If you haven't seen my Mercenaries gallery (missed opportunity to use the phrase Rogue's Gallery) yet, I explain a bit of what I'm doing here, so check it out! And Rebels are coming soon, too!
Essentially, the point of these articles is to show "tabletop ready" figures- stuff that may not be perfect, but still looks a lot better than the tan and grey plastic!
That being said...
Essentially, the point of these articles is to show "tabletop ready" figures- stuff that may not be perfect, but still looks a lot better than the tan and grey plastic!
That being said...
Stormtroopers
I think you'll notice an evolution on my painting of stormtrooper variants over time, with these being a bit of a low point. These ones were... frustrating for a beginner to paint. White is a hard color to paint, given you need several coats of it. Putting in easy to mess up strands of black is just cynical.
On top of everything else, I was a little too generous on my wash of these guys. It's definitely worse on some stormtrooper minis that others. Maybe I'll fix these someday, but even a year later I still haven't recovered the mentality to be okay with repainting these guys.
Also, notice the shoulder pads. There are three groups- white group (no color on shoulder pads), blue group (blue on right shoulder pad) and the elites (red base, red on right shoulder pad). This helps me distinguish groups on the battlefield.
E-WEB Engineers
I actually spent a little more time with these guys than the traditional stormies, and I think it shows. The wash isn't as bad, either.
Probe Droids
I know a lot of people like to make their probe droids a little fancier by coloring in some of the buttons and eye holes on the side, but I preferred the more classic look for these guys. As stated in my mercs article, you can get a good dark shiny metal color by mixing black and a silver.
Imperial Officers
Just showing off some of the detail here. Notice the badge of rank- just a simply blue and red stripe, but it adds some life to the drab uniform. Also, the belt and buckle are painted- otherwise, it'd look more like the officer was wearing a dress.
I painted my elite green, as you can see. I wish I'd gone with a more olive green, though- this one is a bit too bright.
Royal Guards
I'm kinda split on these guys. One one hand, they're not quite as shiny as the ones in the movies. On the other, I like how menacing their darker scheme seems to be . Any thoughts? They'd be easy enough to repaint, if needed.
AT-ST
Much like my trandoshans, I recently did some significant repainting on this guy. Originally, it had been much darker- in fact, the front canon is currently the color that the entire walker had previously been. I eventually realized that while my schema of an AT-ST included the idea of "grey", it should've been a much lighter grey.
Also, for a nice touch, you can dab a sponge in silver paint and apply it to different parts of the walker to make it look like the paint is chipping, and to break up the monotony of so much of a single color.
Heavy Stormtroopers
Even though I painted these at the same time as the original stormtroopers, I like these so much better. However, I'm now noticing that I never gave the elites their red shoulder pads. That cannot stand!
Snowtroopers
Weirdly, I actually really like how these came out. Even though the blackwash was still a bit heavy, I think it just fell really well on these troopers.
I think the sculpts just are a little easier to paint than traditional stormtroopers, too. Not nearly as much black on them.
Also, not quite the canon color, but I love their cloak-skirt things being tan. I think it looks pretty good.
Like the AT-ST, I had some fun playing with sponges to make chipped paint effects. Really, I just painted the whole thing a dark steel color, then filled in with some blues and reds wherever I wanted. I'm pretty happy with it- even though the sculpt itself is comically small for what it should have been.
I think the sculpts just are a little easier to paint than traditional stormtroopers, too. Not nearly as much black on them.
Also, not quite the canon color, but I love their cloak-skirt things being tan. I think it looks pretty good.
SC2-M Repulsor Tank
Like the AT-ST, I had some fun playing with sponges to make chipped paint effects. Really, I just painted the whole thing a dark steel color, then filled in with some blues and reds wherever I wanted. I'm pretty happy with it- even though the sculpt itself is comically small for what it should have been.
ISB Infiltrators
The regulars are based more off the deployment card's color scheme of dark blue. The elites are actually based on the first Star Wars action figure I ever got as a kid: "Luke Skywalker in Imperial Guard Disguise". So that's kind of a neat homage I can give for younger me.
I painted the actual dewback much in the same way that I did the trandoshans- dark green with a brown wash for between the scales. I'm not thrilled at how the trooper's armor came out. Other than that, the dewback has a decent amount of straps and bags on him to watch out for.
Easily my favorite of the stormtrooper variants. The wash just worked infinitely better than any other variant of trooper I've done- I guess I'm improving (or just got lucky this once). The shield's front is a rather dull grey, but I painted the back a shiny silver. Also, I painted the batons white with neon blue tips, in a bit of an homage to The Force Awakens' whabbity stick "Traitor" guy, as opposed to the simple black they are in the card art. I like my version better.
For variety's sake, I made them a different shade of metallic than the probe droids. Add in some subtle red eyes and a red dot on their gun, and there really isn't much else to do here.
This thing is awesomely menacing in how it towers above even the AT-ST. Speaking of which, I painted it pretty much exactly like the AT-ST. I've seen some people paint the front viewport red instead of black, but I kinda prefer it this way.
Ah, so here you can see the original shade of my other AT-ST (both it and Weiss were originally painted the same color). I added the stripe later, inspired by someone's example I saw on the FFG forums.
One of the first minis I painted. One of my favorite aspects of it is how the blackwash sinks into the crevices on the gold staff. Also, make sure you really reach up on the cape behind him.
The dark lord himself (and a bit of my thumb in the bottom left corner). His chestpiece could probably use some detailing, and maybe I could give him the scarlet eyes for variety's sake, but otherwise I think he turned out fine.
For the saber, as I do for most sabers, I used a neon color, then drybrushed just a bit of white on, to give it the effect of being crackling light.
