Television is rather a frightening business. But I get all the relaxation I want from my collection of model soldiers.
Peter Cushing

Monday 4 February 2019

"Prepare your troops for a ground assault..."



These were a bit of a challenge. Painting white is always a bit of a chore, and getting the very clean, cold look of Imperial Stormtroopers is quick difficult for someone whose usual painting style is grimy and naturalistic.

I'm happy to admit that I got it wrong first time out and had to repaint. The mistake I made was painting them as people; I started them as grey and started layering up to white like I did with the organic shapes of Gandalf the White. What I should have done was treat them like objects, exactly the same as if I were painting a tank or something else.

In the event, the final process was this:

Spray white.
Paint white.
Gloss coat.
Thinned down black wash as a line wash.
Repaint white.
Black for undersuit.
Gloss coat.

Sprayed White

wash thinned with wash medium and carefully lined/slathered all over

Flat panels repainted white
Bish bash bosh. Pretty quick once I'd cracked the workflow, but two of them ended up loosing a bit of detail due to the number of layers of paint I did while trying to figure it out.






One major thing I did was a bit of cutting and shutting. I am a touch irritated that FFG are shipping a premium priced product with single, duplicate poses. I'll take that for a Blood Bowl team or Necromunda gang, but not in a Big Box game like this. So the trusty jeweler's saw came out and various arms and waists were re-positioned so every member of the squad was unique.

Trying to decide now whether to do the Rebels next or complete the Imperial side by doing the speeder bikes - but before I do that I have something rather big to deal with...
Dispatch Sent By at the hour of
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13 comments:

  1. Fitz-Badger5 February 2019 at 02:39

    Excellent work on the paint jobs and the customizing to make each one unique (no clones there)!

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    1. Herbert West6 February 2019 at 20:20

      Thanks, Fitz. Quite fancy some Clone troopers, to be honest. Bit of Flash Gordon style...

      Delete
  2. Phil Curran5 February 2019 at 07:13

    Really well done. I like the way the white has come out, some tutorials have resulted in the stormtroopers being rather grimy or are too detailed for mass production. Yours seems to overcome both of these faults.

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    Replies
    1. Herbert West6 February 2019 at 20:20

      Thanks Phil. I'm all about the lazy approach.

      Delete
  3. Michael Awdry5 February 2019 at 10:40

    They look brilliant! I have only been working on the rebels, but now sorely tempted to give some Stormtroopers a go. Thank you for the recipe.

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    Replies
    1. Herbert West6 February 2019 at 20:21

      You're welcome. Certainy don't want anyone else to go through what I did. This is the secret ingredient: https://elementgames.co.uk/paints-hobby-and-scenery/paints-hobby-and-scenery-by-manufacturer/the-army-painter/army-painter-warpaints/warpaint-quickshade-wash-mixing-medium-6?d=22&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkZ-otfen4AIVqbXtCh0LVgNtEAQYASABEgKWvfD_BwE

      Delete
    2. Michael Awdry7 February 2019 at 12:16

      Thank you for the link, I wonder if that is the equivalent of Games Workshop Lahmiam Medium?

      Delete
    3. Herbert West7 February 2019 at 20:27

      It's a bit different. Lahmian medium is the same thing as vallejo glaze medium; this has a very different consistency which means your wash still acts like a wash.

      Delete
  4. Paul Scrivens-Smith5 February 2019 at 21:43

    These are really nice. The more I see this stuff the more I want to give it a try.

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    Replies
    1. Herbert West6 February 2019 at 20:21

      I have to admit it was the Imperials that enticed me in.

      Delete
  5. Suber5 February 2019 at 21:52

    Really good work. I agree, that clean, cold white can be a pain, but you managed it perfectly.

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  6. FourEyedMonster10 February 2019 at 09:51

    These look great. Tiny little detail that you can feel free to ignore ... the tube stripes on the Stormtrooper helmet are usually blue in color and that gives some dash of color to the predominant black and white scheme. That being said, I've seen them in black too so ... all good. :)

    ReplyDelete

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