screen appearance. The dark vests were made of a glossy material- almost a cross between cheap leather and satin. I chose not to attempt this effect on the miniatures, as I felt it would look too noticeable, and overscale.
The Ogrons are also one of the many classic creatures I'd love to see return to the show. An episode revisiting the intrigue of the Third Doctor's adventures with the Galactic Federation and its diverse aliens (perhaps in the aftermath of Empress of Mars), would make an excellent addition to the new series.