Another stormtrooper! One thing to note here- his shoulderpad is orange, rather than the typical red that I use for elite groups. I wanted to distinguish him from the elite groups- presumably, he's even better.
Just a lot of blacks, greys, and silvers. Definitely not the most interesting model, though I do love how inspired by Veers it is.
Blaise's helmet too forever for me to ger right. I think the blackwash worked pretty well, though- the shading on the face (including the mouth) looks pretty good. I've seen some people give Blaise different colors of armor, which I guess makes sense since he's basically the Ageny Kallus of Imperial Assault. I still prefer the standard white for him- IA is already hurting for scout troopers as is.
Another one that I repaintd recently. The glare on this picture is abysmal, and it both obscures a lot of the detail while also making it look much more asymmetric than it really is.
Originally, the skin tone had been a much darker grey, the eyes were worse (like the wampas') and the detail was lacking.
Pretty much the same as the dewback rider- I gave him the same shoulderpad shade as Kayn Somos. Move along.
I love these two! 0-0-0 is easy. Metallic, add in red/orange eyes, hint of blue glow around the palms. For BT-1, I gave him a blue and red stripe on his front, and some red detailing on his missile launchers.
Not terrible difficult. Dark Grey (not black) robes, and light grey skin with just a bit of green added in. One thing to be careful of is the inside of the hood vs the side of Palpatine's face- make sure your colors are where they belong. This was surprisingly difficult for this model, since the spaces in the hood go back so far.
I've seen people try to put blue or purple on the fingertips for a lightning effect. It's a cool idea, and I like some that I've seen, but not really my personal style.
Anyway, if you haven't seen it already, check out my Mercenary gallery! And Rebels are coming tomorrow!
May the Force be with you!
If you liked this article, give us a like on Facebook or a follow on Twitter. Thanks!
The elites could probably stand to use a bit darker of a wash.
Jet Troopers
I like these so much better than the original stormtroopers. Not only did the paint and wash come out better, but they're just more interesting looking. The bit of blue and red on their chest pieces really makes them stand out. Add in the red shoulder pieces for the elites, and you've got a stormtrooper with a surprising amount of color.
Speaking of standing out, it's up to you how many clear plastic stands to attach to the jet trooper. I've seen people use only one, and that's probably a bit less unwieldly, but I love how having two makes them tower over the rebels.
Dewback Rider
Riot Troopers
Easily my favorite of the stormtrooper variants. The wash just worked infinitely better than any other variant of trooper I've done- I guess I'm improving (or just got lucky this once). The shield's front is a rather dull grey, but I painted the back a shiny silver. Also, I painted the batons white with neon blue tips, in a bit of an homage to The Force Awakens' whabbity stick "Traitor" guy, as opposed to the simple black they are in the card art. I like my version better.
Sentry Droids
For variety's sake, I made them a different shade of metallic than the probe droids. Add in some subtle red eyes and a red dot on their gun, and there really isn't much else to do here.
AT-DP
This thing is awesomely menacing in how it towers above even the AT-ST. Speaking of which, I painted it pretty much exactly like the AT-ST. I've seen some people paint the front viewport red instead of black, but I kinda prefer it this way.
General Weiss
Ah, so here you can see the original shade of my other AT-ST (both it and Weiss were originally painted the same color). I added the stripe later, inspired by someone's example I saw on the FFG forums.
Royal Guard Champion
One of the first minis I painted. One of my favorite aspects of it is how the blackwash sinks into the crevices on the gold staff. Also, make sure you really reach up on the cape behind him.
Darth Vader
The dark lord himself (and a bit of my thumb in the bottom left corner). His chestpiece could probably use some detailing, and maybe I could give him the scarlet eyes for variety's sake, but otherwise I think he turned out fine.
For the saber, as I do for most sabers, I used a neon color, then drybrushed just a bit of white on, to give it the effect of being crackling light.
Kayn Somos
Another stormtrooper! One thing to note here- his shoulderpad is orange, rather than the typical red that I use for elite groups. I wanted to distinguish him from the elite groups- presumably, he's even better.
General Sorin
Just a lot of blacks, greys, and silvers. Definitely not the most interesting model, though I do love how inspired by Veers it is.
Agent Blaise
Blaise's helmet too forever for me to ger right. I think the blackwash worked pretty well, though- the shading on the face (including the mouth) looks pretty good. I've seen some people give Blaise different colors of armor, which I guess makes sense since he's basically the Ageny Kallus of Imperial Assault. I still prefer the standard white for him- IA is already hurting for scout troopers as is.
The Grand Inquisitor
Another one that I repaintd recently. The glare on this picture is abysmal, and it both obscures a lot of the detail while also making it look much more asymmetric than it really is.
Originally, the skin tone had been a much darker grey, the eyes were worse (like the wampas') and the detail was lacking.
Captain Terro
Pretty much the same as the dewback rider- I gave him the same shoulderpad shade as Kayn Somos. Move along.
0-0-0 and BT-1
I love these two! 0-0-0 is easy. Metallic, add in red/orange eyes, hint of blue glow around the palms. For BT-1, I gave him a blue and red stripe on his front, and some red detailing on his missile launchers.
Emperor Palpatine
Not terrible difficult. Dark Grey (not black) robes, and light grey skin with just a bit of green added in. One thing to be careful of is the inside of the hood vs the side of Palpatine's face- make sure your colors are where they belong. This was surprisingly difficult for this model, since the spaces in the hood go back so far.
I've seen people try to put blue or purple on the fingertips for a lightning effect. It's a cool idea, and I like some that I've seen, but not really my personal style.
Anyway, if you haven't seen it already, check out my Mercenary gallery! And Rebels are coming tomorrow!
May the Force be with you!
If you liked this article, give us a like on Facebook or a follow on Twitter. Thanks!
- Thomas
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