About a year ago, I was inspired by a post on the FFG forums to paint my minis. The post wasn't some grand, professional Sorastro video (though he admittedly does an incredible job) but rather someone's first attempt at painting. And wouldn't you know, they looked pretty good! Sure, there were some flaws with the models, they were kinda flat, needed a good wash, and weren't overly detailed- but you better believe that they looked so much better than the grey and tan that the minis come in by default. I was impressed enough to think that even if I couldn't do as good as that poster's, I could at least add some flair to my minis- even though I was, for all intents and purposes, very much an amateur. I'd painted some Lord of the Rings minis as a kid (pretty badly), but that's about it.
I've posted my minis on this blog and my Twitter before, but I've never really made much of a gallery before. Partly this was laziness, but partly was because, well, I just felt a little self conscious about them. But I think now I'd like to share them, so if you'll pardon my photography (even more of an amateur at that) I'd like to show my painted minis, as well as share some of my experience painting them.
Also- there were a lot of minis (I did all waves released) so this was a lot to photograph. If there is anything that you'd like to see more extensively, or anything you'd like to hear more about my methods with, please let me know and I'd be happy to go more in depth.
One more thing before I get into the units: basing. As you'll soon see, I have a certain code for basing. Regular units get grey bases, elites/heroes/uniques get red bases. Also, I have a certain sticker/token marking under units that need it, that helps with unit identification. If there's any interest for it, I could make another article on unit identification. Anyway...
Trandoshan Hunters
I really, really wish I had a "before" picture for these guys, because I recently repainted them a bit and they used to look terrible. Originally, their skin was a much darker green, there was no mouth or claw detail, and their eyes were yellow (and painted badly outside the lines). Just a few weeks ago, I mixed up a color of dark greens, browns, and a bit of dark grey to get this more reptilian color. Then, I washed with some brown, to get more of the brown texture between the scales. Added a bit of red for effect in the mouth, orange eyes, and talons, and these little guys have gone from one of my least favorite painted models to one that I'm now very proud of.
Also, I'm hardly the one who invented this, but you'll notice that obviously the elites differ from the regulars in more than just color. I don't always do this, but when I do I try to make the regulars a cooler color and the elites a warmer color.
Nexu
I love how the mouths came out on these guys. Adding in that dark red for gums just makes them look all the more grotesque. Also, I differentiated the elite and regular by drybrushing different bands around them- red for elite, and grey for regular. And don't forget to paint those eyes- along with the mouth, making sure to dot some paint on those eyes really makes the nexu's face pop!
Tusken Raiders
These guys weren't all that fun to paint (so many shades of brown and tan) but I really like how they turned out. Dotting a little silver for the horns and eyes is an easy way to make the head look really detailed. Also, I think this might be one of my best washes- the way the black paint fits into the creases of the raiders' cloaks definitely pleased me.
Hired Guns
I did something really different with these guys. Completely different clothing schemes (with the elites mirroring the card a bit more), different skin tones, and even different colored eyes. Rodians are a pretty diverse species, so I thought it would be fun to reflect that in these minis. These two have lots of straps to pains, and a little armor, but as long as you touch everything it makes them look very detailed.
Bantha Rider
I'm not trying to make excuses for myself or anything, but this picture doesn't quite capture the bantha's fur tones. What I usually do for fur (including wookies and nexu) is to paint a dark coat, then drybrush subsequent lighter coats over it. It looks a lot more flat here.
Some difficulties I had with the bantha other than that had to do with the horn colors. I do like what I eventually chose, but it took a while to get something that I was happy with. Also, there is a lot of detailing on the saddle that you can sort of see, with straps and packs and such. Trying to choose more natural looking colors that wouldn't necessarily look like part of the bantha itself was a challenge.
HK Assassin Droids
If I remember correctly, these are some of the first minis I ever painted. I'm pretty happy with the copper color, made by mixing a burnished gold with a bit of red. I've seen some people paint the elites a gold or silver- I may repaint them at some point. Declaration: this meatbag probably wants to add more detail to the eyes in the future.
Wampas
Oh dear lord. These look fine on the table, but when you look at them in a picture like this in you can tell how badly I painted those eyes The black is way outside the actual eye hole. It looks like if the Wampas saw their alternative universe selves from Coraline.
Other than that- I did the fur by painting them all white, then drybrushing grey. Then, I drybrushed some red for blood on the hands and face, because when I was painting these I was 5edgy4u.
If you can't tell, I really hate these. But, since this is all about "tabletop ready" figures, I'll reiterate- they don't look nearly this terrible when actually on the board.
Ugnaught Tinkerers
I remember these guys took me forever to paint, and I'm not really sure why. They're not really overly complicated- I mean, there are a few straps here and there, but it's not too bad. And, of course, there's not a whole lot of surface area to cover...
I like how these turned out (the tusks require just a dot of white, and adds lots of detail to the face). If I could have done anything different, I might have made each of their aprons a different color, instead of all being uniform.
Wing Guards
I'm pretty happy with how these turned out. Giving them all different skin tones and hair colors was a neat touch. I think the blues and browns were the right shade, and the gold trim makes them look extra fancy. Also, notice how the wash gives so much detail to the faces, with very little effort on my behalf. Also, I didn't touch their pistols with a wash, to make them appear extra shiny.
And somehow, I missed the memo about them having red cuffs. I'll have to fix that soon.
Weequay Pirates
On my first round of painting last year, I did all waves that were out at the time- everything from the core set to The Bespin Gambit and Wave 7. Jabba's Realm was the first set that I painted right when it came in. You'll notice I'm a little more conservative on my washes now. I do like how it lays on the figure's chest piece and pants creases, though.
Also, this is another example of a figure that I really didn't know how to differentiate between elites and regulars. I guess the blue shirt could change to a red, but I kinda like how they are now.
Gamorrean Guards
The thing I remember being most frustrated with these guys with is their sandals. It seemed like more work that it was worth. Also, that cross-chest strap between dual wielding arms wasn't easy to get to, either.
I think the white for the tusks and horns, along with pink for the nose, makes the face pop. And hey, they still probably look about as good as those rubber monsters from the movies, right?
Rancor
This is the man! His model is imposing on its own, but I had a blast painting the nails and teeth. Starting out white (and it was hilarious seeing a rancor with perfect teeth, let me tell you) I slowly worked in lighter shades of brown in drybrushing, focusing most heavily on the bases and working outward.
The skin color was kinda tough to nail, too. I'm happy with how it turned out, though.
Jawas
These guys were pretty easy. The only real thing to watch for are the straps. Also, painting the eyes was very satisfying! FFG did a great job with the sculpt and included raised eyes- just dabbing with yellow should do the trick, the paint should do the rest!
Clawdite Shapeshifters
There are a ridiculous amount of straps and armor on this mini. It took forever, and honestly these guys were kind of a pain. It might be hard to tell in this picture, but while the regulars have a orange/brown color scheme as per the deployment card, I made the elite more based on Zam Wessel with purple clothes and cloak. Who doesn't want to constantly be reminded of Attack of the Clones, right?
IG-88
Boba Fett
I love this model. I wish I had gotten a better shot of the jetpack, because it's very detailed.
For the helmet, paint the red cross section first, then put the black lines through the middle of it.
If I could change one thing, I'd reevaluate the feet. Pretty sure that his boots are green, but I'm not in love with the shade I used. The sun reflection in this picture does make them appear a little brighter than they actually are, though.
Dengar
Brown armor was made by mixing brown with a bit of silver, to make it a bit shinier. Other than that, he's pretty simple. I do like how the wash came out on his face, though- again, a good amount of detail for minimum effort.
Bossk
Just like the trandoshans earlier, I recently repainted Bossk. I'm much happier with him now.
Painting that much yellow was hard, as yellow coats don't like to stick. Painting stripes of white was also tough for me. Basically, I had to give this lizard several coats for his iconic space suit. I like how it turned out in the end, but it took a while.
Greedo
Much like Bossk, Greedo's yellow stripes took a while to paint. Other than that, I did have to do some mixing to get the colors I wanted both for his skin and his suit. One challenge I had was trying to make both his skin and suit as close to possible to their movie colors, without making them look to similar to each other. Nobody wants a naked Greedo. Or, at least I hope nobody wants that.
Jabba
I love how Jabba's eyes turned out, but I think that's more of a testament to the sculpture than my painting- another case of maximum payoff for minimum effort, letting the paint and the sculpture do your work for you.
Two big challenges with Jabba- getting his green color right (you're almost certainly going to have to mix it) and drawing the "borders" of his colors. The sculpt doesn't really give you much of an idea when the green should end and the tan begin, so you're gonna have to figure that out yourself. You can try going with more of a gradient between the two colors, but honestly there's not much of a gradient on the actual character anyway.
Maul
I wish I had gotten a few different angels of Maul. Here, you can sort of see his face. I tried to match his facial pattern as closely as possible. For the horns, I first dotted them black (for the black "roots" on his scalp) then darker brown, then lighter browns. A heavier wash on his face filled in his eyes nicely.
Also, leave it to FFG to give us a character with incredibly complex body details and make him shirtless. For his torso and arms, I really just made my own designs. If one of your friends calls you out for having the wrong chest tattoos for Maul, you have every right to call them a nerd.
Stay tuned later this week for galleries on my Imperial and Rebel minis!
May the Force be with you!
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- Thomas
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